Beaming from ear to ear, JT shook hands with the couple in front of them. “I guess you know that I’m Pastor JT Thomas.”
The man smiled also as he said, “Kind of hard to miss that. “I’m Eric Peoples and this is my wife, Ellen.”
JT turned to Cassandra and asked, “Did you already introduce yourself, honey?”
“I was just getting to that when you interrupted us with all that false humility,” she said jokingly. “I’m Cassandra Thomas. I meant what I said before; I hope the two of you decide to come back again.”
JT hugged Cassandra. “Yes, please come back, and invite friends if you’d like. We need to start filling up these empty seats.”
“The way you preach, I don’t think these seats are going to be empty for long,” Ellen told JT.
JT thought he noticed something in the woman’s eyes as she spoke to him, but then he shook his suspicions off. Coming from his past history with women in the church, he was naturally a little suspicious of people, but that didn’t mean everyone had an ulterior motive just because he had once had ulterior motives for most things he did. “Well, hopefully we’ll see you guys next Sunday. But right now I need to take my wife and kids home,” JT told them as he and Cassandra walked away.
“Why’d you brush them off like that?” Cassandra asked when she, JT and the kids were in his car and headed home. “We’re trying to rebuild our church. We can’t afford to be acting like we’re too busy to chat.”
“Look at you.” JT was grinning as he drove home. “I’ve never seen you so interested in growing our church membership before.”
“When you started pastoring at Faith Outreach, they at least had about three hundred members. Now we have less than thirty. In case you haven’t noticed, brother-man, you’ve got three kids and a wife to feed. So, you need a few hundred or so more tithe paying members before you can go back into full-time ministry.”
“Who said I was thinking about giving up my job?”
“I know you, JT. Your ministry is the church and you won’t rest until you are a full-time pastor. But, like I said, your family needs to eat.”
JT laughed. “Okay, okay. I’ll take out more time for new people,” he said, but then an idea struck him. “Why don’t you handle our church growth program?”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you. The one that likes to eat.”
Cassandra elbowed JT for that crack, but then asked, “Do you really think I can help?”
One of the problems JT and Cassandra had early on in his ministry was that Cassandra didn’t feel needed. There were tons of people ready to do whatever JT wanted and he’d looked over his wife in favor of the elders, deacons and ministers. But now he needed her and he was going to make sure she knew it. “The way you pounced on those new people today, I’m positive you can develop a program that will help us grow our membership in no time.”
She pointed her index finger at JT. “I didn’t pounce, but I’ll take that as a compliment anyway.”
Once they were home and settled in, JT again suggested that the kids needed a nap.
Jerome protested this time. “Ah-uh, no way, I’m all napped out, Daddy.”
JT looked to Cassandra for help, but she was too busy giggling. He turned back to his eldest son and said, “Boy, if you don’t get yourself up them stairs, I’ma have a fit on you.”
Jerome grabbed his toy men and started running toward the stairs. Cassandra got up and ran after him. “Jerome, slow down. Come back here.” She grabbed him and turned him back around.
Jerome screamed, “No Mommy, I don’t want Daddy to have a fit on me.”
“You don’t even know what that means, and your daddy is not going to have a fit on you,” Cassandra assured her son.
“Yes I am,” JT said in a playful manner. He’s interrupting my private time with my wife.”
“Well, your wife needs some family time.”
JT stuck his chest out like the big man on campus. “Oh, I’m not enough family for you?”
“Not at the moment, sir. Right now I’d like to see about my children if you don’t mind.”
Dejected, JT sat down and turned the television on. “All right the kids win this round. What do you want to watch, Jerome?”
“Blue’s Clues,” Jerome said as he excitedly jumped around in his mother’s arms.
Cassandra put Jerome down as she whispered in his ear. “Go give your daddy a hug for not throwing a fit.”
“Okay,” Jerome said as he ran toward his dad and wrapped his short arms around him. “Thank you for not being mad, Daddy.”
“Thank you for that wonderful hug, son,” JT replied.
Jerome got on the couch and snuggled next to his father as he watched Blue’s Clues with a content expression on his boyish face.
Cassandra picked up her cell phone and snapped a picture of father and son. “Now that’s a Hallmark moment,” she said as she looked at them through eyes of love.
JT looked over at the playpen where Aaron and Lily lay sleeping contently. “You know what we need? A family photo.”
“Yeah,” Cassandra agreed. “We haven’t had one since Aaron was two months. I’ll make the arrangements.” Cassandra sat down on the couch with her boys. They remained like that for another hour, until Jerome’s head began to bob. JT laid him on the couch and then gave Cassandra a raised eyebrow.
Before she could respond, Lily woke up with a shout. “I guess that means, not now,” she told him as she pulled Lily out of the playpen.
JT shook his head. “I’m going to have to do something about these treacherous kids.”
They spent the evening with the children, enjoying their family, but when the lights went out it was all about JT and Cassandra. That was a truly happy night for them, which was a good thing; because the next night their world fell apart.
When JT arrived home from work on Monday evening, he walked into the kitchen, kissed the cook and then kissed each one of his children.
“Aren’t we in a good mood this evening,” Cassandra said while stirring the spaghetti sauce.
“Why wouldn’t I be in a good mood? I’ve got a lovely wife and three adorable, well behaved children.”
“Hah,” Cassandra said as she laughed. “You should have been here earlier and you would have seen just how well behaved your children are.”
JT opened his mouth to respond, but the doorbell rang. “Let me get this door, and then I’ll be back to defend my children.”
“Whatever, you aren’t in this house with them all day long. So you don’t know how b-a-d your children are.”
JT was smiling with his eyes and strutting with vigor as he looked through the peephole and saw Bishop Turner and Sam Unders standing on his front porch. He opened the door and gave both men a bear hug. “Hey, what brings you two out this evening?”
There was a grim expression on Bishop’s and Unders’ faces as they stepped into the house. “Hey, JT,” they both said in unison.
“What’s with the long faces?” JT asked as he closed the door.
Drying her hands as she walked into the living room, Cassandra took one look at their guests and stopped. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
With one look in Cassandra’s direction, JT could tell that fear was trying to take hold of her again. He turned to Bishop and Unders and told them, “If y’all gon’ be in my house, we need to see some smiles on your faces.”
“How are you doing, Cassandra?” Bishop asked his daughter.
“I’m okay,” she responded with as little enthusiasm as possible.
“I left you a message earlier this morning. I was hoping we could do lunch, but you didn’t call me back,” Bishop Turner said.
“I was busy with the kids.” Cassandra didn’t make eye contact with her father. She just stood there looking as if she wanted an escape from this conversation.
“I understand,” Bishop said and then turned back to JT. “Can we speak somewhere privately?”
“Privately? What’s
that supposed to mean… You don’t want me there? Aren’t you and JT tired of secrets?” Cassandra huffed and then whirled around and went back into the kitchen.
The last thing JT wanted Cassandra to think was that he was keeping secrets from her. They had crossed a major milestone in their relationship this weekend and he wanted them to continue progressing. He followed Cassandra into the kitchen. They were standing by the stove while the children sat around the kitchen table; Lily and Aaron were both in high chairs. JT whispered in Cassandra’s ear, “I don’t have any secrets.”
“Then why does he want to talk in private?” she shot back.
“I don’t know. But you are more than welcome to sit with us. Why don’t you go tell them to have a seat and let me fix the kids’ plates.”
Cassandra hesitated, but then she handed JT the towel she had been drying her hands on and headed toward the living room.
“All right, who wants spaghetti?” JT asked as he picked up the first plate.
“Me, me,” Jerome and Aaron both yelled.
“Coming right up,” JT said as he fixed the plates. He handed Jerome his, but chopped Lily’s and Aaron’s food up. Aaron liked to feed himself, so he just had to feed Lily. “I sure wish I had some food,” he said to the kids as he watched them shovel it in.
Jerome laughed. “There’s food in the pot, Daddy.”
“Okay, I’ll eat after me and your mommy take care of something,” JT told Jerome.
“Aw man, do we have to take another nap?” Jerome complained.
“You sure do, young man. So hurry up and eat your food so you can go to sleep.”
Cassandra walked back into the kitchen and told JT, “They want to know how much longer you’re going to be.”
JT was feeding Lily. He looked up at Cassandra and said, “I was thinking about putting them to bed before we talked with them.”
Cassandra shook her head. “That’s going to take too much time. They’re going to fight us all the way. Just put them in the family room and turn on the television. We can sit in the kitchen and talk to them so that we can still see the kids.”
“Beautiful and smart,” JT said, trying to take the strained look off of Cassandra’s face.
“Are you guys done?” Cassandra asked Jerome and Aaron without responding to JT’s comment.
Both boys shook their head yes. She grabbed a couple of wet wipes and wiped the excess spaghetti sauce off their face and hands. “Go on in the family room. I’ll be there in a minute,” she said as she took Aaron out of his highchair. She then handed JT a wet wipe and told him to clean Lily up.
It took about ten minutes, but the children were soon seated comfortably in the family room watching cartoons. The kitchen table had been cleaned off and now JT and Cassandra sat at the table with Bishop and Unders. “Okay gentlemen,’ JT said, “let’s have it. But please keep your voices down. My children are in the next room.” Actually the house had an open floor plan from the kitchen to the family room, so the children were on the other side of the island.
Bishop cleared his throat and then spoke in as low a tone as he could. “I hate to come over hear with bad news, but you’ll know about this soon enough, so I thought it would be good for us to strategize how we are going to handle this matter.”
“What matter are you talking about?” Cassandra asked with a little sista-sista in her voice.
Bishop turned toward his daughter, he put his hand over hers, and Cassandra moved her hands away. “I’m trying to handle this as delicately as possible, Cassandra. I know that you’ve had to deal with an awful lot of late and I don’t want to cause you extra stress.”
“Why? Do you think I’m a basket case, like my husband accused me of being last week?” Cassandra asked.
JT didn’t know where all this was coming from. He and Cassandra had spent a wonderful weekend together and he honestly thought they had moved past a lot of their issues. But she was acting as if nothing had changed between them. He wanted whatever it was out on the table already, so he and Cassandra could move back to where they had been before he opened the front door and let his friend and father-in-law in. “Can you just spit it out, sir? All this beating around the bush is getting Cassandra nervous.”
With eyes on fire, Cassandra turned to JT and said, “Do I look nervous? I’m just tired of secrets and hushed conversations.”
JT wanted to tell Cassandra that she did indeed look nervous, but that she had no reason to be, because he hadn’t done anything. Instead, he turned to Bishop and waited.
Clearing his throat again, Bishop said, “Diane Benson’s attorney has served the church with a sexual abuse lawsuit.”
Fourteen
“What?” JT exploded as he lifted himself out of his seat.
“She claims that you misused your position of authority in order to manipulate her into having a sexual relationship with you,” Unders told him.
“She initiated the affair. I never manipulated that woman into anything,” JT said as he lowered his voice.
“There’s more,” Bishop said. He kept his eyes averted from Cassandra as he continued. “Margie Milner’s name has been added to the suit. She is also accusing you of manipulation.”
JT sat back down and put his head in his hands. He’d had three affairs on his wife. Diane had approached him and he’d been only too willing to fall into her trap. But he had initiated the affairs with both Margie and Vivian Sampson. Vivian had already been crazy before he’d ever approached her, he just didn’t know it. But Margie had been dedicated to the Lord. Now she was an unwed mother, living in sin. And he couldn’t get around the fact that he was the reason. “So why didn’t I receive the paperwork for this lawsuit? Why do you two know about it before me?”
Because Diane and Margie want five hundred thousand each and they want it from the church,” Unders told him.
“What?” JT exploded again.
“You heard me,” Unders said.
Jerome ran into the kitchen and said, “Daddy, stop yelling. I can’t hear the TV.”
“Sorry son,” JT apologized. “I’ll keep my voice down. You go on back in the family room.”
When Jerome turned around to leave, Cassandra stood up from the table, and without saying a word to JT or anyone else, she walked into the family room and sat down with her children.
“I’m sorry, JT,” Bishop said as he watched Cassandra walk away. “Maybe we should have asked you to come to the church in the morning, but I have to fly out of here early in the morning.”
JT waved that comment off. “She would have found out anyway. It’s best that it’s out in the open.”
Bishop leaned over to JT and said, “She won’t even talk to me. I know this whole situation is going to hurt her all over again. But I don’t know what to do. How can I help her?”
“I wish I knew, Bishop. I thought we had made progress this weekend. But you saw how she just acted toward me. I’m in the dog house all over again, so I don’t know what to do either.”
“May I suggest that the two of you be patient with Cassandra? She’s had to deal with a lot of changes in the space of a year, so she’s going to need time to process how she feels about all of this,” Elder Unders told them. JT had confided in Unders about everything he and his family had been dealing with.
“Yeah,” JT whispered. “She’s been seeing a therapist. So, maybe he can help her deal with her issues.”
Bishop turned to look at Cassandra as she held Aaron on her lap, with her back toward them. “I sure hope this therapist can help.”
“When this is all over, I might need an appointment with him myself,” JT said.
“Me too,” said Unders.
“You know what I don’t understand? Why would they sue the church when I’m no longer there?” JT asked.
“It’s quite simple, my boy. The church has the money to pay and you don’t,” Bishop said while stretching out his legs underneath the table.
***
Cassandra wanted to w
alk back in that kitchen and do an unholy dance on her husband’s head. Diane Benson was never going to leave them alone. She was a mean, hateful and vindictive woman. JT had brought her into their lives, and at that moment, Cassandra didn’t know if she would ever forgive him for that.
This lawsuit wasn’t about the money to Diane. She didn’t get Lily back when she’d finally decided that she wanted her, so now she was going to humiliate them instead. Diane would drag Cassandra’s family through the mud. She could just see that evil woman on the Oprah show crying about how JT took advantage of her. And telling the entire world that his wife wasn’t woman enough to keep him at home.
When Bishop came into the family room to say good night to her, Cassandra glanced at him and mumbled, “Night.” She knew she was wrong. But Bishop had introduced her to JT, so the way Cassandra saw it; he was just as much to blame as JT for the misery she had to suffer through.
Aaron had fallen to sleep, Lily was in her playpen quietly playing with her toys and Jerome’s eyes were glued to the TV. Bishop walked away from Cassandra and gave Jerome and Lily a hug and then offered both of them a piece of candy.
“They can’t have that,” Cassandra said as she stood up and asked, “Are you ready to leave?”
“Yes, we were on our way out,” Bishop said as he straightened up.
“Then let me walk you to the door,” Cassandra said as she and JT walked their guests to the living room and let them out the front door. When they were alone, Cassandra turned to JT and said, “I need to talk to you.” She climbed the steps to their bedroom without waiting for a response from him. As she entered the room, she saw JT’s Bible on top of the dresser. She picked it up and threw it at him as he walked in behind her.
He caught his Bible and looked at her quizzically.
“What does God tell you to do for me?”
“Huh?”
She pointed at the Bible “That book in your hand, what does it say? It tells you to love your wife, right? Not love every and any other woman that you come in contact with.”
He sat the Bible on the nightstand and turned back to his wife. “Cassandra, I know you’re mad. And you have every right to be. You shouldn’t have to deal with any of this, but here we are.”
Forgiven Page 9
