Chapter 29: The New Reverend

“Where are you off to, mom?” asked Jessie Harper as she sat watching TV in their living room.

Mrs Glenda Harper paused at the mirror above the sofa to fuss over her hair for a few seconds before looking in her purse to make sure she had her car keys. Next, she pulled at her blouse and skirt to make sure everything was straight then stepped into her shoes at the front door before finally turning to her daughter to answer the girl’s question.

“ ... um ... well ... um ... well I’m not sure really. Your new choirmaster arrived the other day as well as our new reverend for the church. They have requested what they think is a very important meeting of some sort with all the parents and care givers of all the choir members. They gave no indication as to what it was they wanted to see us about - just be in the choir chamber at 7pm for a meeting that should last, hopefully, for no more than an hour. That’s all I can tell you.”

Both mother and daughter just stared at each other for a few seconds before each giving a shrug of the shoulders as Mrs Harper turned to leave the house through the front door. As she turned to go she smiled at her daughter and said, “I guess it can’t be anything too serious. I’ll fill you in on anything interesting when I get back. See yuh, honey bunny. If I am late getting home don’t wait up and don’t forget to get that assignment finished for school tomorrow, OK!”

“OK, mom. Yes, mom!” replied Jessie with a resigned sigh. The girl then jumped up and gave her mother a big hug and a kiss and added, “Love you, mom!”

“Love you too, sweetheart” said Glenda then she disappeared off out the door to whatever the evening held for her down at the church.

That meeting down at the church lasted way more than just one hour and by the time Glenda Harper got home her daughter was well asleep in bed. She gave her girl a gentle kiss on the cheek before heading off to bed herself. As she headed out of Jessie’s bedroom and down the hallway she held up a brochure she had been holding in her hand. She chuckled to herself as she read the thing and if anyone had been around they would have heard her mumbling this to herself...

“Oh my goodness. This really is just the weirdest thing. But I promised not to say anything so I won’t. Mrs Glenda Harper you just hold your tongue now like all the others said they would do and we will just have to trust the Good Lord that all will be OK. Amen!”

When Glenda Harper was back in her own bedroom she very deliberately placed the pamphlet she had been studying way up high and at the very back of a shelf in her wardrobe. It was obvious from this action that she didn’t want anyone else - namely her own daughter - to find this one particular piece of paper.

After closing the wardrobe door Jessie’s mother turned and looked steadfastly at her reflection in her bedroom mirror. As she looked she began running her hands over the fabric of the clothing that covered her body. Those hands moved all around her slightly over weight hips and thighs then around her abdominal area then on up and over her solid breasts all trussed up neatly underneath the woman’s blouse and bra.

As Glenda Harper was doing this her mind was reflecting back to the days when she still had a husband - a man by the name of David Harper. He was a military intelligence officer and the two had been married for only three years before he was killed in a terrorist attack on a US compound in Afghanistan. Their daughter, Jessica, was only one year old at the time and has no memory of her father what-so-ever. Many well meaning friends and family members had tried to hitch David’s widow up again with another man but all to no avail. In the end she just resigned herself to being a solo mom with the best daughter in the world that anyone could ever wish for. Despite this decision to stay unmarried Glenda still did desperately miss the solid feel of having a man about the house and one she could make love to. David Harper had been a magnificent lover which is probably why Glenda stayed single after his death. The woman just could not see anyone filling that ‘love void’ in her life the way ‘her man’ had been able to do.

As the middle aged woman standing in front of her bedroom mirror was pondering all this she began to undress for bed. When she had all her clothes off she paused again in front of the mirror and stared at her naked body. She looked at her long black hair still tied up in a bun behind her head with just the traces of greying growing out at the sides. She looked at her round face that was still quite tight and fresh looking from years of careful eating and the use of good skin care products. She looked at her slightly heavy set legs that supported her round middle-aged hips and butt cheeks then at those love handles developing around her midriff. Lastly she let her eyes fall on her breasts and her triangle of dark pubic hair and remembered the days when they had been the play things of her lover - now long since departed.