“Sorry, we’re all having a family dinner with Granny and Gramps.” Darla could feel the blush starting at her neck and creeping around to her cheeks.
“Maybe another time, then. Be talking to you.” Andy turned and walked away.
Darla’s heart thumped like a bass drum in her ears. She could have strangled Andy and enjoyed watching his pretty blue eyes pop right out of his head, especially when he came off with that comment about one woman for the rest of his life right in front of Will.
Will tucked her arm into his. “That was a little intense. Do I have anything to be worried about? Do you think he was talking about you being that special woman that he could spend the rest of his life with? Do I need to get out the dueling pistols and tell him to meet me at dawn down by the creek?” he teased and shot another of his playful winks her way.
“Maybe so, but only load yours and be sure you shoot him dead. It’ll save a lot of women some broken hearts.” Darla loved Will’s sense of humor and the way they enjoyed teasing each other.
“So he’s that kind of man, is he?” Will grinned.
“No one can change a leopard’s spots.” She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed Will on the lips.
“For another kiss like that, I’ll call off that appointment to show a house in Ravia in thirty minutes.” He grinned.
“Get on out of here.” She gave him a gentle shove. “You’ve got to make money so we can make the mortgage payments on that house we’re buying.”
“Since the family is in for the weekend, are we still on for tomorrow night? Movie in Ardmore and maybe ice cream afterward?” Will asked.
“Of course we are,” she said. “I love my older sisters and my family, but by tomorrow evening, I’ll be ready for some downtime with just the two of us.”
“Pick you up at six.” He gave her a quick hug and walked away.
Just as Will disappeared out the door, Andy started toward Darla. Pretending that she didn’t realize he had zeroed in on her, she turned around and hurried into the ladies’ room. She fell back onto the sofa in the small powder room and put her palms over her eyes.
“Hey, sis, are you all right?” Sarah startled her when she sat down on the end of the sofa beside her.
“Little bit of a headache,” Darla answered. That wasn’t a lie. Being in the same room with her fiancé and her old flame was enough to give any woman a headache.
“It’s just wedding nerves,” Sarah said.
“Did you ever wonder if you were marrying the right person?” Darla asked.
“Sure I did. That’s normal.” Sarah nodded. “Sometimes, when Bryan makes me mad, I still wonder. No one lives with another person twenty-four seven without having disagreements. Doesn’t matter if it’s roommates, sisters, or a married couple. That’s just life.” She patted Darla on the knee. “It’s all normal, honey. Don’t worry.”
“Thanks,” Darla said, but she couldn’t even force a smile.
* * *
The church pew was long but still cramped with thirteen people lined up on it, shoulder to shoulder and hip to hip. Darla was sitting on the end and hardly heard a word the preacher said that morning, not with Andy Miller sitting right behind her. The weather had gotten hot—Indian summer, the old folks called it—but the sweat rolling down Darla’s neck and into her bra had nothing to do with the temperature outside.
“Sometimes, we just need to pray about our decisions.” The preacher’s words finally caught her attention. “The devil will test us, just like he did Jesus.”
“Amen,” Darla whispered under her breath.
“Amen!” Claud said loud enough that the whole church echoed his amen.
“But God will lead and guide you along the right path if you just ask for His help,” the preacher said. “Now, in light of the fact that Roxie and Claud Marshall are celebrating their sixtieth wedding anniversary this weekend, and their fifty-ninth year living in Tishomingo and attending church right here, I’ll ask Claud to deliver the benediction.”
“Sweet Jesus!” Roxie gasped and leaned over toward Darla. “He’s never prayed in church before.”
Claud stood up and bowed his head. “Thank you, God, for giving me the strength to live with Roxie all these years, and for helping her to live with me. I’m grateful that she’s a good cook and a fine-lookin’ woman. We’ve got to get on home now because the pot roast will burn if we don’t, so I’ll make this short. See you next Sunday if not before. Amen.”
Darla nudged her grandmother on the shoulder. “Not bad for the first time.”
“‘Strength to live with me,’ my hind end,” Roxie grumbled as the whole congregation stood up and started moving toward the door. “I could tell you a thing or two.”
“After dinner, and when everyone goes home, I’ll meet you on the back porch. I’ll bring the sweet tea. I need to talk to you,” Darla whispered.
“I’ll be there soon as he starts to snore.” Roxie cupped her hand over Darla’s ear and whispered, “He eavesdrops, and, honey, he learns more gossip at those domino games he plays than I do at a dozen Prayer Angel sessions.”
“It’s not nice to tell secrets in church,” Sarah said.
“It’s not a secret if you already know what I’m telling your sister.” Roxie grinned. “The pot roast won’t be worth eating if we don’t take it out of the oven pretty soon.”
“We’ll slip on out,” Gloria said, “and get things started for Sunday dinner. Kevin and I are hoping to get back to Denison before too late. I’ve got to meet at four with the caterer for the wedding.” She blew them a kiss, grabbed her husband by the hand, and pulled him toward the side door.
“I’d rather be going with her,” Roxie said, “but it would be rude not to shake the preacher’s hand since he was so nice to mention us by name. Where’s Claud?”
Darla pointed. “Over there with his cronies. The way they’ve got their heads together, I’d guess that the domino table isn’t their only place to gossip.”
Roxie marched across the aisle and looped her arm in Claud’s. “Unless you want to eat a burnt Sunday dinner, we’ve got to get going.”
“The old ball and chain still holds on tight, even after sixty years,” Claud said, chuckling.
“If you want to get rid of that ball and chain, you know where the door is,” Roxie said. “Don’t let it hit you in the hip pockets.”
“She’s still full of sass after all these years.” Claud laughed and patted Roxie’s hand. “See you boys tomorrow morning.”
The drive from church to the house took five minutes and would have been less if Darla hadn’t had to stop at two of the three traffic lights on Main Street. Her car hadn’t even had time to cool down when she parked beside her grandfather’s pickup truck. She was on her way from the circular drive to the house when her phone rang, so she sat down on the porch steps and dug around in her purse until she found it. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she answered it.
“Hello, Andy,” she said.