The Runaway Pastor's Wife (6 page)

Michael met Amelia at this same country club
thirteen years ago. It was the off season and he had just finished eighteen
holes of golf. The weather had been unusually windy and wet; not a particularly
great day for golf. Stopping by the bar for something to warm him, he noticed
the beautiful blonde with long, gorgeous legs sitting at the bar. Never one to
pass up a chance for some major league flirting, Michael made the usual small
talk and had her laughing in record time. Her smile dazzled him, and he was
struck by her obvious class. This was no
Texas
barfly.

His hunch was confirmed when the distinguished
congressman appeared shortly, putting his hand gently on her shoulder. “Ready,
dear?”

Amelia patted his hand. “Sure, Daddy. I was just
visiting with—I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”

“Where are my manners?” he apologized, tilting
his head slightly in embarrassment. “My name is Michael Dean,” he said, holding
his hand out to her. “And you must be—well, of
course
you are Amelia
Thomas.” Turning to her father, he continued, “Congressman, it’s an honor to
meet you as well.” He grasped Thomas’s hand firmly, smiling warmly at father
and daughter.

The expected recognition finally hit the
statesman. “Of course! Michael Dean! I should have recognized you immediately.
You play first base for our Astros!”

“Yes, sir, I sure do.” Michael beamed.

The congressman continued, “Fine season last
year, son. You made us proud. It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Dean.”

Michael pulled his hand free. “Uh, yes sir,
thank you sir, but the honor’s all mine. I wouldn’t want to seem forward, but
if you could give me a few minutes to clean up, I’d be honored to buy you and
your daughter a drink if you have the time?” Michael looked deeply into
Amelia’s soft green eyes shining beneath long, thick lashes.

Amelia stood up, “Well, Mr. Dean—”

“Michael. Please call me Michael.”

Her smile widened at his familiarity. “Very
well,
Michael
. We thank you for the offer and perhaps we’ll meet again
and take you up on it then. Unfortunately, Daddy and I have a dinner engagement
with some rather important constituents. Otherwise, we’d be pleased to have a
drink with you. Wouldn’t we, Daddy?”

“We certainly would, honey. Michael, we’ll take
a rain check, except we want you to be our guest up at the house. I insist. How
can we get in touch with you?”

Michael grabbed a cocktail napkin off the bar
and borrowed the gold Cross pen that Mr. Thomas extended toward him. It was
engraved,
Office of the United States House of Representatives
. He
smiled at the congressman then scribbled his name and phone number and handed
it to Amelia. “I’ll look forward to hearing from you. Both. Anytime.” He felt
like a schoolboy meeting his prom date’s dad for the first time. “It was a
pleasure,” he added, making a quick escape.

After a whirlwind, highly-publicized romance,
Michael and Amelia were married in one of
Houston
’s most
memorable weddings. The marriage was a great fascination to Houstonians and
sports fans alike.

For the groom, however, the fascination quickly
wore off.

Amelia was as refined as she was beautiful. She
was educated at an expensive private college in
Texas
where
she belonged to the finest sorority while maintaining excellent grades. She
continued to perform all the expected roles thrust upon her as a
Houston
debutante. When her mother died of cancer, Amelia assumed the position as her
father’s escort to the perfunctory galas in both
Texas
and
Washington
. She
thrived in the spotlight, loving the excitement and glamour of politics.

She was also very much in love with her handsome
husband, a baseball star and celebrity in his own right. The perfect fan,
Amelia attended every game, sitting with the wives and families of the other
players. When they kept a polite distance from her, she nonetheless made every
attempt to be one of them. She and Michael hosted several barbecues at their
estate for the players and their families. She made every possible effort to be
the best wife to Michael and best daughter to Elliot.

Sure, she had grown more beautiful with each passing
year, but in Michael’s opinion she was still—well,
boring
. She was too
beautiful, too proper, and much too refined. He realized his disappointment
early in their relationship, but refused to believe it would ever be a serious
problem for him. After all, this prize had come with unlimited opportunities
and connections. What’s a little boredom at home when you have the world at
your fingertips?

Furthermore, Michael knew that “Daddy” was more
than pleased with his son-in-law. He introduced Michael to people and
situations most people only dream about. Then, only a year after the marriage,
Elliot approached Michael with a proposition: he would set up his son-in-law in
any business venture he wanted. He promised Michael he would make sure this
business would always be a success. Michael knew enough about Elliot Thomas by
that time to realize the potential of such an assurance. It was a win-win
situation. A gold mine for the asking.

Thus began
The Sports Page.
Michael had
given considerable thought to what kind of company he would create. After all,
the inevitable age crunch would someday send him to the locker room for one
last time. He began dreaming of a line of stores selling sports equipment and
athletic wear for every conceivable sport. In addition, the stores would share
facilities with the ultimate athletic club. Michael would use only state of the
art equipment in his weight rooms, gyms, courts, and locker rooms. He would
cultivate a clientele that would give the club status and class. This would be
no sweat tank. The Sports Page
would make history.

And that’s exactly what it did. From that
initial conversation with his father-in-law to the grand opening of his first
facility, Michael personally oversaw every single detail to perfection. Even
before the balloons deflated and the last of the confetti was swept away from
the inaugural celebration, the empire of The Sports Page was well on its way.
In only a few short years, while still continuing his career with the Astros,
Michael witnessed his company’s growth as it exploded across the country. The
Page, as it was nicknamed, soon took residence in almost every major city in
America
.
Michael was indeed an American success story. After his retirement from
baseball, his picture was more likely to be found on the front page of
Fortune
magazine
than
Sports Illustrated.
He had tasted the best of both
worlds.

Yes, life had been good to Michael Dean.

Now, years later, playing a round of golf with
his old friend Jimmy was a welcome change of pace. Their usual teasing had
lifted his spirits considerably as it always did. Jimmy and Michael had been
good friends for many years. While Michael quickly worked his way up through
the farm teams, Jimmy had taken the sports broadcasting world by storm.
Whenever their paths crossed, they headed for the nearest golf course.

Relaxing over his second beer, Michael sat back
on the barstool. Jimmy peered over his Diet Coke, casting a long hard look at
his burly friend.

“If you don’t mind me butting in—”

“I do, so don’t.”

Jimmy smiled. “Michael, what’s eating you?
What’s going on? Buddy, you and I go way back. You may be able to pull off this
carefree façade with everybody else, but I can read you like a book. What is
it?”

Michael toyed with a salt shaker for a long time
before answering. “I don’t know, man. Got a lot on my mind, I guess. Didn’t
realize I was so transparent. I’ll have to watch that.” His smile was
half-hearted at best.

“C’mon, Michael. What gives? You and the queen
having problems?” Jimmy had never taken Michael and Amelia’s marriage too
seriously. He knew the
old
Michael Dean—the ball player with a
girl in every city on the league schedule and then some.

Michael looked up and started to make another
wise crack but stopped short. He spotted a familiar figure in a dark suit just
over Jimmy’s shoulder, standing at the entrance to the grill.

Jimmy, reacting to the change in Michael’s
demeanor, looked over his shoulder. “Friend of yours?”

Michael shifted uncomfortably. “No, just one of
Elliot’s stiffs. These guys drive me insane,” he grumbled as he stood. “Listen,
Jimmy, I gotta go. I’ll give you a call in a couple of days.” He patted his
friend on his shoulder, “Good seein’ you, man. Keep working on that swing,” he
mused, gesturing a practice swing of his own.

After quick instructions from Elliot’s body
guard, Michael made his way down the hall to the private conference room. He
knocked softly then opened the wide polished door. “Michael. How nice of you to
join me. Here, have a seat. Fix yourself a drink. You look awful.”

Michael bypassed the open cabinet of liquor and
took a seat across the broad table from Elliot Thomas. “Gee, thanks, Elliot.
Nice to see you too.”

The congressman continued writing on his
leather-bound pad. “Hard to run a corporate business from the greens, isn’t it?
You getting tired of your career or just loafing off like the has-been jock you
are?” The watery eyes of his father-in-law glanced up at him only briefly
during his flippant attack.

“Come now, Elliot,” Michael countered. “You know
that even hard working CEOs are entitled to an occasional day off now and then.
Why? Has your spy network been feeding you lies about me again? What’s their
method? Do they hide in the bathroom stalls and pick up tidbits of juicy gossip
to pass along? Or have you got your hooks into the private day timer on my
computer? Gee, I thought I’d covered all my bases. I must be slipping. Tsk tsk.”

Elliot continued writing as if he hadn’t heard a
word. Then, quietly and methodically, he closed the valise, straightened his
silk tie and folded his hands on the table.

“Michael, I see no reason why you and I can’t
have a civilized conversation. It appears to me as though we have a bit of a
problem. Something that needs immediate attention.”

“Oh yeah? It seems to me we have a number of
problems. Which one did you want to address today?”

The congressman rolled his neck. “You’re
absolutely right. We do have a number of problems. Very serious problems. But
today I want to discuss Amelia.”

“Ah,” Michael whispered as though hearing a
well-kept secret. “Yes, Amelia. Why am I not surprised that dear ol’ Dad wants
to ‘discuss’ his perfect little girl with the evil son-in-law?”

“All right, cut the sarcasm. I’ve had just about
enough.”

“Good. That makes two of us. What do you propose
we do about it?” Michael began swiveling his chair from side to side hoping to
portray an air of indifference.

“I understand you have begun divorce
proceedings.”

Michael stopped cold. “You don’t waste any time,
do you? What, have you got my attorney’s office bugged as well?”

Totally undaunted, Elliot responded. “Don’t
change the subject. I want some answers and I want them now.”

Michael took a deep breath and slowly began
rocking his chair again. He hated himself for allowing Elliot to get under his
skin like this. He glared back at the congressman. “Yes, Elliot, I have begun
divorce proceedings. Something I should have done years ago. But I’m still
curious how you found out about it. I just spoke to Thad yesterday and I know
he would never break our attorney/client confidentiality. I haven’t even spoken
to Amelia about it. So just exactly how did you find out?”

“It is entirely irrelevant to discuss how
certain information makes its way to my attention. You should know by now that
no one in public life can do much of anything without someone finding out. I’ve
had you tailed from the day you and Amelia began dating.”

Michael gasped before he could stop himself.

Elliot continued. “A man in my position cannot
take chances. I had to make absolutely sure that you were of sufficient
reputation before I could allow Amelia to become involved with you. Oh yes, I
know you weren’t exactly spotless. You had a number of affairs with a number of
different women. That was no great surprise for a man like you—rugged good
looks, athletic, a sports celebrity and all. We all know such indiscretions are
a part of that lifestyle. But after a period of time finding you to be faithful
to Amelia once you began seeing her, I was satisfied you would make a good
husband for her.

“And, as usual, I was right. You
have
been a good husband to her. For the most part I’ve been proud to have you as my
son-in-law. That’s why I didn’t hesitate to help you get started in your own
business. You’ve done a fine job with The Page and you should be proud.”

Why do I get the feeling this is all leading up
to my execution?
Michael wondered.

“Of course, we both know The Sports Page would
never have existed if I hadn’t backed you financially from the beginning and
opened all the right doors for you. Granted, you’ve exceeded my highest
expectations and that’s to your credit, Michael. That’s what makes this whole
unfortunate situation doubly hard for me. Because it won’t involve just you and
Amelia. The company is at stake as well.”