Confessions from the Quilting Circle - Maisey Yates Page 0,57

her son-in-law.”

“He won’t be. Not after we get divorced. That’s kind of the law part. Legally, it can be dissolved.”

“Well, no one can blame him. Not after what you did. And I don’t think it’s fair that you’re still here in town. It’s not fair to him. He didn’t do anything.”

Anna was stunned by the truth of that. And Hannah would never know just how true what she’d said was. He hadn’t done anything. He just hadn’t done a damn thing.

He hadn’t done anything to fix their marriage. Hadn’t done anything to make her feel like he cared. Hadn’t done any of the things that a good husband was supposed to do.

He hadn’t kissed her. He hadn’t held her. He hadn’t loved her.

Not by the end.

And it was amazing how people thought that made you innocent.

Doing nothing.

She was guilty, because she had done something.

Because she’d had an affair. And everyone knew about that. Didn’t know that for years she had been the one to do something. To talk about their problems, to try to fix them. To try to seduce him. To cook dinner, try to be pretty, try to be supportive.

She had done something.

Something. Something.

While he had done nothing.

“I don’t want to have this conversation with you,” Anna said.

“Because you’re convicted,” she said, her words laced with venom. “You know that what you did was wrong.”

“If I want to talk about my marriage, it isn’t going to be with you. I haven’t even had this in-depth of a conversation about it with Thomas. He went and announced it to the entire church without ever speaking to me about it. He’s said more to a room of a thousand people about our divorce than he has ever said to me. And you tell me whether or not you think that’s right?”

Her lip curled in disdain. “Why should he talk to the woman who let another man touch her like that.” Her cheeks went red, her whole body nearly shaking with indignation. “I would never do something like that.”

And the hardness, the intensity of her tone, told Anna another story altogether.

“Good for you,” Anna said. “I hope that doesn’t come back to bite you someday. I hope that your marriage never ends up in a place where you question everything you know, and everything you are. Where being somebody completely different, being someone that you would have thought was appalling a few years ago, doesn’t become preferable to being the person that you are.”

The door opened again, and Laura came out. Anna braced herself. She was outnumbered now.

“What are you doing, Hannah?”

“You smiled at her,” Hannah said. “But I’m not going to ignore what she is. I’m not going to forget what’s right and wrong. And I’m not going to fail to call things like they are.”

“Hannah...”

“No. You can have your lazy version of love. Letting people feel comfortable with what they are, but I don’t believe in making people comfortable. It’s not wrong to call out immorality.”

“Don’t you see yourself?” The ferocity in Laura’s voice surprised Anna, and even more so when she realized that it was directed at Hannah. “Throwing stones like you’re without sin. If Jesus couldn’t condone casting a stone at a woman caught in adultery I don’t know why you think you can. I don’t know why it’s your job to punish someone. It should be your job to forgive. And you should be embarrassed. Not Anna. She’s just up here having a life, having a job. You... You went out of your way to be nasty. To be unkind. And it so easy to hide behind platitudes like you do. If you don’t care about someone it’s easy to call them out, isn’t it? Because you wrote her off, so you don’t care what she thinks about you. You’re embarrassed now, because I’m calling you out. Because you care what I think. Where’s all that conviction now, Hannah? Where is it?”

Laura was right, and Hannah was looking completely shamefaced. Laura’s eyes filled with angry tears. “You run around acting like you’re doing the Lord’s work. But as far as I can see the only God you have is yourself and your own opinions. You use false morality like a weapon to make yourself feel above it all because if you didn’t run around attacking other people you’d have to look at yourself.” Laura turned to Anna. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t know this was a hit. No one told me. I wouldn’t have allowed