“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.”