“Nothing.”
“Nothing?” he said, laughing. “Alicia Black Valentine went shopping and came back with nothing?”
Alicia never acknowledged his comment and instead leaned against the dresser and crossed her arms. “There’s something I need to ask you.”
JT went into his closet. “Okay, go ahead.”
“I’ve tried to figure out the best way to ask you this, but I’ve decided that there’s no other way except to just do it. When your wife died in that accident, was there an investigation?”
“Yes. All accidents are investigated, but why do you ask?”
“Were you a potential suspect?”
“Suspect for what?”
“Murder.”
JT quickly stepped back out of his closet with only his underwear on. “Excuse me? Who told you that?”
“A woman came up to me while I was in Nordstrom.”
“What woman?”
“She said her name was Donna and that she used to be a member of NLCC a few years ago. Then she said that Michelle’s parents and siblings and some of her friends thought you had something to do with her death.”
“I can’t believe this,” he said, exhaling loudly and taking a seat on the edge of the bed. “What did she look like?”
“She had a medium-brown complexion, was a little taller than I am, and had very long hair.”
JT sighed again. “Baby, come here and sit down next to me.”
Alicia did what he asked.
“Sweetheart, yes. There was an investigation, but in the end I was cleared.”
“But why would anyone think you were involved in something so horrible in the first place?”
“Envy, of course. Some people just don’t want to see others do well, mainly because they’re miserable themselves. And so they thrive on starting vicious rumors such as this one.”
“This Donna woman also claims that you messed around on Michelle repeatedly and that Michelle was planning to divorce you.”
“Lies, lies, lies. Baby, Michelle and I were the happiest couple I knew. We loved each other, we were committed to each other, and we’d planned on spending the rest of our lives together.”
“Well, why didn’t she come to church for the last few weeks she was alive? Because this Donna person mentioned that to me as well.”
“She stopped coming because she was tired of hearing all those lies and rumors about me and other women. She was so humiliated, and she just couldn’t face people at the church anymore.”
Alicia stared at him with uncertainty.
“I mean, baby, look. This sort of thing happens all the time with men who hold the kind of leadership positions that I do, and it especially happens with pastors like me who have thousands of members in their congregation. People love trying to destroy any man who’s been called by God to teach His Word and one who is being completely faithful to his wife and his ministry.”
“I just don’t understand why anyone would say these kinds of things.”
“Because, baby, people are very cruel, and unfortunately as first lady of our church, you’re going to have to deal with these kinds of rumors all the time. I’m sorry that this woman approached you out of the blue the way she did, but sadly I doubt it will be the last time. Sweetheart, there are so many women out there who would do or say anything if they thought they had even the slightest chance at breaking up our marriage, just so they can have a chance at becoming my wife.”
Alicia wanted to believe him, but she couldn’t stop thinking about her father and all the women he’d slept with over the years. All the lies he’d told her mother whenever she had confronted him about them. All the plotting and scheming he’d done with not just one wife or two, but with three. Alicia thought about how long her father had gotten away with so much wrongdoing. Mostly, though, she thought about herself and how she’d plotted and schemed, too, and told effortless lies to Phillip the whole time she’d been having an affair with Levi. She thought about the fact that she’d always been able to keep a straight face, the same as JT was doing right now.
But maybe she was reading too much into this and JT really was being honest with her. Maybe he wasn’t like her father at all. Maybe he wasn’t anything like the way she’d once been either. She just didn’t know what to think, and she was very confused.
“Alicia. Baby,” he said, grabbing both her hands. “You have to believe me. I’m your husband, and you have to trust me. You have to trust that I love you with all my heart and that I would never hurt you.”
“I love you, too, JT, but I could never tolerate you messing around with other women. I could never do that, not under any circumstances.”
“And you won’t have to because I’ll always be faithful to you. Always,” he said, leaning her body backward and onto the bed. “You’re the only woman I want and the only woman I need, and I promise you that won’t ever change.”
Alicia gazed into his eyes, praying he was telling the truth, and JT kissed her. He kissed her the way he had the night of their first date, gently yet insatiably, and she couldn’t help loving him with everything in her. She loved him hard, and her feelings were so intense, she had no control over them. She was powerless, and that was the one thing that frightened her the most.
Chapter 11
JT scrolled through the list of contacts in his BlackBerry, searching for his father-in-law’s phone number, and hated having to call him. His plan had been to at least wait until he’d been married to Alicia for three or four months before asking Curtis for any help, but now with this whole mysterious Donna woman entering the picture, something told him he needed to act without delay. He’d done everything he could, trying to convince Alicia that this woman was lying through her teeth and was only trying to cause problems in their marriage, but he could tell Alicia was still feeling uneasy. This woman, whoever she was, had caused Alicia to question his past as well as who he was currently, and he had to do whatever necessary to keep her happy. This, of course, included making a lot more money than he was, because Alicia loved living the high life. She wanted to be rich, and while she’d insisted she would never tolerate any extramarital affairs, he had a feeling that if he gave her more than she could ever dream of—more than what her father had given her—she would think long and hard before ever leaving him. JT wasn’t planning for Alicia to find out about Diana, Carmen, or any of the other women he’d been with since meeting her, but he knew it was better to be safe than sorry. It was better to start preparing for what could eventually happen, because he didn’t want to lose his wife.
He also didn’t want to lose his five thousand followers, which could easily come to pass since his congregation loved having Alicia as their first lady. They loved the idea that she was the daughter of a world-renowned minister, a man they all cherished, and without her, it might be twenty years before JT saw the kind of success he longed for—he might never become the leading televangelist in the United States and build the largest church in history. If Alicia left him, there was a chance his loyal congregants would leave, too, because he wasn’t sure they could deal with yet one more scandal. Two years ago, he and the other ministers and officers at NLCC had been able to stifle all that murder investigation gossip and keep it out of the media, but there had still been a few nosy members who’d found out about it, had spread the word, and had decided they wanted nothing else to do with JT. Thankfully, the majority hadn’t believed any of what they’d heard, not about his being a potential suspect or about all the women he’d consorted with, but still, he wasn’t sure they’d be as understanding this time around. Especially since he knew he was guilty of more allegations than he cared to think about.
When JT located his father-in-law’s number, he picked up his office phone and dialed it. Curtis answered after the second ring.
“Hello?”
“Curtis. Hey. This is JT. How are you?”
“I’m well. You?”
“Fine, fine. And how’re Charlotte and the childre
n?”
“They’re good.”
“I’m glad. Look, the reason I’m calling you…well, actually I’m calling you for two reasons, and the first is that I wanted to ask when you might have time to come speak here at the church again. You could do any Sunday morning you want during the main service because we can certainly work around your schedule.”
“Actually, my schedule is pretty booked for the rest of the year, but maybe sometime next January or February.”
Curtis spoke with no enthusiasm, and JT just couldn’t understand why he always sounded so distant whenever he spoke to him or saw him. He’d seemed fine that day he served as NLCC’s guest speaker and even while they’d been at dinner that afternoon, but as soon as he’d learned that JT was dating Alicia, he’d begun acting as if he wanted nothing to do with him. Oh, he was cordial enough in front of other people, but JT had a feeling Curtis hadn’t wanted Alicia to marry him. JT had even asked Alicia exactly that, and while she’d denied it and insisted her father was fine with him, his gut told him otherwise.
“Well, whenever you can will be good,” JT finally said. He really needed Curtis to make an appearance much sooner than eight or nine months from now, but he didn’t want to push the issue. Especially when he had a much more important request.
“The other thing I wanted to talk to you about is my ministry and a huge favor I’d like to ask of you.”
“What kind of favor?”
Curtis’s tone was snappish, but JT continued. “I’m really trying to build up my ministry and wondered if you would write me a letter of recommendation so that I can approach some of the megasized ministries regarding speaking engagement opportunities.”
“Well, the thing is, I’ve only heard you speak one time. I’ve also only known you for seven months, so I really wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that.”
JT frowned and swiveled his chair around so that he was facing the window of his study. “But you know how successful I’ve been as founder and pastor of my church.”
“I know what you’ve told me. And yes, I saw how many members you had when I was there. But let’s be honest, JT, I really don’t know you well enough to vouch for your character, let alone your overall abilities as a minister.”
JT hated the way Curtis was dismissing him but realized he had no choice except pulling out the big guns. “Well, if you can’t do it for the reasons you mentioned, then can you do it because I’m your son-in-law and because, with the exception of God, I love your daughter more than life itself?”
“No. I can’t.” Curtis spoke callously, and it was all JT could do not to slam the phone onto its base.
But instead, he said, “Okay, fine. I understand your position, and while I’m a little disappointed, I completely respect your decision.”
JT waited for Curtis to respond but when he didn’t, he said, “Well, I should go, but thank you for taking my call.”
“No problem.”
JT hung up the phone, but only long enough to end Curtis’s call and then dial his assistant. “Janet, can you come in here for a few minutes?”
“Sure. I’ll be there in a few seconds.”
When she walked in, JT asked her to shut the door, and then she took a seat directly in front of him.
“First, I’d like you to call the florist and have them deliver two dozen long-stemmed roses to my wife every day for the rest of this week. And I’d like them to start this afternoon.”
“How romantic.”
“Then I need you to work on another project for me.”
“Okay.”
“I want you to go online and research the top one hundred churches in the country according to the size of their congregations, as well as all of the ministries that broadcast on television. Then, once you’ve compiled a list and you and I have had a chance to go over it, I want you to draft a cover letter to each of the senior pastors. I’ve been thinking about this a lot because, even though I get a respectable amount of invites from various churches throughout the year, it’s now time I seek out as many upper-echelon churches as I can. It’s time I become a lot more well-known in those kinds of circles.”
“That’s understandable and I think very doable,” Janet said.
“In the letter, I want to introduce myself to them, let them know I’m the Reverend Curtis Black’s son-in-law and that if they’re interested in having me serve as a guest speaker at their respective churches, I would love to come. I also want you to include some of my personal history as well, such as how my mother was a drug addict, how I have no idea who my father is, and how I was tossed around from one foster home to another until I finally ran away from the last one when I was sixteen. Then mention how after that, I basically raised myself on the street and for about a year, I even got mixed up with a gang. But thankfully, when I turned twenty-seven, God called me into the ministry, and after hearing my father-in-law for the first time on television, I was inspired to found New Life Christian Center. Of course, you already know to include how many people I started out with and what we have now.”
“Definitely,” she said, writing down a few more notes. Then she looked at him with a confused gaze.
“I know all of this is a shock to you, but if I want to get people’s attention, it’s time I market myself through my own personal testimony,” JT said, knowing he had exaggerated his story quite a bit in comparison to the true scenario he’d shared with Diana a little over a week ago.
“I had no idea you’d had such a hard childhood, and I’m so sorry.”
“Hey, it was what it was, but now I want to share it with everyone. Most ministers share their entire histories, but I don’t think I ever did because I’ve always been ashamed of what I went through. I’ve always felt like no one would respect me if they knew I had parents who cared nothing about me and that I’d even been homeless for a period of time.”
“But it wasn’t your fault,” Janet said with tears in her eyes, and JT felt somewhat guilty for telling her such a fraudulent story. However, he didn’t have a choice if he wanted to move forward with his plans.
“I realize that now, but it’s taken me years to come to terms with that. Still, I haven’t even shared this with my wife or anyone else, so for now, I want this information to remain between you and me and the pastors you’ll be sending the letters to. Then, once they begin calling to schedule engagements with me, I’ll tell my wife and our church family so that they’ll hear my testimony first.”
“I won’t say a thing. You have my word.”
“I really appreciate your help with this.”
“No problem at all,” she said. “There is one other thing, though. Since you’re going to mention Reverend Black’s name in the cover letter, do you think he would write you a letter of recommendation? Because I think it would do wonders for you if we were able to include something like that in the package.”
If JT hadn’t known any better, he’d swear Janet was reading his mind. Which was the reason he smiled and said, “He’ll be writing it this week. I just got off the phone with him, and he was more than happy to do it.”
Chapter 12
Hey, girl,” Alicia’s best friend, Melanie, said.
“Hey, Mel. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I hadn’t spoken to you in a few days and thought I’d give you a call.”
“I’m glad you did, and I’m so sorry we haven’t been able to talk very much over the last few weeks. First it was the wedding and then the honeymoon, and then I had to work daily on the revisions for my book.”
“You know I completely understand. So, did you get it finished and sent off?”
“Yes, just yesterday, and actually I was going to ask you to read it one last time but didn’t want to bother you.”
“Bother me? Now, Alicia, you know I’m happy to read it as many times as you need me to and all you had to do was say the word.”
“I know. But my mom reread it, and so did I, and I think it’ll be fine.”
“Wel
l, I still want you to send me a copy.”
“I’ll make sure to put one in the mail tomorrow.”
“So, what else is going on? And how’s JT?”
“He’s fine,” Alicia said, thinking about the horrible rumors relating to JT’s first wife. She wanted so badly to tell Melanie, but she couldn’t. Melanie was her best friend and if there was anyone in the entire world she could trust with her life it was her, but she just didn’t want her thinking negatively about her new husband. She didn’t want her feeling any ill will toward him.
“Good. You seem really happy and content, and that makes me happy.”
“I truly appreciate that, Mel. You have always supported me, even when I messed up my marriage with Phillip, and I never could have gotten beyond all of that without you.”
“Girl, please. That’s what friends are for.”
“I know, but you’re the kind of friend most people never get a chance in life to have, and I just want you to know how thankful I am.”
“I’m thankful to have you as well. I sort of hate that you had to move ninety miles away, but that will never change how close we are.”
“No. It won’t. Distance is one thing, but you’ll always be like my sister, no matter what. As a matter of fact, what we should do is schedule a lunch or dinner date right now.”
“Well, actually, I have next Thursday off, so if that works for you, we can get together then.”
“Thursday is perfect.”
“Do you want me to drive over there?”
“No, I’ll just come to Mitchell because that way I can drop by to see Matthew and Charlotte before I head back home.”
“Okay, that’s fine. So, will your dad be out of town?”
“I don’t think so, but why do you ask?”
“Because you said you wanted to see your brother and Charlotte.”
“Well, if you really wanna know the truth, I’m not all that happy with my dad right now.”
Be Careful What You Pray For Page 6
