NOTE: This is the first chapter in a multi-chapter story of which there are forty chapters plus an epilogue. An uncompleted version of this story appeared here at Literotica a few years ago in case it looks familiar to you. The story has been revised and completed. Chapters 37 - 40 and the epilogue are all new material.
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Her hands were trembling as she put the letter down on the dining room table. Up to now she had reassured herself that things could not possibly get any worse, but they just had. They were going to lose their home. It had been a tough couple of months, and thus far she had held up well under the circumstances, all things considered. But this news hit her like a ton of bricks.
It was bad enough that her husband was in jail, she still held out hope that he could clear himself once the case went to trial. She was sure that he was innocent, and the facts would ultimately free him. Jane was sure that it was all just a terrible mistake.
Then they could go back to their mutually indifferent, but secure personal relationship. As strained and remote as their marriage had become, she still thought of him as an honest man and a good pastor. And there were the boys to consider too, she reminded herself constantly.
Jane became lost in her worries again, remembering when their daughter had died in childbirth, barely a year after the twins were born. There had been an unbridgeable gulf between she and her husband Martin after that. Deep down inside, she blamed him. If he had not insisted on her going with him on the church outing when she was almost at full term, it never would have happened.
If the woman from the next motel room had not been there at the time, she would probably have died as she miscarried what would have been their daughter. Even then, she still almost died as her husband and the woman rushed her to the local clinic in the remote desert community, unconscious and losing blood.
As the letter slipped from Jane's hand and fell to the floor, she quickly picked it up and put it down on the table. Shaken from her reverie, Jane's thoughts quickly returned to the problem at hand. She had not counted on this. The church was going to evict them from their home of almost 20 years. Even worse, the letter also said that they would be withdrawing her husband's salary and her stipend to work with the church's youths, leaving her with no money.
The church members had been incredibly supportive at first. They too, did not believe that her husband had embezzled all those funds from the church. But as the evidence mounted and the amount of the missing funds became clear, the members started to turn on their jailed pastor and on her as well.
Jane's phone had quit ringing with the supportive calls from the ladies of the church and the church office now referred all calls from the news media to her home phone number. The news cameras no longer hung out in front of the house all day, as they had in the first couple of weeks, they had moved on to the next big story. The throng of TV reporters, trucks and satellite dishes had been replaced by the snide notes left in the mailbox and the bricks that had been thrown through the windows on the front of the house.
Jane was glad that at least the twins were away at college and did not have to experience being ostracized by their friends. The boys were hundreds of miles away in Phoenix, attending college. She was also glad now that the boys and her husband had decided for them to switch schools and transfer from the local junior college. But now she would have to worry about how to cover their tuition and expenses.
Jane didn't understand why they had made the sudden move, but that was something between them and their father who made all of the decisions in the household, and in retrospect it certainly seemed to have turned out for the best. Originally, she did not like the idea of them being that far away from home. Unlike their father, they were a bit on the wild side, free spirits, she liked to call them.
But what was she going to do now? Her husband Martin had made all the decisions. He was 20 Years older than her and he had always handled all their affairs. How long would she be able to stay in the house before she was finally evicted? Where would she find a job? How could she afford to keep the boys in college? Their attorney had told her that the case probably would not go to trial for at least another six months, or longer. And because he was considered a flight risk, given the amount of the missing funds, they could not afford to make bail.
Jane finally decided to call their attorney, Richard Saunders, and get his advice. She really did not want to call him, because he made her feel uncomfortable. He always looked like we were mentally undressing her, and it really unnerved her since she was naturally very shy and wary of men given her strict religious upbringing.
Her mind began to drift again. She did not know much about men, she reminded herself. Her parents had pushed her into marrying Martin when she was just barely sixteen, which was common within their religious community. They were devout churchgoers and they thought the new assistant pastor at their church would make an ideal husband.
Within months of getting married Martin got his own church just sixty miles away, along with a house the church provided. And then came the twin boys, just weeks later. It had been a good life, until she lost her daughter. Following the miscarriage Jane was left sterile and her life had become the same.
After that, there was a void that had never quite been filled. She put up a good front, but she felt trapped in a loveless marriage, and now she might end up out on the street, completely destitute. The very thought of it filled her with dread and anxiety.
Thank God, she thought to herself, that her parents were no longer here to see their daughter's fate. The thought of them brought her back to reality and the task at hand.
Jane picked up the phone and dialed Richard's law office in LA. He should still be there, she thought, he usually didn't make the commute back to the Antelope Valley until after rush hour traffic, he had told she and her husband during their meetings after he was arrested and jailed.
"Dixon, Murphy and Saunders," the receptionist responded, "How may I assist you?"
"This is Jane Fields. I am calling for Mr. Saunders," said Jane.
