The Pastor's Wife by Jennifer Allee Page A

outsider here. Yes, Nick had made dinner and served her dessert, but he would have done that for anybody. Nick took care of people, plain and simple. But as soon as someone else needed him, he was off to see to their needs.The congregation always came first. If she’d understood that before, when they first moved to Granger, the outcome might have been different.
    There was no use in looking back. She understood it now. And she wouldn’t soon forget it.
     

     
    “How did it go?”
    Nick sat in his desk chair, his foot crossed over one knee, his cell phone to his ear. On the other end, his Associate Pastor, Chris Zeeble, reported the status of the church council meeting.
    “Like you probably expected,” Chris answered. “Most of the council was surprised you weren’t at the meeting. I’d say a few of them were just this side of miffed.”
    Nick shook his head. He hadn’t missed a meeting once since he was installed. Evidently, some people did expect perfection.
    “No big surprise there. Anything else I should know about?”
    Chris went down the list of old news items that had been addressed. Bids were being taken for a new groundskeeper. The music director had submitted her plans for a Christmas cantata. Items from the church nursery team, the kitchen committee, and the new youth leader had been voted on and approved.
    “Wait a minute,” Nick cut in. “They approved Lainie's youth ministry plan? Just like that?”
    There’d been so much opposition to hiring the young woman as the youth director that Nick had expected a battle every time she proposed a new program. Maybe he hadn’t given the council members enough credit.
    “They didn’t spend much time talking about Lainie's plan,” Chris answered. “Probably because they wanted to move on to new business.”
    Nick brought his foot down hard and stiffened in his chair. Jumping into new business when the Senior Pastor wasn’t present could only mean one thing: the topic was the Senior Pastor himself.
    “This is about Maura, isn’t it?”
    Chris hesitated before answering. “Yes. More specifically, the fact that you and Maura are living together. Not the whole council,” he was quick to add, “but several vocal members seem to feel you’re setting a bad example.”
    A bad example? By living with his wife? “Did somebody think to bring up the fact that Maura and I are still married?”
    “Yes, absolutely. But the sticking point is that she left you, and you’ve been separated for so long. Some of them seem to think it negates the whole ‘till death do us part’ line in the ceremony.”
    Nick didn’t trust himself to speak. So he waited. And counted.
    “Are you still there?” Chris's voice cut into the silence.
    “Yes,” he answered curtly. “I was just counting to ten. Seems I’ve been doing that a lot lately.” Nick sighed. Help me, Lord. You’re the only one who can straighten out this mess. “If I try to look at this from an outsider's perspective, I guess I can see where they might have some concerns.” Actually, he couldn’t, but he was trying.
    “They’ve got to see the situation for what it is. The only reason Maura is living with me, the only reason she even came back in the first place, is because of the will. Miss Hattie meant well, God bless her dear sweet soul, but just because she tried to play matchmaker doesn’t mean it will work. I’m helping Maura with the theatre because it's the right thing to do andit will benefit the church. As for our personal involvement, we haven’t so much as shaken hands. She's living in this house, but we are not living together.”
    “Do you still love her?”
    The younger pastor's question brought him up short. Rising from his chair, he walked across the office to the bookshelf. There, pushed back between two large Bible commentaries, was a framed photo of himself and Maura on their wedding day. They were so happy and hopeful, as if the whole world was open to them. It was like looking