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most people don’t know about because the marriage was annulled the next day,” Bryant continued.
    “Sounds like Britney Spears.” Trish looked at the others. “Wasn’t her first marriage a Vegas hoax?” No one replied, and the subject of Britney’s marital past was quickly passed over.
    “I loved my first wife more than I’ve ever loved any woman,” Bryant declared with feeling. “But she was pregnant when we married and, as it turned out, I wasn’t the father. She left me for him the day after our wedding.”
    “That’s awful!” Trish cried, while the rest of the members nodded in sympathy.
    Savannah turned her face toward Nathan. “What’s your most recent beginning?”
    “Um.” He tucked his feet a few inches farther under the chair. “This is a bit embarrassing, but I just joined an online dating service.”
    Trish licked her shellacked lips and leaned forward eagerly in her seat. “Which one?”
    Nathan ran his fingers through his hair and mumbled, “RichmondMatchmaker.com.” He looked at Cooper. “I design and develop websites, so I spend most of my time in front of my computer. Figured I may as well date on the computer too.” He clasped his long fingers together and raised his eyebrows. “Your turn, new girl.”
    Cooper traced the rim of her coffee cup. “I met a woman who’s a member here. She invited me to come and it felt like something I wanted to try.”
    Jake raised his brows. “You looking for a church to join?”
    “To tell the truth, I’m not sure what I’m looking for,” Cooper said. And when the Sunrise members continued to gaze at her expectantly, she reluctantly added, “The man I expected to marry broke up with me. I’m trying to get over him—to move on. I thought coming here would help.”
    “What happened?” Nathan asked sympathetically.
    Encouraged by his tone, Cooper pushed the words out rapid-fire. “My ex-boyfriend is a home inspector. He liked to drink beer, and toward the end of our relationship he was drinking way too much. He started showing up to work late or sometimes not at all. One day he went to a home inspection totally drunk and it didn’t work out so well.”
    Trish made a disapproving tsk-tsk noise. “Not good.”
    . “Exactly,” Cooper agreed. “Drew threw up all over the client’s antique Oriental rug. He and the client, a guy named Trent, called each other some ugly names, punches were thrown, and finally a neighbor called the cops. Both men spent the night in jail, and when it was time for their bail to be posted . . . ah, now I’m at the hard part . . .”
    “You’re doing great,” Jake coaxed. “Go on. Get it out.”
    Cooper rubbed the smooth surface of the desktop. “This gorgeous redhead named Anna Lynne White came to bail out her brother, Trent.” Cooper fought to keep her voice even. “She also paid for Drew’s bail and announced to both guys that the price for her having sprung them was that they would both have to go to church with her straightaway. That was her deal. Trent did as his sister asked but the big surprise was that Drew did too. Apparently, Drew fell in love with Anna Lynne White the second he laid eyes on her. That spelled the end of our relationship.”
    The room was silent for a moment.
    “Thank you for sharing with us,” Savannah said and some of the other group members echoed their gratitude. “We welcome you to our group with open hearts and open hands. If you’re ready for a new beginning, then we’ll do our best to support you as you step onto this unfamiliar road. Friends”—Savannah held out her hands—“let’s pray for our friend Cooper.”
    Cooper watched as the other Sunrise members bowed their heads and closed their eyes.
    They’re doing this for me, she thought, amazed.
    Just as the group finished praying, a plain-faced man in an expensive but rumpled suit entered the room. Everything about him spoke of excess, including the gold rings stuffed onto his sausagelike fingers, the