The Pastor's Wife Read Online Free PDF Page B

was.” Raquel laughed. “Actually, I’m probably about to spoil your good mood.”
    “How?” Terrance asked, his eyebrows narrowing.
    “Your aunts are outside. They look secretive and agitated. I don’t know what’s going on, but they told me to let you know they’d be waiting for you out back.”
    “Waiting for me for what?” Terrance stood up, looked at his watch, then let out an exasperated breath. Savannah was going to meet him out back in less than five minutes. The last thing he wanted was his aunts to be anywhere around. “What do they want? I really don’t feel like dealing with them today.”
    “I don’t know what they want.” Raquel shrugged. “And don’t raise your voice at me. I’m just the messenger.”
    Terrance let a small smile form on his lips. “Sorry.”
    “Ummm-hmmm,” Raquel said as she walked back to the door. “I told you I was going to make you lose that smile.”
    Terrance leaned over and shut off his computer. Maybe if he could get back there, he could see what they wanted, then get rid of them before Savannah arrived.
    “Thanks for bringing the message,” Terrance said. “I’m going to head out. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Raquel bid him good-bye as he made his way down the long hallway and out the back door. All three of his aunts stood around on the steps, like they were engrossed in a deep conversation.
    “Ladies,” Terrance said, “what can I help you all with today? Is this about yesterday’s budget meeting?”
    Eva spun around. Terrance expected to see her face light up as it normally did whenever he entered a room. Instead she had a worried look.
    “Hi, sweetheart. How are you?” Eva’s voice lacked the warmth it normally held.
    Terrance lost his smile. “I’m fine.” He looked toward Mamie, then Dorothy Mae. “Wondering what’s going on with you all, why you’re standing out here looking so serious.”
    Eva sighed, then took a step toward Terrance. She gently ran her hand along his cheek. “We’re just worried about you, that’s all.”
    Terrance frowned up. He didn’t like where this was headed. “Worried about me for what?”
    “We just want you to be happy,” Dorothy Mae added, stepping up next to him. “A fine young man like yourself shouldn’t be alone.”
    Terrance let out a laugh. “I should’ve known that that’s what this was about. My aunts, always trying to find me a woman.”
    “You’re an esteemed minister. You need a good woman by your side,” Eva chimed in.
    “I’ve told you all a hundred times, when it’s time for me to find a woman, I will. I don’t need…” His voice trailed off as he looked toward the curb and at the convertible SAAB that came to a screeching halt in back of the church.
    Eva, Dorothy Mae, and Mamie all turned in unison to look at the car. The wild-haired woman threw the car in park and pulled herself up on the seat.
    “Hey, handsome, you ready to roll?” she called out to Terrance.
    “Good Lord Almighty,” Eva muttered. “Is that Savannah McKinney?” she asked in disbelief.
    “Yep, it’s the hoochie mama,” Mamie mumbled. “As if you could mistake that wild honey blond hair and double-D breasts.”
    Terrance let out a long sigh. “Savannah is not a hoochie mama.”
    Both Dorothy Mae and Mamie turned up their noses. “Oh, yes, she is,” Mamie snapped. “She’s a hoochie mama, her mama is a hoochie mama, and her mama’s mama is a hoochie mama.”
    “Um-hmm, that Savannah is just like her grandma, been with everybody under the sun. Everyone knows that,” Dorothy Mae added. “And she’s definitely not the type of woman you need to be associating with.”
    “How are you ladies doing this evening?” Savannah called out. None of the women responded. Savannah shrugged indifferently and kept her smile plastered on. “T-baby, are you ready?”
    “‘T-baby’?” Eva hissed, turning to Terrance. “Does she know you’re a highly regarded minister and not some thug off the