Wishing Pearl (23 page)

“Daddy, that wasn’t funny at all.” Olivia sent the elderly couple behind her into another fit of giggles, and the man with the
ponytail turned around to wink at her. Olivia gasped when she saw that his black-and-gray beard was as long and scraggly as his hair
.

The preacher stopped laughing, and the smile left his face as he cleared his throat. “In all seriousness, folks, this is it. This is what it all comes back to. Where are you with Jesus? Do you know Him as your personal Savior? I’m not going to preach another sermon, so I’m just going to ask you. Do you want to know Jesus? If you want a personal relationship with Him, raise your hand.” He looked across the congregation and nodded as several people put up their hands
.

Olivia slipped her tiny hand into the air and smiled at the preacher. “It’s okay, Daddy, right? I can know Jesus if I want to, can’t I?”

“Yes, Livvie Love, you can know Jesus. In fact, I’m sure He’s smiling at you right now because He wants to know you, too.”

So what happened? If He’d been smiling at her
that
day, if He’d met her as she made her way to the front of the church and stood beside the preacher to ask Jesus into her heart, where had He gone? Olivia strained to hear the bars of the old Sunday school songs.

“Jesus loves me, this I know … “

She dug in her memory to find some hidden snippets of Bible verses she’d memorized.

“For God so loved the world … “

What happened? If—and that was a big
if
—she knew Him
then
, why didn’t she know Him
now? He took Daddy
.

There it was. Fact. Unemotional reality. There was no denying the truth she’d found in her soul. She blamed God. In a way, the realization freed her. On the other hand, even if Olivia reached out to God now—or soon—maybe He’d be so mad at her that He wouldn’t respond to her plea. Surely it wasn’t okay to blame God for things, right? Didn’t people get in big trouble for that in the Bible?

“… stand and join me in a closing prayer.” The preacher lifted his hands as he prayed.

Oops
. Olivia had missed the whole sermon. She hoped there wouldn’t be a quiz on the ride back to the center. She stood to her feet and peeked at the people around her. Everyone’s eyes were closed. Tricia moved her lips in prayer. Skye had a serene and peaceful look on her face. Ju-Ju turned and met Olivia’s gaze for a moment. She gave one nod. That was all it took. It was a nod of assurance and understanding—acceptance.

Olivia blinked and let the corners of her mouth curl up just a fraction. Enough to take Ju-Ju’s move a half step further. Ju-Ju didn’t respond to the mini smile. Not that Olivia had expected her to—she’d stepped outside of her comfort zone enough for one day. Olivia would take what she could get. At least there was hope.

“… Amen.”

The worship team launched a final song as people began to collect their belongings.

Mom!
Olivia had almost forgotten that when she turned to leave with the group, she’d be confronted with the one person she didn’t need to see—wasn’t allowed to see, actually. Should she go tell Ben and let him deal with it? At least then he’d know she had nothing to do with her Mom being here. They couldn’t blame her for something someone else did. If she didn’t tell him right away, Ben might think she and Mom had set it up ahead of time. That was all she needed. So hard to know what to do.

Olivia turned and climbed over Tricia’s feet and squeezed out into the aisle against the flow of traffic. She tapped Tammy on the shoulder.

Tammy spun around. “Olivia. How did you like the service? Wasn’t it wonderful? I want you to meet Ben’s wife, Alicia.”

As much as she wanted to dive right into her problem, Olivia shook Alicia’s warm hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Alicia grinned and exposed two of the deepest dimples Olivia had ever seen, then pulled her in for a warm hug. “It’s great to meet you, too, honey. I hear you play a mean oboe. Can’t wait to hear it.”

“Thanks.” As difficult as it was to pull away, Olivia unfolded her comforted body from Alicia’s motherly arms and cast a glance toward the back of the church. “Listen. I don’t mean to be rude. But I have a little problem. My mom’s here.”

Alicia looked around the emptying sanctuary.

Tammy stood up on her tiptoes, shaking her head. “I don’t see her anywhere, hon.”

Olivia searched the room. Rows and rows of empty seats, a few clusters of chitchatters and people praying, and someone wrapping up cords on the stage. Mom was gone. “Where could she be?”

“Maybe she just wanted to see you, and then she left.” Alicia put an arm around Olivia’s shoulders and steered her toward the door. “Let’s join the others and try to put it behind us for now.”

Could it be as simple as that? Had Mom come all the way there simply to make sure her daughter was okay, and then left without causing a scene?

They headed through the lobby and toward the back door. Olivia glanced in every direction, expecting her mom to pop out from behind a door or a pillar and yell,
Surprise!
But they made it all the way to the exit and still no Mom. Maybe she
had
left. She knew it was against the rules for Olivia to have outside contact at this early stage in the Diamond Estates program. Maybe she was following the rules after all. Possible, but not likely.

Olivia, Alicia, and Tammy entered the parking lot, and Olivia immediately noticed a crowd of people in the center of the parking lot. She bobbed her head to each side, trying to see through the crowd to find out what the attraction was.

Then she heard it. The whiny shriek her mother used when she wasn’t getting her way.

Then she saw it.
Oh no
. Olivia wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.

I
demand access to my daughter, Olivia Mansfield, this instant.” Mom had her freshly done nails on her Donna Karan hips as she tapped her Louboutin stiletto on the pavement. They’d better watch out. Those things were a deadly weapon—she could poke someone’s eye out with those spikes if she wanted to. Like a ninja.

“Mrs. Whitford, please calm down. You’re causing a scene. Let’s talk over here.” Ben put his hand on her arm and tried to steer her to the van and away from the cars queued to leave the parking lot.

Mom shook off his hand, planted her feet, and pointed her finger at Ben.

Olivia groaned and turned to Tammy and Alicia. “What do I do? I didn’t ask her to do this. Am I going to be in trouble? Will I get sent home?”
Because I’m
not
going
.

Alicia pulled Olivia into a tight embrace. “Don’t worry, honey. You’re not in trouble. This isn’t your fault at all. But now we have to deal with it. We have two options for how to handle this. One, you get into my car that’s parked over there.” She pointed to a sedan near the side entrance. “We’ll leave and let Ben handle this and get the girls back to the center. Or, two, you go deal with your mom and try to defuse this situation once and for all. Your call.”

Olivia wanted nothing more than to climb into the back of Alicia’s car, duck down out of view, and return to Diamond Estates without having a big public confrontation with her mom. She could let Ben handle Mom—he dealt with difficult people all the time. But that wasn’t fair to everyone else. Plus all the girls would get to witness even more of her mom’s temper tantrum when she realized that Olivia had left.
Ugh!
“I’ll go talk to her.”

Alicia bobbed her short brown curls and squeezed Olivia’s shoulder. “Atta girl.”

“Praying for you, sweetie.” Tammy gave Olivia a gentle prod.

“Oh, thank God. There she is.” Mom turned on Olivia, tears filling her eyes. “Where have you been?” She looked back to Ben. “Do you just let these girls run loose?”

“I was with Tammy and Alicia, Ben’s wife, Mom.” Olivia sighed as her heart softened. Mom wasn’t angry after all. She was hurting. Maybe even lonely. “Why did you come here? You know it’s against the rules.”

“There should never be rules that keep me from my daughter. That’s just wrong.” She dabbed a silk handkerchief at the corner of her eye.

Olivia stepped forward and took her mother’s hand. “Listen. The rules are there for a reason. If I follow them, it doesn’t mean I don’t love you or need you. But what I do need is for you to let me do this right, Mom. It’s the best thing for me—for us. Trust the program, and let me make it through the best way I can.” Olivia squeezed her hand. “Please.”

Mom stared at Olivia’s face for a long moment then nodded slowly. “You’re right. I’m sorry I came. I’m just … I’m so—” She dropped Olivia’s hand and started backing away. “I’m sorry.” She pivoted on one spike and ran toward a waiting taxi. She climbed in the backseat and rode away.

She never looked back.

“So health food isn’t a real concern around here, huh?” Olivia scraped the remains of someone’s fried chicken tenders and macaroni and cheese into the trash bin. A dollop of barbecue sauce dripped from the plate and plopped onto her sock.
Ick
.

Tricia groaned. “I totally know what you mean. You have to watch yourself or you’ll blimp up.” She patted her slightly chunky hips. “I’m still working on the eight pounds I gained in my first few months here. I’m afraid they might be here to stay.”

“T, get over it. You’re skinny, and you’ll always be skinny. Eight pounds … right.” Ju-Ju added a wad of used napkins to the garbage and turned to Olivia. “Just don’t let them catch you dieting. We’re not allowed, you know.”

Olivia’s jaw dropped. “Not allowed to diet? That’s pure crazy.”

Skye pointed to a poster on the wall. “All meals meet the state requirements like school-lunch programs have to. And they don’t like for us to diet because, quote”—she wiggled her fingers in the air beside her face—” ‘Moderation should make dieting unnecessary.’ Unquote.”

Olivia smirked. “Okay. That’s plain absurd. I, Olivia Mansfield, am from this moment henceforth officially on a diet.”

“You’ll do anything to buck the system, won’t you?” Ju-Ju chuckled and dried the counter she’d just scrubbed.

“I don’t think I’m purposely
trying
to.” Olivia shrugged. “But when the system makes no sense, it just begs to be bucked. I mean, I could stand to lose five pounds already. Heavy breakfasts, bread baskets at every meal, and desserts twice a day won’t help that mission at all.”

“Well, diet or not, no one’s forcing you to eat
that
stuff.”

“I’ll tell you who’s
always
on a diet.” Skye gave Tricia and Ju-Ju a knowing look. They nodded and all said one word at the same time: “Donna!”

“Donna’s probably the only one who doesn’t need to be on a diet.” Olivia scowled.

“Yeah, but she’d tell you that she only stays slim by being very careful. You’ll never see her with bread or sugar. Ever.”

“But I thought dieting was against the rules.”

Ju-Ju shrugged. “A lot of things around here are ‘Do as I say, not as I do,’ but not really in a bad way. I mean, I can sort of see their point. We’re still growing. Blah, blah, blah.”

Skye swiped a cloth at a stray crumb on the countertop. “And the counselors don’t have any privileges they need to earn. They aren’t in trouble like we are.”

“I guess that’s true. But all I know is I’m hitting the treadmill as soon as I can tonight.”

When the game room opened for free time, Olivia put on a pair of sleek yoga pants and grabbed her running shoes. “You guys coming?”

“We’ll be in there in a minute, but not to run.” Ju-Ju laughed. “I’m allergic to sweat.”

Tricia smoothed her sleek hairdo. “And if you’d spent an hour straightening your hair, you’d avoid it, too. Besides, I’m not feeling well—pretty sure that dinner is what did it. Ju-Ju, you and Skye go on ahead with Olivia. I’ll join you in a little bit.”

Skye flipped her legs out and hopped off her top bunk. “Yeah. I, for one, am not hanging around here. Maybe there’s a good movie on or something.”

“Hope you feel better, Trish,” Olivia called over her shoulder as the three girls stepped into the hallway and hurried to the game room.

They walked in, Olivia with her water bottle filled and a towel draped over her shoulder. A group already milled by the theater area, digging through the stacks of DVDs. Someone wanted to watch a classic and the others were arguing for a comedy. On the other side, girls were clustered around the Ping-Pong table, where it seemed a tournament was already under way. They sure hadn’t wasted any time.