Bossy Bridegroom Read Online Free Page A

we’d slip right back into the same patterns. That’s why I want the pastor involved.”
    He said it like their marriage was fixed. Like they were only working out details.
    Tears burned at her eyes.
    Pastor Lewis, a rotund man, tall and full of gruff kindness, rested one of his huge, gentle hands on her arm. “Sit down, Jeanie. I told Michael that you and I have talked about your fears many times and the pain of your marriage and giving Sally up. I understand how hard you’ve struggled. I just want us to talk together for a while and see if we can find a starting place. I don’t expect a few minutes of talk to settle years of strife.”
    Jeanie looked from the pastor’s red-cheeked face to Mike’s chiseled, tanned profile. Both of them were strong men. She knew Pastor Lewis was her friend and a wise counselor. But he was trying to bend her to his will just like Michael did.
    Or maybe he just thought this was the right thing to do.
    She sank into the chair Pastor Bert pulled out. Michael, straight across the small table while the pastor sat on the end between them, reached out to clasp her hands as if she’d just declared her undying love and agreed to forgive him everything.
    She moved to shake his grip away when the pastor said, “Let’s join hands and pray.”
    With an exhausted, tearful sigh of defeat, Jeanie let Michael hang on even as she knew his grip would pull her under and destroy her.

four
    Michael fought down the triumphant sense of victory as he held Jeanie’s hand.
    “Jesus said we are to forgive seventy times seven,” the pastor began.
    Seventy times seven equaled four hundred and ninety, and Michael knew he was already way over. He’d probably needed forgiving four hundred and ninety times before their one-month anniversary.
    When the prayer ended, Pastor Lewis focused on Jeanie. “You’ll notice my prayer was one of forgiveness, from God and for each other. It’s not just Michael who has sinned here, Jeanie. When one partner is the more dominant personality, the problem isn’t just that he’s calling the shots; it’s that you’re letting him. He gets in the habit of not listening to you, and you get in the habit of not even telling him what you want.”
    Pastor Bert reached in the breast pocket of his suit coat and pulled out … an inflatable baseball bat. “I want you to hit Michael with this every time he tries to bully you.”
    Jeanie lifted her head. Her shoulders squared. She jerked her hand loose from Michael’s and reached for the bat. She ripped its cellophane wrapper open and began blowing it up with a vengeance.
    “Uh, Pastor Bert, I’ve never heard of this before.” Did he carry one with him at all times? How often did he recommend this technique?
    The pastor ignored him and kept talking to Jeanie. “And this is just for him overruling you, being a bully, demeaning you, insisting on having his way without consulting you or respecting your opinion, hurting your feelings in any way. If you ever feel like Michael is
angry
at you—we’ve talked in counseling about the fear you lived with. If you feel that, call me anytime, day or night. I will personally come to your place and throw him out.
    “H–her place?” Michael’s heart started pounding. Was the pastor going to recommend they live together? Michael wanted that so badly he was afraid to hope.
    “Yes, you need time together to fix this, and I believe you can do that best together, platonically for now.” Pastor Lewis’s eyes narrowed, and Michael wished the man would go back to talking to Jeanie. “But if your wife calls me, even
once
, I will personally come and throw you out, at which point you will do your counseling from separate addresses. And we will begin counseling immediately. Together for now, the three of us, at least once a week. I may decide you need individual counseling as we go along. I can come here early in the morning or whenever is most convenient. I’m not leaving Jeanie to contend with