Chris had not been able to take his eyes from the pastor's wife and she wanted to know what was going on. She had been running around trying to get back the initial attention that Chris had shown her, but now she was at her wits end.
Added to that he was reluctant to talk about anything that had to do with this church. Why did a man give up his eldership in church, except for some major issue? She was dying to know what that issue was and she believed that she was in the right place to get that information.
“Elder Chris.” A young woman ran toward Chris when he stepped out of his car and eventually a group surrounded him, gushing about how they missed him.
Estella stood by patiently while they fawned over him and then a woman in pink caught her attention. She was locking up her car and there was an older woman standing beside her with a baby. Two other children had jumped out of the back seat and were heading toward the back of the church, where the children's division was located.
“Don’t run,” the lady in pink said and the two children slowed down and then quickly walked into the church. Estella smiled at their apparent annoyance at their mother for curtailing their fun, and was still smiling when the lady turned around.
It was the pastor's wife. Her curly natural hair was combed into an elegant topknot. When she last saw her she had it down and had been acting pretty strange when she saw her with Chris. Estella stopped smiling when she remembered that and looked at her thoroughly. She was laughing at something that the older woman had said—her honey brown skin was a nice compliment to the pink dress.
Estella had no idea what alerted her to the fact that she was being watched, but she looked up and stared right at Estella and then her gaze swiveled to Chris—in her face Estella could read panic.
What on earth was she panicking about?
Estella glanced at Chris. He was talking to an elderly church sister with his head bent toward her mouth. She could see that he was struggling to leave the clutches of the lady, who had one hand clutching his jacket.
They really love him here. Estella again glanced at the pastor's wife in time to see her hurrying the older woman toward the church. She was in such a hurry that she dropped the toy that was in her hand and had to pause to pick it up.
The older lady stopped almost beside Estella and said good morning, her face friendly and smiling.
Estella looked at her and smiled back.
“Good morning, what a lovely baby.” She looked at the baby and then looked at him again.
And like a bulb exploded in her head and she suddenly knew the reason why Chris was no longer an elder at the church.
The lady moved on when the pastor's wife picked up the toy but not before Chris looked up and his gaze locked onto her. The tension in the air sizzled even from where Estella was standing.
*****
Chris finally pulled himself away from Sister Plummer. She had declared that she missed him because there was no one in the entire church to listen to her long list of medical issues. He had a fondness for the old lady so he had patiently stood and listened to her list of illnesses.
In part he was deliberately stalling going into church and in part he enjoyed that Estella was standing their impatiently waiting on him, but Kelly had arrived and the whole scenario changed.
Chris looked at her but she barely acknowledged him or Estella, she just rushed off into the church as if all the forces of hell were lapping at her feet. He sighed and looked up to find Estella looking at him with a knowing smirk across her face.
He approached her slowly, setting his tie straight as he walked.
“Ready to go inside?”
Estella nodded pursing her lips.
She started to walk beside him then halted. “I think I know the big secret,” she blurted out.
Chris looked around, people were heading toward them and he just did not want a show down in the church yard, but Estella had that stubborn look on her face that she got when she was about to throw a tantrum, so he swallowed his impatience and stopped. “The big secret?”
“I am sure of it,” Estella nodded. “You and the pastor's wife had a relationship of some sort, didn’t you?”
Chris could see the Holmes family approaching, and he did not want them to overhear the conversation so he waved to Ronald and smiled. The patriarch of the family smiled back and came toward him and Estella.
“I miss you around here man.” He hugged Chris and guffawed. “But I can see why you are so scarce around the place.” He indicated to Estella, who was giving him a pained smile.
“Ah, Ronald,” Chris smiled back, both in relief that he had stalled Estella and out of genuine happiness to see his friend. “This is Estella from Great Pond church.”
“How do you do?” Estella shook Ronald's hand.
Chris walked beside Ronald as they entered the church foyer talking and laughing.
Estella reluctantly walked behind, pouting all the way.
Theo was in the foyer consulting with two young people and when Chris walked in a small crowd gathered around him just as they did in the parking lot.
Estella fumed inside. He still had the hots for the pastor's wife, she was sure of that and she was almost sure that that baby was his.
Why else would the pastor’s wife be acting so jumpy? She appeared almost scared just now, as if she had something to hide and the two times she had seen her and Chris in the same vicinity they both acted as if they were guilty.
And that baby. That baby resembles Chris, not only in complexion, or the fact that they had the same color eyes, but it could be seen that they had the same shape nose and mouth.
She wondered if the pastor knew. She looked over at him talking and laughing animatedly with a young man at the door. She approached the pastor, a vengeful smile flirting on her lips.
Nobody was going to treat her as second best, she reasoned, and to Chris she was second best. He obviously was still involved with the pastor’s wife.
He was crazy if he thought that she would stand for his aloof behavior and treating her as if she was a spoilt child.
“Hello, Pastor Theo,” she said, moving towards Theo and the young man.
“Oh hello,” Theo broke off his conversation with the young man and gave her a smile. He is so handsome she thought silently. What did that woman have that made her so irresistible to Chris and Theo?
She held out her hand and Theo took it. “You are Chris' friend, Estelle or is it Estella.”
“Estella,” she smiled warmly at him, “I was wondering, can I schedule a counseling session with you?”
Theo frowned. “You mean alone, without Chris.”
Estella nodded.
“That’s a bit unusual,” Theo said. “When a couple is getting married I normally see them both.”
She laughed. “No, it’s nothing to do with marriage. It has to do with a little problem I am having—spiritual in nature. I just want a listening ear and some guidance.”
“Okay,” Theo nodded. “How urgent is it?”
“Very urgent,” Estella said. “I was wondering, would tomorrow be okay, maybe in the evening?”
“Okay, I will have to write that down.” Theo patted his jacket pocket, and finding no pen turned to the young man next to him, “Floyd do you have a pen?”
“Sure,” Floyd gave him a pen and he wrote down the name Estella.
“Pardon me, Estella. What is your last name and what time would you like to meet? I am free in the afternoon, between three and six, any more time out of my Sunday and my wife will have a fit.”
Estella gave him a half smile. “Three is fine.”
“Okay,” he said, scribbling that on his paper. “Three it is, right here in my office. See you then.”
“Okay, have a great Sabbath,” Estella said, heading for Chris who hadn’t even noticed that she wasn’t around.
I am going to punish you, for your lack of attention, she vowed silently to herself as she stood waiting for him, a lonely figure in the church l
obby.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“I have a counseling session in fifteen minutes,” Theo said to Kelly. He was leaning on the doorjamb to the back verandah.
“Huh?” Kelly's mind had been far away, most precisely at yesterday's music day. She was combing Thealyn's hair and was barely listening to her prattle. Her mother-in-law had been giving her funny looks all day and had disappeared somewhere in the house with Matthew and the baby.
“You seem as if you were far away,” Theo gave her a half smile, “want to talk about it.”
“No,” Kelly shook her head, “I was just thinking about yesterday.”
Theo nodded. “Music day was very spiritual this year, was it not? I'm happy Sister Fawcett carried her mini orchestra. That violin music was really soothing.”
Kelly nodded and smiled. “I knew you would like the violins.”
“Want to do something when I get back?” Theo asked looking at his watch. “This is supposed to be a routine counseling session.”
Kelly nodded. “Sure.”
“Can we go to the Dolphin Park, Daddy?” Thea asked under the cloud of hair that her mother was combing.
“I am not sure,” Theo said glancing at his watch again, “might be by the time I get back it will be too near to closing hours. I'll think of something. Alright then. In a few.”
“Bye daddy,” Thealyn said sweetly.
“Bye honey,” he kissed Kelly on the cheek and then headed to the garage. His mind was gnawing at him all the way to his church office. Since yesterday there was a certain tension in the air at his house—his mother was decidedly colder toward Kelly and Kelly was unusually silent.
Kelly was acting especially subdued too, as if she was constantly thinking. Her smiles were forced and responses slow in coming, as if she wasn't really aware of what was going on.
Maybe he should have tried to resolve the matter from this morning but he had been intervening in a brewing domestic dispute with a newly baptized couple. The back and forth between the two had kept him out longer than he had anticipated. His parting shot to them—after prayer—had been to remind them that it was only because of the hardness of their heart that they didn't want to forgive each other. That had sunk in a bit and he had seen a distinct semi-frosting of attitudes after.
Sometimes he loved his job dearly but these last few days he was getting a strong impression that he needed to give his family more attention than he was. He wondered if his mother had said something to Kelly about the baby and that was the root of the tension; it was a topic that had made him upset as well. Probably Kelly was searching for a way to tell him that she resented what his mother said.
He pulled into the church parking lot, mulling over his current situation. Usually before a counseling a session he was not so caught up in his own situation. He made a valiant effort to push it to the back of his mind and said a word of prayer before heading into his office.
Two church deaconesses waved to him as he headed around to his office and he waved back. There had been a wedding at the church earlier that morning and they were cleaning it to get it back to its spic and span shape.
Estella was leaning upon the wall waiting for him at the corner of his office. She was in an all black assemble with her hair parted in two and slicked back in a fierce bun.
Theo smiled at her. “You look like you mean business Sister Estella.” He glanced at his watch. “You are a woman of time, it is exactly three o'clock.”
Estella cleared her throat. “The truth is, Pastor Theo, I have been having second thoughts about meeting with you. I've been mulling it over and I was thinking that maybe I am wrong about the whole thing and I should leave well enough alone.”
Theo opened his office door and indicated for her to follow him, he opened up the windows, which overlooked the sea and let the cool breeze circulate inside the office. The office was quite spacious with a wide desk, a few comfortable chairs and a mini fridge which was stocked with his favorite cranberry flavored water.
“Would you like a glass of water?” Theo asked Estella, smiling. “Might as well have a drink since you are here already.”
“No thanks,” Estella said nervously, he was looking at her as if she was slightly senile and he had to handle her with care.
She hated when people did that. She clenched her jaw and sat up stiffly in the seat.
He was pouring the water in a glass and he came around to the desk and sat in the chair, it squeaked a little as he sat—Estella sniffed. “The truth is…”
Theo nodded encouragingly, giving her time to articulate her thoughts. She seemed extremely nervous, which wasn’t unusual for persons who were coming to him for the first time.
“I was quite alright till I met Chris Donahue,” Estella said. “He came to Great Pond church for a few Sabbaths and I got to know him a bit better at a social—we had one at our church Saturday night. Before that I thought him aloof and a bit, I don’t know—proud?”
Theo nodded sipping his water.
“So we actually hit it off that night, we played dominoes as a team and I realized that he was a down to earth, very nice guy.”
“I could tell you that,” Theo said smiling.
“It's just that.” Estella looked at Theo and then all around the office. “I know for a fact that after we saw you and your wife in that restaurant its like he changed again.”
Theo sat up stiffly, his jaw clenching.
“Every time, I asked him why he left this church to suddenly visit other churches I was hit by a blank stare and he'd just clam up.”
Estella was looking at a stony-faced Theo, who was finding it quite difficult to swallow.
“The other day when I came here, I must admit I got jealous,” Estella laughed awkwardly. “They saw each other and again they acted like they were strangers, with her avoiding him, and him giving her intense stares, you know the kind of possessive stare a cat would give a rat before it pounced on it.”
Theo could hardly breath he wanted to say something to Estella, anything, but he felt as if his tongue was glued to the roof of his mouth. His fingers were pulsing and shaky.
“Then I saw the baby and I knew what you all are hiding,” Estella cleared her throat. “I don’t know what kind of cover up business is going on over here, but where I go to church the pastor's wife is above reproach and they don’t sleep with the first elder. Much less to have his baby. That is wacky. The whole thing is corrupt and sinful and I am not getting mixed up in Chris' sick life, even if he begged me to.”
And there it is, laid out bare like fish guts in the sun, Kelly's secret.
Theo could feel all the pressure points on his body pulsing. He had sensed the very things that Estella said, but he hadn’t for one moment countenanced those thoughts about his wife. Not one moment. Whenever those thoughts had crossed his mind he had shut them down. Not his Kelly, she'd never do that to him.
He inhaled noisily, his draft of breath the only sound in the room.
Estella was looking at him a startled look in her eye as if she suddenly realized that what she had said to him was something new and devastating.
“Ahm, Pastor Theo, I am sorry,” she said hurriedly, “I'm known to vent. I know this is none of my business.”
“Sit back down Estella,” Theo indicated to the chair his voice hoarse.
Estella reluctantly sat down. He looked through the window, thoughts running through his head, one upon the other.
In the last year and a half: Kelly ecstatic after working with Chris; Kelly downhearted when pregnant; Kelly fearful when she found out Chris dropped him at the hospital; Kelly and all the world seeing what he should have seen at first―her baby was not his.
His mind listed each point one at a time; he wiped his clammy hands on his jeans and put his head in his hands. He was a cuckolded husband, a fool for not seeing it. He laughed a harsh sound devoid of humor.
Estella jumped when he first erupted in laughter, a guilty voice whispering to her that she sho
uld not have said a word.
Theo looked at Estella his eyes slightly wet. “This is not the counseling session I expected,” he smiled slightly. “Now I feel as if I need counseling. Have you ever been sucker punched before.”
“No,” Estella shook her head, her eyes wide.
“It's not a nice feeling,” Theo said and then cleared his throat. “I am going to assume that you came here today to get your revenge on Chris for not loving you as how he loves my wife…Kelly?”
Estella hung her head sadly, “I am so sorry.”
“Well, how can I help you now that you have accomplished your mission, the big secret is out. How do you feel?”
“Huh?” Estella stared at him puzzled.
“You exposed them, what's next?”
“I guess…I don’t know,” Estella was confused.
Theo sighed. “I would say mission accomplished. You punished Chris and with him a whole slew of people, all in one go.”
Estella clutched her keys, “I should go.”
Theo nodded, he didn’t end counseling sessions without prayer but he sat in his office numb. He didn’t even watch her walk away; he stared through the window unseeing until dusk. His thoughts and his body had shut down.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Theo,” Valda whispered. At first his still figure in the chair had alarmed her to the point that she had been afraid to go around to check to see if he was still alive.
She sighed with relief when he swiveled around, though she could see the blank expression in his eyes and confused look on his face.
“We've been calling you,” Valda said whispering, her heart twisting at the pain she saw on his face. “What's wrong? Kelly had one of the deaconesses check that your car was still here. I came over to make sure you are alright, its seven o' clock you know.”
“You were right.” Theo's voice was flat. “Kelly's child is not mine.”
Valda gasped, “how'd you find out?”
“A jealous girlfriend of Chris' came here today under the guise of a counseling session and laid it on thick. I feel punch-drunk.”
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