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to her before. The man she’d thought of as generous and caring had quite literally turned his back on his daughter, and on the woman who had been his lover, and instead of offering any explanation for his behavior to Elise, he’d pushed her away.
    â€œWhat did you do then?”
    â€œI got up and left.”
    â€œDid he come after you?”
    â€œHe did, and he tried to convince me the woman wasn’t anyone I needed to concern myself about, that the baby wasn’t his, anyway.”
    â€œDid you believe him?”
    â€œI loved him, Juliane. I’d given him my heart and soul. And more.” Pausing, Elise swallowed hard as she twisted her hands in her lap. “Please don’t think I’m terrible. We were sleeping together. I wanted to believe our relationship was important to him, but how could I when he refused to tell me what was going on, why he’d behaved so horribly? The more I asked, the angrier he got, until finally, he stormed out.”
    As Juliane stopped the car at a traffic light, she reached across the console and patted Elise’s arm. “We’ve all done things in our lives we wish we hadn’t.”
    â€œDo you understand now why I didn’t want to see him again? The relationship I thought we had was proven false. He wasn’t the man I thought he was, and it still hurts to look at him and remember that.”
    â€œDo you still love him?”
    Elise didn’t want to answer. Her mind buzzed with conflicting thoughts. No. No. No. Surely she didn’t still love him. She couldn’t love a man who treated women the way he’d treated her and Olivia’s mother. “How could I?”
    â€œYou obviously have some kind of feelings for him.”
    â€œConflicting ones. I don’t want him to mess up my life again.”
    â€œHe can’t if you don’t let him.”
    â€œWell, I plan to steer clear of him as much as possible.”
    Juliane pulled her car into the garage of the little century-old house that she and Elise shared near the heart of town. “Thanks for telling me. Now I understand some of what you’re feeling.”
    â€œPlease don’t mention this to Mom and Dad.” Elise followed Juliane into the house.
    Juliane flipped on the light in the kitchen. “Okay, but don’t you wonder why he has Olivia?”
    â€œYeah, but I’m not going there. That’s his business, not mine or yours.”
    â€œBut don’t you wish you knew?”
    Elise eyed her sister. “Juliane, you’d better let it go, or I won’t help you address your wedding invitations.”
    â€œOkay, you win.”
    â€œNothing about this feels like winning.” Elise hung her jacket on the hook by the kitchen door. As she walked into the living room, the doorbell rang.
    â€œThat’s Lukas. He said he’d stop by after his meeting.” Juliane rushed past Elise.
    Elise reached out and grabbed Juliane’s arm. “Please don’t say anything about Seth to Lukas, either.”
    â€œMy lips are sealed.” Juliane pretended to turn a key on her lips like they’d done when they were kids.
    â€œThanks, sis.” Elise headed for the stairs. “I’ve got some studying to do, so I’ll leave you lovebirds alone.”
    As Juliane answered the door, Elise raced up the stairs. She didn’t want to take the chance that Lukas would ask about the evening, because the conversation might involve Seth.
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    Standing in the choir room before the beginning of the worship service the following morning, Elise dreaded the thought of seeing Seth again. He’d be sitting out there in the pews somewhere. Could she avoid looking at him while she stood at the front of the sanctuary with the praise team during the song service?
    She wasn’t sure why he was doing the church routine. He certainly hadn’t been a churchgoer when they’d worked together. Maybe his church