The need to reach a larger audience was now paramount, and Susannah offered an innovative option. Sipping coffee, she made her pitch. “Paid programming—but before you say anything hear me out. Most religious programming is distributed this way. Yes, we pay for the program, but we have control and a portion of donations we raise pay for airtime.”
From his seat at the table, Ray smiled at Susannah. “When I think of paid programming, I tend to think of cheesy infomercials selling some product you don’t need.”
Susannah stretched out her hand, clasping Ray’s. “There are some of those, yes. Let’s research this, and I think you’ll see the advantages. The program gets distribution from infomercial brokers, which can go beyond local. You know the saying, ‘Sometimes you have to spend money to make money.’”
He continued stroking her knuckles yet was conflicted. “Paid advertising costs thousands of dollars, and we haven’t access to that kind of money. It’s interesting but expensive.”
“I thought the loan you took out was for expenses like this.”
She gazed into his eyes, and Ray could feel himself starting to waver.
“Let’s perform our due diligence,” she continued. “There are infomercial brokers, and we should start with them and see what the process is. And of course, I’m sure both Buck and Jeff will have suggestions on how to proceed.”
Ray kissed her hand, mesmerized by Susannah’s warm, brown eyes. “Speaking of Buck and Jeff, we can’t go on hiding our relationship from them.”
“Aren’t you worried about the congregation’s reaction to us living in sin?”
He smiled, his lips caressing each of her slender fingers, drinking in the scent of lavender. “I’m not ready to openly explain our arrangement to worshippers, but I’d feel better if our staff knew the truth. Then we could at least have our meetings here.” Ray continued kissing the tips of her soft fingers.
“Well, I, for one, can think of better things to do.” She rose from the table and came to him, her full, moist mouth covering his, and Ray felt the passion spark between them.
Susannah tugged at his button-down shirt, and a button flew off, bouncing across the hardwood floor.
Susannah giggled. “Sorry, I’ll sew it on tomorrow.” They barely made it upstairs.
19
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2002 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI THE ROAD TO CALVARY SET
When the final live broadcast of The Road to Calvary aired the last week in October, Ray addressed the congregation on trying the paid programming format in their new space. Much to Buck’s surprise, people had shown both support and enthusiasm for becoming part of a community. Willing to donate money for a paid broadcast, the worshippers proved that their faith in their leader was passionate.
For all the good news, one item gnawed at Buck. Ray and Susannah were very close to giving their relationship away. They looked at one another too long, hung on each other’s every word, and clasped hands when they didn’t think anyone was looking. Who was Susannah Baker, really? Where had she come from? Ray was in love, something Buck had never thought he’d see, but there were so many questions. In less than six months, this woman, who seemed to have dropped out of the sky, had ingrained herself into the pastor’s life and the program. Sure, Buck reasoned, she had attended services faithfully for several months. But she had stayed to speak with Ray at the moment he had become convinced that shutting down The Road to Calvary was their only choice. It was almost as if she had known. Had she eavesdropped on their conversations, planning to swoop in at the last moment?
Buck analyzed that question from every angle, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on her motives. To be sure, Susannah wanted to make money, and her approach was questionable. Initially, Ray was so strongly resistant to the idea of blatant fraud that Buck had never expected him to agree to her plans. But Ray was clearly smitten by this dark-haired stranger, another fact that left Buck trying his damnedest to understand her power over his friend.
It was common knowledge Ray had left his church after Lorraine died of cancer, his faith sorely tested. Buck and Jeff had been members of that congregation, and Ray had told them he needed to step away from religion. Buck remembered him taking a contract position with a large company as an ethics consultant, earning a six-figure salary. He’d stayed in corporate America over five years. Having money convinced him to launch The Road to Calvary on cable and return to his calling full time. He’d asked Buck and Jeff to come along on the journey.
Buck entered the warehouse, contemplating one of Susannah’s stories that he’d never quite believed—her claim of spiraling into the depths of alcoholism, ready to commit suicide with booze and pills just before she came upon Ray preaching on television. That wasn’t the part that bothered him. From experience, Buck had maintained years of sobriety, after enduring an unpleasant stint in rehab, by attending so many AA meetings that he’d lost count. Susannah never spoke of any kind of recovery or of fighting the urge to drink again. Buck thought about drinking every single day, and it was truly one day at a time for him. He knew every alcoholic was different, but the fact that she said nothing was another red flag that only he and Jeff appeared to notice.
Glancing at a wall clock, Buck realized Ray and Susannah would be there any minute. They wanted his input on some paid programming options. Buck was glad to assist, but after a full day at his IT job with an area bank, he was tired.
“Hello? Anybody here?” Buck’s voice boomed into the vast space.
From the depths of the warehouse, Ray called, “In the conference room.”
The moment Buck entered, Susannah announced, “We’ve come up with a multi-pronged plan that takes into consideration all our broadcast options. We’ve made a brief PowerPoint presentation.”
Buck forced a smile. “I’m excited to hear about it.”
Ray opened PowerPoint, and the first slide appeared on the screen. Susannah began speaking while Ray took a seat. “We’ve heard back from the infomercial broker, and they loved the demo—Ray’s rapport with the audience, commitment, and sincerity.” She clicked to the next slide. “We’ll get right to business. We commit to the thirty-minute weekly infomercial for a thousand dollars.” The slide faded into the next. “We also started researching area television stations. There’s an independent St. Louis station that bills itself as ‘family friendly’ and offers other religious programming.” The station’s call letters and ad rates came up on the screen. “For another couple hundred dollars a week, we can broadcast there as well.”
Ray interrupted, tilting forward in his chair. “Our goal is a decent time slot and expansion of our market and revenue, so we can get back to broadcasting live.”
Buck found himself impressed with the amount of research they’d done.
Susannah looked him straight in the eye. “We can’t guarantee the perfect hour or anything else,” she acknowledged. “But what we can do is take advantage of as many options as we can afford when broadcasting live.”
She punched the remote and the next colored slide displayed Christian beauty tips. “Both of you have pooh-poohed the idea of Christian makeovers, but this is exactly the way we can set ourselves apart by offering more than just religion.”