Why she didn't just lay there and let the voicemail pick up the message, Nancy didn't know. Perhaps it was just her dutiful nature to jump when she heard a phone ring. Something could have happened and someone on the other end might need her help, Or perhaps, maybe it was simply an overriding subconscious desire to vacate her Daughter's bedroom as quickly as possible once she'd accomplished the grim task she'd gone up there to do, and the phone call provided the perfect excuse.
Making it down the steps alive was a miracle. Her pants still undone and her underwear askew, Nancy nearly tumbled head over tea-kettle several times as she scurried to answer the call. Holding her pants up to her waist with one hand, Nancy reached into her purse with the other and answered just before the voice mail picked up.
Taking one long and arduous deep breath before pressing the button, Nancy raised her trembling right hand to her ear then meekly said, "Hello."
"Hi Nancy...it's Pastor Grady," came the booming voice on the other end.
A frigid sheet of ice scoured through Nancy's intestines when she heard the preacher's words rattle in her head. Not fully absorbing what he was saying for several seconds, Nancy momentarily lost herself in the freshly minted memory of what she saw him doing with the young girl at the church an hour or so earlier.
"Dear God...I bet Simone's sitting right next to him while he's talking to me," Nancy cringed to herself as she fumbled to keep the phone to her ear.
"...Uh...Yeah......Uhhhh.....OK....that would be fine...," she found herself answering Pastor Grady before she could fully regain her bearings.
Apparently there was a religious conference the following weekend in Cleveland where Calvin had agreed to speak, and he was calling to ask Nancy if she'd like to join him there in a support capacity. Before she could process the consequences of going along given what she'd just seen, Nancy found herself accepting the Pastor's offer.
"Are you OK, Nancy?" Calvin finally asked after sensing a distance in the woman's voice.
"..Uh...yeah....," she sighed, less than convincingly. "I just laid down to take a nap after work."
For the first time since she'd met the man, Nancy was praying for a quick end to a conversation with Pastor Grady. Shifting nervously from one foot to the other as if she had to pee, Nancy could feel the arousal slickened skin of her inner thighs rubbing together each time she moved, not to mention having to inhale the musky remnants of what she'd just done up in Lacy's bedroom on her fingers each time she repositioned the phone.
Still using one hand to keep her still unbuttoned pants hiked up, Nancy finally leaned the back of her head and shoulders against the wall of the living room and endured the phone call until Pastor Grady finally said "Goodnight".
"What have you gotten yourself in to?" was all Nancy could ask herself once she dropped the phone down and curled up on the sofa.
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In the days following Pastor Grady's offer to join him upstate for the conference, Nancy's view of things started to turn.
The indiscretion in her Daughter's bedroom gradually began to fade a little more into the rear view with each passing day until she nearly convinced herself it was someone else who did it. Still, Nancy found it difficult to make eye contact with Lacy, much less carry on any sort of substantive conversation with her. The tension between the two had grown toxic and getting away for a few days, to anywhere, wasn't a bad idea.
The thought of spending a couple of days alone with Calvin, even though they would be at a religious gathering, started to intrigue Nancy. Even though she'd seen the 'man behind the curtain' so to speak when she'd stumbled upon the preacher having sex with young Simone Dobbins in the church lounge, somehow Nancy thought if she could spend some time alone with him, perhaps she could save him the same way he'd saved her over the past few months.
In that vein, Nancy spent several days picking out the wardrobe she was going to take to Cleveland.
It wasn't like Nancy had anything super sexy or slutty hanging in her closet, but she did manage to pull a skirt that hung above the knee along with a blouse that showed off her shoulders out to bring with her.
"It's a Baptist conference..in late Winter...In Cleveland," she scolded herself, knowing the clothing choices didn't make a bit of sense from a situation or a climate standpoint. Like most everything else going on in the bizarro world of her life however, Nancy was in a weird way starting to understand that up was, in fact, down.
As the trip drew closer, Nancy thought about sitting down with Lacy to lay down some ground rules concerning what her Daughter could and couldn't do while she was gone. Considering the current tenor of their relationship, Nancy decided it wouldn't be worth the wasted breath. Lacy was going to do whatever she wanted.
So Nancy decided to lose herself in the anticipation for the trip to Cleveland with Pastor Grady. The butterflies in her belly seemed to grow in size with each passing day and she could barely sleep the night before the trip imaging how well it could all turn out.
Like most everything else she'd built her hopes on over the past few years however, when Nancy showed up at the church that morning to join Calvin for the drive north, the rug was once again pulled out from beneath her.
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A subtle hint of euphoria sizzled through Nancy's bones when she pulled up to the front of the church and saw Pastor Grady walking out with one of his suitcases. Immediately making eye contact and sharing a quick smile before reaching for her door, Nancy couldn't think of a more picturesque scene. The Sun was out, barely a hint of wind was blowing and she was about to spend a weekend with a man she secretly had a crush on.
"I really want to thank you Calvin for thinking about inviting me along for the conference," Nancy exclaimed as she reached into her backseat and grabbed two of the overnight bags she was bringing along.
"My pleasure Nancy," Pastor Grady replied warmly, taking the two bags plus an extra garment bag from Nancy and laying them in the trunk of his silver Cadillac. "Most of the people that have gone over the years have been bored to tears by the time they get back ...you probably will too."
"Oh....we'll see...anything to get away for a few days is going to be a blessing," Nancy gleamed with real optimism.
