Chapter Fifty-two
Eight months later. New Year’s Eve . . .
They had about thirty minutes before the clock counted down to the New Year. Lenora was exhausted but excited about the wedding ceremony earlier at eight o’clock. The reception in Victory Gospel Center seemed to almost whirl to life again as people crowded together buzzing about the upcoming countdown.
Lenora walked over to hug Angel, and then Wes. “I thought I would get my hug in now before the countdown began.”
Wes grinned. “We really want to thank you for planning this for us.”
“Yes, everything was so wonderful.” Angel had her arm hooked in Wes’s arm, looking radiant as Mrs. Wesley Cade.
“It was my pleasure.”
“Oh, there’s Candace, I need to talk to her. I’ll be right back.” Angel kissed Wes and took off toward the direction where Candace sat with Darnell.
Lenora turned to Wes. “Have you heard from Serena? I was expecting her to be here tonight.”
Wes shook his head. “Angel and I had invited her. I think she’s trying to hang low for a while. She’s used to being on the other side of the media, not people questioning her.”
Lenora nodded. “I don’t blame her. I’m just really grateful to her. I know she was after a story, and it turned out bigger than she could imagine.”
“Yeah, it looks like Mayor Carrington is going to do some real jail time. Apparently, he managed to swipe a good bit of money out of various projects over the years. He might have gotten away with it if Charmayne wasn’t so determined to keep up her father’s work.”
“Charmayne had a complex relationship with her dad, but she respected him and his work. People misjudged the good heart that she had toward the community too.” Lenora’s eyes watered a bit. It still was hard to get over not being able to talk to Charmayne by phone or in person.
“How’s everyone doing?” Jonathan had made his way in the crowd to stand next to her.
Wes answered, “Good. I will be even better as soon as I get to my bride. Don’t want to miss our first countdown together.”
Lenora and Jonathan laughed as they watched Wes sprint over to where Angel sat.
Jonathan placed his arm around Lenora’s waist. They smiled at each other, probably looking like they were the couple married a few hours before.
They’d been doing a whole lot of laughing in the past few months, mainly to ease the tensions that had been built in their house for so long. Who knew they would physically be fighting an enemy together and have battle scars?
Mother Eliza moved back to her home after she started the soup kitchen at Victory Gospel. She seemed to be happy doing ministry work she enjoyed. Lenora decided to use her Mondays to come in and help Eliza and her staff.
Sometimes Jonathan joined them, helping with the servings. She was really proud of her husband. He took great care in being Victory Gospel’s shepherd, as well as being a vital part of his community as the newly elected District Two City Council member.
If there was one thing Lenora took away from Charmayne’s ambitions, her friend really did love her community. She could be overbearing like Bishop Hudson, but like father, like daughter, they both were dedicated to the people they served.
Both she and Jonathan promised to continue that legacy.
In the background, people were starting to count. “10, 9, 8 . . .”
Lenora turned to Jonathan. “Almost time for a new beginning. Are you ready?”
“Always. As long as I’m with you.”
As the clock struck twelve o’clock midnight, Lenora kissed her best friend.