JT lifted his shiny black Montblanc pen away from the yellow legal pad and marveled at how good he’d gotten at writing Curtis’s signature. His diligence about practicing it over and over had paid off tremendously and only in one day’s time, too. He’d worked on it yesterday and then again all this morning, and he was now ready to move forward with the next phase of the process.

He picked up his desk phone and dialed his assistant. “Hey, can you come in for a few minutes to go over the ministry listings you’ve been looking up?”

“Sure. I’ll be right in.”

JT set the phone back on its base and slipped the pad of paper he’d been working on inside his desk drawer.

When Janet walked in and took a seat, he said, “So, how has all your research been going?”

“Wonderfully. And as it turns out, I was able to find a really neat website that lists congregations with five thousand or more members. It even included NLCC, so that was nice to see as well.”

“That’s very good to know because this means we truly are considered a megachurch. A mini megachurch, but still a megachurch nonetheless.”

“Absolutely.”

“Were you able to find anything else that might be helpful?”

“As a matter of fact, I found another listing that highlights only pastors who televise their services. Some locally, some regionally, and some nationally.”

“It’s amazing what you can find on the Internet these days.”

“I know, and all I did was Google a few different keywords and that was basically it.”

“Well, then once you have the addresses typed into a data file, we should be ready to mail out everything. Then I want to review the cover letter I wrote a couple of more times, and I should have my father-in-law’s recommendation letter on Tuesday or Wednesday. At first I was going to ask him to sign an original for each package, but since there will be so many of them, I figured I’d just have him sign maybe ten or twenty for the top ministries and then we can send Xerox copies to the others.”

“I agree, and since you’ll have Pastor Black’s letter by Wednesday, then I should be able to ship everything by next Friday. I’ll print all the documents and then have Martha assemble them,” she said, referring to one of the other secretaries who reported to Janet. There was a total of three of them, but Martha was the most efficient, and JT was glad Janet was assigning her to his mailing project.

“Then, after that, it’ll just be a waiting game,” he said.

“Oh, I think they’ll begin calling right away. You’re an excellent speaker and you’re the son-in-law of a very famous pastor, so what more could they ask for?”

JT sighed heavily. “I hope you’re right.”

“Of course I am, and if anything, you’ll have to figure out which engagements to turn down.”

“That would be an absolute dream. I mean, I know traveling is going to take me away from NLCC a lot more than some of our members will want, but if everything goes as planned, I’ll only have to do this for a year or two. Then, after that, my prayer is that our ministry will have grown in great numbers and we’ll be broadcasting nationally.”

Janet smiled and nodded her head in agreement. “It’s all so exciting, and I can’t wait to see it come to pass.”

“Well, I couldn’t do any of what I do without you, and I want you to always remember that. Hiring you a couple of years ago was the best decision I could have made, and I’m very grateful for all your loyalty and dedication.”

“You are quite welcome, and I just appreciate having the opportunity to be a part of New Life’s mission and the lives of the people who will eventually be helped by this ministry.”

“If I have things my way, we’ll be able to reach millions of souls on a regular basis,” JT commented, and then his cell phone rang. But when he looked at it and saw the word “private” displayed on the screen, he hit the ignore button. He’d unblocked Carmen’s phone number, thanks to all her petty threats, but he’d also made it very clear that if she couldn’t help calling him, he would much prefer she disguise her number before dialing his.

“So, what are you, Richard, and Kayla doing for the holiday?” he asked Janet, trying to forget about Carmen and the fact that she wouldn’t stop bothering him.

“We’re eating at my parents’. They do a huge cookout every Memorial Day, and all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins usually attend. What about you and Alicia?”

“We’re going to my in-laws’. Alicia’s mom and stepdad.”

“Oh, okay. Will there be a lot of people there?”

“No, I think just the four of us, and to be honest, I’m really looking forward to not having to mingle with a whole lot of people. It’ll be nice just to hang out and enjoy a day of peace.”

“I don’t blame you,” she said, looking at the wooden clock on JT’s wall. “Gosh, I didn’t realize it was so late. So, if that’s all you have, then I’m going to head out to meet Richard for lunch.”

“Yep, I think that’s it for now.”

“Sounds good, and just let me know if you want to add something else to the package.”

“I will,” he said. “Also, if you don’t mind, can you shut the door behind you?”

“Sure.”

When Janet was gone, JT picked up his cell and dialed into his voice mail system. There was only one message, obviously from Carmen, and he dreaded listening to it. Still, he pressed 1 to play it.

“Hi, baby. I didn’t want anything but was hoping to speak to you for a few minutes. Anyway, I’ll see you in a few hours, okay? I love you.”

JT rolled his eyes toward the ceiling in disgust and pressed 7 to delete. This woman literally made him sick. She irritated the heck out of him, but sadly he had to go along with the program for now and there was no sense in complaining.

Next, JT scrolled through his BlackBerry until he saw an entry for Victor Scott-the name he’d typed in when he’d entered Veda’s phone numbers, just in case Alicia ever saw reason to snoop through his contact listing. He’d given each of his women male first names, David Redding for Diana Redding and Carl Wilson for Carmen Wilson. This method had always worked in the past, even when he’d been married to Michelle, so he hadn’t seen a reason to discontinue using it now. He’d also asked Verizon years ago to stop sending itemized pages listing all of his incoming and outgoing calls, so he never had to worry about Alicia questioning any particular phone numbers. He never had to worry about her suspecting anything out of the ordinary when it came to the women he communicated with.

He selected Veda’s cell number and dialed it.

“Hello?” she answered.

“Hey, pretty lady. How are you?”

“I’m fine. How are you?”

“Couldn’t be better.”

“Wonderful.”

“So, are you at the airport?”

“Yes. It sounds like we’ll be boarding in just a few minutes, though.”

“That’s what I figured, because I remember you said your flight was leaving around noon.”

JT waited for her to say something but when she didn’t, he said, “I know this is going to sound strange, especially since we barely know each other, but I’m already missing you.”

“Yeah, right,” she said, slightly chuckling.

“I’m serious. I mean, I really like you a lot, and no matter how hard I try, I can’t get over the fact that you remind me so much of my former wife.”

“So, is that the only reason you wanted to be with me?”

“Well, I do have to be honest. Your resemblance to her is what initially attracted me to you, but now after being with you last night, I’m attracted to you as a person. There’s just something very special about you.”

“You think so, huh?”

“I do.”

“And I’m what, maybe the hundredth person you’ve told that line to in the last week?”

They both laughed and JT said, “Come on now. You’re not being fair.”

“I’m just saying.”

“I won’t lie to you, I meet lots of attractive women, but you can’t deny that there’s some pretty noticeable chemistry between you and me. Am I right?”