Read Online Stirring Up Strife (2010) by Jennifer - a Hope Street Church Stanley - Free Book Online
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employees with snacks for months, he did nothing but graciously thank Angela for her thoughtfulness.
Cooper laughed as her memory re-created the image of Angela, in a pencil skirt that threatened to burst apart at any moment, using a dolly to wheel in packages of Charmin.
Filling up her coffee thermos from the supply in the break room, Cooper resumed her accustomed sense of anonymity as she entered office building after office building, inserting a master key into the locked shredder receptacles. She replaced stuffed green bags with new empty ones, checked to make sure that the shredder was functioning properly by destroying a thick packet of papers held together with both staples and paperclips, and then moved on to the next site. No one spoke to her or showed her a fraction of the friendliness Brooke Hughes had.
After an uneventful day, Cooper hopped into Cherry-O and drove home. She made herself a tuna melt and a Caesar salad for dinner. As she ate, she stared at Nathan's business card. His company was called Spider Web Designs & Hosting. The card was printed on heavy gray card stock with a graphic showing an industrious spider spinning the letters www in a thin, silky-looking font. It was a simple yet striking card. Cooper thought that Nathan must be quite talented at designing Web sites if his business card made such a favorable impression.
Taking the last bite of her tuna melt, Cooper eyed the thumbprint cookies that Maggie had left on her kitchen counter. The strawberry and apricot jam in the center of each cookie glistened in the amber light of her cheap brass chandelier. She knew the cookies were rich and buttery and would be the perfect accompaniment to a cup of decaffeinated French vanilla tea followed by one or two cigarettes.
"No. I'm done with those," she reprimanded herself. "I can call a guy without needing a smoke."
In fact, Cooper was much more interested in finding out what had happened when the Bible study members visited Wesley Hughes in jail than submitting to her nicotine craving, so she pushed the plate a few inches away and picked up the phone. It had been a long time since she had called a single man at home and her fingers hesitated over the number pad. She couldn't help but experience a sharp pang that Drew's voice wouldn't be at the other end of the line, and Cooper tried not to think about the last time she had spoken to him, but the memory surfaced all the same.
Drew had returned to the two-bedroom apartment they had shared for more than four years--a hastily built yellow tower within walking distance of a grocery store and Home Depot--with a U-Haul van and his new girlfriend's brother.
"Trent's here to help me pack up my things," Drew had explained to Cooper three weeks after his arrest. "I'm going to live on my own for a while."
Sitting at her kitchen table nearly six months after this event, Cooper felt a flush of shame as she recalled how she had cried and begged Drew not to leave her. She remembered how Trent had carried out the last box without meeting her eyes and how Drew had kissed her on the cheek for the last time, whispering that he was sorry and that he hadn't planned on falling in love with Anna Lynne.
Reaching up to touch the smooth skin of her cheek, as though the flutter of Drew's lips still lingered there, Cooper dialed Nathan's cell phone number.
"I'm so glad you called!" Nathan exclaimed after Cooper identified herself. "We all thought you might have been a bit freaked out after yesterday."
"I was wondering how Brooke's husband is doing."
"We weren't able to see Wesley." Nathan became instantly dejected. "He was meeting with his lawyer all afternoon but we wrote him a note that said we'd be back and to hang in there. I can't even begin to imagine what that poor guy is going through. It's hard enough that he's lost his wife, but to be accused of killing her too... . Well! Our little group is not going to sit on our hands and
Cooper laughed as her memory re-created the image of Angela, in a pencil skirt that threatened to burst apart at any moment, using a dolly to wheel in packages of Charmin.
Filling up her coffee thermos from the supply in the break room, Cooper resumed her accustomed sense of anonymity as she entered office building after office building, inserting a master key into the locked shredder receptacles. She replaced stuffed green bags with new empty ones, checked to make sure that the shredder was functioning properly by destroying a thick packet of papers held together with both staples and paperclips, and then moved on to the next site. No one spoke to her or showed her a fraction of the friendliness Brooke Hughes had.
After an uneventful day, Cooper hopped into Cherry-O and drove home. She made herself a tuna melt and a Caesar salad for dinner. As she ate, she stared at Nathan's business card. His company was called Spider Web Designs & Hosting. The card was printed on heavy gray card stock with a graphic showing an industrious spider spinning the letters www in a thin, silky-looking font. It was a simple yet striking card. Cooper thought that Nathan must be quite talented at designing Web sites if his business card made such a favorable impression.
Taking the last bite of her tuna melt, Cooper eyed the thumbprint cookies that Maggie had left on her kitchen counter. The strawberry and apricot jam in the center of each cookie glistened in the amber light of her cheap brass chandelier. She knew the cookies were rich and buttery and would be the perfect accompaniment to a cup of decaffeinated French vanilla tea followed by one or two cigarettes.
"No. I'm done with those," she reprimanded herself. "I can call a guy without needing a smoke."
In fact, Cooper was much more interested in finding out what had happened when the Bible study members visited Wesley Hughes in jail than submitting to her nicotine craving, so she pushed the plate a few inches away and picked up the phone. It had been a long time since she had called a single man at home and her fingers hesitated over the number pad. She couldn't help but experience a sharp pang that Drew's voice wouldn't be at the other end of the line, and Cooper tried not to think about the last time she had spoken to him, but the memory surfaced all the same.
Drew had returned to the two-bedroom apartment they had shared for more than four years--a hastily built yellow tower within walking distance of a grocery store and Home Depot--with a U-Haul van and his new girlfriend's brother.
"Trent's here to help me pack up my things," Drew had explained to Cooper three weeks after his arrest. "I'm going to live on my own for a while."
Sitting at her kitchen table nearly six months after this event, Cooper felt a flush of shame as she recalled how she had cried and begged Drew not to leave her. She remembered how Trent had carried out the last box without meeting her eyes and how Drew had kissed her on the cheek for the last time, whispering that he was sorry and that he hadn't planned on falling in love with Anna Lynne.
Reaching up to touch the smooth skin of her cheek, as though the flutter of Drew's lips still lingered there, Cooper dialed Nathan's cell phone number.
"I'm so glad you called!" Nathan exclaimed after Cooper identified herself. "We all thought you might have been a bit freaked out after yesterday."
"I was wondering how Brooke's husband is doing."
"We weren't able to see Wesley." Nathan became instantly dejected. "He was meeting with his lawyer all afternoon but we wrote him a note that said we'd be back and to hang in there. I can't even begin to imagine what that poor guy is going through. It's hard enough that he's lost his wife, but to be accused of killing her too... . Well! Our little group is not going to sit on our hands and
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