“I — I — don’t know what to say,” she stammered, “I’ll think about it, and pray about it, and decide what to do.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Kershaw. Maybe I can ask you about it on Sunday morning. I’d sure feel better knowing there was nothing to it.”
Sunday morning couldn’t arrive soon enough for me. Either way, he would do nothing to assuage the seed of mistrust that I’d planted. I searched my mental recesses to remember the character from Shakespeare’s “Othello” who had employed a similar strategy. Ah, yes — Iago, a man after my own evil heart.
Before Sunday School that morning, I saw Sarah in the hallway. She looked even more gaunt and tired than the previous Sunday morning. I felt a twinge of guilt. I doubted she’d slept more than a few hours since Wednesday night.
Either Sarah would follow her personality pattern and avoid the confrontation, or she would confront him and he would berate her for asking
“Oh,” I replied dubiously. “Then I suppose I should talk to him about it. If it’s true, I think the deacon board will need to know.”
She tensed immediately. The fear on her face was almost palpable. The deacon board had the power to sway the church to oust the pastor. “Oh, no, Tom — there’s no need to do that. I’m sure it was just — just a misunderstanding.”
So I was right. She would rather protect her husband than confront him. “Let’s see just how far she’s willing to go to protect him escort girls in Boston,” I thought silently.
“I have to get to Sunday School,” I said aloud, “but I think we should talk later. I think the deacons need to be aware of what’s happened, but I’m willing to entertain other options.”
I left my intentions vague. Larry had a nominating committee meeting that was scheduled for two hours that afternoon. Sarah and I agreed to meet during that time to discuss the situation further. She acquiesced to my suggestion that we meet upstairs in an adult Sunday School room, where the chairs were not designed for ten year-olds. Continue reading “I had laid the trap carefully, and if my view of their relationship was correct, Larry was in trouble”