My Son's Ex-Wife:

Book 0: My Son's Wife

by Shelia E. Lipsey

Genres: African American Christian; African American Urban; Christian Fiction

Synopsis

First Lady Audrey Graham was mortified to discover that her daughter Francesca was having an affair. What made things even worse was that her lover was a woman—and she was married to Francesca’s brother Stiles! Now that Stiles has divorced Rena and she’s left town, Audrey can’t wait for things to return to normal with her family. But when Pastor Chauncey Graham’s health takes a tragic turn for the worse, it brings the Graham family and Stiles’s ex-wife back together again, and there is plenty of unfinished business. Francesca is slowly beginning to heal and forgive herself, and God, for the mental and sexual abuse she suffered as a young child; but the hate she harbors toward her mother must also be laid to rest if Frankie has any hope of moving on with her life. Stiles realizes soon after Rena leaves town that he still loves her, though his pride and shame won’t allow him to reach out to her. He’s in for a big surprise when she returns to Memphis accompanied by a handsome young stranger. What’s a family of God to do when life becomes this complicated?

Release date: June 1, 2012

Publisher: Urban Christian

Print pages: 256

Sample

Audrey and several ladies from Holy Rock Women’s Ministry gathered in one of the church meeting rooms for their quarterly meeting. Toward the end of the meeting, the ladies sat around and talked, rather they gossiped.

“First Lady, may I ask you something? one of the ladies spoke up.

“Certainly,” Audrey replied.

“What really happened to your son’s wife? It’s like she disappeared off the face of the earth.”

Audrey threw up one hand and waved it carelessly. “Honey, she left town after he divorced her. I tell you, it was the best thing she could have done. It was enough that she pretended to love my son, only to leave him heartbroken.”

“I know she put him through a lot,” another woman commented.

“Yes, I tell you, my son’s wife was not all she pretended to be. All of the years I thought I knew that child, and she turned out to be a deceitful little phony. And to think, we’ve known Rena and her family since they first moved to Memphis. Well, she sure had the family fooled. Who would have thought that she was only using Stiles? That’s why you have to be careful these days.”

A fair skinned, older woman agreed with Audrey. “Yes, you sure have to be careful, First Lady.”

This fueled Audrey’s flame, and she kept on talking. “You think you know somebody, and find out you don’t know them at all.”

“Lord, these women today are scandalous. I tell you, our men of God have to stay in prayer,” a short, dark complexioned woman added.

“You sure are right,” another commented. “We have to stay prayed up on their behalf.”

“Is Pastor Stiles all right, First Lady, since the divorce is final?”

“Yes, he’ll be fine. Of course, the pain of divorce is something that takes time to heal; even more so, for a man of God like my Stiles. He tried, but there was no way to mend their marriage. The girl was promiscuous, and she wasn’t about to change. I tell you, I cried almost every night for months for my son. Thank God for Pastor; he keeps Stiles encouraged. And since he appointed Stiles as the full time pastor of Holy Rock, Stiles doesn’t have a lot of time to mope around and feel sorry for himself.”

The fair skinned older woman was named Sister Jean. She readily agreed with Audrey. “Don’t worry,” she said and waved her hand. “He’ll find another woman. That’s for sure. A smart, intelligent, handsome man of God like him won’t have a problem at all. This time, she’ll be the kind of woman that will be worthy of being his wife and the first lady of Holy Rock. We’re going to keep praying that next time he’ll meet a fine Christian girl with true morals and respect. But we all know that whoever it is won’t be half the first lady you are, Sister Audrey.”

Audrey blushed. “Thank you, Sister Jean.”

“The truth is the truth,” Sister Jean remarked, and so did several of the other women that were gathered in the lunch room.

Audrey’s face brightened like the morning sun. She was astonished at the sense of fulfillment she felt as she spoke. “I know one thing, whoever she is, she will have to be more than special. She’s going to have to definitely prove that she’s worthy if she ever plans on becoming, my son ’s wife.”

On her way home, Audrey was flying high on praises. Rena had been revealed for the two-faced, double-life leading, unworthy woman that she was. “What the devil meant for bad, God meant it for good,” Audrey said followed by her laughter over the way things had turned out. The gall of Rena trying to ruin Stiles’s name with her vulgar, nasty, abominable lifestyle with Francesca. It was bad enough that her child was a practicing lesbian, convict, and a drug user. Audrey turned up her nose at the thought of the vile life Francesca led. She couldn’t begin to imagine how Francesca turned out to be the kind of terrible, shameful daughter that she was. She was a disgrace to the Graham name and especially to Holy Rock Church.

Audrey hummed along to a song on the 95.7 gospel station to help replace the terrible thoughts of Rena and Francesca with positive ones. She was thankful that Pastor was on the mend from his stroke. God was really healing him in a ‘nothing but God can do’ kind of way. His speech was markedly improving daily, and his gait was becoming stronger with each round of physical therapy.

Audrey thought about Stiles. She was sad that he’d been hurt so badly by Rena. If only she could have seen warning signs of Rena’s devilish ways, then she would have been able to save her only son from Rena’s evil intentions. Audrey believed that Rena’s purpose had been to latch on to Stiles in an effort to cover up the affair she was having with Francesca. But God has a way of bringing things to light.

Audrey continued to hum and think about the fact that Francesca and Rena had a lot of reaping to do. As for Stiles, Audrey had her eye on a few young ladies at Holy Rock who would make a good wife for him. There were also a few more she planned on checking out from two or three of the other churches that Holy Rock interacted with on a frequent basis. This time around she would make sure she checked into the background of the young lady, her parents, finances, and any other thing she could find out. No more surprises like the one with Rena.

“And to think, that, that, oh, Lord, you know I can’t call her what I want to call her,” Audrey said out loud as the song on the radio ended and she was left with her own thoughts bursting forth like mighty waters through her mind. “But Lord, she has to pay for how she hurt my baby. It’s been close to five months since their divorce, Lord, and my baby is still beside himself with embarrassment, a broken heart, and mistrust about receiving another woman into his life. Lord, fix it. Fix it for my child,” pleaded Audrey with the tiniest trace of forced tears trickling down her made up face. “You know he doesn’t need to be preaching Sunday after Sunday without a first lady in his life. You said, ‘he who findeth a wife findeth a good thing and findeth favor with you,’so fix this mess that Rena caused in his life.”

Audrey swiftly went to the next thing on her mind, like she had a mental to-do-list. She called Pastor to see if he wanted her to order takeout from one of the local restaurants. Since she’d eaten at the quarterly meeting, she didn’t want to think about standing over a stove cooking anything for dinner. When he answered, she told him her suggestion, and without hesitation, like most of the time, Pastor agreed to eat takeout. She stopped at one of the neighborhood soul food restaurants and ordered two dinner plates of turnip greens, hot water cornbread, fried corn, baked pork chops and peach cobbler.

While Audrey waited on the food to be prepared, she went into mental overdrive. This time she thought about Francesca. Where in the world could that wayward child be? She hadn’t seen or heard from her in weeks, and it worried her a little. She was used to Francesca running off and getting locked up or going on one of her drug binges, but this time around Audrey felt somewhat different about Francesca’s no show. Maybe she was with Rena and the two of them were making an ungodly life for themselves. That certainly was something to be considered.

For Audrey, the good thing that came out of the mess that Rena and Francesca created was Pastor and Stiles could see the women for who they really were. Rena and Francesca needed to fall before the Lord and beg for His forgiveness. But Audrey couldn’t imagine Francesca ever going before the Lord to ask Him anything.

Ring. Ring.

Stiles listened, hoping to hear the tender voice he once adored, answer the phone. Instead, he listened to the automated voice of what used to be Rena’s cell phone number.

“At the subscriber’s request this phone does not accept incoming calls, message SEL9324,” the robotic sounding voice informed him.

He closed his cell phone and lay back on the bed, with his head resting in the palms of his hands. It had been months since he’d seen his ex-wife. He opened the phone again and scrolled through his contacts until he saw the listing, The Jacksons; Rena’s parents.

Should he call? His mind and heart were confused. Part of him missed her. He thought about her laugh, her smell, and her touch. “But why did she have to turn out to be so deceitful? “God, I don’t understand why all of this happened? I can’t get over it. I can’t get past it.” Stiles dropped the cell phone and bolted upright in the bed like he’d been electrocuted. He stood and paced the floor in front of the bed.

Looking upward, he stopped. “God, I preach to hundreds of people two to three times a week. I tell them about your love, your forgiveness, your grace and mercy. Rena was my love, the woman I dreamed of having babies with, Father. She was the perfect wife in every way. So why?” He rubbed his hands over his head. “Why did she have to be… I don’t know what to call her.”

Stiles’s body jerked. He looked around the room as if he expected to see someone. A sinner? He heard within his spirit. Why did she have to be a sinner like you, and all of my children?

Tears streamed from Stiles’s eyes. “Who am I to judge anyone?” He sat back on the bed and clasped his hands together. “I am a sinner; a sinner saved by your grace, Lord. You forgave me, and you love me unconditionally. But I don’t have the strength, or the kind of heart that can allow her back in my life. Part of me yearns and aches for her because I still love her, but it’s time for me to make a fresh start. It wouldn’t be fair to Rena to have a man who couldn’t love and accept her for who she is. I’d probably never be able to trust her again. I repent for any wrong I’ve done toward her and Francesca. Father, forgive me. I know now that this is your will. You want me to close the door to my past, to my hurt, and my heartache.” Stiles felt his heavy heart lighten. It was time to let go of the past and look forward to what God had planned for his future. He would always love Rena, but he finally realized that although he didn’t understand the ways of God, God was the one in control of everything. It was time to trust Him totally and completely.

“Whatever tomorrow brings, I’m ready, Lord.” Stiles looked at the cell phone, and then opened it and scrolled through it again until he came across Rena’s old number. He deleted it. He scrolled again until he found The Jacksons. He paused again, and then he deleted it too. Closing the phone, he threw it on the other side of the empty bed before going into the kitchen and pulling out a frozen dinner.

While Stiles sat and waited on the man-sized dinner to get ready, he thought of everything that had transpired over the last year of his life. The timer went off and yanked him away from his thoughts. He gulped down the fish nuggets and steak fries hurriedly.

After he finished his supper, he stood up, threw the empty container in the trash, wiped his mouth with his paper towel, and headed to the den to study his mid-week sermon notes. He couldn’t concentrate.

Stiles missed Rena, but he didn’t really understand how he could still miss, and yes still be in love, with a woman who betrayed and deceived him. He had placed his trust in Rena, given her his whole heart, and she crushed him by sleeping with his sister. Stiles rubbed the top of his head back and forth. His tears were fresh and heavy. His heart ached, and he didn’t know what he was going to do. Probably almost everyone at church was whispering and coming up with their conclusions about the reasons for the divorce. Stories continually surfaced in the most unlikely places. Stiles no longer felt the anointing of God over his life. He felt more like a wounded man, vulnerable, fit to be tied and disbarred from the ministry he once believed God had called him to serve.

He went to his bedroom and sat on the edge of the unmade bed. For a few minutes he sat, and then lay back on the propped up pillow. He needed to find Francesca. He wanted to hear her side of the story, plus he wanted to see if she was all right. He had gone to a private physician to get tested for STDs and God had been favorable; all of his tests were negative. The doctor recommended that he return every three months over the next year, plus Stiles was supposed to make an appointment if he felt or saw any changes in his body. He thought of what Francesca might be experiencing. She actually had an STD and she was HIV positive. Stiles understood that his sister had to bear the consequences of her actions and sinful decisions, but somehow he felt that God had been too harsh.

He was just as confused when it came to Rena. “Why? Why couldn’t she just tell me the truth in the beginning? Why did she have to build our relationship on lies and deceit?” Stiles said out loud, and then sat upright in the bed and crossed his legs Indian style. He used his fist to pound the bed over and over again. “Rena, why couldn’t you have just told me the truth? You could have told me you were in love with my sister. You could have saved me from all of this grief. But, noooo,” he screamed out loud. “You let me love you, knowing that you loved her. Both of you are sick, sick, sick,” he kept yelling.

“And Mother, how could you keep a secret from Pastor and your sister about what Fonda did to Francesca? What kind of woman of God are you supposed to be? You’re partly to blame for all of this too.” Stiles looked upward at the bedroom ceiling as if answers would pour from the sky any minute. Only silence answered.

Stiles disrobed and took a shower. Thought after thought. Hurt upon hurt. Love that he wanted to deny but couldn’t, kept flooding his mind and thrashing at his heart until he screamed under the pounding sprays of water. “God, why? What am I supposed to learn from this? What do you want me to do? I can’t forgive her like I know that I should. I want to, Lord. Help me. Help my unbelief.” Stiles fell to his knees and on to the marble tiled shower floor. Water washed away the tears that wouldn’t stop flowing. “Rena,” he cried out. “God, I still love her. God, I can’t do this. I just can’t do this.” His cries went on until he felt the water turning cool. He slowly stood to his feet and rinsed his body.

Before getting into bed, he fell to his knees again. This time, Stiles prayed for God to renew a right spirit within him. He prayed for Rena, Francesca, his parents, and for his congregation. He ended his prayer with a request for God to help him become a man who could trust love and loving again. Then he got up, climbed in bed, and reached over on his nightstand to retrieve his Bible.

Rena found her pain more bearable after she confided in her mother. Initially she’d told her father only about her and Stiles. She didn’t have the nerve to tell him everything. She believed he would be so disappointed in her and the choices she’d made in her life when she was in Memphis. Rena’s mother became Rena’s confidante, her godly counsel. Two weeks after she arrived home, her mother had convinced her to tell her father everything from beginning to end.

Rena sat next to her mother while she told him all about Francesca, the STD, their relationship, and her deceit. He listened attentively. At times he frowned, and at other times his face remained stoic, almost unlife like, but Rena continued until she got everything out in the open. When she was finished, she waited on the verbal onslaught from her father. But it never came.

Mr. Jackson was extremely upset when he heard the truth about everything, but one thing that he was not was condemning. Rena watched his eyes glisten. She saw hurt sketched all over his almost wrinkle free, burnt by the sun skin. But what Rena didn’t see was disgust. Her father sat in his recliner, quiet for several seconds.

Rena’s mother took hold of her hand. Suddenly, Rena’s father opened his arms and outstretched them toward his child. Stunned, Rena paused momentarily, then stood up and rushed into the waiting arms of her father.

“Oh, Daddy, I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry that I messed up. I’m so sorry that I hurt so many people.” She cried all over his shirt while he held her and patted her on the back like he used to do when she was a little girl.

“You’ve done nothing that God won’t forgive you for, honey. You just have to yield yourself to Him. I am not the one to judge or condemn anyone.” He pulled her away from him slightly while she remained on his lap. He looked her directly in the eyes, and rubbed her hair gently. “We all make mistakes, sweetheart. No one is perfect. No one walks the straight and narrow. Yes, you’ve done some things that are not pleasing to God. But confess those things, something I’m sure you’ve already done.”

Rena answered with a nod of her head.

“Then you have been forgiven. God is the only judge. You have to move on with your life. Forgive yourself. I know Stiles is hurt. He probably feels like he was purposely deceived, and maybe he was. You do owe him an apology, along with all of those whose lives you’ve hurt along the way. Seek their forgiveness and get this heavy burden off of you. If they don’t accept your forgiveness, then that’s on them. They’ll have to answer to God for that. Rena, it’s the only way you’re going to be set free.”

His words were spoken so gently. Rena leaned back against his broad shoulders and tear-soaked shirt. He held her for a very long time. This was where she needed to be; at home with family who loved her no matter what.

Rena settled rather quickly in Andover. She found and leased a two bedroom, cottage-style house in the suburbs, several miles from her parents. She thought of Stiles, Frankie, and the entire Graham family often, but each time, tried to push thoughts of her past behind. There would be a time she would have to own up to the mistakes of her past by seeking forgiveness from the Grahams. Her father was right about that, but she couldn’t do it right now. Her hurt was too fresh.

Rena was offered a position as lead librarian at Andover Mass Preparatory, one of the prominent private schools, which proved to be quite rewarding. She found it enjoyable and challenging working with middle school-aged children on a daily basis. It was definitely a far cry from what she’d been accustomed to doing at the public libraries in Memphis and Arkansas. This position was hers, and hers alone, to operate as she saw best. She decided on most of the reading materials that would go on the library shelves; and she set out to make sure that the children had plenty of books that would provide them with the gift of knowledge often overlooked because of the lack of reading.

Rena learned the names of most of the 275 plus children who attended the school because they came to the library on their assigned Class Library Day. Many of the students also spent their free time in the library doing homework, working on special projects, meeting up with friends, or reading.

Overall, Rena was doing quite well in her new life as a divorced woman of. . .