Facing Redemption (45 page)

Chapter 63

Anne uncorked a bottle of her favorite wine, and poured two glasses.  She pushed a piece of her favorite pizza toward Chastity, and then grabbed one for herself.

“You get this from Sauced?”  Chastity mumbled through her bite, referring to their favorite pizza joint in the Paseo district.

Anne grinned and nodded.  “I thought you’d need a good slice as a homecoming gift.”  Anne said and popped up in the tall patio chair.  She laughed at Baxter, as he chased squirrels around the back yard.

Chastity leaned her head back and kicked her feet up.  She felt utterly drained, and was enjoying her overdue girls’ time.  “This is just what I needed.  Thanks.”   Chastity sighed and sunk her teeth into her piece of pizza.  Her quiet moment was interrupted by Baxter’s shrill bark, as he ran circles around a tree.

“I still can’t believe you got a dog!”  Chastity laughed.  Baxter had his paws up on the trunk of the pistachio tree and was trying to jump at the squirrel, which had climbed to safety.  “He’s so cute, but he’s loud!”

             
“Yeah, that’s the beagle in him.”  Anne laughed and settled into her chair.  “I still can’t believe you met your dad!”

             
Chastity’s eyes grew wide.  “Me neither.  I still feel like I made the whole thing up.  It feels like a dream.”

             
“So how did you guys leave it?” 

             
“Well kinda in limbo.  I told him it was nice to meet his family, and I was glad we were able to pray together.”  Anne nodded as she’d already been given all the details of Chastity’s trip.

             
“But?”  Anne leaned forward.

             
Chastity cocked her head and finished swallowing her wine.  “But…I told him I couldn’t promise anything.  I told him I wanted to get to know my baby sis.”  She grinned across the table.  “I have a baby sister.”

             
“I’m still waiting for a picture!”  Anne laughed.  “What kind of aunt would I be without getting a picture?”

             
“Let me grab my cell and I’ll show you a few.  My purse is inside.”  Chastity hopped down from her chair and ran inside to the kitchen.  When she reached for her purse on the counter, she saw the letter from Ned.  Chastity grabbed it, scanned the first few lines, and started laughing.  Anne heard her friend’s laughter from outside, and came in to see what Chastity found so humorous.

Anne stopped in her tracks when she saw what Chastity was reading.  “Oh, that. I meant to shred it.”

“But?”  Chastity lifted her eyebrow at her friend. 

“But what?  I need to shred it!” Anne jumped across the kitchen to grab the letter, but Chastity stepped back and lifted it above her reach. 

“Come on, give it to me.”  She jumped to try again which only resulted in a fit of laughter from Chastity.

“You can’t jump that far.  I’m taller than you Anna Banana.  Besides I think you should do it!”

Anne frowned.  “And give Guy any satisfaction?  No way!  Can you believe the nerve?  What?  I turn him down so he figures he’d submit me for a dating show?  What? Because I didn’t want him that means something must be wrong with me?” Anne sputters while reaching for the rest of the packet.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with you!  You just have good taste!  That’s all.”  Chastity finally handed the letter back over to her flustered friend.  “Look he obviously thought you would do well on the show, or he wouldn’t have nominated you.  Timothy, Ned and Guy are pretty tight and Guy wouldn’t have suggested you to Ned if he didn’t think you had worth.”

Anne gave her an incredulous look.  “All those dating shows are a farce anyways!  No one is real.  I bet Guy figures I’d never be gutsy enough to go for it and this is just another way to poke fun at me.”

Chastity giggled.  “Well it would be a fun way to stick it to him.  He would be green with envy if you were the one left standing at the end.  I can’t wait to tell Timothy!”  Chastity pulled her phone out to send him a text.

Within seconds her phone rang.  Chastity gave Anne a look and showed her the caller ID.  Her husband wanted the scoop immediately.

“He’s worse than a girl.”  Chastity laughed and answered her phone.  She put it on speaker so Anne could hear.

“Hey there.  Did you get my text?”  Chastity grinned.

“Uh yeah, why do you think I called? What did Guy do now?”  Chastity loved hearing his laugh.  Chastity quickly filled him in and Timothy gave his two cents.

“Anne, first of all don’t worry about Guy’s motives – he’s just not used to girls turning him down.”

Anne quickly replied.  “I have half a mind to go on that stupid show to expose it for what it really is – fake … just like your friend Guy.”

Timothy chuckled.  “Well I’m gonna text Ned and tell him you’re doing it.”

“Don’t you dare Timothy!”
Anne blurted and picked up the phone.
            
“Hey easy there. I was just kidding, but honestly it might be fun for you. You should think about it. I’m signing off. You two enjoy your night and don’t keep my wife out too late.” 

Chastity laughed.  “Call you later honey. Bye.”  She hung up the phone and reached for the packet.  “Let me see the rest.”

Anne pushed the paperwork across the counter to her friend.  “I knew I should have shredded it.”  She mumbled and turned to go grab their wine from outside.

When she came back, with Baxter in tow, Chastity was filling it out for her.  She set both glasses down and firmly placed a hand on Chastity’s arm.

“Huh-nuh.  No way.” 
             

“Come on.  Part of you must have been interested or it wouldn’t have been conveniently left out for me to find.  You should do it!”

“Do what?”
Anne ignored her and picked up
Baxter.  “He’s the only one for me
right now.”

Chastity pulled Baxter out of Anne’s arms and snuggled with him for a few seconds.  “He’s so cute. I’m glad you have him to keep you company.  But stop ignoring me on this one.  I think you should go talk to the casting director.” Anne didn’t object this time so Chastity continued.  “I don’t think it’s a bad idea.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea!”  Anne threw her hands up. 

“Look Anne.  You’ve been in a rut.  And coming to Oklahoma is great, but what do you want for your life?  I see this as a fun opportunity that presented itself…why not go for it?”

“Are you crazy?  That’s so not me. I’m not looking for love.  I do not want to date.  I just want to …” Anne settled into silence.  She didn’t know how to finish the sentence.  She came out to Oklahoma for change, but Chastity and Timothy’s life was here.  Her life’s dream wasn’t to settle in Oklahoma. 

“To what?  Anne…what do you want out of life?”  Chastity pushed.

Anne was exasperated.  “I don’t know!  I have no idea what I want for my life at the moment.”

“Okay than this is why this is perfect,” Chastity said a little too loudly.  “Think of it as an adventure.  A free paid for adventure that you’d never have the opportunity to take otherwise.  You don’t have anything tying you down.  It’s perfect.”  Chastity softened her voiced and smiled sadly to her friend.  “You need this.”

Anne clamped her lips together.  Chastity could tell she was thinking about it and began singing.  She shook Anne’s shoulders. “I think you’d have fun!”

Anne wrinkled her nose and held out her hand.  Chastity slapped the forms into her hands and screamed.  “Aaaahhh!  My friend is going to be on TV.”

“No, I’m going to send in the paperwork.  It doesn’t mean they’ll choose me.”

“Oh they will.”  Chastity said knowingly.  “Ned has already said you’re in!”

Anne threw a kitchen towel at her friend, which landed on Baxter.  Baxter squirmed to get control of the towel and Chastity put him down to wrestle his new toy.  When she stood back up, Anne was finishing the application.

Anne was on her way to a brand new adventure, and Chastity truly hoped that love was part of the package.

As military brat Kimberly has traveled the world over, but grew up mostly in Hawaii and Virginia.  Her father’s duty stations took them everywhere from Japan to half the continental U.S.  Since 1990, Kimberly has called Oklahoma home.  It is where her family and her heart are – even though she always wishes she were closer to the beach.

Kimberly has been married for 12 wonderful years to her husband, Todd, and they have a wonderfully creative 9 year-old boy, who also dreams up wonderful stories.  Kimberly will be quick to say how happy they both make her.  She says, “With the two of them in my life, it’s a never ending journey, which never gets boring.  They keep me on my toes.”

Kimberly’s first book,
Finding Kylie
, was published in 2008. 
Finding Kylie
has received numerous positive reviews and was recently converted into a screenplay.  Now that
Facing Redemption
is completed Kimberly is working on the final book in the series, which will follow Anne’s journey.  Look for
Coming Home
soon. 

Readers and fans can find out more about Kimberly McKay, her books, and current news at her website:
http://wornoutwoman.blogspot.com/
or FaceBook page at: http://www.facebook.com/authorkimberlymckay.  

Feel free to contact her at:
[email protected]

Dear readers,

On a final note, they say write what you know.  So there are bits and pieces of me in each book I write.  Like the fact that my wedding was the wedding from H-E-double hockey sticks. 

Each mishap, on Chastity’s wedding day, like the missing cake, limo, caterer, almost missing bridesmaid, and deceased pastor, happened to me on my wedding day and then some.  Of course, I fictionalized it and changed the characters so that they didn’t represent anyone in my life, but everything Chastity and Timothy had to deal with happened to my husband and me.  With the exception of a few tweaks in the storyline…it’s a pretty close representation of what my day was like – minus a mystery father showing up.

In the next book, Coming Home, Anne will continue her journey.  You’ll read not only about Anne’s next chapter in life, but you’ll also follow her sister, Grace, through a few twists and turns of her own.  Sisters are one of the greatest gifts we have on the planet, and I couldn’t end this series without highlighting their story.

From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you for your continued support for Finding Kylie, Facing Redemption, and coming soon … Coming Home.

             
             
             
             
             
Warmest Regards,