The Preacher's Daughter (16 page)

But God didn't seem to get the message. Eric climbed out of the cab and walked up the step. Jasper tucked the gun into his waistband and dropped his jacket down, concealing it. He turned towards Eric, who was now walking up the steps.

Jasper eyed Eric for a moment before recognition dawned.

"Mr. Feagans," he said. He looked down at Naomi then, fury in his eyes.

"Now, now Angel. I can appreciate your wanting to make a little extra coin, but you should know better than to set up a private date with a customer without asking me first."

He turned then to Claire. "And you, working with her to do it? What a couple of naughty girls."

Then he turned back to Eric. "I'm sorry, but our dancers don't date clients. Not outside work, anyway. If you want to hook up with her again, you'll have to call me at the club. During business hours."

Eric was on the porch now.

"I'm afraid you're mistaken," he said.

"Eric, no.." Naomi wanted to warn him about the gun, but he gently pushed her to the side as he continued to talk over her.

"I'm not here to 'hook up' with Naomi. I'm here to take her home. Her and her friend here."

Jasper's expression grew stormy. "I don't think so," he said.

Naomi saw Jasper's hand go to his waistband. Without even thinking she charged at him, propelling him backwards through the rotting railing of the porch. Both of them tumbled into the bushes.

Claire screamed and Eric seemed too shocked to move. But Jasper leapt into action, grabbing Naomi around the upper body and hauling her up. He pulled her from the bushes and stepped back far enough for Eric to see something that made him stop in his tracks.

Jasper had jammed the gun just below Naomi's ribs.

"All right, tough guy," he said. "I don't know who you are or who you think you are. But if you care about this woman the best thing you can do is turn around, get back on your white horse and ride away."

Eric stood there but he didn't move.

"Naomi doesn't belong here," he said. "Let her go."

"That's where you're wrong," Jasper laughed. "Naomi is exactly where she belongs. You really think you can take a stripper back and put behind some picket fence in your little white bread neighborhood? Well, you're wrong. She's left home twice now to come here. It's in her blood. Your lady's a whore."

"She is not." Eric took a step forward.

"Ah-ah," Jasper said, pressing the gun into her side. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Eric looked into Naomi's face. He looked stricken, helpless. On the porch, Claire stood beside Eric looking even more helpless. Tears were streaming down her face. The trio were so entrenched in their standoff that neither saw the two men from the nearby lot. And Jasper suddenly found that he wasn't the only one armed when he felt the barrel of a gun pressed to his temple.

"Don't think I won't pull the trigger, hombre," the young man said. "You need to let that girl go and drop that piece. Pronto."

Jasper did as commanded. The gangster pushed him backwards as his friend picked up the gun.

"Nice piece," he said, tucking it into his belt. "Gracias!"

The man holding Jasper pushed him roughly down and then with a laugh they ran off into the night.

Eric hopped off the porch.

"Get up," he said to Jasper.

Jasper got to his feet.

"You want to be the tough guy now?"

Jasper made as if to turn away and then rounded on Eric, just as he'd done to Naomi in the dressing room. But Eric was ready. His fist slammed into Jasper's face. Naomi heard the bones in his cheek and nose break. He fell back to the ground, blood pouring down his shirt.

"Come on," he said to Naomi and Claire.

"Can I get my things?" Claire asked.

"Anything you need we'll get you when we get out of here," Eric said.

"Hold on," Naomi said.

She walked over to Jasper and reached into his jacket pocket. The remaining money Eric had paid for his "date" with Naomi was still there, folded in a wad.

"The next time you think of selling something that doesn't belong to you, remember this," she said.

She turned then and walked to the cab with Eric and Naomi.

It was only after she was safe inside that she felt safe enough to cry.

Naomi did not delude herself this time. She knew this homecoming would be even more awkward than the previous one, even though she did not tell her father or mother where she had gone. The fact that they did not ask only confirmed to her that they feared her, feared the difference she represented.

Their cold, detached reaction to her homecoming, and suspicious attitude towards Claire - seemed to be a wake-up call to Eric. After a week of observing the awkwardness, he tendered his resignation.

He broke the news to Naomi first and she broke down when he did.

"You're leaving?" she asked. "You're leaving me?"

They were in his office, and her look of disbelief, of betrayal caught him off guard. In a flash he was up from his desk and taking her by the arm. Sitting down, he pulled Naomi over his knee and gave her a dozen hard smacks on the bottom. Then he raised her back to her feet, his face angry.

"Do you really think I would leave you? I should blister you raw for even saying that." He paused. "But I'm not. If I spank you too hard you might refuse my offer."

"What offer?" she asked, sniffing pitifully.

He smiled. "Two offers, actually. Your experience with Claire has laid on my heart the need for a youth ministry, one that can help runaway teens and other young adults. I'm ready for a change, but I don't want to do this alone. I want you to do it with me, Naomi."

She looked at him, shocked and then threw her arms around his neck with a delighted squeal.

"Are you serious?" she asked. "Are you really serious?"

He laughed. "Of course I am. You have such a way with kids. I saw that at the camps. They relate to you. And I know your experiences will resonate with at-risk kids. It's hard for sticks-in-the-mud like me to reach these kids. But you, Naomi - you can do it."

He reached behind him and picked up a brochure from the desk. "There's a new strip mall in Sunnydale. They're renting spaces pretty cheap. I think a storefront would work. I've also priced a van that we could use to go around and give out literature, I've even looked into booking airtime for a Saturday morning radio show aimed at youth."

"Wow!" She laughed. "You've really thought this through. I'm impressed! I don't know what else to say! This is just..."

She sat down in his lap and wound her arms around his neck. He held her and kissed her, their kiss deepening and their hands roaming until he took hers in his and laughed.

"OK," he said. "We need to take it easy here."

"All right," she said shyly.

"It's not that I don't enjoy kissing you. It's just that there's another proposal. One that's even more important."

Naomi couldn't imagine anything better.

"OK," she said. "Shoot."

He looked at her and smiled broadly. "Marry me, Naomi Kindle."

She wasn't sure she heard right. Her heart pounded in her chest and she pinched herself on the arm. It hurt. She wasn't dreaming.

"What?"

"Marry me. I love you. I think I loved you from the moment I saw you. When I thought I'd driven you away, destroyed your faith.."

His eyes welled up with tears. "I can honestly say hell can't be more tortuous than what I went through. And when I found our phone and tracked down where and what Pinnacle was. I prayed non-stop that I'd reach you in time. And when I found you, found out who as taking care of you and what he thought of you..."

He put her off his lap and stood. His back was to her now and Naomi felt a surge of anxiety. She'd never seen Eric cry, but his shoulders heaved now.

"I wanted to kill him, Naomi. When he took me to the room and gave me a rundown of all the things I could do with you for seven hundred dollars - even if you didn't want me to, for a moment I thought I was going to snap. I could see my hands around his throat, see me squeezing the life from him like a worthless rat.."

Eric squeezed his fist now, looking at it as if he were looking at Jasper's very face.

"Only the thought of where that would leave you stayed my hand. So I waited. And when you came in. Do you have any idea, Naomi, how precious you are to me. To God? Your parents never deserved you, Naomi. But I promise to work the rest of my life to be worthy of your affection."

He dropped down on one knee. "So, Naomi. Will you do it? Will you be my wife?"

"YES!" She yelled the word, flinging herself into his arms. "A hundred million times YES!"

They were both crying now as he kissed her eyes, her nose, her cheeks, her mouth.

The door flung open suddenly and Claire burst into the room, her eyes filled with concern.

"I heard yelling! Is everything OK?"

Naomi turned. "It's better than OK. It's great. It's awesome. Claire..." She walked over and took the girl's hands in hers. "We're getting married."

"What?" She screamed in joy then and the two were jumping up and down laughing and hugging.

Then Naomi turned to her fiance.

"This ministry. Can Claire help?"

"If she'd like a fulltime job, sure."

"A job? Doing what?"

They explained Eric's vision to her then, and Claire's eyes grew big as she listened. She nodded with affirmation as they talked, her excitement growing along with theirs.

"It's going to be great!" Claire said, and wrapped them both in a hug. And Naomi, tears streaming through her grateful eyes knew for certain that she finally not only had a future to look forward to, but the one thing that had always alluded her - a family that would love her forever. No matter what.

The End

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This book is intended for adults only. Spanking and other sexual activities represented in this book are fantasies only, intended for adults. Nothing in this book should be interpreted as advocating any non-consensual spanking activity or the spanking of minors.