The Best of Everything (4 page)

A
licia slipped on a baking mitt, eased open the stainless steel oven door, and pulled out the dish of orange roughy she was preparing for dinner. She set it on top of the stove, uncovered it, took a careful look at one of Phillip’s favorite dishes, and then re-covered it so that it would stay warm. It was finally done, and now all she had to do was sauté the asparagus, remove the salad she’d made, and place a few rolls inside the dish sitting on the island.

During her drive home from the mall, Alicia had done a lot of thinking and had decided it was time she worked a little harder on her marriage. She’d decided this mainly because of the tense encounter she’d just had with Levi—tense because she hadn’t liked the feelings she’d had around him and tense because for a split second, and only a split second, she hadn’t thought about Phillip. She hadn’t thought about her husband, the man she loved, the man she’d taken vows with, the man she’d promised to cherish always. And that scared her. It scared her because the last thing she wanted was to be unfaithful…or be like her father used to be. She couldn’t deny that she certainly was her father’s daughter in a number of different ways, but she didn’t want to follow anywhere close in his footsteps
when it came to having affairs or hurting innocent people.

Which was why she’d rushed over to the grocery store and picked up everything she needed so she could prepare Phillip a nice dinner. They’d already called a truce earlier, but Alicia was hoping that the gesture she was making now would help validate her efforts even further.

Alicia heard the garage door shutting and then saw Phillip walking inside the house. He smiled at her in silence and strode over to where she was standing. Then, he stepped directly behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and kissed her on her neck. Alicia closed her eyes and felt more at ease than she had in weeks.

Phillip held her close and then squeezed her tightly. “I love you so much. I love you so much that it hurts.”

Alicia turned around to face him and smoothed her hand across his cheekbone and down toward his chin. “I love you, too.”

Her husband was truly a handsome man. His complexion was flawless, his teeth were pure white and perfect, and he actually reminded her of her father. She remembered watching a talk show once and hearing a relationship expert speaking about women who sometimes choose husbands who have similar physical characteristics as their fathers, and while she hadn’t paid much attention to it before, right now she could see the similarities as plain as day.

Alicia and Phillip locked eyes with no words to speak and then kissed forcefully and passionately. They shared such a beautiful moment, and it reminded Alicia of the way things had once been between them while they were dating and then during their first four months of marriage.

“Maybe we should just skip dinner,” Phillip finally suggested while still holding her in his arms.

“You think?”

“Well, maybe not skip it altogether but maybe put it on hold so to speak.”

Alicia double-checked the stove, making sure it was off, and Phillip grabbed her hand and led her upstairs.

Phillip slipped on his plush blue terry-cloth robe and then helped Alicia into a matching one, but when she started to walk away, Phillip stopped her. “Hey. Come here, you.”

Alicia slid closer to him and Phillip kissed her again.

Then he gazed into her eyes. “Baby, whether you realized it or not, I really, really needed to make love to you. I thought about you all day, and while I found myself feeling every emotion imaginable, mostly I felt a lot of sadness and pain.”

“I felt the same way, but I promise you we’ll do whatever we have to to keep our marriage strong. We love each other, and I’m just going to believe that love is what will always sustain us in the end.”

“And it will. It has to.”

After lighting two candles in long-stemmed holders, Alicia and Phillip sat down at the dining room table and held hands while Phillip said grace.

“Dear Heavenly Father, we just want to take a moment to, first, thank You for just being You. Then, we thank You for our marriage, for the wonderful life You have given us, for keeping us in great health and for the food my beautiful wife has prepared for us to eat. These and many other blessings I ask in Your son Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Alicia squeezed her husband’s hand. “Amen.”

“This smells delicious.”

“It does, but I hope it tastes good.”

Phillip was in the midst of eating his salad but reached his fork into the dish of roughy and sliced a small piece of it. He took a bite and nodded. “It’s very good. Excellent.”

“I’m glad.”

“You know I love baked fish.”

“Yeah, and that’s why I wanted to make it for you.”

“And I appreciate it.”

Alicia tore her dinner roll in half and glanced over at her husband, who looked so happy and more content than he had been in days. She watched him and prayed that their marriage would be okay. She was willing to work hard at making things right on her end, but she prayed that Phillip would at least meet her halfway. She prayed that he would eventually come to understand why she couldn’t simply dress in an average sort of way or simply be pleased with the idea of only shopping maybe once a month. She knew Phillip was fine with living that way, but she hoped that maybe he’d come to realize that no two people were alike and that they each had different wants and desires when it came to certain material possessions.

“So, I was chatting with your dad today, and from the way he was talking, he wants to keep me around for a very long while. He even talked about my possibly heading up Deliverance Outreach at some point or maybe a new location in a different city.”

Alicia thought back to what Charlotte had told her earlier and while she wanted to be happy for Phillip, she felt somewhat indifferent because if he continued working for her father, it would be years before he made the kind of money she needed him to make. But she kept her thoughts and ideas to herself because she didn’t want to ruin the wonderful evening they were having.

“Really? So, when is he talking about starting a new location?”

“Well, right now the focus is on the construction of the new building, so I’m sure his plans for me will be a little while off. But that’s more than fine with me because I love my current position, anyway. I love what I do, and when you can do what you love for a living, there’s nothing much better than that.”

“I know you have a lot of loyalty toward my dad, but I also hope you don’t lose sight of what some of your other options might be. I know you don’t want to leave Deliverance and that you feel you earn a fair salary, so all I’m asking is that you keep an open mind.”

“There’s so much I can do right here, though, and I’m so excited about it. We meet with the architects tomorrow, but even when we saw the preliminary designs a few months ago, they looked out of this world. I’m just happy to be a part of a church like Deliverance and be a part of something a man like your father founded only a few years ago. As a matter of fact, the church is growing so quickly and we’re adding so many new ministries and programs that I really wish you would reconsider taking the PR position. The church has always hired a PR firm to market and promote our ministries and events, but your dad, along with the rest of the elder board, all agree that we also need someone in-house working a lot more closely with the people inside the church.”

“My mom and I talked about that this morning, but I’m worried that if I take the job, I won’t ever get my novel written.”

“I think you can do both.”

“Maybe, but with so many new programs starting up at the church, it won’t be long before that PR position switches from part-time to full-time and that means I’ll be working eight hours or more every day.”

“I think that’s a long time off, and the important thing is
that this would be great experience for you, and while I know this is a touchy subject, it wouldn’t hurt for us to have the extra income. To be honest, it would be kind of nice.”

Alicia didn’t like where the conversation seemed to be heading, so she continued eating and didn’t respond. Maybe, though, it was as she’d been thinking earlier—if she did take the job, she would have her own money to spend any way she chose. She could buy whatever she wanted, and there would be no reason for Phillip to become angry about it. He’d have not a thing to complain about, and their problems regarding money would be over for good.

But she still didn’t want to talk about any of this in detail because she didn’t want to take a chance on them discussing the job, money, her spending, and then end up disagreeing and ultimately arguing. So she changed the subject entirely.

“So, what’s up with Brad these days? And when is he finally going to ask Melanie to marry him? I had lunch with her this afternoon, and she was telling me something about how they want to make sure marriage is right for them. But if Brad loves her, then what is he waiting for?”

“I’m not sure, but actually I don’t blame them for waiting because the last thing I’d want to see them do is rush into marriage before they’re both one hundred percent ready. It would be a big mistake for them to do so and then end up regretting it.”

“I guess.”

“They’re both very intelligent people, so when the time is right, they’ll move forward. Actually, if more people did that, the divorce rate would be a lot lower than it is.”

Alicia wasn’t sure if what he’d just said was a hint to her or if he was just speaking generally. “Are you saying we should have waited?”

“No. I mean, of course, when you get married as quickly as we did, there will always be certain things you won’t find out
about each other until after the fact, but for the most part we got to know each other pretty well right away. We knew what we liked about each other right from the start.”

“But what about what we disliked?” Alicia had been thinking this question but hadn’t planned on saying it out loud.

“I don’t think it was ever a matter of not knowing what we disliked as much as it was that we didn’t think the tiny things we disliked would ever cause us to have marital problems.”

Alicia could feel a sense of resentment building inside her, and for some reason, she was having a hard time controlling it. “Well, Phillip, you knew I liked nice things when you met me, and you knew what I was used to. As a matter of fact, you even bought me quite a few expensive pieces of clothing yourself while we were dating. And what about this ring? The center diamond is two carats just by itself, let alone the other diamonds inside the mounting.”

“You’re right. But the truth is, I always thought it was way too expensive, and the only reason I bought it was that I knew you wouldn’t be happy with anything less than that. Not that you don’t deserve the ring you have, because you deserve that and so much more, but, baby, we have a mortgage to pay, car payments, and utilities; we have to buy food and other necessities and still save for our future. But nonetheless, I should have talked to you before we got married and told you how I feel about saving money and how I don’t believe in overspending.”

“We both should have shared how we feel, because even though I knew you didn’t like to do a lot of shopping and that you were always waiting for sales or comparing prices on everything you bought, I just figured that was your philosophy and I respected it. But not once did I even consider that you might expect me to live the same way. I never expected that you would want me to change who I’ve always been.”

“Okay, let’s just stop. And how on earth did we end up on this subject, anyway?”

Alicia wondered the same thing, but she knew it was because they both felt so strongly about their positions on this.

“Baby, let’s not do this,” he said. “I know we have to figure out a way to work this out and come to some sort of an agreement, but not tonight. Please.”

Alicia’s face and heart softened because she didn’t want to argue anymore, either. So she stood and began removing the dishes from the table.

Phillip helped her and they went back and forth between the dining room and the kitchen until everything was placed in either the refrigerator or dishwasher.

Phillip pulled Alicia toward him and kissed her more passionately than he had earlier, and she felt good all over again. Things were great right at the moment, but she couldn’t help wondering when she and Phillip would find themselves yelling at each other like enemies again. Would it be later tonight? Tomorrow morning? Tomorrow evening? She felt like they were on some crazy roller-coaster ride, but the more she rode it, the more she realized that all these hills and valleys were starting to get old. She was trying with all her might to love her husband as hard as she could. Trying to understand him. But was he really trying to understand her? Was he trying to see her point of view, or was he pretty much just dead set on changing her into the person he thought she should be?

She sincerely hoped that wasn’t the case because she wouldn’t be controlled by him or anyone else she could think of. She would never be controlled because it was like she’d been thinking earlier: she was her father’s daughter. She was Curtis Black’s daughter, and as far as she was concerned there was no other explanation needed.

T
hey’d made beautiful love last night, and Phillip was glad that he and Alicia were back on good terms again. Things had been perfect throughout most of last evening, sans the rocky discussion they’d somehow slipped back into toward the end of dinner, but other than that, Phillip couldn’t have asked for a better time. Then, this morning, they’d made love once again, and he’d felt so close to her. So in tune with her soul and so miraculously in love with her that he could hardly stand it. He was even at the point where he didn’t think he could ever love anyone the way he loved Alicia, and it was almost as if their disagreements made their intimate moments even more satisfying. He wouldn’t say they had a love-hate relationship because that wasn’t the case, but there was no question that they loved making up. They loved it, and they did it very well.

Phillip flipped his Bible from one scripture to another, jotting down various verses, so he could insert them into the sermon he’d been writing since yesterday. He hadn’t preached the main sermon in three weeks, and he was looking forward to ministering to the congregation on Sunday. Whenever Curtis was in town, he normally delivered the sermon for both ser
vices, but whenever he was gone, he never thought twice about giving Phillip the opportunity. Every now and then, they’d bring in a guest minister, just because it was good to give people at least some variety, but for the most part, Curtis expected Phillip to take over whenever he was out of town.

Phillip heard a knock at the door. “Come in.”

“Uh, Pastor, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but I just wanted to check to see if you needed anything before I head out to lunch.”

“No, I think I’m good. Thanks, Linda.”

“And don’t forget about the Kings. They’re coming during Mrs. King’s lunch hour and should be here shortly after noon. Also, I believe she took an extra hour so they could spend two hours with you.”

“That’ll be fine. And when you confirmed the appointment with Mrs. King, did she give you any more details? I know she said they were having marital problems, but I was just wondering if there were any specifics.”

“No, all she said was that it would be best if they spoke to you directly.”

“Okay, sounds good. Enjoy your lunch.”

“I will.”

Linda left the office, but Phillip still wondered what kind of issues the Kings were having and hoped they weren’t too serious. He also wondered why they’d asked for him and not Curtis, because Phillip hadn’t done much marital counseling since he’d signed on at Deliverance. When he’d held the position of associate minister at his previous church, he’d consulted with couples on a regular basis, both for premarital counseling and marital in general, but, again, he hadn’t done it a lot lately. He had to admit, though, he did appreciate the vote of confidence Mr. and Mrs. King were obviously willing to offer him.

Phillip’s cell phone rang, and he saw that it was his mother. “Well, isn’t this a pleasant surprise.”

“Hi, son. How are you?”

“I’m fine, Mom. How are you? And how’s Dad?”

“We both couldn’t be better. And how’s that new bride of yours?”

“She’s doing fine, too.”

“So, what’s new?”

“Right now, I’m working on a sermon for this weekend and then I have a counseling session in about twenty minutes or so.”

“You’re preaching this Sunday?”

“I am. For both services.”

“Well, why didn’t you call to tell us? Because you know we love to hear you speak. I know you’ve preached a few times since we were last over for a visit, but we figured we’d give you and Alicia some time to honeymoon before we came down and intruded on you again.”

“Mom, you and Dad are never an intrusion. Alicia loves you both, and you’re always welcome.”

“We love her, too, and I was just telling my friend what a cute little thing my daughter-in-law is. She’s just a doll, Phillip. A true sweetheart.”

“That she is. And hey, why don’t you and Dad come down on Saturday so you can spend the night with us?”

“Are you sure it’s okay with Alicia?”

“She’ll be fine. She’ll be excited to know you’re coming.”

“Okay, then that’s what we’ll do.”

“I’m really looking forward to seeing you and Dad. I miss both of you a lot. When I was at the church in Chicago, I saw you all the time, but now that I’m out here in Mitchell, it’s a lot harder for me to visit as often as I’d like to.”

“We completely understand. You’ve got a job to do, and
there’s nothing wrong with that. You couldn’t be working for a more well-known minister in the country and what are the chances of someone as well known as Curtis Black living in a smaller midwestern city.”

“I know. There was a time when he was in Chicago, but founding a church out here was the best thing he could have ever done. Deliverance Outreach is on its way to gaining mega-church status in terms of the size of its membership, and it will be the first in this area. Then, he’s eventually wanting to start a new location somewhere else.”

“Is that right?”

“Yeah, and I might be the pastor overseeing it.”

“Honey, that’s wonderful. Curtis really has been a wonderful blessing to you.”

“He has and continues to be all the time.”

“Okay, well, I won’t hold you because you know I like to get all my chores and errands done pretty early on Wednesdays so we can attend Wednesday night Bible study.”

“We’ve got Bible study tonight as well but since I’m doing the sermons on Sunday, Curtis asked one of the associate ministers to lead it.”

“Okay, then, honey, I guess I’ll talk to you later.”

“Tell Dad hello. And by the way, where is he?”

“He went to lunch with some of his retiree buddies.”

“Good for him. I’m glad he still connects with them.”

“I’m glad, too, because with both of us retiring right at fifty-five this year, I was worried that your father was going to become a little bored. I have tons of stuff that keeps me busy, but your father doesn’t like to participate in much outside of the house.”

“Well, he’s way too young not to be involved in anything, so I’ll see if I can think of some things he might be interested in doing.”

“That would be good, son.”

“Okay, Mom, well, I’ll let you go.”

“I’ll talk to you later, and I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Phillip pressed the End button on his phone and then dialed Alicia.

She answered on the second ring. “Hey, what’s up?”

“You. The love of my life.”

“Is that right?”

“It is. But the reason I’m calling is to let you know that I just spoke to Mom and she and Dad are coming down for church on Sunday. But I invited them to come on Saturday, though, so they could spend the night, so I hope that’s okay with you. Mom wanted me to ask you first, but I told her you’d be excited.”

“Of course I’m excited. We never get any company, and you know I love your parents. I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I.”

“I just hate that my dad and Charlotte will be out of town, because it would have been great if we could have all had dinner together. I would even invite my mom and James, but they’re taking a short vacation up in Wisconsin and they’re leaving on Friday.”

“It would have been nice having them here.”

“But that’s okay. Having your parents by themselves will still be a great time.”

Phillip heard a knock at his door and saw the Kings waiting there. “Sweetheart, I have to go, but I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Talk to you then. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Phillip switched his ringer off, set his phone inside his desk, and then stood up. “I apologize for being on the phone. Come right in and have a seat.”

Mr. King reached his hand out and shook Phillip’s and so did Mrs. King.

Mrs. King eased her purse onto the floor and wasted no time getting to the point. “Thank you so much for seeing us, Pastor, and I think it would best for me to let you know up front that I’m only days from contacting my attorney and filing for a divorce.”

Phillip looked at her and then at Mr. King, but since Mr. King seemed beyond embarrassed, he returned his attention to Mrs. King. “If you don’t mind, may I ask why?”

“Because my husband is a low-down, adultery-committing, lying, no-good fool.”

Phillip was stunned by her statement, and now Mr. King seemed even more humiliated.

“This son of a gun, Lord forgive me”—she paused, as if she’d spoken words of profanity—“this son of a gun had the nerve to come to me late last week, talking about how he’s got some baby on the way and that it’ll be here any day now. Can you believe that, Pastor?” She looked her husband up and down, but kept her conversation steered toward Phillip. “I mean, can you believe his old and corroded seventy-year-old behind had the audacity to have sex with another woman behind my back? Can you believe that?”

Phillip was speechless. Partly because of what she was telling him and partly because of the way she was expressing herself.

“I tell you, I’m just sick over this, and over the last few days, this whoremonger right here has made me want to lay my religion all the way down. I just want to lay it down long enough to beat him silly. I want to pay him back so badly, Pastor. I know the Bible speaks against this, but he deserves whatever he gets.”

Phillip opened his mouth to speak, but Mrs. King kept on talking.

“And the thing is, Pastor, if you think this is bad, just wait until I tell you the best part.”

Phillip couldn’t imagine Mr. King doing anything worse than what he’d already done, and he regretted having to hear whatever it was.

“The woman he got pregnant is my thirty-year-old niece. A low-life piece of trash who’s young enough to be his granddaughter.”

Phillip watched Mr. King’s demeanor, and there was no doubt he wanted to vanish. But the thing was, he couldn’t. There was no escaping this awful situation, and he had no choice but to deal with it. He had to deal with his wife, the family member he’d taken on as a mistress, and soon a brand-new baby.

“I tell you, Pastor, I’m just plain numb. This situation right here has cut me straight to the core, and I just don’t see how I’m ever going to get beyond it. I’m so angry, and all I seem to be able to think about is violence and how nice it would be to inflict the same kind of pain on this joker right here and also on my niece.”

“Well, Mrs. King, I won’t sit here and tell you that I know how you feel, but what I will say is that it’s prayer time. I’m going to be praying for you, and you have to pray as well. I know that what you’re going through is very difficult, but you’ve got to take this to God. You’ve got to pray for peace and understanding.”

“Well, you know I don’t mean any disrespect, Pastor, but for the first time in my life, I’m not sure God can help me. I’m not sure anyone can help me.”

“Believe me, God can and will help you. It may not seem like it right now, but He will. And, Mrs. King, if you don’t mind, I’d like to ask Mr. King a couple of questions.”

“Go ahead.”

“Well, first of all, Mr. King, how do you feel about all of this?”

“Pastor, I made a terrible mistake, I’m sorry, and I’ll do anything I have to in order to save my marriage. I’m just a naive old fool who made a horrible mistake, but I still love my wife.”

“Mrs. King? Do you believe him when he says he’s sorry?”

“Actually, I do. But it’s too late for sorry.”

“Well, before we go any further, there is one thing I’d like to mention. Because Pastor Black and his wife experienced a similar scenario and he openly talks about it in sermons and during interviews, I’m wondering if maybe he might be the better person for you to counsel with.”

“No!” Mrs. King spoke quickly and loudly. “I disagree. And it’s because Pastor Black and his wife went through the same thing that I don’t believe he’ll be able to remain neutral. It’s my feeling that Pastor Black will automatically expect me to do what his wife did, which is to forgive my husband and accept his out-of-wedlock child.”

“Okay, fair enough. But what I do want to clarify is that as a minister called by God to preach, my responsibility must first rest with trying to keep the two of you together as husband and wife.”

“I understand that, but I should let you know that I’ve pretty much made up my mind about filing for a divorce. The only reason I asked for us to meet with you is because as a Christian woman, I decided it was only right to at least try to see if something could be worked out. But the more I sit here looking at this joker, I don’t see where there can ever be a solution.”

“Well, you definitely made the right decision about getting counseling, and I’m going to do everything I can to help you.”

Mr. King forced a smile. “We really appreciate your time.”

“You speak for yourself! I do appreciate Pastor, but from now
on, don’t you even think about using the word
we
when it comes to you and me. Because there is no
we
as far as I’m concerned.”

Phillip asked them both a few more general questions and then asked if could meet with them again two days from now, on Friday.

Mrs. King picked up her handbag. “That’s fine, Pastor.”

Mr. King agreed. “Yes, that’ll be fine. And thank you again.”

“You’re quite welcome, and that’s what I’m here for. On Friday, I’d like us to go more into what your marriage has been like since the beginning. Mr. King, I want you to think about your marriage and just how you’ve felt about it the entire forty years you’ve been with Mrs. King, and I also want you to think about why you decided to have an affair. Then, Mrs. King, I want you to think about the same exact things but from your point of view.”

“I’m not sure what good it’s going to do, but I’ll do what you’re asking. I’m not sure because I’m not the one who went out sneakin’ and sleepin’ around.”

“You’re absolutely right, but please just think about it so we can discuss it on Friday.”

Phillip gave both of them all three of his phone numbers—church, cell, and home—and told them to please call him anytime, day or night.

Mr. King grabbed his hat. “Thank you again, Pastor, and we’ll see you again on Friday.”