The Choir Director 2 by Carl Weber

apparent desire to just drop it. Part of me wanted to step up and take charge, to defend Tia, but I had to remind myself that I was not her father. I was her spiritual adviser, and as such, it was my job to back off and let God handle things, as difficult as that would be in this case.
    “She’s got to get through this her own way, in her own time,” Monique said.
    “Well, when is she coming back to work? Maybe I can talk to her then.”
    Monique’s eyes welled up with tears again. This experience was really causing her a lot of pain. Even though we didn’t have children of our own, we certainly loved Aaron and Tia like family.
    “She said she’s not coming back.”
    “What do you mean she’s not coming back? That church is more than a job to her. She has to come back at some point.”
    “I tried to talk some sense into her, but there was no changing her mind. She said it has to be this way.” Monique shook her head sadly. “I don’t know, TK. I can’t pretend to understand what it feels like to go through what she did. I didn’t feel right pressuring her.”
    “But what about Aaron? This doesn’t sound like Tia. She’s always been so responsible. She has to come back and deal with him, because he’s hurting too. Is she going to at least do that?”
    “I don’t think so. If it happens, it’s not going to be anytime soon.”
    “I communicated with him today. This information would help him.” I stepped across that line again. Sometimes you had to look past what people thought they wanted and do what was right, and I felt at my core that revealing this to Aaron was absolutely the right thing to do. My wife, on the other hand, thought differently, and it was my job to try to convince her to change her mind.
    “You promised not to say anything.”
    “But I had no idea what I was promising,” I argued.
    “TK, that girl is fragile and she needs to be able to trust someone. Right now, that someone is me. I can’t destroy her faith in me without risking losing her forever.”
    “But what about Aaron’s faith in me and the church? This isn’t right.”
    “Right or wrong, we are not playing God. You made me a promise, and you need to keep your word.”
    “And I’m supposed to stand by and watch Aaron suffer? He’s like a son to me.”
    “And Tia is like a daughter to me. Unless you want me to start keeping secrets, you will keep your word.” With that, she headed into her walk-in closet.
    Honesty had been at the foundation of our relationship. Without it, everything else would fall apart, so I knew what she was threatening and the ramifications it would have on our relationship. Whether I agreed or not, I had to step back and leave this situation up to God.
    When Monique came back into the room, I was struck speechless by the sight of her in a white negligee.
    “You look amazing,” I said. “Did I buy you that? If so, I have excellent taste—in my woman and in gifts.”
    “Yes,” she said with a laugh. “Last Valentine’s Day. And I suggest that we stop worrying about Tia and Aaron and start thinking about ourselves.”
    “Well, I can certainly do that.” I couldn’t stop staring at this beautiful woman I was lucky enough to marry.
    She sat down on the bed next to me, and I went in for some loving kisses.
    “Somebody’s in a frisky mood tonight,” she joked when I finally released her.
    “What did you expect to happen with you wearing that?”
    “This is exactly what I hoped would happen,” she said.
    I couldn’t keep my hands off of her. There was nothing like the feel of a real woman, I mean one that felt like a woman in your arms, soft and warm.
    She started to kiss me on my face, neck, and chest, and then she kept moving to my stomach. It was a wonder I didn’t up and die from the kind of happiness this woman gave me.
    “Does that feel good?” she whispered as she offered more warm kisses all over my body. I was grateful that she was my wife because it felt so good it was