Reverend Peterson went to the desk, posing behind it before lifting a folder, drawing their attention. At first Daniel couldn’t understand why the reverend seemed taller, until he shifted slightly and Daniel realized that the floor was raised behind the desk in order to set him higher. That was bizarre. The reverend returned with the folder and sat down in the empty chair. “We made a little change to the program,” Howard said as he slid over a copy of the updated program for the service. “Somehow some of the songs were changed.”
The reverend slipped the program into the file, barely glancing at it.
“Reverend?” A soft knock followed.
“Yes, Bernice,” he said, standing. She spoke quietly and looked something like the Saturday Night Live church lady, complete with pinched expression. He approached her and spoke softly for a few seconds before turning back to them. “Excuse me just a few minutes.” He followed her away.
“See what I mean?” Holly whispered.
Daniel leaned forward, glancing at the door. “It’s all about him. Did you see that platform in there?”
Holly snickered. “He gets up there on Sunday mornings and lays down the word from on high. There’s no subtlety. It’s all about getting everyone worked up and ready to race out to do the lord’s work and the reverend’s bidding.” She pursed her lips. “The thing is, what he says isn’t right sometimes. It’s inflammatory and hate-filled.” She shivered. “Mama insisted that we use him. But I wanted to just have a friend perform the ceremony and leave the church out of it altogether.”
Howard leaned closer to her. “It’s okay. Once we’re married, we can live the lives that we want. We don’t have to go to church here, we can find a place where you and I both feel comfortable.” He held Holly’s hand. “We’re keeping your mother happy.” He shrugged.
James got up and looked around the office. When he stepped behind the desk, Daniel snickered. James was already tall, but he looked like André the Giant looming over that desk. James checked the bookshelves and pulled out his camera, taking a few pictures of the room, and then slowly sat back down. Damn the man was calm and cool. Daniel hadn’t been able to look away because confidence was sexy as all hell and James wore it as well as he did those thigh-hugging jeans.
“I’m sorry. There was a parishioner who needed my guidance.” The reverend lowered himself regally into the chair once more. Daniel had seen drag queens perch themselves on a throne with less drama. “Shall we review the meaning of marriage?” He proceeded to go over what marriage meant in great detail, drawing each of them into the conversation. Reverend Peterson was charismatic as the devil, explaining the meaning of the various parts of the service, asking questions.
“I always wondered about that,” Holly said in response to his explanation on the sanctity of marriage and the deep need for openness and communication, and how secrets could destroy a marriage.
Daniel half listened, watching the reverend and glancing at James, who looked completely enthralled with what the reverend was saying. The man was charismatic, that was for sure, and Daniel could see how people became enamored with him. He gave each person his full attention in turn, taking in every word they said and then skillfully turning them to his way of thinking without leaving anyone the wiser. If Reverend Peterson went into politics, the next stop would be the White House.
Finally, the reverend pulled the updated program out of the folder. He looked it over and seemed ready to comment. Having gone through enough drama already, Daniel was about ready to step in at any changes, but the reverend simply smiled. “This is not a problem.” He set the program down on the table. “I wanted to talk about the vows. Many couples decide to write their own, but here, we use the traditional vows that have been part of the service for decades. We want to stay with tradition—it grounds the service in history.” His expression hardened, and Daniel turned away to keep from laughing.
“That’s fairly obvious,” Daniel quipped and somehow managed to not roll his eyes. He meant it sarcastically, but the reverend didn’t even flinch and sat up straighter, like he had an ally. James met his gaze, and the two of them had to turn away. Daniel took a deep breath to keep from laughing. This church and this particular reverend were anything but traditional, and for this guy to espouse traditional religion while housed in this white concrete monstrosity was ridiculous.
To Daniel’s surprise, Holly didn’t argue and watched the minister as though some heavenly light shone down from up above. Daniel turned to James, who nodded slightly, running a finger over his hand out of sight of everyone else. Daniel’s heart sped up and this meeting could not end fast enough.