A Million Blessings Read online

  “I’m out,” his aunt said, easing past him toward her bedroom. Her home wasn’t as big as the one he’d had with Brianna, but it wasn’t small, either. It had been his first purchase as a pro player, and now faced with so many women at once, Craig was glad that they’d all have somewhere to sit down, far from him, he hoped.

  As he opened the door, they flooded in: tall women, fat women, old women, young women…Each with a dish of food and their best outfit, though some of them should have gone shopping or stayed home. Seriously.

  “What are you doing here? You said you had choir practice.”

  “You said you were working late.”

  Goodness.

  “Ladies, thank you so much for coming to welcome me to the church. I do appreciate it, and I’m sure that my aunt Theresa does, too. She’s always telling me about the beautiful, godly women at Soul Harvest, and now I see that she was right—”

  “See! He’s talking about me.”

  “Girl, please. You look like you’ve been squeezed into those jeans with some forceps. That man ain’t paying you no mind. Did you see his ex-wife? That’s his type. He’s looking at me—”

  Craig blew out a breath. The only thing that topped this was putting up the lottery ticket he’d bought for Dante’s mother-in-law and discovering that she’d written her number on the back of it…in lipstick.

  “Anyway, thanks to all of you for stopping by….”

  Just as Craig was about to be swallowed up in a circle of desperate women, Dante came shoving through the crowd. With his notebook, of course.

  “Excuse me. Step aside. Excuse me! All right, ladies, please approach me one at a time with your contact information and availability. I have Mr. Richards’s schedule, and I’ll be booking his dates as well. We’ll go alphabetically. If your last name starts with A, meet me in the kitchen. Everyone else into the family room. Mr. Richards has an appointment….”

  Craig didn’t have to be told twice. He grabbed his keys and headed for the door. As he went, each of the women made a point to parade past him, but Craig barely bothered to look. He already knew that none of them would smell right or laugh at his jokes in the right places. None of them had the power to hurt him like no one else could.

  None of them was Brianna.

  Dante had been after Craig for weeks to admit the truth—that he was in love with the only woman he could never have. His ex-wife.

  “Lord, help me,” he prayed, going out the door. “I love her again, but it’s too late.”

  “I don’t have a lot of time, but I need to talk to you.”

  Brianna was irritated and intrigued. This was the Craig she knew. “About what? Talk to my lawyer, Craig. I don’t want to fight.”

  “Don’t you mean my lawyer? I’m paying for him, too, right?”

  She didn’t like the edge in his voice. “What’s the problem?”

  “Don’t have anything else sent to me, especially not at church. You said to let you go, and I did, but don’t disrespect me. And be careful with Terrell. I wouldn’t want to have to come up there and hurt anybody.”

  Brianna sat down on the corner of her bed. Terrell? She’d seen him the other night at a fund-raiser. Danced with him once. How did Craig know, and what did he mean about sending him things at church? “I haven’t sent you anything, Craig, and as for Terrell, I saw him once at a party and danced with him for a few minutes. We barely talked. I’m touched that you’re jealous, though.” She put a hand across her belly, and her stomach started to turn. Asia was convinced that Brianna was pregnant, but she knew otherwise. It was just stress.

  “Someone had a stack of photos of you and Terrell delivered to me at Soul Harvest last Sunday. And they were delivered by the same guy who served me the divorce papers.”

  Foreclosure boy? He was so tired. “Okay, that wasn’t me. I’d be interested in knowing who it was, though. I don’t appreciate anybody sending my husband—”

  “Ex-husband.”

  Touché.

  “Whatever. I don’t like people getting in my business.”

  “The accountant says that we should sell the house—”

  “Out of the question. Where would I live?”

  “Here. You could live here. We can get our own place. There won’t be a pool or a chef, but we could make it.”

  “We? What are you talking about, Craig? We’re divorced.”

  He cleared his throat. “I know that. I didn’t mean that kind of we. I just meant to get us through this. Financially. You know.”

  She thought back to that morning in the shower and how quickly and thoroughly Craig had melted her resolve. “I know all right. I know that within a week of staying at your place we were all up in the shower sweating. It seems like that’s all we’re good at these days. It takes more than that to…live together.”

  “It worked for us for seven years. Longer if you count—”

  Brianna wasn’t counting. She didn’t want to. “Look, is there anything else you want? I need to go.”

  “Tell the chef I said hello. I love Aunt Tee’s food, but she’s trying to fatten me up. I don’t know how Dante still affords his chef. I miss that brother dearly.”

  “More than you miss me?” She gasped. That wasn’t meant to be said out loud. She could almost see Craig smiling through the phone.

  “I think you just agreed that it’d be best if we didn’t go there. I never wanted that house, but I hate to see you lose it.” He seemed sincere.

  It was Brianna’s turn to get real, too. “Okay, I admit it. You were right about the house. I should have waited until you got your new contract. It just seemed so…perfect. I couldn’t let it go. I should have, though. I see that now. It was a mistake.”

  “I know just how you feel.” Craig said, strong and firm, like the man she’d known.

  Brianna regretted her words as soon as she’d said them.

  “Speaking of mistakes, Craig, I think this conversation was one. Let’s stick to talking through the lawyers until everything is resolved.”

  “It doesn’t have to be like this, but if that’s what you want. You can always call me. You know that. No matter what.”

  Brianna looked down at her stomach, curved a little from its usual flatness. How she wished she could believe Craig, but she’d tried that once and lost everything….

  “I’ve got to go, Craig.”

  “Hot date, huh?”

  She didn’t bother to answer. Instead, she hung up the phone and ran to the bathroom. Brianna had a hot date all right…with her toilet.

  Things were spinning out of control, but everyone else thought life was great.

  “I’m so proud of you,” his aunt said every time he left the house for a speaking engagement.

  Dante spent the time after every practice to drill Craig about a possible book deal.

  “My boy’s cousin’s friend’s brother lives next to Oprah’s assistant. All we have to do is get you on once and cha-ching! Now let’s go through the titles again: “Every Knee Shall Bow,” “Bruised but not Broken”…Are you listening? Craig?”

  The phone rang now almost as much as it had when he was playing for the Falcons, only now Craig was on God’s team. This time, though, he didn’t know the plays. He often felt like a fool when offered a seat behind the pulpit when he went to speak. He was a new Christian himself. How could he tell anyone anything about how to live, how to trust God? He could barely get his own ex-wife to talk to him

  Still, people came from all over to hear the busted-up ex-NFL player talk about his life with his beautiful ex-wife. Craig felt as if he should go around with a big “X” on his chest, lest anyone think he was currently capable of holding down a job or a relationship. He thought better of it, though. Someone would only copy it and make it the new style.

  Tonight, though, something different had happened, something he knew would happen eventually. A heckler had gotten up during Craig’s speech and challenged him, and everything he said had been true.

 
“The guy’s a fraud. He just found God because there wasn’t anything else to do. If he hadn’t given so many of you people money, you wouldn’t care about him now.”

  The truth in the man’s words had scared Craig more than the offense of any insult. The man was right. It wouldn’t be as easy for Craig to walk in faith if he was playing again. When you’re almost broke and your wife leaves you, praying comes easy.

  His aunt told him not to worry. “There’ll always be something to keep you on your knees. There will be Jesus, and there will be people. God has given you a heart to help folks. They’ll be on your mind, too.” The other person who’d always be on his mind went unsaid. Craig silently thanked his aunt, but his decision was made: he wouldn’t be speaking to anyone else until he got some things straight with himself.

  Chapter 6

  YOU ARE INVITED TO AN EVENING OF SISTERHOOD AND STRENGTH, HOSTED BY THE FIRST WIVES CLUB.

  GUESTS BY INVITATION ONLY.

  When her marriage ended, Brianna gave up on getting an invite to the most exclusive women’s group in the area. Composed of wives of professional athletes, entertainers, and celebrities, the group had pull and class. How she’d gotten an invite now with her life coming down around her ears, Brianna didn’t know, but she did know one thing—she was going.

  Asia had gone back to Tampa for a modeling stint, and Brianna was glad to be alone and have some time to think. After trying on her tenth outfit, she realized that maybe she was too tired for what might be required for this. Still, she pulled on a black silk babydoll dress and some comfortable heels and headed out.

  The ladies did not disappoint. While a valet parked her car, Brianna took in the sights: ice sculptures, fresh flowers, and an outdoor gazebo. It looked like a wedding instead of a tea.

  “Brianna…there you are. We were hoping you’d come. What a cute dress—wait you’re pregnant? Why didn’t you tell us? We could have made this a baby shower, too.”

  Another woman pranced across the yard. Her bracelets sounded like music. “Baby? What baby—oh my goodness! She’s pregnant. Come here, y’all. Craig Richards’s wife. She’s so cute….”

  “Didn’t they get divorced?” someone asked.

  “I think so, but who cares. He’ll take care of the baby. They always do.” The woman turned to Brianna with concern. “It is his, right?”

  I can’t believe this! They hardly know me. “Yes. It’s his.”

  They sighed collectively. “Thank God. There’s still a chance for his knee, honey. And if not, don’t worry. He’ll take of you. God will, too. Is he excited about the baby?”

  “Actually, I’m not—”

  “Brianna!” Clare Stephens, the only woman in the group who really knew Brianna, came toward her with outstretched arms. “Just keep walking. I love them, but they can be really nosy sometimes. Please excuse them,” she said under her breath as she led Brianna into the house.

  “I’m not pregnant. Really.”

  “Of course.” Clare just smiled and handed Brianna a lemonade. Each glass had swirls of fresh mango.

  “My period is a little late, but it’s just stress.”

  “Of course. Have a seat, sweetie.”

  Brianna wanted to scream. They were treating her like a second grader, Clare included. She wanted to scream, to tell them all that she couldn’t get pregnant that easily, her life is complicated, and she shouldn’t be here. And she would have told them all that if the food hadn’t been so good.

  Shrimp salad with champagne grapes on a bed of spinach, carved melons, and squash soup. The chef outdid himself, and so did Brianna. She ate more than she ever would have at home, let alone in front of a bunch of beautiful women.

  “How far gone are you, honey?” someone was asking. The other women started pulling out Bibles and forming a circle.

  Brianna felt as if the walls were going to close her in when someone put a New Testament in her hand and told her to join them.

  “What are you doing?” she couldn’t help but ask.

  “Bible study. Didn’t you know? We do it after all the meetings now.”

  Great.

  “I know. That’s what I thought, too, but it’s really changing me and my marriage. I wish Clare had added the Bible study years ago. We used to just get drunk after.”

  Sounded like a good plan to Brianna.

  “Clare, you start.”

  The women pulled their chairs closer and grabbed hands. Brianna didn’t extend her hands, but the other women reached for her anyway.

  “…and Lord bless Brianna Richards, who we believe you led us to invite here. Now we can see why. Bless her marriage, bless her body and her baby, but most of all bless her heart. Let her know when she leaves here beyond a shadow of a doubt that You love her and have a plan for her life. For all our lives….”

  Brianna tried to pull her hands back, but the women held fast. As Clare closed, the next woman began, sharing her heart, her struggles, praying for everyone present, including Brianna. By the time they got to her, she was a mess.

  “I guess being pregnant is the least of my worries. You guys were killing me with all that praying.”

  The woman next to her got up and pulled her chair closer, putting an arm around Brianna.

  Don’t do this. They will talk about you…to everyone.

  It was too late. One of the women, whose name she didn’t remember, though Brianna had seen her singing on TV, began to hum “Amazing Grace.” Whatever was left of Brianna’s defenses fell apart.

  “We lost everything, and I kicked him out of the house,” she whispered as another woman got up and rubbed her back while she threw up their catered lunch into an expensive vase. “And now I’m pregnant. What am I going to do?”

  The hostess, whose husband was a golden boy with a string of records since back in his Heisman Trophy days, was first to speak.

  “You are not going to do anything, sweetie, but accept that Jesus is in control of your life and give that life over to Him. We are going to do the rest, starting with bringing you and your family before the throne of God. We were just being friendly when we prayed before, but now it’s time to get serious. Come on, sistahs. Let’s pray.”

  And pray they did. These women, who Brianna would never have dreamed of telling her secrets to, prayed with her, for her, and before she knew it, Brianna was praying for them, too. The faith she’d left behind as a little girl sprang to life as the ladies opened the scriptures to Brianna.

  By the time they got around to asking her if she wanted to rededicate her life to God, Brianna was facedown in the plush carpet being received by Christ. She spent the night there, right on that spot.

  “I’m serious, man. I’m not going. I have nothing to say.” Craig hung up on Dante, tired of having the same fight. No matter how many times he tried to explain, his friend didn’t understand. His aunt didn’t, either.

  “After all God has done for you, this is how you repay Him?”

  Craig hated to hurt her feelings, but the truth is best, he knew that now. “Look, I’m just some guy who lost everything and came home. I didn’t plan any of this. I’m not chosen. I didn’t go to seminary. If it wasn’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have ever gone to church. I’m not the right man for the job.”

  Aunt Theresa balled up her fist and socked Craig in the arm. She spoke with what’s left of her energy. “Do you think this is about you? Any of it? God didn’t allow you to run that ball or open your mouth because you were qualified. He just blessed you. Now you need to use everything you have to bless Him back. You can go to seminary if you want to, but schooling ain’t calling. You need to have the second before the first. And you got it. Always had it. Just ain’t had time to notice until now.”

  Craig stared at the hall mirror across from him, wishing he could see the man his aunt saw. All that stared back at him now was failure. Brianna must have seen it, too. She wasn’t answering his calls.

  She stayed three days at Clare’s house. That’s how long it took
for them to convince Brianna to take a pregnancy test. She was fine without it, she said, but they said it was always best to be sure. She’d finally agreed. Until she saw those two pink lines, that is. Then she went crazy.

  “I can’t do this,” Brianna said, out of breath.

  Clare and the other women exchanged looks. Clare spoke to Brianna first.

  “What are you so afraid of, honey? It’s just a baby.”

  Brianna didn’t answer. She couldn’t. It was much more than just a baby. She’d learned that the hard way. The last time she’d seen two pink lines, everyone in her life, including Craig, had turned against her. How could she risk that again?

  The ladies took her home even though she didn’t go through with calling Craig to tell him about the baby. Back at home with time to think, Brianna realized that she’d never forgiven herself or her ex-husband for what happened when they were in high school. They’re grown now, and whether they were together or not, Craig had a right to know about his child.

  Just as she was about to call Craig and tell him, Brianna got a text from Asia:

  Check out the happy couple.

  A picture came up on the screen next, a picture of Craig looking fine as ever walking arm in arm with a beautiful woman. The high school prom queen to be exact, the good girl that everyone said he should have been with in the first place.

  Brianna put the phone down and started praying. Out loud. It was weird but comforting somehow.

  “Okay, God. I can’t be mad. I pushed him away. He deserves better. I’ll wait and tell him about the baby later. If I tell him now, people will think I am trying to trap him. Again.”

  In the meantime, Brianna needed to make some decisions. She had filed a response to her foreclosure, but time was winding up. She’d been trying to get a job, but nothing she could do would make up the past due mortgage payments. She was going to have to face the truth—her days of living the high life were over. And for the first time, Brianna didn’t think that was the end of the world.