Second Chance Reunion

“I know she was in rehab for a year and that her kids are in foster care. She hasn’t said much more than that. Is there more I should know besides the fact that you were married to her?”

Releasing a harsh breath, Ian stared at his desk and prayed for wisdom before looking up at Melody again. “I’m going to tell you what turned my life around, but I’m going to let Annie tell you her own story. I think that’s the fair thing to do.”

“Did you and Annie talk about this?” Melody raised her eyebrows.

“We discussed the fact that I’ve never volunteered any information about my past. Adam knows, but he’s the only one.”

Melody leaned forward. “Ian, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.”

Ian waved off her suggestion. “I appreciate that, but I think you might as well know my story. Otherwise, you’ll always be wondering.”

“You’re probably right.”

“As I mentioned, Annie and I started dating in high school. We went to college in Florida to get away from our parents. We studied hard during the week, but we partied harder on the weekends. A pattern we established in high school although to a lesser extent.”

Melody frowned. “And your parents had no clue?”

“I’m sure if they had, my dad would’ve put an end to it, but both sets of parents were too busy with their own pursuits to notice.”

“Did your parents approve of your relationship with Annie?”

“Yeah. My parents loved Annie. They thought two good Christian kids were right for each other. They never imagined what we were doing.”

“They never questioned anything?”

Ian shrugged. “How was your date with Annie? That’s about the extent of it.

“After college graduation we both got good jobs in Orlando. When we eloped without telling our parents, they weren’t very happy, but we didn’t care. We were living the high life. At least that’s what we thought.”

“What happened?”

“About six months after we were married, I had a business meeting one night and had a lot to drink. No one was keeping track, or they wouldn’t have let me drive home. I could hold my liquor and didn’t appear to be drunk, but I was. Way over the limit.”

“So you drove drunk?”

Ian nodded. “Not something I like to admit. Thankfully, I was the only one involved in the accident. On the way home, I was going too fast and failed to negotiate a curve. I slammed into a tree on a remote road. Someone finally drove by and saw my car lights in the woods. Somehow I managed to survive, and the accident served as a wake-up call.”

“Did your parents finally know how you’d been living?”

“Yeah, I confessed everything, expecting my dad to blow through the roof, but instead, he actually cried. He prayed for me and took time off from his pulpit. He stayed in Orlando until I’d recovered enough to go back to Atlanta at his insistence.”

“What about Annie? Where was she during all this?”

“I think the whole episode scared her, too. She was there for me. She quit partying on the weekends with our friends and moved back to Atlanta with me and got a good job. She helped me while I was going through the grueling physical therapy. She couldn’t have been more supportive.”

Melody’s brow wrinkled. “So how did everything fall apart, or is this the part you don’t want to talk about?”

“I feel responsible for her not staying sober.”

“Why?

“When I fully recovered, I decided to go to law school. My parents encouraged it, and even Annie seemed to think it was a good idea and said we could live on her salary. We even started going to church together.”

“Sounds like things were going well.”

Ian stared at the floor, then finally looked up. “Yeah, for a while. I think my going back to school was partly to blame for Annie falling back into her old ways. Those first few months of law school, I spent a lot of time studying with my study group. Annie was at loose ends and started going out with her coworkers after work. Pretty soon she was drinking again, but I wasn’t paying attention to her activities.”

“You can’t blame yourself for what she did. She made her own decisions.”

“I know, but if I’d paid more attention to my wife, things might have been different.”

Melody shook her head. “You don’t know that. How do you feel about Annie being here?”

Ian wondered how he could explain the emotions he was feeling. He didn’t want to reveal the hurt, the humiliation or the sense of failure Annie’s presence produced. “Let’s just say it’s complicated. I want to help her, but her broken promises over the years don’t inspire my trust.”

“I’m beginning to see a lot of things.” Melody scooted forward in her chair. “After hearing about your relationship with Annie, I know this is a lot to ask, but I still think we need to give her a chance to prove herself.”

“With our finances?”

“Yes. I believe it will give her a sense of purpose and help with her recovery.”

Ian gritted his teeth as he got up and walked over to his office window and looked out at this place he loved. Could Annie’s financial knowledge help save The Village, or would it only lead to more trouble? What a miserable set of circumstances he faced in an effort to put this ministry on a solid footing—dealing with his father and his ex-wife. Ian turned back to Melody. “You know I’ll do just about anything to keep The Village going. So I’ll go along with your suggestion about Annie, but you can believe I’ll be watching her every move.”

Chapter Three (#ulink_b19a5478-ad8a-513c-b7e8-2b78dd44a3a8)

The quiet of the massive church auditorium enveloped Ian as he walked down the carpeted aisle, his footsteps barely making a sound. The plush stadium seats reminded him of a theater. Thousands came to worship here each Sunday and hear his dad preach. Many people had come to know the Lord through this church, but Ian had never felt at home here while he was growing up. He wished he had. Then maybe he and Annie wouldn’t have drifted away from the church and wound up living ungodly lives.

As a preacher’s kid, he should’ve been someone who led her away from the devastating behavior, but instead, he had joined her—both of them trying to escape the unhappiness with their family situations. She didn’t think her family cared about her, because her parents were too consumed with their jobs and were never home. He, on the other hand, hated being a preacher’s kid because everyone expected him to be faultless, like his two older brothers.

Ian found the perfect companion in Annie. They shared a feeling of disinterest from their parents and siblings. Annie’s solution was to engage in risky activities. Ian had loved her as much as a sixteen-year-old boy could love a girl, and he feared losing her love if he tried to persuade her not to do those things. Maybe he could’ve saved her from self-destruction, but he never tried. Instead, he had joined her, and eventually they’d brought each other down.

Annie’s reappearance brought back all those guilty feelings. She seemed to be on his mind at every turn. Maybe after he got her connected with another attorney and let his dad know that she was at The Village, he could quit thinking about her.

Every Friday Ian and his dad had a lunch meeting. They’d been doing this ever since Ian had finished law school. He liked meeting with his dad, but Ian always wondered whether getting together was just an excuse for his dad to make sure Ian hadn’t fallen off the wagon. He could never quite shake the idea that he still hadn’t won his dad’s approval even after all this time.

The suspicions were groundless, but they remained in the back of Ian’s mind like pesky dandelions that reappeared in the lawn every spring. During these lunches, he kept the conversation light because he wanted to avoid subjects where there was a clear disagreement. But today’s lunch would force him to discuss two of those subjects—Annie and The Village.

Ian usually went straight to his dad’s office, but today he’d chosen to walk through the auditorium. He wasn’t sure why, but despite the immensity of the place, it offered a place of solitude where he could figure out how he was going to tell his dad about Annie.

After all, his dad was the one who had suggested giving Annie the ultimatum that made her leave. How many times had Ian wished he hadn’t told her that she had to quit drinking or move out? She’d packed her bags right then and there. He had always regretted the decision to follow his dad’s advice. Annie might not have left if he’d tried to help her more.

Ian sighed. He sank into one of the chairs in the rows near the front. Putting his head in his hands, he began to pray for Annie. Pray for his dad. Pray for himself. Lord, help me find my way. Please give me the guidance and wisdom I need with my dad and Annie.

“Ian.” The sound of Jordan Montgomery’s voice echoed through the auditorium.

Ian scrambled to his feet. “Dad, what are you doing here?”

“I came looking for you. I saw your car in the parking lot and wondered where you were.” Jordan knit his eyebrows together above his gray eyes so similar to his own. “What are you doing in here?”