Emma
“Why is this taking so damn long?” my husband, Gabe, grumbles close to my ear as we wait in the line that is slowly wending it’s way out the large wooden doors of the church. There’s a new priest joining the parish, and an old one is leaving. Since he was the man who has guided our spiritual lives since most of us were born, everyone wants to say goodbye and see the new guy up close and personal, and being one of the largest donators to the church, my family always sits in the front pew, so we have a while to wait to get outside, but in return, we’ll be awarded the most attention. “We’ll see this guy every Sunday for the rest of our lives. He’ll drone and on then feed us those horrid wafers and wine just like the old one did. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
Despite claiming to be a devout catholic, Gabe hates coming to church every Sunday. In truth, he’d much rather be at home watching a game or doing something far less spiritual than attending mass. But, he works for my father who lives his life by the word of God, and expects those close to him to do that same. And being married to the daughter of Brent Williams means that attending Sunday mass is a must. Gabe would find his position in the company seriously compromised if he fell out of favor with my father.
You see, my father runs the largest, privately owned research center that holds the defense contracts for the ‘advancement of naval underwater resources’ – put simply, they build and test weapons that work under the water. It’s all very hush hush men’s business, and my father believes that it’s his devotion to the church that keeps him, his family and his company in the good grace of the lord, so he won’t allow a non-believer to hold any important role in his company.
Gabe wants that important role, actually, he has his eye on the entire company, and my father is only too willing to give it to him – as long as he gives him a grandson, which is of course where I come in. I can’t imagine I’d be quite as an attractive catch to a man like Gabe, if I didn’t come with an enormous trust fund and the key to my father’s kingdom. When we first started dating in my senior year of college, I believed that he was actually interested in me for me. But, I quickly found out how wrong I was; only then it was a little too late.
Brent Williams fathered two daughters before my mother passed away a short time before my eighth birthday – myself, and my younger sister, Jules. Jules is by far the more attractive of the two of us – she’s long limbed and graceful with beautiful blue eyes and silky chocolate colored hair. She has men falling at her feet, but she’s a free spirit, and she won’t be tied down, which is why I think Gabe chose me. I release a sigh as I remember how lucky I thought I was back then when the sandy blond hair Gabe asked me out. I remember coming home from our first date and combing through the details of our time together as Jules listened to me intently. She told me I was crazy going out with someone who worked with Daddy, but I just sighed and declared that he was perfect.
Before I knew it, we were married, and he was pushing to start a family. I wanted to work and put the years I’d spent at college studying investment banking to good use. But somehow, between both Gabe’s and my father’s insistence, I found myself at home, being a dutiful wife – although, after almost three years of marriage, there’s still no baby, and I can tell that Gabe wonders if he chose the wrong sister.
I glance back at her as she loops her arm through daddy’s and talks to him animatedly. When she catches my eyes, she gives me a wink then signals with her hands in a way that I think means she considers the new priest to be smoking hot. Even I have to admit that Father Braden Daniels is a very nice looking man. He’s tall, young – I doubt he’s even thirty yet – and he has this dark brown hair like the color of
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