Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30055 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30055 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 150(@200wpm)___ 120(@250wpm)___ 100(@300wpm)
“Whatever. I’m just bringing sexy back, 1950’s style.”
“Uh huh.” She rolls her eyes and sits down at the kitchen table, hanging her vintage US ARMY satchel on the back of the ladderback chair. “Your father know you’re going to a drag bar tonight?”
“Shhhh!” I lean to look down the hall toward his office. “You know he doesn’t. I said we were going to a movie. A Disney movie. Then dinner and back to your house. I told him your parents would be home.”
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph.” She does this sign of the cross and I screw up my face.
“That’s for Catholics, dummy.”
She throws her hands up. “Sorry, me and my pagan upbringing...”
Before she can go on, I hear the click of the door on my father's office and his voice.
Jillian sits up and turns toward the hall as I see my father emerge with someone behind him.
A second later, I hear the other person’s voice and that anxiety and nausea returns in spades.
“Tomorrow is food pantry. Don’t forget.” My father is saying as they come into the doorway to the kitchen. He nods at Jillian, then looks at me as William Steward, our Junior Pastor, comes in behind him. “I will count on you both to be there promptly at seven am. The delivery truck comes at eight, and the volunteers as well. William is in charge until I return.”
“Yes, I’ll be there, like I always am.” I reply and see the flash of anger in my father's eyes as William holds back a snarl.
“Your attitude is...uncalled for.” My father says.
“I’m just saying.” I soften my voice. “Have I ever not been there at seven am?”
“I think your father is just making sure we are going to work together as a team.” William is several inches shorter than my father. He was a student at the Fostoria School of Theology where my father teaches in the Master’s of Divinity program.
When our previous junior pastor was called to his own church last year, William took the position and is looking to take on the position as son-in-law as well, it would seem.
He’s got this air of arrogance and forced power that makes me nervous. He also has this off-putting vibe like he’s always on the prowl. Like he needs to get laid and he’ll say or do whatever he can to make that happen. Jillian calls him “pastor creepy”, and I have to say I don’t disagree.
“I’ll be on my way out in the next hour.” My father looks at Jillian, then to me. “The retreat is silent. I’ll be checking my phone but only if you have an emergency should you call or message me. Is that clear?”
I nod and he finishes, looking at Jillian. “You girls don’t be out late.”
“I’ll have her home before our chariot turns back into a pumpkin.” Jillian smiles, and my father nods.
He likes her, and she gets away with talking to him in a way I never could.
“I should be going as well.” William is staring at me like I’m standing here naked and it makes me shiver. “Can I have a word with you, Kristina?”
He nods back toward the hall and I restrain my eye roll as my father looks at his watch, then to me, tipping his head as if to say, ‘Go on’.
“Sure, fine, whatever.” I follow as he walks down the hall, through my father’s office and outside to where his car is parked.
But as soon as we’re outside, his manner hardens and the tension he’s causing only makes my head start to hurt.
“Where are you going tonight?” He asks, his dark eyes narrow as he sucks in his bottom lip, biting down and I see his hands clench into fists then release.
“Uh, a new place.” I look to the sky like I’m thinking. “I think it’s called Noneya.”
“Noneya? What kind of place is that?”
“I said...” I pause, then finish in my sweetest voice. “None. Ya. Business.”
He doesn’t smile, and goosebumps raise on my arms. In fact, he has no expression at all and it’s like he’s staring right though me.
When he replies, his voice is flat, dead sounding. “Your father is leaving me in charge. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“In charge of the church. Not in charge of his twenty-one-year-old, fully capable daughter, with a brain and everything she needs to make her way in this world.”
“Don’t be petulant.” He reaches over and cups my cheek but I turn away and his hand drops. “In time, you will need to come to terms with the plans your father and I have.”
I mock back. “In time, you and my father will need to come to terms with the plans I have.”
He raises his chin, looking down at me. The blue polo he’s wearing pulls at his shoulders and the sleeves are too short. His chest is oddly concave, and he always walks with is hips jutting forward. Weird. Bile comes up in my mouth as I look down and see the outline of his half-hard penis under the fabric of his khakis.