Jo left Molly on the patio and went inside the house to refill her mug. Char stood at the sink filling the carafe.
“Char! It’s not even seven-thirty!” She stopped short of reminding her that she’d just gotten home a few short hours ago.
“Hmm. Morning. I’m making more coffee. I drank all yours.”
“No problem. Molly’s into tea today. I had most of the first pot to myself.”
“Hmm.”
Jo sensed something off-kilter. Char appeared dressed for the day in pale pink slacks and a white knit top. Her hair was damp. She showered already? And not dried her hair? And she didn’t say much. Even tired and grouchy, Char always bubbled over with words.
Jo said, “Are you hungry? I’m going to make toast.”
“No. Thanks.”
Jo busied herself with bread and the toaster. “I’ll bring coffee out if you want to go sit down.”
“I’ll wait.”
“Molly’s feeling like a semi ran over her.”
Char flinched.
“She ate spicy Chinese.”
“Hmm.”
“Did you have a good dinner?”
“Yes.”
Jo gathered peanut butter and jam, knives and plates, and waited for Char to expand. She didn’t.
“So,” Jo said. “Where did you eat?”
“The, um, Marine Room.”
“Ah. Nice.”
She nodded.
“Char, are you okay?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“I was just wondering because five minutes have passed and you haven’t called me ‘sugah’ yet.”
One corner of her mouth slid inward enough for a dimple to appear. “Yesterday was…”
The toast popped up, but Jo continued gazing at Char. Something akin to panic gleamed in her friend’s eyes.
Jo said, “Let me fill in the blank. Yesterday was hazardous to your well-being.”
“You could say that.”
“Welcome to the club.”
“I had no plans of joining.”
Jo gave her a sympathetic smile.
They sat round the patio table, nibbled on toast, and engaged in stilted conversation about the weather. When Char wasn’t watching, Molly threw Jo a befuddled look. She shrugged in return. They had agreed earlier that they would not interrogate Char about her evening. Jo’s question about which restaurant she and Todd ate in was their self-imposed limit.
Char picked up her coffee cup. “Andie told me she’s spending the day alone.”
They exchanged a glance. Andie had just told them last night. When would Char have learned—
“I saw her this morning.”
“You saw her?” Jo asked.
“Leaving Julian’s. In the back. You didn’t know…?”
Jo pulled at the neck of her sweatshirt. Now she would have to tell Char as well. Suddenly she thought of yesterday and how she had lectured Char on her plans with Todd. Her face felt hot.
Jo said, “I knew. She left last night because I-I hurt her. She got angry.”
Char simply blinked.
“The thing is, after Andie’s rehearsal dinner twenty years ago, I made out with Paul in a bar.” She abridged the story. Being drunk was disqualified as an excuse. “I told her that last night.”
“Oh, my.”
“I imagine she didn’t want to spend the night in the same house with me.”
“Well, I don’t think she spent it with Julian either.”
“I saw her go into his house.”
“Appearances can be deceiving.” Char’s face, so soft and Southern, hardened.
“I know. Char, I am sorry for chewing you out yesterday. I know I come across like a know-it-all, like—”
“Sugar, stop right there and think about this. If Molly or I had cornered you at that bar, literally sat between you and Paul and told you what an idiotic thing it was you were considering doing and what a louse he was anyway and hardly worth it and how sad you would make Andie, would that have changed the outcome?”
“I was drunk.” There went that resolution.
“A part of you wasn’t. That part deep inside of you that always listened to us no matter how plastered you were.”
Jo stared, now the one at a loss for words.
“I didn’t sleep with Todd.”
Gratitude flooded Jo. Molly smiled.
“And Andie didn’t sleep with Julian. He and I talked at two o’clock this morning on the boardwalk, down a ways. I didn’t want to sleep here, either. Guilt and shame.” She shook her head. “I asked him if I could use his upstairs apartment and he said someone was in it. If that someone wasn’t Andie, I’ll snip every single one of my credit cards in half.”
Jo said, “Appearances.”
Char went on. “Yes, but you were on the mark with my appearances. With Todd, I—Well, you can imagine. I should thank you both for the lectures. No.” She paused, batting eyelashes damp with tears. “What I want to thank you for is showing me how much you care. Even after all this time.”
Molly reached over and clasped Char’s hand on the table. “And even if something had happened last night, we would still love you.”
“Something did happen! I went out with him, with motives nowhere near resembling innocent. I have flirted shamelessly with him for years. I feel so guilty.” She cackled in an unladylike way. “Probably because I am.”
Molly said, “It doesn’t change our love for you or God’s.”
“Oh, Molly. He can’t want me!”
“Yes, He can.”
“But I drained the hot water heater this morning trying to scrub all this gunk off of me.”
“What gunk, hon?”
“This whatever. It feels like tar!” She pulled at her sweater sleeve. “And I keep looking over my shoulder. Something is there. I know it! I can feel it!”
“Char, we need to pray. Right now.”
Char’s face crumpled. “Okay.”
Molly held her other hand out to Jo. She placed hers in Molly’s, took Char’s free one, and tried not to think about pedestrians not a dozen feet behind her gawking at them.
Molly closed her eyes. “Lord, I praise Your holy name. Come be with us right now and touch Char in a special way. She feels the weight of her sin. It feels like guilt and shame. Like tar. I know You’re listening to her now.” She paused. “Char, you can pray out loud if you want or not. You know all about confessing to a priest. Well, your Holy Priest is here right now, waiting to hear from you. Ask Him to forgive you.”
Even if Char had wanted to pray aloud, Jo didn’t think she could. Her sobs were too great.
After a time, Molly said, “Lord, help Char to receive Your forgiveness, to accept Your death as the payment she owes. Thank You. Amen.”
Molly let go of their hands and scooted her chair closer to Char’s. She put her arms around her, and for a long time Char cried softly against her shoulder.
“Oh, Molly.” She sat up and whispered as if in awe. “When I told Him all about how I wanted to commit adultery, how I already had in my heart, it was like I could see Him on the cross and all that tar was covering Him! Then all at once I felt sparkling clean, inside and out. Everything seemed bright and I thought ‘It’s over, it’s over,’ only it wasn’t exactly me thinking that. It was more like a knowledge put deep in my heart. He really forgives me, doesn’t He?”
Molly smiled. “Yes, He really does.”
Jo felt as dazed as the other two looked. Evidently the Molly Effect had struck again.