Chapter 9
Nine
A sher slipped a finger beneath his shirt collar and tugged, questioning why he’d decided to wear a tie. It had been years since he strangled himself with one. Even at all the weddings he’d been to recently, he hadn’t worn one; the attire had been much less formal. But as he got dressed this morning, his grandmother’s face had popped into his head, and he’d heard her reminding him as a boy to straighten his tie as they left the house for church. So, he’d put one on.
Truthfully, it wasn’t the tie that had him feeling restricted. It was the need quietly pulsing through his veins for the woman who sat beside him. With her hair plaited and her makeup minimal, she looked demure and ladylike in her colorful maxi skirt and pale green blouse. She was the type of woman he’d always wanted. Not the flashy, overly made up, rail-thin models he tended to attract. He wanted a lady. Someone kind and polite, but passionate. One who didn’t care if her hair wasn’t always perfect or that her clothes weren’t part of the latest trend. Just someone who was real. Esther fit that bill perfectly.
“Take the next left. The church is on the right.” She pointed ahead, breaking into his thoughts.
He nodded and slowed. When they left the house, he’d asked to drive. Not only because he was more comfortable being in the driver’s seat in case something happened, but because he’d parked in the driveway behind the single-car garage that housed her vehicle. To take hers, he would have to move his car, anyway. It just made sense to take his rental.
Turning the corner, he saw the church just down the street. The parking lot wasn’t too crowded yet, but they were a bit early. He pulled in and parked.
Another car pulled in as he shut the SUV off, and Esther let out a little grumble.
“Are you ready for this?” She nodded toward the car. “That’s my mom and dad.”
He flashed her a quick grin and unbuckled. “Yep.” Yanking on the door handle, he got out.
Rounding the hood, he held out a hand to Esther. She paused near the headlight and stared at it.
“Take my hand, Essy. You want them to think we’re dating, right?”
She took a deep breath and laced her fingers with his.
“Smile.” He tugged her closer. “They’ll think I’m an ogre.”
That made her chuckle softly. “They will not. You charmed the pants off them in Costa Rica.”
“People’s public personas can be much different than their private ones.”
“True, but they know Edie wouldn’t associate with someone who wasn’t a good person.” She grumbled again. “I hate giving them false hope that I found someone they like.”
A voice in the back of Asher’s mind called out that she might not be as deceptive as she thought. He could see himself with this woman. How they’d make it work, he didn’t know. But it wasn’t out of the realm of possibilities.
“Esther?” Her mother, Faye, walked closer, then stopped as she got a good look at Essy’s companion. “What—? Asher, what are you doing here?” Her gaze dropped to their clasped hands, and her expression brightened. “All right, spill.” She waved a hand at their linked fingers.
“Hi, Mrs. Campbell.” Asher turned up the wattage on his smile and aimed it at Faye.
“Don’t turn that charm on me. When did this happen?” She glanced at her husband. “Did you know about this?”
Conner shook his head. “No. Why would she tell me before she told you?”
“We haven’t told anyone. Not even Edie knows,” Esther said.
Asher made a mental note to text her and tell her to act surprised when her mother called to talk about this.
“We’re just—” Esther paused and looked up. “Seeing where this goes.”
Asher smiled, squeezing her hand, then turned to her parents. “The truth is, your daughter captivated me the moment I saw her. We’ve been chatting the last couple of months through email, then on the phone. I finally asked her if I could come visit and see if we can make something of this. Our situation isn’t normal or uncomplicated, but you can’t make something work that you never try to do in the first place.”
“Very true,” Conner said. He swept an arm out toward the church. “Let’s go in, shall we?”
They made their way inside, where Asher helped Esther out of her jacket and hung it up on the coat rack along with his own.
“Faye!”
Asher glanced over as someone called Esther’s mother’s name. Faye raised a hand and waved to the other woman, who beckoned her over.
“Go on, Mom. We can’t join you in the sanctuary, anyway. I’m teaching Sunday School today. Asher’s going to help.”
“Oh.” Faye’s brows knit together. “All right. Maybe we can have lunch afterward?”
“Can we take a raincheck?” Asher asked. He didn’t want to put anymore stress on Esther to keep up appearances than necessary. Besides, they had other things to accomplish today. “I planned an afternoon of activities for us.”
Faye’s expression brightened. He could see in her eyes that she liked the idea of him courting her daughter. “Of course. Perhaps one evening this week we can all have dinner.”
Esther directed a smile at her, but Asher could see from the fine lines at the corners of her eyes that it was forced.
“Sure, Mom.”
“Great.” Faye smiled.
The woman across the room called Faye’s name again.
“We’d better go before Liz has a stroke,” Conner said.
Faye rolled her eyes, looking very much like her daughters in that moment. “It’s not like it’s gourmet fare we have to get ready. And she can handle the coffeepot on her own.”
Conner took her hand and pulled her away. “I know, but she needs the affirmation that she’s doing it right. And you’re so good at making her feel accomplished.”
“Oh, stop.” She lightly tapped him on the chest, chuckling. Turning her head, she smiled at Esther and Asher. “Asher, we’re glad you’re here. Essy, I’ll call you, and we’ll set something up, all right?”
“That sounds good, Mom.” Again, she smiled her tight smile.
Asher slid closer and untangled their fingers to lay them on her back at the base of her neck. When Faye and Conner turned away, he gave Esther a gentle squeeze. “You might want to work on that fake smile. Your parents were too excited to see it this time, but next time?”
She huffed. “Come on.” Leaving him behind, she swiftly moved off.
In a couple of strides, he caught up to her. “It’s not that terrible, you know.”
“What’s not?”
“Pretending to be dating.”
She halted abruptly, turning to face him. “It’s not that. It’s—” She broke off, pushing him toward the wall as a middle-aged woman approached. Esther offered her a quick smile, waiting for her to pass.
Asher didn’t think she was aware she’d left her hand on his chest after she nudged him back. He wasn’t about to break it to her. He liked it there.
“It’s not that I’m upset about the pretend dating thing or that I think it’s hard. It’s—” She paused, pulling the corner of her bottom lip in to chew on it as she thought.
“It’s lying to your family, isn’t it?” he said softly.
She released her lip and nodded. “Yeah.”
“Well, we’ll do what we can to limit our interaction with them. I’m not sure we can avoid dinner, but maybe I can fake a work emergency to get us out early.”
“Maybe we’ll figure out what’s going on and you can go home before it even happens.”
“Yeah, maybe.” Although, part of him hoped that wasn’t the case. Now that he was here, he didn’t have much desire to leave.