Ever since the Barnes’ family get-together last weekend, I’d been feeling guilty about having left Eduardo to come to LA and follow my dreams. I wasn’t a silly teenager who thought she could make it big in Hollywood or something. I was more grown-up than that. I wanted to think I was more mature than that, and I was disappointed to find out how easily I could be swayed by Lucinda’s big talk. Ambition had taken hold of me and I’d allowed it to become more important to me than the man who loved me more than anyone on earth.

He had done everything in his power to make my dreams come true, and he was still doing it even though it was to his own detriment.

The creation and preproduction process of the show—Lucinda wanted to call it Baking with the Barnes—was a lot of fun. I enjoyed letting my creative side come out, and I liked being on TV. The director said that the camera loved me, and Lucinda agreed. The next step was to present it to some test audiences and determine which direction we should go. I figured they might not need me for that part.

I’d been texting Eduardo all week, but the only texts I got in return were short and somewhat terse. I tried to call him, but he didn’t answer so when I picked up the phone on Thursday afternoon, I tried his office number.

Kay answered the phone. “Hello? St. John’s church.”

“Kay, hi, this is Chloe. Have you seen my husband? I can’t seem to get a hold of him.”

“Oh Chloe. I’m not sure where he is right now. Things are such a mess here. With that awful Mr. Banks and his crazy witch hunt against the bishop, I just don’t know what to do.”

“Kay.” I stopped her. “What are you talking about? What witch hunt and who is Mr. Banks?”

“Oh, my word. He hasn’t told you about all of this?”

“All of what? I guess not, and Kay what are you doing up there? Isn’t your husband sick?”

Kay groaned. “Yes, but I’m so mad at him I’ve just let his mother sit up at the hospital with him. There’s only so much I can take of this drinking and getting into trouble and now he’s practically killed himself. I am at the end of my rope, I tell ya.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that. But he is going to be okay?”

“He’s got a busted pelvis and several other broken bones so he’ll be in the hospital for a while then he’ll have to go to a rehab facility to heal his body. Then he needs to go back to the rehab for the alcohol problem, so it’s probably going to be a while before he comes home again, and that’s if I even let him.”

“Oh, Kay, I am so sorry that you’re going through all this. It sounds terrible. And I’m glad that Eduardo has been there for you. I miss him but I know you need him now too.”

“Thank you, Chloe, but I’m fine. I’ve got my mama and my sister is coming in next week to see the kids and help us out. We’re planning on making it a real fun time. Lord knows I could use something to lift my spirits. But I’m okay. Bishop Soto needs you. He has been as glum as could be ever since you left. He misses you like crazy and well, I should probably let him tell you, but I’m afraid he’s in a heap of trouble.”

“What?”

“Yeah. These men on the vestry have accused him of all sorts of things. I know they’re not true, but they’re being quite nasty about the whole thing. Bishop Soto dictated a letter to his attorney to me this afternoon and then he left.”

“Oh, my God. It sounds like I need to find him.”

“I hate for you to have to come all this way, Chloe, but I think it might be a good idea. I’m afraid he’ll do something rash. Please talk some sense into him.”

“I’m making a reservation as soon as we hang up. Thanks, Kay, and if you see him before I do, tell him I’m on my way.”

* * *

Three hours later I was on a flight to New Orleans.

Along the way I found myself making bargains with God. “If I can just have Eduardo back I will quit this TV nonsense and go back and just do the bakery. If I can just be his wife and we can live together and see each other every day I will go to my bakery that I’ve wanted for so long and be happy about it. Please God, and I promise I won’t be distracted by crazy visions of grandeur brought to me by his new family. If he doesn’t want me to see his new family I won’t. I will listen to him, be more sensitive to his needs, not be so selfish.”

Then I added, “I’ll even start going to church regularly. That’s something I should have done from the beginning, been more supportive of his world and less focused on my own.”

How could I have been so self-involved?

What had started out with me using a really nice guy for a way out of my previous life had turned into something else. Somewhere along the way I’d fallen in love with the guy.

Eduardo was probably the finest human being I’d met in my entire life, and he loved me. Me, with the sordid past and the questionable motives. Despite all of those things, he loved me enough to support me in any endeavor I chose. He might not have been happy about it, but like Lucinda pointed out he could have stopped it from happening and he didn’t.

What had I ever done to deserve such a man? The kind of man who, even though he married me so he could sleep with me, didn’t even try to consummate our relationship on our wedding night. In fact, he took care of me for days while I was sick before even alluding to having sex. That was a patient and caring man.

A man who loved me enough to let me go so I could pursue my dreams.

I only hoped now I wasn’t too late. Whatever was going on with his church, it was something he neglected to tell me about. And that made me feel even worse. I was his wife, and he should be able to confide in me.

But of course he didn’t. Why should he trust me with his troubles when I was so selfishly consumed by my own stuff? He probably thought I wouldn’t care. Superstitiously I crossed my arms and legs and prayed I wouldn’t be too late to save my marriage.