His First Lady (8 page)

“That’s absolutely not an option,” Another board member spoke up. “The members will never go for it.”

“This church has sacrificed to be debt free and this is where we will remain,” Sam said. “If we must borrow then it must not be for us at this time. God’s plan will be accomplished and if it’s for us to buy this land then the money will come without borrowing it.”

Leon stared around the table. The meeting was pointless especially with this group that was being run by men who had held their positions in the church for far too long.

“Let’s vote,” Leon stated. Leon knew that there were some that were against him but there were always a loyal few that would back him no matter what.

“With all due respect Pastor,” Sam said, “to make concessions to appease you for something so large could put immense strain on other areas of the church which is not feasible.”

“I agree,” Rick said, “no vote needed.”

Leon stopped, looked around the room and grinned. “There are things that God wants us to do in this church and God will move anything and anybody that prevents his work from being accomplished.”

Sam nodded. “Yes son you are correct, but you are not God.”

Evan sat uncomfortably in the large cream chair looking around Nina’s museum of a home. Not that the chair was uncomfortable because it certainly wasn’t but Evan was uncomfortable meeting First lady Nina Rimes for the first time. Nina seemed oblivious to Evan’s angst as she poured green tea into a flowered ceramic cup and handed it to Evan.

Evan tried not to watch her too hard but Lady Rimes was flawless. From the makeup on her face to her immaculately tailored green suit; she was as impeccable as a mannequin in Niemen Marcus. The puke green might have looked awkward even gross on someone else but Nina Rimes wore it like God himself had made it just for her.

Evan remembered that her mom was always well put together but Mrs. Rimes was on a whole new level of a pastor’s wife. She was what was considered the perfect pastor’s wife; exactly who Leon wanted her to be like and exactly who she wasn’t.

Nina sat across from Evan and sipped her tea before looking up at Evan with a smile.

“So, how long have you and Pastor Ladson been married?” Nina asked.

“Um,” Evan answered before feeling a wet tingle on her foot. She looked down at the little Yorkie smelling her foot. She inadvertently tried to move her feet to divert the Yorkie’s attention to no avail. Nina seemed to notice.

“Peaches, go sit down somewhere,” Nina said scolding the dog. She then looked back up at Evan. “You were saying.”

“Eight years.” Evan picked up her cup and attempting to hold her cup just as Nina did with her perfect polished pinkie sticking up and out just a little. In trying so hard, the cup tipped slightly causing Evan to make a quick recovery preventing it from spilling all over herself.

“That’s wonderful. But you’ve been at JMC for such a short period of time and your congregation has grown unbelievably and it just keeps growing. How did you two do it?”

Evan shrugged in embarrassment. “Leon’s like that. He sees a vision and nothing stops him from achieving it.”

Nina looked bewildered. “Leon? Just like a good First lady.” Nina smiled. “It’s hard for us to take any credit isn’t it?”

Evan took another sip.

“I find it amazing that such a young pastor has this huge church and doing such big things. God has no limits.”

Evan nodded. “We’re certainly a long way from our storefront in Sacramento.”

“I’ll say. How did you two meet?”

“My dad was a pastor and Leon was the youth pastor at his church for years.” Evan sipped her tea feeling like she was on jeopardy. Seeming to sense her uneasiness, Nina scooted toward the side table, grabbed silver tongs and placed a shrimp cake on the saucer plate in front of Evan.

“Please try these, I tried something new and of course be honest and tell me what you think.”

Evan did as she was told. Evan paused after she placed the cake in her mouth. This woman was even an expert chef; what wasn’t she good at?

“They are so delicious,” Evan said embarrassingly as if forgetting where she was as she ate the shrimp cake immediately wanting another.

“Thank you,” Nina said as she sat back and crossed her legs smiling at Evan. “I admire you.”

Evan coughed about to choke on the cake.

“Young First ladies are so different from what we were. Gone are the big hats and dark hose; young and free. You don’t care what people think.”

Evan didn’t know whether to smile or say, ‘thank you’. “I care what people think even when I shouldn’t.”

Nina smiled. “Is your dad still a pastor?” Nina asked allowing Evan to escape the compliment.

Evan shook her head. “No, he retired years ago.”

“Why didn’t your husband take over that church?”

Evan wasn’t ready for Nina’s questions and they all seemed so personal. She also didn’t want to tell Nina that her dad didn’t trust Leon and when he considered retirement told the church that Leon wasn’t the right one to take it over. But that wasn’t all and Evan remembered the encounter with her father as if it were yesterday.

Sitting in her dad’s study nervous with watery eyes; she had never wanted to disappoint him and she had never disobeyed him but she loved Leon. Her father looked at her with his piercing brown eyes as serious as she had ever seen him only when he witnessed to someone about making Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior was he ever more serious.

“Please don’t marry that man.” Her dad sat straight up in his chair with his arms folded and fingers intertwined speaking as if he knew something about Leon but could never tell.

“I love him daddy. Don’t you understand that?” It was as if she begged her dad to change his mind and give his blessing. After all, she was a daddy’s girl and he usually did.

Her dad nodded. “I do understand. I know that your emotions are heavy but you trust me right?”

Evan nodded but didn’t say a word. Her dad would never understand their love.

Her dad leaned forward and looked her in the eye. “I don’t see the spirit of God in that man. Do not marry him or you will be making a huge mistake, baby.”

“How don’t you see the spirit of God in him when he’s been a youth pastor here for so long?”

“I don’t make all of the church’s decisions alone. But please reconsider before you make that vow before God.”

She didn’t reconsider. She knew that she loved Leon and she was going to marry him. Her father reluctantly walked her down the aisle and she could see the pain in his eyes when he kissed her on her cheek, placed her hand in Leon’s, and returned to his seat. The wedding was beautiful, her father never smiled; didn’t even look at her as they passed down the aisle of the church after being declared husband and wife.

The pain was too much for her father’s heart. Her father had a heart attack two hours later at their wedding reception, an emergency triple by-pass, and spent weeks in the hospital afterward. She and Leon didn’t have a honeymoon until months later. She regretted causing her father so much stress and to this day, she could still hear her father’s warnings about Leon. Evan fought to get back to the moment and answer Nina’s questions.

“Um, well Leon had other plans. We just put our trust in God and look where we are.” Evan hoped her answer was sufficient. The conversation was bringing up too many memories and Evan didn’t want to relive those events.

“Wow, you were a PK before being a First lady. What a life.”

“Yeah, tell me about it.” Evan chuckled uncomfortably.

“I bet. Oh, I hear that your husband, I mean the church is trying to buy the property around Silas; that’s quite an investment for the church.”

“Leon is looking to make the ministry reach more people.”

Nina smiled at Evan as if pitying her naivety.

“You have a beautiful family,” Evan said admiring the family portraits all over the living room of Nina, her husband and their now teenagers; three boys and girl.”

“No children, yet?”

Evan placed another cake on her saucer. “Not yet.” Evan placed another piece of cake in her mouth. Nina stared at Evan then took a sip of her tea. Evan felt Nina’s piercing stare so she moved her head slightly to prevent her from getting a good view.

“You’re using the wrong cover up for that shiner.”

Evan stopped chewing; humiliated, wanting to run out of the ridiculously immaculate museum far away from this woman.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass you,” Nina said sincerely. “Was he having a bad day or did you say the wrong thing? Or did you catch him with a church whore?” Nina took a slow sip of her tea with her eyes looking over the cup completely fixed on Evan.

Evan wiped her mouth with a napkin and remained silent; not knowing how to answer this woman who had uncovered a secret that she had to know would embarrass Evan.

Nina sat her cup down. “I’m a bit forward and I know you’re uncomfortable and I also know that when my husband asked me to contact you that he and your husband had talked. Your husband wants this perfect First lady but he didn’t expect me to school you on this life,” Nina said with a coy smile.

Evan’s eyebrows were raised and although she did have a sneaking suspicion that Leon had something to do with this invitation; she wasn’t sure until now. She suddenly felt like she was a pawn that everybody got a chance to play with.

“Why did he hit you?”

“He didn’t.” Evan was determined not to be intimidated or pressured. She was going to remain in control.

“Oh,” Nina responded. “How did your eye hit his fist?”

Nina’s words stung and Evan tried to maintain her composure. She looked at Nina and the space around her.
How could anyone live like this and not have the perfect life? Of course she would pass judgment on Evan’s.

“Your house is beautiful.”

Nina smiled. “Thank you.” Nina looked around. “Kind of like a shiny copper penny, you know?”

Evan knew the expression but couldn’t imagine why Nina would speak of the house that way. “It’s extravagant.” Evan smiled nervously.

“The pastor seems to think that it’s his due reward for his long suffering,” Nina said sarcastically. She crossed her arms.

Evan looked at Nina and spoke before she had even realized it. “He came home late one night and I asked him about it.”

Nina nodded noticing Evan stare at the family picture. “Yeah, that’s usually how it is. Is he sleeping with someone in the church?”

Evan shook her head. “No, no. It’s nothing like that. He’s not having an affair.”

“I didn’t imply that he was having an affair. I asked you if he was sleeping with someone in the church.”

“No, he’s not like that.”

“He’s a man isn’t he?” Nina smiled.

Evan took a deep breath unable to ever imagine her mother speaking like Nina was.

“Are you two having sex?”

That was it. Evan grabbed her purse and motioned to stand. It was all she could take.

Nina held her hand up in front of Evan. “Evan,” Nina said. “I’ve been a pastor’s wife for eighteen years. You wouldn’t be the 1
st
First lady that had a black eye or who wasn’t having sex with her husband.”

“I don’t talk about my marriage much,” Evan said.

Nina nodded. “I understand; but in the First lady life, you need someone you can trust.”

“Our marriage is fine.” Evan’s shot back defensively.

“I’m forward because you don’t have to pretend with me. First ladies are always pretending and I hate it. It makes living this life as a First lady so difficult,” Nina said as if not hearing her. “Evan, I meet with a group of First ladies for lunch at least once a month. We do it because we need each other. We let our hair down and we talk. I’d love for you to join us.”

“Maybe.”

“I wish you would. One thing about this group of First ladies is that we have each other’s back at all times no matter what. True, we bicker amongst ourselves but you won’t find a tighter group of women.”

Evan had seen how her mother didn’t have many confidantes as a First lady and maybe that was why Evan didn’t either. Her mother always appeared so strong and now Evan wore the same facade. Aside from Mimi, she really had no one and Mimi couldn’t relate not being a First lady.

“Leon and I are pretty reserved when it comes to our marriage.”

“You should be but you should also be able to talk to someone you trust.”

Evan thought about it a second but thought that she really had nothing to lose at this point. “Leon and I aren’t as intimate with each other as when we were first married,” Evan cleared her throat. “Not the same at all.”

“Remember that if he isn’t having sex with you then he’s having sex with someone else.”

Evan shook her head. “No, not Leon,” Evan responded angrily, “he’s not like that. He respects his church and position too much.”

Nina smiled and nodded. “Pastor’s aren’t excluded from temptation.”

Evan felt like a child with Nina and it was embarrassing. “There are women who may have their crushes but Leon is about God and God’s work.”

Nina laughed. “There’s not a more dangerous power in the church than the one you think doesn’t exist. It’s the one place that you don’t expect to see that devil who is staring you in the face.”

Evan looked at Nina who she viewed as bold and seemingly honest. She desperately wanted to trust her; desperately wanted to be like her.

“It was an accident and it was the first time,” Evan said shifting in her chair, “he’s just under so much stress.”

“Of course, he is.”

Nina spewed sarcasm with a smile and Evan didn’t appreciate it but expected it. She had been the same way with some women in the church who had been abused. Now, she knew how easy it was to deceive one’s own self.

“God doesn’t create his beautiful daughters to be hit on and abused.”

Evan became emotional. “It won’t happen again.”

Nina nodded unconvinced. “They all say that.”

Leon hurried down the foyer toward the formal dining room wrestling with his silk tie. He had gone to a lot of trouble to have Sam and his wife over and he wasn’t going to mess this opportunity up to change Sam’s mind after their unfortunate exchange at the board meeting. The dining room was gorgeous, arranged with large fresh flower arrangements, Reiko Kaneko china, and perfectly polished silverware. He made sure that Rosalie came in on her day off to schedule a cleaning crew and prepare a gourmet meal. Leon was pulling out all the stops for a man that absolutely repulsed him.