Broken Branch Read Free Page A

creek, she’d even call it luxurious. The weight she’d added in the last few years wasn’t too bad because she was tall enough to carry it well. She’d often caught other men—like Ben Turner for one—staring at her. Despite the satisfaction she gained from knowing other men still found her attractive, James’s lack of desire hurt her in ways she couldn’t explain.
    So she grew used to being lonely, and on this evening, her decision to join him had less to do with loneliness than curiosity. She wanted to see how James felt about Otto’s sermon from earlier.
    â€œIt’s cold out,” she said, placing a blanket over him.
    He smiled. “You are a good wife, Trudy.”
    She wanted to tell him he was wrong, that not only was she not a good wife anymore, but she wasn’t even sure she wanted to continue being a wife at all, at least not his wife. Instead, she put on the smile she thought he’d like to see and sat down in the chair next to him.
    â€œWhat did you think of Otto’s message this morning?” she said.
    He shrugged. “The man speaks the truth. Always has. It’s why I wanted to settle here when he bought the land.”
    Trudy resisted correcting him. Otto hadn’t bought the land.
Trudy
had bought it. Sure, Otto had handled the paperwork, but Trudy had written the check to the bank. She owned it, yet she knew reminding James of such a thing would be useless.
    â€œOf course,” she said.
    â€œSomething on your mind?”
    â€œIt’s just that . . .” she hesitated, fearing she might be making a mistake. Her faith was weak, and she hated to reveal the weakness to James, but she couldn’t help it. Not this time.
    â€œIt’s just that the Watsons were good people. No different than anyone, James. You remember Horace. He used to sit and smoke with you at night. And Cecily was always ready to lend a hand when someone needed it. I just don’t—”
    He turned on her suddenly. James was not a man to anger easily, so she was taken aback when she saw it flash in his eyes. “Let me ask you something, Trudy. Are you God?”
    â€œJames, of course I’m not God. It’s just—”
    â€œThen you don’t have nothing to say about it.”
    She shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t have an opinion because I’m not God?”
    â€œIt’s not that, Trudy.” He softened a little and touched her arm gently. “The fact is we don’t know what was in their hearts. The sin that reigned in there.”
    â€œExactly!” she said. “We don’t know.”
    â€œYou didn’t let me finish,” he said calmly, and suddenly she wished he was still angry. His stubborn adherence to calmness and kindness made her crazy. It made her want to give in to the demon she felt inside her, so she could lash out at him in anger.
    â€œFinish,” she said sharply.
    â€œWe don’t know their hearts exactly, but God has provided plenty of evidence through his storm that they were not pleasing to him. We shouldn’t dwell on things like this, Trudy. It leads to discontent, and discontent leads to sin, and sin leads to the devil, and—”
    This time, Trudy interrupted him. “The devil leads to God’s wrath.”
    She’d heard him say such things so many times, and she realized that the order and comforting familiarity of such a statement somehow was an anodyne to James, a soothing pacifier for a man who was afraid to be a man.

5
    Two more storms came, neither as bad as the one that took the Watsons, but bad enough. Three homes were damaged, and one of the Newtons’ dogs had been crushed beneath their porch when a branch from the oak tree slammed into the front of their house. Worse, the second storm had taken the roof off the church, something people claimed in whispers was a sign.
    Trudy helped with the cleanup, just thankful that no one