Veda gently turned her body, looked up at him, and they smiled at each other.
“So, I see you finally woke up, huh?”
“How long was I asleep?” she asked.
“I don’t know, maybe about an hour.”
“All this morning, I worked on some reports I had been putting off, and they were very intense. But I guess I was more tired than I realized.”
“Well, you didn’t seem all that tired earlier,” he said, slightly laughing.
“Yeah, I guess not.”
“You were full of energy, and I loved it,” he said, stroking her hair.
“I loved it, too.”
“And you know what else?”
“No. What?”
“My feelings for you are a lot stronger than I realized. I knew I liked you a lot, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to stop thinking about you.”
“I feel the same way, and the strange thing for me is that this has never happened before. I mean, not only was the other night the first time I’d ever slept with any man only an hour after meeting him, but it was also the first time I had ever messed around on my husband.”
“Sometimes situations like this can’t be helped.”
“Yeah, but this is so out of character for me and dangerous, too, because for all I know you could be some serial killer.”
“Okay, I admit that you definitely have a point,” he said, laughing. “But I promise you, I’m far from being anything like that.”
“Well, that’s good to know.”
“So, tell me,” he said, caressing her back, “exactly how bad is your marriage? I mean, did the two of you basically just grow apart over the years or did something else happen?”
“I don’t know that we were ever what you would call desperately in love with each other, and now I realize the only reason we got married was because I got pregnant during my sophomore year in college.”
“So, you went to the same school?”
“Yes, and even though my parents took care of our son until we graduated, my husband still wanted us to do the right thing. Actually, I wanted us to do the right thing, too, so that our child would be able to grow up with both his parents. But now it’s time we go our separate ways.”
“That’s understandable. So, you were about twenty when you had him?”
“Yes.”
“Well, you certainly look a lot younger than thirty-eight.”
“Thanks. And since we’re on the subject, how old are you?”
“Thirty-three.”
“Just a baby, huh?”
“Not in the least.”
“Does age matter to you?”
“Nope. Does it matter to you?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Then that’s that,” JT said, kissing her on her forehead. “Because all I want is to make you happy.”
“You say that now, but once I’m gone you’ll quickly forget about me.”
“Not a chance. And if things go my way, we’ll be seeing each other all the time.”
“Hmmm.”
“What? You don’t believe me?”
“Well, it’s not like you don’t have a wife.”
“True. But that won’t change the way I feel about you.”
“We’ll see. I do have a question for you, though.”
“Which is?”
“What is it that you do for a living?”
JT paused and then said, “I’m not sure I should tell you.”
“Why?”
“I’m just not.”
“Well, I really want to know.”
“Why?”
“Because as shallow as this may sound, if I’m going to take a chance on messing around with a married man, knowing full well that he’ll probably never leave his wife and marry me, I want to make sure I at least get to enjoy some of the finer things in life. I know it may sound bad, but I think it’s only fair that I be honest with you.”
“I’m a minister.”
“Whoa. Do you have your own church?”
“As a matter of fact I do, and it’s a pretty sizable one at that.”
Veda didn’t respond.
“Does that bother you?”
“Sort of. I mean, I know it’s wrong to sleep with any married man, but somehow, having an affair with a pastor makes it seem even worse.”
“Look, baby, we’re both human and no one on this earth is without imperfections. Every person alive is flawed in some sort of way, and God understands that. He understands, and He still loves us anyway.”
Veda breathed deeply, seemingly still uneasy about what they were doing, so JT moved her chin closer to his and kissed her. Then he said, “Plus, if you think about it, how could something that feels so right really be all that wrong?”
Chapter 22
Alicia listened as the choir sang, but mostly she sat thinking about JT, how late he’d gotten home last night and the shady excuse he’d given her. All this morning, she’d been trying to think on a rational level and not rely on unfounded assumptions, but JT was making it very hard for her. It was one thing for him to be gone for two to three hours, but leaving right after four P.M. and not returning until shortly after midnight, well, that was another. Sure, he’d claimed he’d gotten caught in traffic during his drive to the hospital because of some accident on I-294 West and hadn’t arrived until almost two hours later, but she hadn’t believed him. Then, when she’d asked him what time visiting hours were over, he’d told her that the staff had given him special permission to stay much longer because the man he’d gone to see was very ill. This, of course, was a story Alicia might have accepted had she not told a similar one to her first husband. She still remembered the day Phillip’s father had passed and how she’d concocted this huge lie once she’d realized she hadn’t been there for him. She’d told him how there had been bumper-to-bumper traffic on the freeway and that her car had broken down, when actually she’d really been shopping at the mall. She’d told Phillip everything she’d thought he might want to hear without the slightest flinch, and she had a feeling JT was doing the same thing.
When the choir members took their seats, JT stood and strutted up to the glass podium. Alicia smiled, but for the first time since marrying him, she wasn’t all that happy to be there.
“This is the day the Lord hath made, so let us rejoice and be glad in it,” he began for the second Sunday in a row, and Alicia wondered why he was all of a sudden beginning his pastoral observations with Psalms 118:24. Interestingly enough, it was one of her father’s favorite scriptures and JT certainly looked up to him as a minister, so maybe he was simply trying to mimic him.
“Before I begin my sermon, I want to talk a little bit about temptation.”
Alicia looked around as parishioners nodded and mumbled in agreement.
“I wasn’t planning to talk about this particular subject, but when God lays something on my heart to share with His people, I’m obligated to do it.”
“Speak, Pastor,” Minister Payne said.
“See, most of the time,” JT continued, “we can be going about, minding our own business, and then Satan will jump right out of nowhere, armed with all sorts of tricks. He’ll taunt you and harass you until you fall into his trap, and then the next thing you know, you find yourself committing one sin after another.”
Alicia wondered where all of this was coming from. She wondered if his words were the result of a guilty conscience, but since she had no proof, she tried staying positive.
JT gazed out into the audience, scanning the entire church. “Then, if he’s not tempting you and causing you to go against God’s will, he’ll instead try to cause problems in your marriage, with family members, and even with friends. Husbands, he’ll have your wives thinking you’re up to no good when you haven’t even thought about another woman. And wives, he’ll have you accusing your husbands of all sorts of terrible things when, in reality, they haven’t done a thing at all.”
Members of the congregation
whispered to their neighbors and seemed to love all that their pastor was saying. Alicia wished she could feel the same way, but she didn’t. As a matter of fact, she was even more taken aback now that JT had spewed all this jargon about wives falsely accusing their husbands because it made her feel as though he was speaking directly to her. It was true she had grilled him in a pretty assertive manner last night and that their mild discussion had quickly become their first real argument, but the reason she’d become so irritated with him was because he’d given her more than ample reason to. He’d stayed out late, his story had sounded phony, and yes, all those rumors she’d heard at the luncheon were still floating in her head. There were so many marks against him, and all she could hope was that her intuition was way off base. She hoped she couldn’t have been more wrong about anything.
It had been a long while since JT had stayed out after midnight, especially the night before having to deliver the Sunday-morning message, and he felt a little exhausted. He and Veda had practically worn each other out, but if he had to do it all over again, he would. If she wanted him to, he would drop whatever he was doing on a moment’s notice just to go be with her, so it was definitely better for her to be gone. He’d been thinking that her living in Minneapolis was the downside to his budding relationship with her, but not after arguing with Alicia when he’d arrived home. She’d been so upset, and it was all he could do to try to convince her that he really had been visiting with and praying with some anonymous congregant. He didn’t feel good about all the lies he kept telling her, but every one of these lies was very necessary if he wanted to keep her happy. He had to lie in order to keep himself satisfied. He lied because he needed so much more than his marital vows would afford him.
JT and Alicia stood next to each other out near the main exit, greeting hundreds of members as they left the church. JT always loved making personal contact with the people who supported him, and he could tell Alicia enjoyed it as well. Especially when they raved over how good she looked or what she was wearing.
“Just as cute as a button,” Lacey Jordan, a sixtysomething spry and very outgoing woman, said, and Alicia blushed.
“Isn’t she, though?” the woman behind her agreed.
“Well, thank you,” Alicia told them. “You both are way too kind.”
“Son, I know I’ve told you this several times now,” Lacey said to JT, “but you really did pick a lovely bride. I mean, she’s just beautiful.”
“I agree, and I’m glad you think so, too, Sister Jordan.”
“Is he taking good care of you, sweetheart?” she said, looking at Alicia.
“He really is. He’s very good to me, and I’m very blessed to be married to him.”
JT hadn’t been sure how Alicia might respond to such a question, what with the little lovers’ quarrel they’d had, so he was relieved by the way she’d answered it.
“Well, you both be good now,” Lacey told them. “And I’ll see you on Wednesday night.”
“You take care,” Alicia said.
JT shook a couple of other hands but did a double take when he spied Carmen. He was stunned but knew she was only trying to be funny and that this was all because he hadn’t returned any of her phone calls yesterday. But how could he? He’d been with Alicia during the afternoon and with Veda all evening, so what was he supposed to do?
“Oh my God,” Alicia said, clearly elated to see whom she thought was a trusted friend of hers. “Carmen, girl, why didn’t you tell me you were coming to service this morning? You could have sat right next to me.”
Carmen hugged Alicia. “I know, but to be honest, I didn’t decide until the last minute. I was planning to go to my own church, but since my mom wasn’t feeling well, I decided it would be nice to visit you guys for a change.”
“Well, I’m so glad you did, and actually, I wish you would think about joining NLCC anyway.”
“You know, I just might think about doing that,” she agreed, and JT wanted to strangle her. She was jeering at him on the sly, and he couldn’t stand it.
“You really should.”
“Well, hey, I don’t want to hold up the line too much longer, but the other thing I wanted to tell you was that I finished reading your novel.”
Alicia beamed. “Really?”
“Yes, and I absolutely loved it! After we spoke on the phone last night, I knew I was going to at least get to start it, but I had no idea I would read the entire story. Anyway, it was a page-turner, and I can’t wait to talk more about it. So, I’ll just call you at home.”
“Sounds good,” Alicia said, and they hugged again.
But before leaving, Carmen stopped in front of JT. “Your sermon was truly wonderful. And I really look forward to hearing you speak again sometime. Maybe next week even.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” he said, realizing she was going too far. She was crossing the line, and it was time he ended all dealings with her. If he didn’t, he knew he would be sorry.
Chapter 23
JT bit into one of the ribs his other father-in-law had just given him and wasn’t sure he’d ever tasted better barbecue. “Man, you’re a master at this, and you can cook for me anytime. Not to mention, this is just a sample and the sauce hasn’t even been added to it.”
James laughed like most men do when they’ve been patted on the back by another one. “I’m glad you like it.”
“Like it? I love it. Man, this meat couldn’t be seasoned any more perfectly, and it’s so tender it’s practically falling off the bone.”
James stepped a bit closer to the oversized charcoal grill, removed a few more ribs from the fire, and turned the last few pieces of chicken and Italian sausage on their opposite sides. “So, have you been keeping up with the conference finals much this week?”
“Actually, I haven’t, but I have to say I was a little disappointed about the Bulls not making it past the first-round playoffs. Especially when they came so close.”
“I was pretty bummed about it, too. Mainly because they haven’t won an NBA championship since 1998, which, of course, was just before Michael Jordan retired and Phil Jackson left as well.”
“Yeah, things have definitely been different since then, and it’ll be interesting to see when they might win again.”
James forked up a few more pieces of meat and set them in the foil-lined Teflon pan. “So, on a different note, how’s married life treating you?”
“To be honest, it couldn’t be better and we couldn’t be happier.”
“I’m glad to hear that, because I became Alicia’s stepfather when she was just a small girl, and I love her just like she was my own child.”
“She loves you the same way,” JT said, gazing toward the patio and watching Alicia and her mom bringing food out and placing it on the table.
“She’s a very special young lady, and I just hope the two of you can have the same kind of relationship Tanya and I have. My wife means everything to me, and after all these years, we still love each other like we did in the beginning.”
“If I have it my way, I can assure you, Alicia and I will be together and very happy until the day one of us leaves this earth.”
“I like your attitude and you’ll certainly be able to do just that, as long as you keep each other first in your life—after God, that is—and you never allow anyone else inside your marital circle. I’m telling you this because there is a ton of temptation out there, but if you ignore it and stick together as a couple, you’ll be okay.”
“I agree, and I won’t ever let any woman cause me to be unfaithful to my wife,” he said, but when he looked back over toward the patio and saw Carmen and her mother walking onto it, a heat wave swept through his body. Alicia had told him early this morning that she’d invited Carmen and her mother but that since Carmen’s mother still hadn’t been feeling well, they probably wouldn’t be able to make it. Then, when JT had phoned Carmen, insisting it wasn’t a good idea for her to visit NLCC again, he’d been pretty sure he’d also convi
nced her not to drop by his in-laws’ either. He’d thought he’d made himself very clear, but apparently he hadn’t.
“Hi, Dad James. Hi, JT,” Carmen yelled out to both of them.
“How’s it going?” JT said dryly.
“How are you, Miss Carmen?” James said, smiling, obviously glad to see her. “It’s been such a long time. And how are you, Rita?” he said to her mother.
“I’m fine, James, how are you?”
“Wonderful.”
“Baby, come up here for a minute,” Alicia said to JT, and he walked closer to where they were all standing. “Sweetheart, this is Carmen’s mom, and Mom Rita, this is my husband, JT.”
They shook hands and Rita said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, and congratulations on your recent marriage to Alicia.”
“Thank you.”
“Also, if I might add, you’re even more handsome than Carmen told me you were.”
“That’s what I thought when I first met him, too,” Alicia said.
Everyone laughed, but JT had never felt more uncomfortable. This whole scenario was teetering toward a possible disaster, and he didn’t like it.
“Everything looks wonderful, Tanya,” Rita said. “And thank you for having us over.”
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