Secret Agent Minister

Someone was going to have to explain about the running through Lydia Cantrell's head as she looked wearing a bloody suit to the shock-filled stare of the surprised andvery aliveman standing in front of her. Then her practical mind went into overdrive. She would probably have to explain how she'd wound up in Pastor Dev's hotel room late at night, only to find him wearing a bright red action figure T-shirt and old, expression filled with shock and something else Lydia couldn't quite figure out, something that looked like anger and resolve. Since she'd never seen Pastor Dev angry, she couldn't grasp what was happening or the strange look she saw in his deep blue eyes. And she certainly couldn't grasp his attire. Lydia rarely saw Pastor Devon Malone dressed in anything other than a nice suit and interesting tie, so she was a bit taken aback, seeing him in jeans and a T-shirt and realizing that the man was built like a regular weight lifter and football jock all rolled into one the tub, really set Lydia into a tizzy. But shehadcome here for a reason. A very legitimate reason. They were supposed to go over Pastor Dev's notes for his speech the next day. They were attending a statewide religious conference in Atlanta, Georgia. That's why Lydia was in his hotel room tonight--to help him go over his notes and make sure his speech was tip-top. Pastor Dev was funny that way. He was thorough and very detail-oriented. He liked to do things the right way. Some implied he was a perfectionist, but Lydia called that just plain hardworking and dedicated. That's why the man was such a good minister. His speech, entitled "Pastoral--Finding Inner Peace in a Troubled World" would, of course, be excellent. Everything about Pastor Dev was excellent, in Lydia's mind, at least. Which was why she refused to believe there was a dead man in the room, or that Pastor Dev had anything whatsoever to do with it. Closing her eyes to the image of the dead man, Lydia thought about how people would react to a young, impressionable girl of twenty-five visiting a single man's hotel room late at night, but she kept telling herself this was all beyond reproach--if you didn't count murder, of course. This was Pastor Dev after all. Even the church matrons who'd ridden the bus up to Atlanta with them had given this meeting their blessings. Because they knew Lydia and the pastor had work to do--God's work. And because Pastor Dev was always a perfect gentleman. Everyone knew that. And there had been a chaperone present--Pastor Dev's roommate. Except his roommate and mentor, Pastor Charles Pierson from Savannah, was in no shape to chaperone, since he was the dead man in the bathtub. Lydia thought about all the people who had put their trust in Pastor Dev and her. This certainly wouldn't sit well with the church members back home in Dixon, Georgia. It was where Pastor Dev preached and Lydia worked as his secretary ever since she'd come back with a business degree from the University of Georgia. And she'd worked hard to get the job at the First Church of Dixon, because she had decided instead of building a career in some big company with stock options and a great 401K plan, she wanted to work for Pastor Dev. She'd fallen in love with him one Christmas during her senior year at UGA, when she'd met him at her parents' annual Christmas Eve open house. He was the new preacher, single and just a few years older than Lydia. And he was so good and sweet and kind, she knew immediately that he was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Only, he still didn't know that. Because, though Lydia made goo-goo eyes at him all the time and twirled her long, dark blond hair each time he came to stand by her desk back in the church office, he'd never once noticed a thing about her or her feelings. He was always too preoccupied with taking care of church members--heWorth, Lenora is the author of 'Secret Agent Minister ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780373442584 and ISBN 0373442580.