Jane Doe: A Novel (A Jane Doe Thriller) by Victoria Helen Stone

Author:Victoria Helen Stone [Stone, Victoria Helen]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781503900899
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2018-08-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 29

Steven expected me to spend the night, I’m sure, but it was easy enough to get out of it. I told him I had my period. The end.

I woke up bright and early today and wore my most flowery dress to church. I’m not a VIP, so I don’t get to sit with Steven in the front row, but I sit closer to the front this time, and I gaze up at Pastor Hepsworth throughout the service. Today he’s speaking about generosity and charity . . . with a little homophobia thrown in, of course. Be kind and generous, but first to United in Christ Church and never to liberal organizations who don’t discriminate against gays.

Another prejudice I’ll never understand. Sex is apparently for procreation and not pleasure, and that’s why gay sex is wrong, yet none of the men I’ve slept with have ever been in it for the babies. Strange.

Of course Steven nods along with the lecture, even though oral sodomy is clearly a favorite sport of his. I’m going to have to assume his dad likes it too, based on my own long-term studies of the general population.

I wonder if Meg started to believe this stuff. I can’t imagine it. Meg had been a bit of a hippie, with love for everyone and anyone. Actually, she was a bit like Jesus Christ that way, accepting of all. I snicker and beam up at Pastor Hepsworth.

He hasn’t been obviously lecherous with me, but there’s no reason not to cover all my bases. Right now he’s a father figure, and that fills him with a very satisfying pride. His leadership role in my life will make it easy for me to go to him for help. Advice and counseling—that kind of thing. I’ll confess my transgressions to him and see what he has to say.

Even if he has good intentions, this man is excited by sin. And by younger women. He married a woman less than half his age, after all. Now she’s just a wife, and being a husband at home isn’t nearly as exciting as being a father figure in the office.

I have no idea if Pastor Hepsworth was kind to Meg or cruel. I don’t care. He tells the members of his flock that women are devilish Jezebels tempting men into sin. He taught his son that. He made Steven into a monster, and despite his son’s cruelty, Pastor Hepsworth is still proud of him.

Even if I had sympathy, he would deserve none of it. A man who stands up every Sunday to name other people as sinners shouldn’t be susceptible to temptation at all. Live by the sword, die by the sword, my dear.

As Pastor Hepsworth’s condemnation of godless liberals and socialists gets louder, I breathe faster and lick my lips, letting my mouth part slightly as I pant with excitement at his rousing speech. His eyes lock on me for a moment. I gaze in wonder. That’s all the good pastor wants. A little worship from a young woman.

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