Path of the Wicked Read online

  “That’s what I want, Lord,” she whispered into the quiet of her truck cab. “I want to love someone like that. I want to be loved like that.” Surprised and irritated to find herself fighting back tears, she stuffed the last four French fries into her mouth, grabbed her Coke from the cup holder, and marched into the mall.

  Almost furtively, she pulled open the heavy door to the nail salon next to Macy’s and, after being greeted by the receptionist, mumbled, “I’m here to see Minnie.”

  “We know you.” The Vietnamese woman behind the reception desk smiled as Cooper retrieved a pair of flip-flops from her handbag. “You a regular customer now.” She then led Cooper toward the back of the salon and gestured at one of the voluminous leather pedicure chairs. “Pick your color and sit in second chair on left,” the woman directed her. “Minnie coming soon.”

  Cooper selected a conservative mauve polish and then settled into her chair. She pressed the red button on the attached remote in order to start up the chair massage and gazed at the other women in the salon. Only months ago, Cooper would have laughed to consider herself among the women who routinely sought a beauty treatment for their feet. However, once she had been initiated into the world of pedicures, she quickly became a bit of a junkie. She now had a pedicure twice a month and had bought several pairs of sandals to show off her neatly polished toes. One of the first things she did after work was to kick off her heavy boots and slide her colorful toes into a pair of sandals or flip-flops.

  “Hello, Miss Cooper,” a petite young Vietnamese girl greeted her and then turned on the water in the pedicure tub. She shook a jar of green granules into the water and then accepted the bottle of nail polish Cooper handed her. “Your sister come, too?” she asked.

  Cooper nodded and then glanced in the direction of the front door. “Here she is now.”

  Ashley Lee Love strode into the salon like a supermodel flaunting her stuff on the catwalk. She was wearing pink Capri pants stitched with navy blue whales, a wide leather belt that accentuated her narrow waist, and a flimsy white blouse. Her accessories included three strands of pearls, matching pearl earrings, a glimmering diamond tennis bracelet, and a Versace hobo purse that looked as though it contained a bowling ball.

  Flipping a shimmering lock of golden blonde hair over her tanned shoulder, Ashley inspected the array of available nail polish colors as though she were a surgeon selecting the appropriate instrument for a complicated case. She held up a pair of pale pinks in almost identical hues to the light and then meticulously painted her big toe with a stripe of color from each bottle.

  “Should I pick Italian Love Affair or Argenteeny Pinkini?” she called across the salon to Cooper.

  For some reason, the first name caused Cooper to think of Emilio, her new coworker. “The second one,” she replied firmly.

  Ashley handed the bottle to her nail technician and then slipped off a pair of elegant sandals with a wedge heel. Sliding gracefully into the pedicure chair, she opened her purse, pulled out one of several magazines rolled up inside, and showed it to her sister.

  Cooper stared at the beautiful little girl gracing the cover of Parents magazine. She was blonde, freckled, and had the deepest dimples that Cooper had ever seen. “Cute kid,” she said and then looked at Ashley’s expectant face. “Why are you showing me that?”

  “I need to start doing some research,” Ashley answered with an enigmatic smile.

  “On parenting?” Cooper was confused.

  Ashley wiggled excitedly in her seat. “Of course, silly. How else am I going to get ready for when the baby comes?”

  Cooper’s mouth came unhinged. She stared at the angelic, pig-tailed child on the cover of the magazine and felt a stab of jealousy. Ashley, who was exactly a year, a month, a week, and a day younger than Cooper, was married to a handsome and wealthy husband and lived in an elegant mansion in the most desirable section of the suburbs. She divided her time between playing golf and tennis, shopping at boutiques and high-end department stores, and organizing an endless parade of philanthropic events. And now, the woman who already had looks, love, and luck was going to have a baby.

  What about me? Cooper asked silently and stared forlornly at the bubbles surfacing around her feet. I’m the older sister! I have no husband, no children, and I spent five years of my life with a man who dumped me for another woman! When will it be my turn?

  “It feel okay?” Minnie inquired as she rinsed Cooper’s feet and began to massage her calves using a fragrant orange lotion.

  “Yes.” Cooper forced a smile to her face. She suddenly felt ashamed of being envious of her sister. Touching the cover of the magazine Ashley held, Cooper looked into her sister’s lovely cerulean eyes and said, “A baby. That’s wonderful, Ashley. I’m real happy for you.”

  2

  Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

  Psalm 34:5 (NIV)

  Ashley reached over in her massage chair and swatted Cooper with her magazine, causing her nail technician to look up in alarm.

  “I’m not pregnant yet, Coop,” Ashley hissed. “Don’t go jinxing me!” She returned her feet to their former position without even glancing at the befuddled technician. “But Lincoln and I have decided it’s time. Daddy and Mama would be so tickled to be grandparents and . . . Oh!” She jabbed her fingernail at an ad in the magazine. “Look at this adorable bassinet! I am going to have the most beautiful nursery in the whole city! I’ve already brought home a dozen wallpaper samples to try out. I’m leaning toward green toile with the—”

  Cooper interjected with a shake of her head. “Aren’t you putting the cart just a bit in front of the horse?”

  Ashley paused and then narrowed her eyes defensively. “Lincoln and I are young, happy, and in love. What’s going to stop us from having the most perfect, precious little baby anyone’s ever laid eyes on?”

  Ignoring Ashley’s testiness, Cooper replied, “Nothing, I suppose.”

  After all, you’ve always gotten everything you’ve ever wanted, Cooper thought sourly, reflecting that while the Lees hadn’t had the means to spoil their youngest child, Ashley had managed to charm people into buying her sweets and trinkets from the time she could talk. At school, she had always been the prettiest, most popular girl in the class. With each report card that came home, Cooper waited for her chance to finally outshine her sister, but it had never happened.

  After high school, Ashley’s partial scholarship to Hollins University allowed her to cross paths with her future husband, Lincoln Love, at a polo match attended by central Virginia’s most affluent and influential families. Naturally, Ashley had been invited by a sycophantic sorority sister who also happened to be a congressman’s daughter. The poor girl had hoped that by bringing Ashley along, the young men who couldn’t get near Ashley would settle for flirting with her. Ashley was in her element and had no difficulty juggling a dozen coquettish conversations until Lincoln rode up on his sleek gray mare. The horse cleared a path through other would-be suitors and Lincoln offered the lovely and popular co-ed a glass of champagne from a bottle tucked in his saddlebag.

  “It was love at first sight!” Ashley always said upon telling strangers about meeting Lincoln. “He even had a crystal glass in that bag!”

  Now, Ashley was happily established in a mansion off the elite River Road corridor. From the outside, it seemed that Ashley’s life was nearly perfect. A baby would be the jewel in the crown of an already charmed existence.

  “I wonder if I’ll get really fat when I’m pregnant,” Ashley mused, breaking Cooper out of her envious trance.

  Watching as Minnie deftly applied a clear topcoat to the toes on her left foot, Cooper frowned. “I doubt you’ll get fat. You work out five days a week.” For a moment, Cooper allowed herself to picture Ashley at three times her normal weight, wearing sweatpants with an elastic waist and a pullover top that strained across her bulbous bosom and belly. She guiltily acknowledged that it was quite pleasant
to conjure up such an unflattering image of her sister.

  “You’re right!” Ashley declared. “I won’t let my body control the situation. I’ll enroll in prenatal yoga and follow a strict pregnancy diet.” She rubbed her hands together. “It will be so much fun to shop in the new maternity boutiques, too. Styles for expectant mothers have finally caught up with the times. Did you know that nothing’s returnable at those places?” Without waiting for Cooper to answer, Ashley wriggled her newly painted toes and asked, “When’s your Bible study group starting up again? You didn’t meet at all this summer, right?”

  “We start again this Sunday and I haven’t done all the homework yet.” Cooper flushed, as her answer wasn’t entirely honest. In truth, she had bought the workbook called Joseph: Amazing Dreamer at the LifeWay Christian bookstore the day after she had received Savannah’s letter in the mailbox announcing the topic of their next study. The following weekend, after spending the morning weeding the vegetable garden, Cooper had immediately settled onto the couch with her workbook and Bible and had completed all of the blanks in the reading with the exception of a single question, which she put off answering day after day.

  Still, Cooper had missed the members of the Sunrise Bible study during the summer and couldn’t wait to resume their meetings. She vowed to fill in that one blank before she saw her friends again on Sunday.

  Checking her watch, she jumped up and then paused to carefully ease her sticky toes into a pair of flip-flops. “I need to get back to work.”

  “Don’t put your work boots back on ’til the last second and don’t worry, this is my treat!” Ashley patted her purse gaily. She was always generous with her money. “Go on now,” she teased as Cooper carefully took a step. “You don’t want to keep those copiers waiting. Why, I can practically feel the toner running low somewhere in the city!”

  Cooper could hear her sister’s snigger all the way to the parking lot.

  “Now she’ll add a baby to all her other blessings? And me? I live with my folks, am thousands of dollars in debt, and still want a cigarette months after quitting! It’s just not fair!” she complained to the heavens before sliding into her truck, and then immediately asked for forgiveness for her childish outburst.

  Eyeing the clock, Cooper realized that her lunch hour was nearly expired. She quickly drove back to work, accelerating through two yellow lights—one of which switched to red just as she passed beneath it. Spying a police car in the opposite lane, Cooper’s heart lurched into her throat, but the officer was looking out his passenger window and had apparently not witnessed Cooper’s blunder. She exhaled in relief and eased her foot from the gas pedal.

  I’ve been so unsettled lately, she thought as she pulled into the parking lot in front of her office building. Even though she was already five minutes late returning from lunch, she picked up her Bible study workbook from the passenger seat and opened to the question she had yet to answer. Gripping a pencil in her hand, she read the italicized words for the tenth time in a matter of days.

  What are you seeking most at this time in your life?

  Cooper stared at the letters for a long moment, remembering a time when she had been Drew Milton’s girlfriend. He had broken up with Cooper nearly a year ago and was engaged to Anna Lynne White now, but Cooper still missed being loved and cherished by a man. She missed making pancakes for Drew, reading the newspaper in their pajamas, and sharing a blanket as they cuddled on the sofa watching reality shows. She missed the smell of his cologne, the sight of his electric razor on the sink, and knowing that she was claimed by someone.

  What are you seeking? Cooper asked her heart and then hastily scribbled: I want to fall in love again. Really, God. I’m ready. I want myself a man.

  “Whoa! What happened to your face?” Jake the plumber exclaimed as Cooper entered the Hope Street Church Christian Academy classroom where her Bible study group gathered.

  Cooper immediately reached up to touch the swath of red bumps covering the left side of her face and neck. The rash had almost kept her from coming to the meeting she had so looked forward to, but her desire to see her friends—Nathan in particular—had overwhelmed her embarrassment.

  “It’s poison ivy,” she mumbled, her hand lingering on her itchy cheek. She had covered the area with clear Calamine lotion and had then applied a layer of foundation on top of that, hoping to camouflage the rash. Instead, she had created a kind of flesh-colored paste that cast a bright sheen beneath the morning light streaming through the classroom windows.

  “I thought you were a gardener,” Trish stated a trifle wryly and absently touched a strand of her shellacked copper hair. “I don’t know anything about most plants, but when I schedule an open house I always check the yard for poison ivy the week before. There’s nothing like toxic plants to turn off a potential buyer.” She smirked. “Unless the grass is loaded with dog poop. That’s even worse. Could you imagine roaming around your future dream home when, all of a sudden, the heel of one of your new patent leather pumps sinks into a pile of . . . ew!”

  “You’re still beautiful to me.” Savannah, the legally blind folk artist and leader of their Bible study, reached out for Cooper’s hand. “It’s good to have you with us again, my dear.”

  Grateful for the gesture, Cooper squeezed her friend’s hand in return. “What painting are you working on these days?” she asked Savannah.

  “A scene of Noah gathering all of the animals,” Savannah replied and began to re-braid her long, black hair as she spoke. “I’m using an old door as my canvas. Jake found it for me during a water heater installation. He said it was salvaged from a home destroyed by the downtown flooding we had several years ago. That’s why I chose to paint an ark on it.” She smiled in Jake’s direction and his eyes glimmered with pleasure.

  “So how did you end up getting that on your face?” Bryant Shelton, Richmond’s best-known meteorologist, persisted.

  “My grammy’s taken in a stray cat. It’s a longhair and I was petting it the other night right after it came back from the woods. The oil from the plant must have been on its fur, and I had it on my fingers when I touched my face.” Cooper resisted the urge to dig her nails through the prickly skin on her cheek and instead slid into a seat next to Quinton, who was furiously writing something on a yellow legal pad. “Are you writing a new song?” she inquired loudly, hoping that the questions about her grotesque rash would cease if she continued to change the subject.

  Quinton, a wealthy, plus-sized investment banker with an aptitude for baking and penning the lyrics to praise songs, nodded. As he did so, his heavy cheeks shook slightly. “Something just came to me and I wanted to get it down before we start talking about Joseph.”

  “Speaking of faces,” Trish said and Cooper held her breath, but the realtor turned a pair of violet eyes on Bryant. “I think I saw you and, was it your girlfriend, at the movies last week.”

  Bryant flushed. “You found out my dirty secret. I’m a Harry Potter fan. I’ve see all the movies on opening weekend.”

  Trish stared at Bryant with undisguised disapproval. “Your date appeared to be about the same age as our babysitter.”

  “Missy? She’s a grad student. I met her here at church a few weeks ago,” Bryant declared casually. “That’s a better start than most of my relationships have had.” In addition to his incredibly vague forecasts, Bryant was notorious for his series of failed marriages to similar-looking young blondes. Though he wasn’t her type, Cooper could see why women were attracted to the handsome and charismatic meteorologist. Still, she knew that Bryant’s Bible study friends were worried about him rushing into one more doomed marriage and often prayed for him to proceed with more caution before making promises to another young woman. So far, Bryant had avoided proposing, but he seemed to have a new girlfriend every month and showed no signs of being aware of what he wanted from a relationship other than fun.

  “And does the future Mrs. Shelton know you’re wearin’ makeup?” Jake teased Bryant.r />
  Shrugging nonchalantly, Bryant replied, “I get so used to applying a little foundation before going on the air that I just started putting it on every morning.” He grinned, displaying his bleached veneers. “I think my pores look smaller when I use it.”

  “As long as you don’t come in here with lipstick and purple eye shadow.” Jake winked at his friend. “I might start hittin’ on you then.” Cooper laughed as Jake made kissing gestures with his lips, but before Bryant could respond to Jake’s good-natured barb, Nathan Dexter walked into the room carrying a large, white bakery box.

  Quinton forgot all about his song lyrics. “What did you bring us, Nathan?”

  Carefully balancing the box, Nathan moved forward in his customary near-lurch. His enormous feet seemed to force him into ungainliness and his long body, coupled with a pair of wide shoulders, only increased the appearance of clumsiness. Nathan had a kind, open face, and though his forehead was too high and his chin too angular to produce a perfectly attractive visage, he was smart and generous and funny and Cooper felt her blood rush a little faster through her veins as he turned a sunny smile in her direction.