Redemption Lake

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Authors: Monique Miller

BOOK: Redemption Lake
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Redemption Lake
Monique Miller
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Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Other books by Monique Miller
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter 1
-
Phillip Tomlinson Sunday: 3:00
P.M
.
Chapter 2
-
Phillip Tomlinson Sunday: 8:30
P.M
.
Part I
-
His Side
Chapter 3
-
Travis Highgate Sunday: 9:30
P.M
.
Chapter 4
-
Travis Highgate Monday: 6:21
A.M
.
Chapter 5
-
Travis Highgate Monday: 9:13
A.M
.
Chapter 6
-
Travis Highgate Monday 11:00
A.M
.
Chapter 7
-
Travis Highgate Monday: 1:03
P.M
.
Chapter 8
-
Phillip Tomlinson Monday: 1:35
P.M
.
Chapter 9
-
Travis Highgate Monday: 3:29
P.M
.
Chapter 10
-
Travis Highgate Monday: 6:05
P.M
.
Chapter 11
-
Xavier Knight Tuesday: 6:17
A.M
.
Chapter 12
-
Xavier Knight Tuesday: 8:06
A.M
.
Chapter 13
-
Xavier Knight Tuesday: 9:02
A.M
.
Chapter 14
-
Xavier Knight Tuesday: 12:00
P.M
.
Chapter 15
-
Xavier Knight Tuesday: 1:14
P.M
.
Chapter 16
-
Xavier Knight Tuesday: 3:33
P.M
.
Chapter 17
-
Xavier Knight Tuesday: 6:10
P.M
.
Chapter 18
-
Phillip Tomlinson Tuesday: 9:07
P.M
.
Chapter 19
-
George Jones Wednesday: 5:30
A.M
.
Chapter 20
-
George Jones Wednesday: 8:01
A.M
.
Chapter 21
-
George Jones Wednesday: 1:13
P.M
.
Dedication
 
To my Auntie “V”, Mrs. Valeria F. Cooper—Loving wife, mother, sister and aunt ... Miss you much!
Other books by Monique Miller
Secret Sisterhood
 
Soul Confessions
Acknowledgments
First I'd like to thank the Lord above again, for using me as a vessel and giving me this gift of writing to share with the world.
To my family—Thank you to my parents, Mr. William H. Miller and Ms. Gwendolyn F. Miller, for your continued love and support. Thank you to my daughter, Meliah, for continuing to act as my publicist in training. Thank you also to my sister, Penny, for your continued encouragement, support, and prayers. Much love to my sisters, Denita and Christina, as well as my brothers, B.J. and Christopher.
There are so many people I'd like to thank for your support and encouragement during the writing of this, my third novel. Thank you to my family and friends for continuing to help me spread the word about my novels. Thanks to all of my author friends, especially Jacquelin Thomas, Toschia, Sherri L. Lewis, Suzetta Perkins, Titus Pollard, and Rhonda McKnight.
A special thanks to the members of The New Vision Writer's Group—Durham, NC—Jacquie, Brian, Angela, Suzetta, Sandy, Cassandra, Titus, Lesley, Karen, Pansy, Tonya, Pamela, and Sha-toya.
A huge thanks to my agent, Sha Shana Crichton, for seeing something special in my writing so many years ago and taking me on as a client.
To my editors, thank you, Joylynn Jossel and Kendra Norman-Bellamy, for your sharp eyes throughout so many words and pages.
Readers, thanks so very much for your feedback.
Please continue to keep it coming. I appreciate your support and encouragement. I hope you enjoy this new novel with the new characters, and yes, Phillip and Shelby are back.
Urban Books and the Urban Christian family—Thank you, Carl Weber, Kendra Norman-Bellamy, and Joylynn Jossel for working so diligently with me and other authors you've taken under your wing. Thank you also to my fellow authors in the Urban Christian family for all the networking.
Again, there are so many people, and if I've left your name off, please know it was not intentional. Thank you so very much, ______________!
 (Your Name Here)
Thank you all so much for your support! E-mail me at:
 
Visit my Web site at:
Prologue
Xavier & Charlotte Knight
Charlotte sat stolid and poker faced in the dining room chair. She had no idea how much time had passed since she'd sat down at the kitchen table. She'd long since stopped hearing the ticking of the kitchen clock. Spread across the table were copies of the papers—evidence she'd been gathering for months. Evidence proving that without a shadow of a doubt, her husband, Xavier, was cheating on her—not only in cyberspace, but as close as the neighbor three houses down.
The grandfather clock in her living room chimed three times. It was three o'clock. In just a little over an hour, he'd be home. To her surprise, she was unbelievably calm. No, maybe calm wasn't the right word. She was numb. After three months of collecting information about her husband's infidelity, nothing could surprise her anymore, not even the letter she'd just received from her doctor's office confirming she tested positive for gonorrhea. It was the last straw. She was no longer in denial.
In a little over an hour she'd confront him with some of the things she knew. Just enough to let him know that this time, there would be no forgiving him for the lies he continually told her. Charlotte wouldn't let him know all that she was privy to until the time was right.
Travis & Beryl Highgate
“Don't worry, baby. I promise I'll be there waiting in the parking lot before you get off, to pick you up.”
“Whatever, Travis. Don't make promises you won't be able to keep. Bye.” Beryl hung the phone up before her husband could respond.
Beryl was tired of hearing his sorry lies and pathetic excuses. Her patience meter had hit its breaking point months ago. Why she kept giving him chance after chance to prove himself, she didn't know. Maybe it was because of her two little boys. Maybe it was because she wanted to believe in her husband so badly. She knew he had potential; he just needed to apply himself more. She spent so much of her time coaxing him and stroking his ego, it felt like she had three sons instead of two.
She was at her wits end. She didn't want to give up on their marriage, but he was draining her. Beryl could see it each time she looked in the mirror. And especially when she compared herself to many of the pictures she took before she got married five years ago. Her glow was gone. The sparkle in her eyes had fizzled. No matter how much she tried to bring the glow back with makeup, it didn't help. The stress was weighing on her like a lead weight.
Continually Beryl chastised herself for giving Travis chance after chance to lie to her or to selectively feed her little bits of information here and there. She was tired of feeling stupid and listening to his ever-growing lame excuses. He always had an excuse or answer for everything. Especially when it came to explaining why he couldn't seem to find and/or keep a regular job. She wished her woman's intuition had knocked her upside the head when she first met him.
Beryl's instincts had poked at her on several occasions letting her know some things were amiss. Too many things weren't adding up. And the financial miscalculations were causing checks to bounce, bill collectors to call, and most recently, the lights to be turned off.
After getting poked one time too many, Beryl finally had to admit, enough was enough.
Nina & George Jones
“Pastor Jones, here is the report you asked me to pull. Do you need anything else?” Pastor Jones's secretary, Jennifer, asked.
“No, Jennifer; that will be all for now.”
“Okay, sir.” She turned to leave.
“Jennifer, if anyone calls, please take a message. I don't want to be disturbed for the next couple of hours.”
“Okay, Pastor. What about Mrs. Jones?”
A sharp pain surged through George Jones's head. Wearily, he took a deep breath before answering. “If Nina calls, just let her know I'm taking care of some important business and can't be disturbed. I'll call her when I'm done.”
Once his secretary left the office and closed the door, George flipped through the pages of the bank statements she had compiled for him. Seven months of statements had been neatly put together and categorized by date. They were some of the bank statements for the church.
He then pulled the keys out of his pocket and unlocked his file desk drawer. There he stored personal bank statements as well as credit card statements and various other pieces of billing information. He shook his head in dismay. The devil was attacking their lives in the three areas that meant the most. Satan was making blows against their marriage financially, spiritually, and sexually.
Nina had a problem with gambling, a crisis that was ruining their credit and affecting the church he founded and was currently pastoring. An end had to be put to the craziness.
George opened his Rolodex and pulled out a business card given to him by a friend. It was for an exclusive, secluded Christian couples' retreat in the mountains. Their marriage needed not only professional aid, but spiritual help also. Being the pastor of over two thousand members in the heart of Greenville, NC, he didn't want to risk anyone finding out about his marital problems. Especially not those in his circle of bishops and pastors.
Pastor George Jones picked up the telephone and called the number listed on the card. He and his wife needed to be present on the first available date. He hoped and prayed their marriage would make it until then.

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