Sandra started in the foyer and moved left to cover the first floor. When they had made the circle, she took Vickie up the winding staircase to the second-floor living quarters. From there, they took the back staircase down to the patio where they would eat.
“Whew,” Vickie said after she was seated at the patio table. “This place is gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. The floor plan is to die for, and you’ve done a masterful job with the decorating. Did you do it yourself or did you hire somebody?”
Mrs. Willis brought out tea and served them both a glass, leaving the glass pitcher on the table.
“I hired a decorator,” Sandra said. “I can give you her name.”
Vickie shook her head. “I’m sure she’s out of our price range. You and Andrew are living on a much grander scale than me and Pastor.”
Sandra took a bit of satisfaction in those words. After all, she’d wanted Vickie to recognize and appreciate what she and Andrew had accomplished. She became angry again when she thought how Andrew’s gambling had put it all in jeopardy. Maybe Vickie would have the last laugh after all when she and Andrew were evicted from this majestic estate. She shook off the negative thoughts. Maybe Andrew could fix it. She hated to admit it, but she liked their lifestyle and didn’t want to lose it. “You and Pastor taught me and Andrew to dream,” Sandra said honestly, surprising herself. “You showed us what was possible with God.”
Vickie took a sip of her tea. “Now you’re making me feel bad.”
At that point, Mrs. Willis brought out a cart with their meal. In her desire yet again to impress Vickie, Sandra had instructed Mrs. Willis to prepare a variety of exotic dishes for sampling. She’d gone to a luncheon with a similar menu a couple of weeks ago and had been bowled over with both the presentation and the tasty dishes.
Vickie’s eyes lit up. “What is all of this?”
Sandra smiled. “Just a little something, something. There are a variety of dishes from more than fifteen different countries. I had Mrs. Willis label them for us. Feel free to try everything. If you don’t like something, don’t eat it.”
Vickie grinned at her. “My fear is that I’ll like everything. Are you trying to get me fat?”
Sandra laughed. A fat Vickie would be a sight to see. She handed Vickie a designer plate and took one for herself. “I guess we’ll be fat together.”
Both women laughed as they loaded their plates.
“Everything is delicious,” Vickie said. “Your cook will have to give me all the recipes. I’m going to have to host a luncheon like this for the ladies at Praise City. They’d love it. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks.”
“I wouldn’t call you an old dog,” Sandra said, wiping her lips with her linen napkin.
Vickie put down her fork. “I owe you an apology, Sandra,” she said. “I’ve come to realize that some of the things you said the night you and Andrew came over to tell me and Pastor about your plans were right. Deep inside, a part of me took personal pride in being First Lady and in all the trappings that went with it. I was a little threatened when you and Andrew decided to go out on your own. I guess I knew deep down inside that what you two would accomplish would overshadow what Pastor and I had accomplished. I’m ashamed of that now. I am happy that you and Andrew are achieving more. You should be. Pastor and I count you as fruit from our ministry and celebrate that the fruit is better than the tree. I wasn’t looking at it that way back then, and I’m sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”
Sandra was so surprised by Vickie’s candor that she didn’t immediately answer.
“I’ll understand if you can’t forgive me right now,” Vickie said, misreading her silence, “and pray that one day you’ll be able to. I also want you to know that this is about me, not Pastor. He really felt that the time wasn’t right for you and Andrew to go out on your own. Now I’m wondering if that was because I wasn’t ready for it, rather than you two not being ready.”
“You’re a wise woman, Vickie McCorry,” Sandra said. “I’ve always known that. But you’re also a humble woman because it took a humble woman to admit what you just admitted. You’re my role model. I accept your apology.”
“Let’s not get carried away,” Vickie said. “Let’s just try to rebuild our friendship.” She reached over and squeezed Sandra’s hand. “I miss you.”
Sandra squeezed her hand back. “And you have to forgive me. I invited you here to show off what Andrew and I have. That was wrongheaded and wronghearted of me, and I’m ashamed.”
Vickie laughed. “We First Ladies are a competitive bunch,” she said. “So you fit right in. Just don’t let the competition get the better of you. Compete in the important things like doing the will of God and helping people, not the trivial things like cars and houses. That’ll mess up you, your marriage, and your ministry. In the hustle and bustle of ministry, sometimes we lose sight of that. Don’t let it happen to you and Andrew, because if you lose that then you have nothing.”
Sandra soaked up Vickie’s words, knowing they were God’s message to her and Andrew. They had some changes to make. She prayed they’d be up to them.
Chapter 19
Sandra felt better after her brunch with Vickie. Her friend’s honesty and openness had been the balm her spirit needed. So instead of being in bed now with the covers drawn over her head, she was headed toward her husband’s office ready to have the second part of the discussion that could determine her destiny.
“Good afternoon, First Lady,” Andrew’s secretary said when she reached his office. “Don’t you look pretty today?”
“Thank you, Doris,” she said. “Is that a new outfit you’re sporting?”
Doris tugged on the jacket of her two-piece suit. “I got it on sale at Macy’s.”
“It looks good on you,” she said, watching the woman beam at her words. The power she wielded as First Lady to make or break somebody’s day still left her in awe. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to it. “Is Pastor free?”
She nodded. “You can go on in,” she said. “He just got back from lunch.”
Sandra took a deep breath, and then she knocked on the door and opened it at the same time. “Andrew,” she called, entering the room. She glanced toward his desk, and not seeing him there, turned to the sitting area. He was rising from a reclining position on the leather couch. “You’re taking a nap in the middle of the day? Now that’s something new.”
“Just resting.” He sat up, his eyes sad. “A lot on my mind.”
Her heart turned over. Despite her anger and disappointment, she loved this man. He was far from perfect, far even from the man she’d thought he was, but he was still the man she’d married. She walked over and sat next to him. “We have to talk,” she said.
He wiped his hand down his face. “I thought you were all talked out.”
She knew he was referring to the way she’d gone to the guest room last night and left him standing in the master bedroom. “Last night I was running on raw emotion. Learning that you were gambling again hurt me so much, Andrew. It took everything out of me to deal with that news.”
“I’m sorry, Sandra,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”
She took a deep breath. “When did it start?”
He looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”
She put her hand on his chin and turned his face back to hers. “It matters to me. When did it start? Was it in Hawaii with the casinos?”
He shook his head. “Horses,” he mumbled. “It started when we were looking for a horse farm for your father. I started betting on horses.” He took a deep breath. “I did sneak away a few times to go to the casino when we were in Hawaii.”
She felt her heart grow cold. “So you never really stopped, did you? Despite your promises to me, you never really stopped.”
He met her eyes. “I tried,” he said. “I really did.”
She got up and walked to the windows. “You need help, Andrew. We can’t keep pretending you don’t.”
He came and stoo
d behind her. “I’ll get help,” he said. “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do.”
She turned and faced him. “How much trouble are we in?” she asked, even though she didn’t really want to know.
He turned away, began pacing in front of her. “It’s bad,” he said. “But I’m managing.”
“How bad?” she asked, her stomach tight. “Are we going to lose everything?”
He stopped pacing, shook his head. “We still have the kids’ trusts and I have my salary here at the church.”
He sucked in a deep breath. “That’s all? Everything else is gone?”
He shrugged. “Not gone exactly. There’s a big mortgage on the farm, and the bank owns more of our house than we do. I didn’t put down as much as you thought I did.”
Sandra dropped down in the nearest chair. “You gambled away all of the lottery money?”
He shook his head. “You know we spent a lot of that money on the church, getting it going and keeping it going. Not to mention buying the building. We have a lot of money tied up in the ministry.”
They obviously couldn’t continue funding the ministry the way they had been doing. “We have to let the leadership team know of the change in our circumstances. Maybe the church can begin to pay back some of the money we’ve invested.”
“We can’t do that,” he said.
She frowned at him. “Now is not the time for pride, Andrew. We have to tell them.”
When he looked away and didn’t say anything, she asked, “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
He stood and walked away from her.
“What is it, Andrew?”
“I sorta borrowed some money from the church discretionary fund without telling anyone.”
Tears began to roll down Sandra’s cheeks. “You stole from the church?”
“It wasn’t stealing,” he said. “My bookie was breathing down my neck. I had to give him something as a show of good faith. I’m going to repay the money. Besides, it was ours anyway.”
Sandra couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “It wasn’t our money, Andrew. Are you so blind you can’t see that? How much do you owe this bookie?”
“Three hundred thousand.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
Sandra felt as though she’d worked an eight-hour shift at a factory. “We don’t have that kind of money.”
“Yes, we do,” he said. “In the boys’ trust accounts.”
Sandra felt her heart grow cold. “I won’t let you touch a dime of the boys’ money. I can’t believe you’d even suggest it.”
“I’d replace it, Sandra. I just need it for the short term. My luck is bound to change. Remember the last time we needed a miracle and God came through for us? He’ll come through again.”
“How? Are you going to ask for the winning horse in tomorrow’s race?” she asked, her voice full of sarcasm. “I’m not going down this road with you again, Andrew. We can start liquidating.”
“That’s not necessary.”
She cast him a cutting glance. “And you have to tell the leadership team what you’ve done. You have to tell them about your gambling addiction. You have to step down as pastor of Showers of Blessings.” And she’d have to step down as First Lady. It hurt to even think about it, but this was where Andrew’s gambling had brought them.
“You can’t be serious,” Andrew said. “I built this ministry from nothing. I’m not stepping down and I’m not telling the leadership team anything. Who are they to judge me, anyway?” He poked his chest with his finger. “I picked them, they didn’t pick me.”
“Do you hear yourself, Andrew? You don’t sound like a preacher to me. You sound like a businessman about to lose his business. Is that what this ministry has become to you?”
“You’re putting words in my mouth,” he said.
She shook her head. “No, I’m hearing the words on your heart. And what I’m hearing scares me.”
He reached for her, but she evaded his touch. “You said you’d do anything to make this right. Well, this is what you have to do. The kids and I will move out to the farm with my parents. You can sell the house and everything in it to get the money you need. But you can’t continue on as pastor like none of this happened. It would be an abomination.”
“I can fix this,” he said doggedly.
She shook her head at his stubborn selfishness. “I wish you could, but you can’t.” With those words, she stepped around him and left him standing in his office, their dreams of a shared ministry in shreds around his feet.
Chapter 20
Andrew stood in the fellowship hall chatting with a small circle of his members and guests, as he normally did after a Sunday service. The only difference was this time he couldn’t lift his head, see his wife across the room doing the same thing, and share a smile with her. Amazing the small things he missed, things he had taken for granted.
“She and the boys are still out at the farm with her parents,” he said, repeating the words he’d spoken more times than he could count since Sandra’s first absence from Sunday service. Not only had she left him and taken the boys with her, she’d stopped attending church. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected, but it surely wasn’t her absence from service. She had to know how awkward that made things for him. “You know,” he continued, “she hasn’t really spent much time with her folks since we started the church. We felt it was time. She’ll be back in a couple of weeks.” At least, he prayed she would. His wife was being pretty stubborn. Well, he could be stubborn, too. Sandra just needed some time to get over her anger and hurt. Then she would see what she was asking him, them, to give up when they really didn’t have to. They could weather this storm just as they had weathered the previous ones. She just needed to have faith.
“Pastor.”
Andrew turned at the sound of his name.
“I hate to pull you away,” Rob Moore said, bestowing a smile of apology on the small group around him. “There’s a matter that needs your immediate attention.”
Andrew smiled at his little group. “Work calls,” he said. “You all have a blessed week now.”
With those words, he turned and followed Rob down the hallway. “What’s the problem?” he asked.
“It’s better if we discuss this behind closed doors,” Rob said.
Rob entered the conference room, and Andrew followed him in. He was surprised to see all the male members of the leadership team seated and waiting for him. “This must be something big,” Andrew said, taking his normal chair at the head of the table. “Let’s have it.”
Rob cleared his throat. “You’re our pastor, and you’ve always been there for us. We want you to know that we’re here for you. If there’s anything you want to talk about or pray about, we’re here to support you.”
Andrew relaxed a bit. “That means a lot,” he said. “But things are good.”
Rob cleared his throat again. “We’ve all gone through rough patches in our marriages, Pastor. We know how hard it can be. If you and First Lady Sandra are going through something, let us help you. Let the church help you.”
Andrew grew a bit tense but decided to go with his standard story. “Sandra and I are fine. Like I told you, she and the boys are spending time with her parents. They’ll be back soon.”
Rob looked at Jacob.
Jacob said, “Pastor, we know that your wife and kids have been at Praise City the last few Sundays. We need to know if you two are separated. It affects the church.”
Andrew sank back in his chair, unable to hide his surprise. Sandra and the boys had been going to Praise City? Was she trying to ruin him?
“You didn’t know, did you?” Jacob asked.
Andrew could do nothing but shake his head. “I’m sure there’s an explanation,” he said. And from the looks on the faces of the brethren seated before him, that explanation was clear.
Rob cleared his throat again. Obviously, the man was uneasy being the spokesman for the gr
oup. “We think the best way to handle this situation is for you to come clean with the congregation. Tell them that you and the First Lady are having problems and ask for their prayer.”
Andrew began shaking his head. He didn’t want to start confessing in the pulpit. Who knew where that would lead?
“You don’t have a choice,” Jacob said. “People are already talking. How do you think we found out she and the boys were attending Praise City? We have to get in front of this, stop the speculation before it gets out of hand.”
“The rumors about the cause for the breakup are already out there,” Rob added, “everything from you having an affair to you having a gambling addiction. Who knows what the next one will be?”
Andrew pushed away from the conference table and got out of his chair. “These rumors are ridiculous.”
“We know that, Pastor,” Rob said. “But people are going to come up with their own reasons, especially when you’re in the pulpit saying one thing and they know something else to be true. You can’t lie to the congregation from the pulpit. You destroy your credibility and give weight to the rumors every time you do.”
Andrew knew they were right. What he didn’t know was what to do about it. He needed time.
“We think you should make a special announcement from the pulpit next week,” Jacob said. “If possible, First Lady needs to be there as well. Together, the two of you can admit your problems and shoot down the rumors.”
They had a good point, but he wasn’t sure Sandra would come. And if she did come, he wasn’t sure what she would say. At one time, he could count on her to have his back and keep his secrets, but no more. “I’m not sure I can get her to come,” he finally admitted.
“We sort of expected that,” Jacob said.
Andrew lifted a brow.
“Our wives have been trying to schedule a lunch with her, anything,” Jacob explained, “but she hasn’t been receptive. She’s cut us all off.”
Andrew took Sandra’s unwillingness to meet with the ladies from the leadership team as a sign of her reluctance to say anything negative about him. That could be the opening he needed to win her back. “Let me trying talking to my wife again. She loves this ministry as much as I do. She’ll want to do what she can to make sure it’s not harmed.”
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