“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.”