”She pretended to give me the evil eye, but ended up giggling. “Okay, I do believe you. Just about.”“Okay, so both reasons are true. But I sti...l want to marry you ‘in front of God and this congregation’, right?”“Right! Uh, I know I ruled out any of my immediate family, but it would be cool to have some people my side of the church. There are three school friends I keep in touch with: Auburn, Gaby and Yessica. Yess was a neighbor and still sees her mom every week – that’s how I know about my. ”“How did you meet him?”“Mark’s youngest daughter was in middle school four years ago. I was low man on the faculty totem pole and got assigned to chaperone the Valentine’s Day dance. When Mark dropped her off, he came inside to do the parent thing and make sure we would safeguard her honor. That’s when we met. He was divorced and charming and he asked me out.”“So how long did you date?”“We didn’t. Or at least not right away. I’d not been much on dating since college, and I told him. Aur meri car mein aake baith gaya….mein ne ussey daikha….baarish se bheega huwa…uska jism garum hogaya tha…mein yeh daikh ke bola“Arrey Laddoo…thumain tau sakht fever hai…chalo mein thmain clinic le kerr chalta hoon”Laddoo ne kaha“Aamir ji…mere gher waley pereshan hongey…aap unko phone kerke batadein”Mein ne Laddoo ke gher mein phone kia…mujhey Laddoo ke Dad jaante thay…unke Dad ne kaha“Laddoo ki tabiyat bahut kharab tau nahee…kia mein bhi aajaoon”Mein ne unhein kaha“Uncle…pehle doctor ko dikha. Her braided hair smelled like coconuts. “You said you’d tell me the story about you and the preacher’s kid.”Jeff groaned and leaned his head against the bus window to gather his thoughts. That summer had left him messed up. He still struggled to understand why Ruth had been so deliberately cruel. She might have used him, but she had also filled in the blanks about sex and intimacy. Her demanding ways had taught him how to please her, but the aftermath had left him swearing to never hurt a.