Read Online The Devil Made Me Do It by Colette R. Harrell - Free Book Online

you are straightening crooked roads. We have come to a fork in our journey and need your direction and guidance to travel the road that is your will. We don’t want to miss a step, because we don’t want to miss you. I thank you, Lord, for being in our midst. Bring us peace that surpasses all our understanding. We surrender all, everything, to you. Amen.”
    Esther felt a sweet spirit of peace. She hugged her sister, who could be a walking contradiction—critical controller and loving protector.
    â€œThanks, I do appreciate you.”
    Phyllis sniffed and waved away her little sister’s comments. “You make a decent salary. We’ll just go shopping tomorrow and buy you some more clothes. As a matter of fact, I feel a shopping spree coming on,” her voice ending upbeat. She blinked away her tears.
    Esther used her nightgown to wipe her eyes. Her sister didn’t get sentimental often, and when she did, she usually backpedaled when she realized she was being mushy. Esther went down the hall to the bathroom to pack her toiletries.
    Phyllis followed talking. “I hesitate to bring this up, but I think that the path you’re on started with Sheri’s death and Deborah’s abandonment. You marrying Roger and trying to save him is just a symptom of a much-larger disease. Girl, I still don’t believe that you ever really loved Roger. Who could but God?”
    â€œSo tell me what you really feel,” Esther muttered as she shoved toiletries in her overnight bag.
    Phyllis put one hand on her hip and another to point out Esther’s transgressions. “Oh, I’m just warming up. What have you done about your misery? You joined church committees. Let me count them all.... You’re on the Daughters of the Vine committee, the usher board, the Missionaries of Hope, the pastor’s strategic planning committee, and you got the nerve to be the part-time church administrator. Shoot, girl, the last I heard, you even volunteered to be head of the volunteers. Just how miserable have you been? Boo, anyone that busy is running from something . . . usually themselves.” She ended with a snap of her fingers.
    Esther blew her hair out of her eyes and grimaced. “Thank you for your considerable opinion of my life. If you don’t mind I’m a little tired and sore. I’m about ready to get out of here.” Esther began moving through rooms, lifting her suitcases and handing some to Phyllis. “Dang, Sis, couldn’t you, just for once have kept your mouth shut?”
    Phyllis nodded and packed. There was a quiet lull in their conversation, and Esther doggedly pressed her lips closed.
    â€œI guess I let my tongue speak before my brain was engaged. Tonight wasn’t the time to say all of that. If Mama wasn’t outside guarding Roger from Daddy, she’d have known the right thing to say. I’m sorry.”
    Esther didn’t pause in her packing. “We’re good. I can only muster the strength to be angry at one person a day. This is Roger’s day.”
    Phyllis dragged the suitcase and bag to the front door. Esther was close behind. She paused at the open door; the tasteful furnishings, color coordination of drapes, wall covering and carpet attested to the time she had taken to make this house a home. She’d learned that home was about the people, not the building. This was a beautiful prison with invisible bars; it had kept love out and her pain in.
    When she descended the stairs, she passed Roger. He ignored her and leaped up the steps two at a time. She looked over her shoulder and saw him enter the house and slam the door. The sound echoed in her heart, and she knew that the door to her heart would never open for him again.
    Mr. and Mrs. Wiley came and placed their arms around her shoulders. “Let’s have a word of prayer,” he said.
    The extended Wiley family held hands in the front yard.
    â€œWell,” Phyllis