The Preacher's Choice

by Vanessa Miller

  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

  And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

  He had delivered the ‘sin begins in the heart’ sermon several days ago, and he hadn’t been able to look Ramona in the eye since. In fact, he was sitting in his office right now contemplating plucking out his eye and cutting off his arm. But then he realized that it wasn’t just the right eye or arm that offended him. He lusted after Ramona with both eyes and wouldn’t mind laying holy hands on her, in a most unholy fashion. So, he had been keeping his self locked away in his office, not even venturing out for coffee again.

  Someone knocked on his door. Isaiah put his pen down and prayed that Ramona wasn’t behind that door as he said, “Come in.”

  As the door opened, he realized that there was one other person that he didn’t want to see – Tanya. “What are you doing here?” he asked as she closed the door behind her.

  Dressed in a red business suit that clung to her like a second skin, Tanya strutted into her ex-husband’s office and sat down in the empty chair in front of his desk. He hadn’t seen this woman since the day after he signed the divorce papers and she came to his house to inform him that she was moving his daughter to Florida. He hadn’t known at the time that they were moving to Florida because she had convinced Cal Davis of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that Erin was his daughter.

  Cal had been successful in his football career, with two Super Bowl rings and millions of dollars. He was currently divorcing his wife because they couldn’t get along and she hadn’t been able to have children. So, when he found out about Erin, he had wanted both the child and the mother. Too bad none of it was real.

  “Hi Isaiah, I hope this isn’t a bad time.”

  As if you care. That’s what he wanted to say, but good manners and home training conditioned him to say, “I was working on something, but I can spare a few minutes.”

  She lowered her eyes and put her hands in her lap. She appeared hesitant before saying, “I think I made a mistake.”

  Ya think? “What mistake are you referring to, Tanya?”

  “The divorce. You didn’t want it, and I think you were right. Erin is very unhappy without you in her life.”

  “I miss Erin too. Are you finally willing to let me see her?”

  She looked at him, revealing a warmth he hadn’t seen in years. “Erin wants to come home, Isaiah… and so do I.”

  He didn’t have time to play this game with her. He shook his head as he told her, “I already know that Cal threw you out. It appears that Erin isn’t his biological daughter either.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “That’s not your concern; just know that Erin is welcome to come home anytime she wants. But you no longer have a home with me. His eyes were dark and cold as he asked, “Are we clear on that?”

  “You don’t have to be so mean, Isaiah. You did love me once. We shared our life together, remember?”

  Without answering her, he stood up, walked to the door and opened it. “It was nice seeing you Tanya; please bring Erin with you next time.”

  She swiveled around in the chair, looking at him as if she had the upper hand and was about to let him know it. “Erin is outside in the car.”

  “Why didn’t you bring her in?”

  “I needed to talk to you first, to remind you that you are still on the hook for child support.”

  “You don’t need to remind me of that. I signed her birth certificate. I’ve been there for her since the day she was born, so I don’t have a problem with paying child support.”

  She stood up and joined him at the door. “Erin’s bags are already packed. She expected to spend a month with you while I find us another place to live.”

  “But just a minute ago, you were asking to live with me.”

  She shrugged. “I figured I’d give it a try.”

  He closed his eyes and counted to ten, in an attempt to rein in his temper. When he reopened them he simply said, “Can you please go get her?”

  “Not just yet. First I need something from you.”

  “Surprise, surprise.”

  “No need to be sarcastic, Isaiah. I’m just asking for what’s rightfully mine. You owe me alimony and you know it.”

  “You declined the alimony. Remember? As a matter of fact, you informed me that your man had more than enough money to take care of you.”

  Tanya waved a hand in the air dismissing Isaiah’s comment. “That was then, and this is now.”

  “You mean, now that he’s thrown you out.”

  “Whatever. Look, all I want to know is do you want to spend time with Erin or not?”

  “Of course I do.”

  “Then giving me the money shouldn’t be a problem. After all, it will benefit Erin also.”

  “I’ll pay alimony for one year. That’s it. Now let me see my daughter.”

  “My goodness, Isaiah, calm down.” She pointed toward his desk and said, “You go back over there and write out my first check and I’ll go to the car and get Erin.”

  As Tanya left his office, Isaiah sat down behind his desk and pulled out his check book like an obedient pup. What could he do but pay up? It was his fault that he married a deceptive woman like Tanya. A woman that would willingly keep his child from him; so if he wanted to see Erin, he’d give her spiteful mama the sun, moon and even more if she asked.

  There was another knock on his open door. Isaiah looked up. Ramona was standing at the door giving him a smile that spoke volumes. “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey yourself,” she said as she stepped in. “Are you okay?”

  “You heard that, huh?”

  “Not all of it. But I was in the copy room next to your office when you opened the door.” She hunched her shoulders, while looking a bit guilty for knowing things she didn’t want to know. “It was kind of hard for us not to hear.”

  He leaned back in his seat, check in hand. “Well, at least I’ll get to see my daughter.”

  “You’re a good man, Isaiah Morrison,” Ramona said these words with so much affection that it caused Isaiah to stand up and walk toward her.

  “Who the heck are you?”

  Isaiah and Ramona turned away from each other as if they’d been caught kissing by the principal during recess. They turned toward his office door where Erin and Tanya stood. Erin had a big grin on her face as she looked at her daddy. Tanya glared at Ramona as she thundered into the office like a woman scorned.

  Chapter Seven

  Ramona had the distinct impression that she needed to back that thang up and out of Isaiah’s office before this woman did her bodily harm. But then again, Ramona didn’t like Isaiah’s ex-wife very much. Based on the conversation she’d just over heard, the woman was an extortionist and a not-so-very-nice person. Putting her hands on her hip and letting her backbone slip, she said, “I’m Ramona Verse, and you are?”

  Putting her hand in the air, halting Ramona’s deception, Tanya said, “Don’t play games with me, everybody in this church knows that I’m Isaiah’s wife.”

  “Ex-wife.” Isaiah corrected.

  “Whatever.” Dismissing him with a wave of the hand, Tanya turned back to Ramona. “Don’t nobody know better than me what a good man Isaiah is. And he don’t need no church groupie telling him things I’ve already told him.”

  Turning to Isaiah, Ramona said, “I need to get back to work.”

  “Wait a minute, Ramona. Tanya was just leaving. All she’s doing is dropping off my daughter.” Isaiah put the check in his ex-wife’s hand and t
hen asked, “Isn’t that right, Tanya?”

  She rolled her eyes heavenward, but she didn’t contradict him. Tanya bent down and gave Erin a hug and a Kiss. “Now you be good while you’re with daddy. I’ll be back to get you as soon as I find us another place to live.”

  “Okay,” Erin said and then she rushed into Isaiah’s waiting arms.

  “I’ll let you know if I need more,” Tanya said as she put the check in her purse and then turned and strutted out of the office.

  Ramona wanted to snatch that check out of her purse and tear it into a hundred little pieces and let the confetti rain down on her money grubbing bobble head. But Isaiah didn’t seem to care that he was being shook like a piggy bank. She turned toward him to see if he had the same look of outrage on his face as she had, but all she saw on his face was… love. Love for the little girl that he now held in his arms. Blood and DNA tests didn’t mean anything to Isaiah. This was his daughter and he would pay any price to have her with him.

  She couldn’t fault Isaiah for loving his daughter. If Tanya’s father had loved her enough to stay in her life, maybe she would have made better choices when it came to the men she dated. Maybe she wouldn’t be divorced and living on peanut butter and Ramen Noodles.

  Isaiah and Erin finally let each other go. He said, “I missed you, kiddo.”

  “I missed you too, Daddy. I’m glad Mommy has to find another place to live.”

  Ramona grinned. Children are such truth tellers. They said what they felt without worrying about how anyone else perceived their words.

  Isaiah turned Erin toward her and said, “I’d like you to meet Miss Ramona Verse. She works at the church.”

  Erin walked over to Ramona with an outstretched hand. The woman and the girl shook hands. “Hi Miss Ramona.”

  “Hi Erin. It’s really nice to meet you.”

  “Do you like working at the church with my Daddy?”

  Ramona glanced at Isaiah. He winked at her. “Yeah, I do like working with your daddy.”

  “When I grow up, I want to work with my daddy too.”

  “Oh really, how old are you?”

  “I’m eight,” Erin said and then asked, “How old are you?”

  Ramona’s mouth opened but nothing came out. It was rare that she’d been asked her age. And truthfully, once she past twenty-five, she’d never wanted to admit her age.

  “Whoa.” Isaiah picked his daughter up and swung her onto his back. “Come on Kiddo, I’m taking you to lunch so you can stop asking pretty ladies embarrassing questions.”

  Ramona watched them trot out of Isaiah’s office. She followed behind, headed back to her office. But then she heard Erin say, “What’s the big deal?”

  “Women don’t like being asked their age,” Isaiah tried to explain as he continued down the hall with Erin riding his back.

  “She can’t be that old,” Erin said.

  “I-I’m thirty-one,” Ramona admitted.

  Isaiah stopped so fast that Erin slid down his back, landing on her feet. He turned to face Ramona.

  “Don’t act so surprised,” Ramona said. “You studied my application for other information. Do you really think I believe that you don’t know how old I am?”

  He shook his head. “No. Of course I knew. I just didn’t think you would admit it. I’ve never – I mean, most of the women I know refuse to tell anyone their real age.”

  With a look of defiance on her face, Ramona said, “Then I guess I’m not like most of the women you know.”

  “Maybe you’re not,” Isaiah said, still staring at Ramona as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing with his own eyes.

  Erin tugged on his arm. “Daddy, Daddy, can Miss Ramona go to lunch with us?”

  Ramona waved a hand in the air. “Oh no, I don’t want to intrude on your father/daughter time.”

  Isaiah walked towards Ramona, closing the gap between them. “You just heard my daughter. She wants you to come with us. And although I didn’t read this on your application, I don’t think you’re the kind of person who goes around disappointing kids.”

  “That’s a low blow,” she said to Isaiah and then turned to Erin. “I would love to have lunch with you and your daddy. Thank you for asking. Just let me go to my office and get my purse.”

  “Woman! My daddy would skin me alive if I allowed you to pay for your own meal. Don’t worry about getting your purse, you won’t need it,” Isaiah told her.

  She gave him a look that said mamma-didn’t-raise-no-fool as she said, “I wasn’t planning on paying for my meal, but a girl does need to reapply lip gloss every now and then.”

  “Oh. Well, we’ll wait for you to get your purse.”

  Ramona went to her office to get her purse, all the while reminding herself to walk-not-run. But in truth, when Isaiah hadn’t asked her out again after her birthday, she had begun to think he was only being nice to the lonely woman who worked for him, by not allowing her to spend her birthday by herself and nothing more. However, the way he had looked at her just now, gave Ramona reason to hope.

  She entered her office, grabbed her purse and pulled out her mulberry colored lip gloss. As she stood in the mirror applying her lip gloss, Ramona wondered if she should be this excited about going out to lunch with Isaiah and his daughter. Yeah, the man was gorgeous and he was responsible for a one hundred million dollar foundation. But he also had baby mama drama and issues with his brother that hadn’t yet been resolved.

  Was it really wise to want a relationship with a man who was emotionally unavailable?

  Chapter Eight

  He was in love, and Isaiah was finally ready to admit it to himself. He and Ramona still weren’t officially dating. They had spent a lot of time together though. This last month they had made tremendous progress on his foundation and Isaiah and Erin had found plenty of occasion to take Ramona to lunch or dinner with them.

  Ramona had treated Erin like a princess and her presence was becoming very important to Erin, especially since Tanya had reneged on her promise to pick her up at the end of the month. Tanya had met someone who wanted to take her around the world. The only problem was her new love didn’t want a kid tagging along with them. So, Tanya had asked if Erin could start the school year with him. That was fine with Isaiah. Matter-of-fact, he wanted Erin to begin and end every school year with him and he had contacted his lawyers to make that happen. He’d give Tanya anything she wanted, as long as she gave him custody of Erin.

  Since Isaiah knew what his plans for Erin were, he had to make sure that any woman he got involved with would be willing to become involved with his daughter. And Ramona had more than proven that she cared about Erin. So what was he waiting for?

  Ramona was beautiful, smart, funny and most of all she didn’t have a deceitful bone in her body. If he didn’t make his move soon, some other guy with sense enough to know a good thing when he saw it would come along and snatch her up. Isaiah realized that he couldn’t live with that.

  Making a decision, Isaiah left his office and walked down the hall and knocked on Ramona’s door.

  “Come in.”

  He opened the door after hearing Ramona’s welcoming voice. A smile lit her face as he walked in. He knew this woman adored him. He wasn’t getting himself involved with another woman who wanted someone else but had settled for what she could get… not with Ramona. Their days would be full of love, laughter and faithfulness and if he had anything to say about it… lots of children. “Hey.”

  “Hey yourself.”

  Still a bit gun shy, he slowly walked over to her desk and began with a safe subject. “I just received confirmation that my father will be able to attend our meeting next week.”

  “Now I’m getting nervous.”

  “No need to be nervous. You’ve done all the work. We’ve pretty much decided on which organizations will receive a donation from the foundation, now we just need to present the information to my father.”

  “Yes, but your father is the Joel Morrison,”
Ramona said with awe in her voice.

  Isaiah laughed. “So what are you, a throw back groupie from the sixties? You weren’t even born when my father was lighting up the big screen.”

  “I do have a mother and a grandmother, and both of them loved your father’s movies. We have the video cassettes of all of his movies at my grandmother’s house and whenever I spent the night, my grandmother and I ate popcorn and watched a Joel Morrison film.”

  “Well, don’t tell him that when you meet him next week. He’s pretty grounded these days and I don’t want his head to start swelling.”

  Ramona shook her head. “Any man who would willingly give away the fortune he worked hard to acquire, would never be in danger of getting a big head over anything.”

  “You’re right. My father is the most humble man I know. I just don’t want you gushing over another man,” he admitted.

  Ramona blushed.

  Isaiah noticed and immediately felt guilty. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to embarrass you.” He put his hands in his pocket. “Look, I really came over here because I wanted to invite you to dinner with me and Erin tonight.”

  “Sounds like a plan. Where are we going?”

  “I’ll let you and Erin decide. But there’s something else you should know.”

  “What?”

  “I hired a babysitter for Erin tonight. I’d like for us to have some time alone so we can talk.”

  “So, what are you saying, Isaiah?” she asked cautiously.

  “I’m saying that after dinner, I want to drop Erin off at home and then we can go someplace and grab a cup of coffee so we can talk about us.”

  “I think I’d like that very much.”

  Again, there was no guile in Ramona’s response. Most women would have tried to play coy… act as if she didn’t know that anything at all had been transpiring between the two of them these last couple of months. But not Ramona; she wasn’t afraid to let him know that she was feeling him just as much as he was feeling her. He liked that. “I’ll pick you up at seven. Is that okay?”