They both laughed at that. Cy gave his friend an abbreviated rundown of some of the women he’d pondered over breakfast a few hours earlier. Pamela still came out as the strongest possibility, but there was something missing. Yes, he had deep feelings for her, and yes, she was fine. He didn’t doubt she’d satisfy him in the bedroom, and he knew she had an intelligent head on her shoulders. Still, he didn’t know if she was someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Because that was the other thing—he didn’t care about the statistics. He wanted to do this marriage thing only one time. He told Derrick all that, too. But he didn’t tell him about the dream.
“So how did you know Vivian was the one?” he asked instead.
Derrick thought a while before speaking. “From the moment I saw her, I think. We were back in the Midwest at a convention, and I caught a glimpse of her as I was walking up to the pulpit. She had this energy that was palpable and a body that wouldn’t quit. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.”
“So how did you two meet?”
“That was the easy part. She was King’s wife’s best friend. They’re still best friends. Anyway, we all went out after church, and it was pretty much on from there. She gave me a little run for my money for a minute. She never wanted to be a preacher’s wife.” Derrick smiled at memories he was obviously unwilling to share.
“But who could resist the Reverend Derrick Montgomery, right?” Cy asked, smiling.
“Exactly,” Derrick responded, reaching for a folder as he did so. “No, really, it was ‘who could resist God’s will?’ She knew I was the one for her; she’d gotten confirmation before I asked her.”
“Confirmation? What was the sign?”
“She had a dream that I was going to pop the question a couple days before I actually did it. So she wasn’t surprised. She knew I was the only one.”
Cy’s attention focused on Vivian’s dream. He was getting ready to question his friend further when Derrick’s intercom sounded. It was Sean, one of Derrick’s assistants.
“Pastor?”
“Yes, Sean.”
“Mr. Roberts is here.”
“Okay, send him in in five minutes. See if there’s anything he needs.” Derrick turned to Cy, who was already gathering the paperwork on the coffee table and placing it in his briefcase. “Did we cover everything?”
“Yep. Looks like we’re all set. I’d say Kingdom Citizens’ Shopping Center will be up and operational in just over two years. I’ve pulled a committee together to look over the list of potential tenants aside from the bookstore, restaurant and business offices we’ve already okay’d. Don’t worry, Derrick. Everything is moving ahead smoothly. God’s hand is definitely on this venture.” Both men stood.
“You’re a good man, Cy Taylor. And Vivian and I will be praying for God to send you a good woman. You deserve it.”
“Will you tell him to put a rush on it?” Cy said, laughing, a laughter that didn’t quite reach his eyes. His eyes said that he was dead serious.
“He may not come when you want Him,” Derrick answered as Cy neared the door, “but He’ll be right on time.”
If this isn’t God…I don’t know what is
Millicent was just reaching for the office door when the man of her dreams opened it. Cy Taylor. This has to be God, she thought, offering up her most dazzling smile. It had to be God. Why else had she felt an unexplainable urge to come over to the church on her lunch hour? Sure, she did have some things to handle regarding the Ladies First meeting, but she could have stopped by after work. No, this was just another sign that before the dust settled, she would be Mrs. Millicent Taylor.
“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes!”
“Hello, Millicent.” Millicent was about the last person Cy wanted to talk to right now. He tried to keep moving, but could see that he wasn’t going to get away without a conversation. Millicent just turned to fall in step with him. He stopped.
“How are you?” Millicent thought Cy looked a bit distracted.
“I’m okay.”
“Good.” She wasn’t convinced but decided not to push. “I left a message for you earlier.”
“Oh? I haven’t checked.”
“Well, see how God works? He wanted me to be able to talk to you in person. And you know I’m okay with that.” She took a step closer. Cy took a step back.
“What did you need to talk to me about?”
Millicent looked at her watch. She still had forty-five minutes and could even squeeze out a few more if need be. “Why don’t we discuss it over lunch? I’m starved and I only have an hour.”
“I’ve got a business appointment. I’m on my way now.” Cy didn’t feel good about lying, but sometimes it was just easier. This was one of those times.
Millicent didn’t try to hide her disappointment. “You can’t reschedule? I haven’t had a chance to really talk to you in weeks. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were avoiding me.”
I am, he thought. “Now, why would I want to do that?” he said.
Millicent smiled again as Cy visibly relaxed. “Maybe because you know how I feel about you and that makes you uncomfortable.”
Her honesty caught him off guard. Cy was silent for a moment, sure that whatever he said wouldn’t be the right thing. “And you know how I feel about you,” he said finally.
“Feelings can change, you know. With God, all things are possible.”
Why did she have to go there and bring God into it? Cy was not in the mood for Millicent today. He looked at his watch. “I gotta get going.” He started to walk away, but Millicent grabbed his arm.
“Cy? Can we please get together for dinner tonight? I really do need your opinion on a few things. And I have the budget for Ladies First.”
Why did she have to beg? He hated to hear a woman begging, whining as if she were a dog and he was the bone. As a matter of fact… Cy had to squelch a smile before responding. “I can’t do dinner tonight but I will call. See you later.”
You will most definitely see me. Millicent smiled to herself as she headed for the office. She was more convinced than ever that Cy Taylor was her man. She counted off the reasons in her mind, reasons she’d created and collected. The first was the fact that they had dated, however briefly. She recalled their first date, lunch and an art gallery visit, as she waved at Stacy and Tanya sitting in the youth ministry office. She continued down the hall and turned into the break room, pouring herself a cup of coffee. She then proceeded down to the smaller conference room, setting her stack of files in front of her but not bothering to open them. Instead, she kept convincing herself that she was Mrs. Cy Taylor.
She flipped through her mental memories to their last date and the last kiss. They had been outside of Millicent’s condo, and even though she’d pleaded and pleaded, Cy had refused to come inside for coffee. He’d bent down then to plant a kiss on her cheek. Millicent had turned her face and met his mouth with her own. She’d deepened the kiss and pressed herself full against him. He’d instinctively reached around and grabbed her waist. She’d stood on tiptoe and placed both arms around his neck before letting one arm slide down his arm and across his back, stroking firmly, yet gently. That was when she’d felt the rise of his passion against her. She’d rubbed against it then, her eyes opening briefly as she noticed the size of it, evident even with all the layers of clothing. She’d moaned then, and that moan had brought Cy back from wherever he was because he’d broken the kiss abruptly and stepped back, breathing deeply, his eyes hooded and glazed. Millicent sat back smiling, sipping the coffee slowly. Oh, yes, he’d wanted her at one time.
Millicent was used to men wanting her. She’d attracted them like flies her whole life. And once the sex started? They were hooked. She knew what she had and knew how to work it. Most of the time, she’d get bored after a couple of months and move on. There was little thought given to the trail of broken hearts left in her wake. But that was before Cy. No one had interested her since he’d come along. And sh
e knew that if she could get him between the sheets for one night, it would be over. He would be hers.
Millicent’s eyes narrowed as she plotted her strategy. Yes, she wanted him. “It’s God’s will,” she said aloud.
She thought of all the times they had worked together on first one project, then the next. Church activity made it easy to stay close to him, stay involved in his life. She wasn’t happy about his having referred her to one of his former partners regarding her investments, but that was just temporary, she assured herself. She’d seen him looking at her when he thought she wasn’t watching and was convinced that all he needed was a little prod here and a poke there; men could be such scaredy cats when it came to commitment.
Millicent was getting closer to Vivian. Maybe she would confide in the first lady, seek her advice on how to proceed. After all, a woman who’d been able to hang on to a man like Derrick Montgomery all these years had to know a thing or two.
“Hey, Mill, what are you doing here?” Vivian’s question interrupted Millicent’s daydream, and she jumped at the intrusion.
“Oh, Sister Vivian, why, I was just thinking about you! Do you have a moment?”
Vivian looked at her watch. “Just a moment, I’m meeting my husband for lunch. Is everything okay?” She motioned toward the folders. “You’ve got a lot of work there.”
“Oh, it looks worse than it is. Actually, things are rolling along like a well-oiled machine. I was going to call you later after talking with Cy. I have the budget ready for the Ladies First summit.”
“That’s great, Millicent! You are truly a woman of God. He’s going to bless you for all you do in this ministry.”
“I sure hope so,” Millicent said quietly.
“Well, sistah, you can know so! You know what the Word says, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.’”
“That’s one of the things I want to talk to you about, Sister Vivian.”
Vivian looked at her watch again. “I tell you what. Call Tamika in the morning and have her schedule an appointment for us. As soon as possible. If you want, we can make it a lunch. Someplace nice. Give ourselves a treat.”
“What about Gladstones in Malibu?” Millicent asked, standing and gathering the folders together. She grabbed the empty coffee cup and threw it in the trash.
“I haven’t been there in a while. That sounds great,” Vivian replied, heading toward the door. “You just keep believing. God’s going to work it out.”
Millicent stared after Vivian, not moving. God was indeed going to work it out. Vivian’s words were just another confirmation. She’d been getting them all day. First, God directed her to the church. Then she ran into Cy. Then she saw Vivian within seconds of thinking about her. “If this isn’t God,” she said aloud, “I don’t know what is.” She looked down at her ring finger, smiling softly, before opening the top folder and looking down at a paper she’d been doodling on before Vivian came. She’d filled up the page, repeatedly writing four words: “Cy and Millicent Taylor.”
Some good news
Almost a month had passed since Tai had caught King with April. She had settled into a new yet strangely comfortable routine. With school out, she’d asked Anna to assist more with the children, including taking them to and sometimes picking them up from their summer sports and other activities. At least on the three days a week she went to the six-week computer class that had just started at the local junior college.
She loved being back in school. It made her feel young and fresh again. And she wasn’t half mad at herself when she looked at the little teenyboppers and twenty-somethings that rushed around in their youthful glory. Y’all don’t have a thing on me, she’d thought that first day. And, as if to prove the point, she’d been approached by more than one man young enough to be her son. Yes, school had definitely been a good idea. She loved it so much that she was even considering continuing on toward a degree. She’d seen a commercial on television a few nights ago that spoke of a program where one could earn their degree in as little as eighteen months. A college-educated woman after all these years? She smiled at the thought.
After her computer class, she usually went to work out. She was still losing weight and had more energy. Sometimes she’d stop to pick up Mama Max; sometimes Mama would meet her at the fitness center. Those were always good times. Mama Max had lost ten pounds and didn’t tire out as easily as she used to either. Maxine Brook was not only her motherin-law, but her friend, and she’d never be able to thank her enough for all she’d done. Her own mother, Mrs. Williams, would never understand what Tai was feeling. That was why Tai hadn’t told her about April, had just mentioned “marital problems.”
Her mother had responded, “Everyone has problems, dear, but none that the two of you and the good Lord can’t handle.” She’d then changed the subject and started talking about a recipe she’d gotten for homemade noodles and how excited she was to try it for Dad’s favorite “feel-good meal,” homemade chicken and noodle soup. No, it was best to keep quiet for now, until it was necessary to tell her parents what was really going on.
Her mother, so prim and proper, a direct and startling contrast to Harold, her boisterous, extroverted father. Tai tried to picture her father being unfaithful, but the image could not be formed in her mind. She tried to picture her mother’s reaction if her father was unfaithful, but that picture eluded her as well. She thought back then, back to and through her childhood. She tried to remember any times she felt discomfort from either parent and couldn’t recall a memory. To this day, they seemed to have eyes for only each other. How she wished she and King could be like that.
During most afternoons, Tai worked on things for the church or with Vivian on S.O.S. Since purchasing a computer, she and Vivian were once again pen pals, via e-mail, and more than once they’d laughed at how the letters had changed from the ones of their teenage years. Tai was still toying with the idea that God had placed on her heart concerning the summit. It hadn’t taken full shape yet, but somehow she knew she had something to offer the women who would be gathered there. She just didn’t quite know what that something was…yet.
Evenings were spent with the children. On the rare occasion that King came home early, they’d have dinner with both of them talking to the children and seldom to each other. She hardly saw King anymore, and they spoke only out of necessity. King had been jolted when he returned from the revival and found his wife moved into the guest room. He’d asked what the move meant. She’d said she didn’t know. End of conversation. Tai knew she couldn’t go on living like this forever, but she was only trying to get through one day at a time. She figured she’d get through their conference in July, get the children all set for the upcoming school year and then head to Los Angeles and the Ladies First S.O.S. Summit in September. She was really looking forward to getting away and realized with mild surprise that she hadn’t been away, without children or family, in her adult life. It’s time for a change, she thought, and wondered if getting away for a while was the only change she was talking about. It wasn’t.
Tai’s body was on autopilot as she moved from the children’s rooms to the laundry room downstairs. Her mind was whirling with thoughts of what to do. She thought of King then and wished that at some point his mind had focused on what not to do. Like how not to have yet another affair and risk his marriage and put his wife and subsequently his children in such a predicament. She methodically separated the clothing by color, placing whites together, then colors and permanent press. She twisted the dial, grabbed the detergent, poured it in and waited for the water to start filling the machine. She leaned back, and an unwanted image floated to the surface of her mind’s eye—an attractive woman with brunette hair and piercing green eyes. She remembered the fear that crossed April’s face for an instant, before being replaced with an attempted look of innocence as she stared into the eyes of her lover’s wife.
Tai began shoving the towels, underwear and other whites into t
he machine with a vengeance. King still hadn’t apologized. Aside from the blowout argument they’d had the day after she’d seen King and April together at the restaurant, he’d offered no explanations. Of course, she hadn’t made herself available for conversation. So what? He was the one at fault. It was his responsibility, no, obligation to seek her out. She was the one who’d been wronged, the one who’d been dogged. She’d been in this position too many times and would be damned if she was going to go to him and ask him anything about him and his slut. Hell would freeze over first, and she didn’t think that would happen any time soon because the Midwest was experiencing its biggest heat wave in fifty-five years.
Tai left the coolness of the laundry room and crossed the family room, opening the door leading to the backyard and outside. The heat rushed up to meet her, and she thought twice before remaining in the yard. The huge oak tree looked inviting, though, and she felt the need to breathe fresh, natural air. She walked over to the jungle gym and swing set, idly pushing the seat as it swung back and forth. She walked to the back of the house and grabbed the hose, turning on the water and sliding the hose across the yard toward the wilting flowers. She placed her thumb over the end of the hose then, causing a spray of water to shoot forth and cover the entire flowerbed. After a moment, she reached down, pulling some of the weeds out that had surrounded the base of the summer zinnias that had replaced the spring tulips. She wondered if getting April out of King’s life would be as easy as pulling up these weeds. A laugh that sounded more like a snort sprung out of her mouth. “I doubt it,” she said to the blooms waving under the pressure of the cool water. She stopped then, walking back to the water spout and turning it off. She walked back to the big oak tree and then over to the swings. Hum, she thought as she sat down on one of the brightly colored plastic boards. My booty isn’t as tight in this thing as it used to be. She smiled at that thought, but the smile was quickly erased when an image of April once again flashed through her mind. A woman who looked as though she weighed a hundred pounds sopping wet and who could probably fit two booties into this seat. April. “April Summers,” Tai said out loud.
Sex in the Sanctuary Page 15