Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 27217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 27217 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 136(@200wpm)___ 109(@250wpm)___ 91(@300wpm)
The future I see and want with Harper is something I'll never stop striving for. The meager house is a blessing, but it's not somewhere I want to build a family. There's not enough space.
After I speak with Harper's family, I'll talk to the Archbishop and take it from there. I'd love to continue my role here, but everything we've done is enough to get me removed. I let my urges guide me instead of doing what's right as a priest.
There are too many thoughts roaming around my head, and I need to focus on getting ready for the day. The first day after the roads are clear is normally the busiest for the church's food pantry. It doesn't take long for me to get ready and head to the church.
There's already a line gathering outside of St. Alban's as I walk down the street. There are a few familiar faces and others who look like they can use a warm meal. The amount of snow mounted on the side of the building looks monstrous, but at least the parking lot and doorways are clear.
I do my best to put on a smile and greet everyone. "Good morning, everyone. Please, come inside to stay warm while you wait."
Everyone files in behind me. I expect to see Dennis, but he's not around. Instead, Irene Templeton, the church's Director of Ministry Outreach, is assigning volunteers different roles before we begin the morning kitchen and pantry service.
"Good morning, Irene," I greet her as I make my way to the office.
Irene's a sweet older woman with wispy gray hair, but her enchanting personality isn't one to be toyed with. She holds a lot of power and respect among the members of the church, always helping whenever anyone is in need, much like this morning.
"Morning, Father Hudgens. I'm so happy you were able to come in as early as you have. We have the chef preparing breakfast and volunteers ready to serve. We also have two volunteers in the pantry right now. Is there anything you need, Father?"
"Actually, I have a volunteer coming in later this afternoon to help me go over the books."
"Oh, that's wonderful," she exclaims, clasping her hands together. "Does that mean we're getting a full-time Director of Finance?"
"I'm not sure. I really just want to do a comparison of last year's finances against this year since we're putting all the financial documents together for tax season."
She scrunches her face with disappointment. "Well, I'm happy to not have that responsibility. I imagine Dennis will be ecstatic when you tell him he doesn't have to do them anymore. The way he used to gripe about it, you'd think he was being punished."
"Really?"
"Yes, he took his duties far too seriously and was too eager when contacting members. We had a few complaints, but if you're taking over, or at least finding someone who will, he can focus on his Associate Priest duties. I'll get those books brought to you in a moment. I'm just going to finish opening up for the members waiting outside."
"Thank you, Irene. For all that you do around here."
She pauses for a beat, eyeing me from head to toe. "That sounded like a goodbye, Father. Don't leave us. You're exactly what St. Alban's needs. I'll have those files from last year brought to your office from the archive room."
Irene disappears to tend to the parishioners while I make my way into the office. There are a few dozen files for me to look over from the past year. Once I get the files from before I became the priest here, I can sort them for when Harper arrives.
The office is the perfect place for us to work with the hope of accomplishing everything we've set out to do. Memories of her sweet pussy coming all over my lips on the couch threaten to make my dick hard, and there's no way I can be in this state with so many people in the church.
I have to calm myself down. As soon as I get my erection to fade away, there's a knock on my office door. I pray it's Harper coming in early, but I know that's a long shot. There's a volunteer on the other side who hands me a stack of folders before heading back to help the soup kitchen serve our parishioners.
I get to work sorting the files, taking pictures with my phone as I go along to make sure each month can be compared to the same month of the last year. It's also easier to keep track of my sorting system. Once that's done, I search January's documents from two years ago to begin my own audit of the church's finances.
There are notes, invoices, payroll checks, and an assortment of other expenses the church is responsible for alongside the donations the church receives on a weekly basis. I can only hope that my inkling about Dennis is wrong.