The Preacher's Choice

by Vanessa Miller

  The Preacher’s Choice

  3rd Book in the Blessed and Highly Favored Series

  By

  Vanessa Miller

  SMASHWORDS EDITION

  *****

  Published by:

  BFP Publishing

  The Preacher’s Choice

  Copyright © 2011 by Vanessa Miller

  Smashwords Edition License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  Other Books by Vanessa Miller

  Long Time Coming

  A Promise of Forever Love

  A Love for Tomorrow

  Yesterday’s Promise

  Forgiven

  Forsaken

  Through the Storm

  Rain Storm

  Latter Rain

  Abundant Rain

  Former Rain

  Anthologies (Editor)

  Keeping the Faith

  Have A Little Faith

  This Far by Faith

  EBOOKS

  Love Isn’t Enough

  A Mighty Love

  The Blessed One (Blessed and Highly Favored series)

  The Wild One (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

  The Preacher’s Choice (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

  The Politician’s Wife (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

  The Playboy’s Redemption (Blessed and Highly Favored Series)

  Chapter One

  Twenty-five candles. They weren’t just celebrating a birthday… Elaine was in remission and was able to be with them on her twenty-fifth birthday. So, the Morrison family was celebrating life. Elaine bent down and blew out the candles on her marble cake, which was a mix of vanilla, coffee and chocolate just the way she liked it. After blowing out the candles, she looked around the table and beamed with overflowing joy. “Thank you all for sharing this day with me.”

  Joel sat at the head of the table. Elaine was at the opposite end with her husband John, her hero, next to her. On the other side of Elaine, sat Natua. Drake was in between Natua and Dee Dee, while the preacher and the politician sat on the opposite side of the table.

  “I wonder why Shawn didn’t come.” Elaine said as she began cutting slices of her cake and putting it on plates for her family.

  Dee Dee nervously glanced at Isaiah, her brother, the preacher, hadn’t been able to adopt a forgiving attitude since he learned that his younger brother, Shawn the playboy, had had sex with his ex-wife the summer before Isaiah married her. She turned to John and quickly tried to move the conversation away from Shawn’s absence. “That’s a mighty big rock you put on Elaine’s finger. If it weren’t for the fact that you have wonderful taste in diamonds, I might still be annoyed with the fact that you took my sister off to Mexico and married her without any family to witness it.”

  “Believe me; I would have preferred to marry Elaine in front of a thousand witnesses. But it took her so long to agree to marry me that I didn’t want to wait another minute.”

  Elaine patted her husband’s hand. “It’s my fault, Dee Dee. I was so happy to be in remission, all I could think about was marrying the man I love. But I promise you, we will renew our vows in twenty years… and you my dear sister will be my bridesmaid.”

  “Ok, just as long as I get to pick out my own dress. I wouldn’t be caught dead in the god awful dresses some of my friends have been forced to wear.” The group laughed, because they all knew that Dee Dee meant what she said. Isaiah nudged his big brother, Eric. “Why didn’t Linda come with you?

  Eric averted his eyes. “She’s not feeling well.” Dee Dee turned to Eric as if she had been invited into the conversation and said, “You really need to get her some help before she ruins your chance of becoming the next governor of Ohio.”

  “And you really need to mind your own business,” Eric said with venom in his voice.

  Isaiah held up his hands. “I wasn’t trying to get an argument started. Can we please switch topics?”

  Then Shawn Morrison walked into the dining room and Isaiah, the peacemaker, found that he was ready to rumble.

  ***

  An eviction notice was taped to Ramona Verse’s door when she got home after a series of disappointing events designed to break the resolve of a weaker woman. But even after depositing her unemployment check and discovering that her bank balance was still in the negative to the tune of one hundred and thirty one dollars… and even after lowering her standards by stepping into a cash advance establishment and borrowing five hundred dollars to cover bank fees and pay her electric bill, she was still short and couldn’t come close to paying her rent.

  Dwayne Verse was the cause of all her problems. He promised to love, honor and cherish her before God, his mama and a room full of folks who ate up all the shrimp, beef, penne noodles and cake they could get their hands on. So they could sure enough be considered witnesses to the crime committed against her foolish heart.

  Why didn’t any of those people tell her that Dwayne needed a leash and a pooper scooper? After all, they were eating the food that her mother took out a loan to pay for. One of his relatives could have easily pulled her to the side and said, “Hey, I don’t mean to ruin your big day and all, but Dwayne is a thief and a cheater. You might want to make like the runaway bride and put some distance between you and this brother.”

  But even if they had told her, she probably wouldn’t have listened. She had been young, dumb and looking for love when she met Dwayne. He had been a member of her church choir and his voice was so anointed that she naturally thought the rest of him would be too. But that hadn’t been the case. Ramona quickly realized that she’d married a man with multiple personalities. The one he allowed everyone to see was that of the ‘do good church boy’. But the personality she became acquainted with was the one who lived high on the hog at her expense. Because Dwayne didn’t make much money as a music teacher, her career as a financial planner gave him the income he’d always wanted to have.

  He spent money like it was in endless supply. There was no debt ceiling in the Verse household, not as long as Ramona kept bringing home her paycheck and bonuses. But one day she’d come home from the office early and found Dwayne in bed with one of his choir members. Then she’d found out about an affair he was having with a teacher at his school and Ramona was done.

  However, Ramona had forgotten the lesson her grandmother had drilled into her head since she went on her first date. “Don’t never let a man know that you’re leaving until you don’ left.”

  Everybody thought Grandma Bee had lost a piece of her mind when she’d had that stroke about twenty years ago, but that woman knew exactly what she was talking about. As Ramona sat at her kitchen table eating a bologna sandwich on stale bread for dinner, she wished she had listened to Grandma Bee.

  She’d boldly told Dwayne that she was filing for divorce and had given him a week to pack his stuff and get out of her house. But he didn’t need a full week. Within two days he’d packed up and left. He’d also taken the twenty thousand dollars that Ramona had managed to save from all her years of hard work.

  The next month Ramona had been laid off of her job. Since the economy was doing so poorly and people were barely scraping by, not many people found a need for a financial planner these days. She had to put her house up for sale in a buyers market and ended up doing a short sale just to get out of the house.

>   As a financial planner, Ramona regularly advised clients not to take money out of their 401k, but she had been on unemployment and working temp assignments for six months now and things weren’t looking good. She’d made up her mind to call her old human resource department and take out a loan from her 401k account. But just then, she’d received a call from Christ Tabernacle about the resume she’d submitted on one of the online employment sites.

  Pastor Isaiah Morrison was looking for a financial specialist to run a charity fund he was setting up in his father’s honor. Ramona had gone to that interview and did everything but cross her fingers and hold her breath while trying to convince the pastor that she was the right person for that job. She prayed that he wouldn’t do a credit check on her or ask about her current finances which were in a shambles. She needed the job and was prepared to beg.

  Thankfully, Pastor Isaiah didn’t make her beg. After their brief discussion, he’d told her that he believed she was the right person for the job and offered it to her on the spot. Ramona had wanted to jump up and hug the man. She would have…if it wasn’t for the fact that Pastor Isaiah was the most handsome man she’d seen in her entire life. Ramona was positive that women came onto him all the time, pastor or not. She wasn’t going to do anything that might cause her to lose the only job offer she’d received in months.

  Chapter Two

  Isaiah felt like a coward hiding behind his office door, afraid to step out to even get a cup of coffee… and he really needed that coffee. If his brothers could see him now, Eric would laugh in his face and Shawn would say that he was lame. But Isaiah no longer cared what Shawn said or thought. His brother had betrayed him in the worst way possible and although Isaiah preached forgiveness, he couldn’t find any in his heart for his younger brother.

  It if weren’t for Shawn, Isaiah would be in the kitchen getting himself a cup of coffee right now. But Shawn had opened his eyes to the fact that beautiful women could be treacherous. His ex-wife took him to school on that. After learning that Tanya and Shawn had engaged in an affair the same summer that he not only dated, but married her… and then discovering that his beautiful daughter did not belong to him or his brother, but to one of Shawn’s college football teammates, Isaiah still tried to work things out. When Tanya asked for a divorce so that she could be with Erin’s real daddy, like a fool, he’d pleaded with her to stay.

  In the end, Tanya had walked out anyway, taking his precious daughter and his crumpled pride. Isaiah felt like he’d been whooped on by a heavy weight. And now, he was tired of fighting and wanted a little peace. But Isaiah now feared that the woman he’d just hired was about to disrupt his life in ways Tanya couldn’t even dream of doing.

  A knock on the door; Isaiah said, “Come in.”

  Tina Blackwood opened the door and walked into his office. “Just wanted to let you know that Ramona is getting settled in.”

  “Thank you for taking care of that for me, Tina. I’ve only been pastor here for three months and I still feel a bit overwhelmed with all there is to know about the numerous projects and programs we have.”

  “But you had been in leadership here for five years before taking over as pastor. Surely you knew about our programs.”

  “Knowing about them and being responsible for them is two different things. I’m reviewing each program to make sure that we have the right people leading them and to see what else we might be able to do to ensure their success.” After saying all that, Isaiah rubbed his temples as the stress drained from his face. “It doesn’t help matters that my father tasked me with setting up this charity fund. I doubt if I’ll have much time for Ms. Verse.”

  A knowing grin spread across Tina’s round face. She put her hands on her ample hips and asked, “Is this your sly way of asking me to work with Ramona so you can get caught up with the work of the Lord.” She raised her hands and elevated her voice in a dramatic show of praise to God when she said ‘the work of the Lord’.

  Isaiah liked that Tina wasn’t so sanctified that she couldn’t crack a smile or a joke. This last year of his life had been pretty much laugh-less so he needed the joy that laughter could bring every now and then. “All kidding aside, Tina, I would appreciate it if you would manage this project and then report to me with proposals and potential organizations that she recommends we contribute to. Okay?”

  Tina gave him a look that indicated what he was asking was way out of line, but instead of rejecting the idea outright, she said, “I don’t mind working with her as long as you understand that my work for this church has to come first.”

  “Of course. I would never ask you to neglect your duties for a personal project of mine.” He leaned back in his black leather chair and let his mind’s eye travel back to the day Ramona walked into his office. Her big brown eyes implored him to give her the job. And he had… without checking one single reference. He’d never thought of himself as the most gullible man who ever lived, but in truth, he had noticed more than her brown eyes that day. And everything he saw made him want to run in the opposite direction. Ramona wasn’t cover-girl beautiful like Tanya. No, she had that girl next door type of beauty that made a man relax and let down his guard in her presence. Isaiah didn’t want to think about it anymore. He couldn’t think about Ramona. “I just really need your help, Tina. So, if you can make time for Ms. Verse, I’d really appreciate it.”

  “Okay Pastor, I know that you have a lot on your plate already, so don’t worry. I’ll help Ramona in whatever way she needs.”

  “Thank you, Tina.”

  “Not a problem.” She turned and headed for the door.

  Isaiah stopped her. “Hey Tina, would you mind bringing me back a cup of coffee?”

  She turned back towards her boss, glared at him. She then opened the door and in a sugary-sweet voice she asked, “Cream with two sugars, right?”

  “Three sugars, please.”

  The door slammed behind Tina.

  Isaiah laid his head on his desk, as he admitted to himself, “I am lame.”

  Chapter Three

  Pastor Isaiah was avoiding her. Ramona knew what that felt like, because her ex-husband had an avoidance personality. She still remembered the time Dwayne lost his job. He stayed at his mother’s house for three days just so he wouldn’t have to admit that he no longer had a job.

  Whenever she tried to discuss their marital issues, Dwayne would act as if there was just too much work to do around the house for him to spend time chit chatting. Even with all his avoidance issues, Ramona would have gladly stayed married to the man. If she hadn’t discovered that he was also a thief and a cheat.

  Pastor Isaiah was another matter all together. He didn’t seem like the type who avoided things. Ramona pictured him as the kind of guy who would be the last one standing at a press conference. He’d answer so many questions that the media would get tired and start accusing him of being too forth coming. But what did she know… after all, she had married Dwayne Verse.

  Ramona figured it was best that she kept her head down and do her job so she could continue collecting a paycheck. She’d been at the church now for two weeks. Her first check wasn’t due until next week, so she had moved out of her apartment, rather than squat until the sheriff threw her clothes out on the street. She was now rooming with her cousin and making plans to pay off her past due bills as quickly as possible so that she could get her own place again. The bonus she would receive, once she was able to find suitable charitable organizations for Pastor Isaiah to contribute his considerable inheritance, would certainly help.

  Ramona had a meeting scheduled with Tina at 10 a.m. to discuss the list of potential agencies she would be recommending that they donate some of the foundations money. Ramona had spent her first two weeks of employment diligently researching five agencies. Three of them turned out to be bogus, but the other two seemed promising.

  Since her employer wasn’t giving her the time of day and she had to communicate everything through Tina, Ramona made doubly su
re that the proposals she put together had indisputable facts and figures. She didn’t want to be accused of making decisions based on emotions rather than facts. However, Ramona did admit to herself that it was hard not to become emotional about some of these cases of need… like the children (and adults) in Somalia dying of hunger because of a famine. But it wasn’t just the famine that was killing them. Rebel forces in Somalia intentionally prevented the organizations from bringing food and water to help the citizens because of their own sadistic need for money and power. But now, many of those rebel forces have left Somalia. Since almost half of the 7.5 million residents were affected by this famine, Ramona believed that this was a worthy cause, both emotionally and factually.

  She was also hopeful that an organization who provided funds to struggling single women would receive funds. Ramona knew first hand what a blessing a little help in a time of need could do for a person. If someone had been there to pay her rent or her utilities while she had been trying to figure her way out of the bind her ex-husband had put her in, Ramona would have been eternally grateful.

  A smile crept across Ramona’s face as she grabbed the files off her desk and headed for Tina’s office. She had done her homework and now she was positive that Tina would be able to give a good report to her elusive boss. Whether in a church or a corporate environment, Ramona knew all too well that not having access to the person who signed off on her reports and recommendations was detrimental to her success. So, she determined to handle the funds in Pastor Isaiah’s charity foundation with such skill that he would have no choice but to sit up and take notice.