Thirty
Jude
Staying focused on Lemon Lackey, who was telling me about the fire station her deceased husband had worked for and how they’d dedicated a new truck to him, was difficult. I did my best to nod at the right time and say the appropriate words. I had no idea if I was successfully fooling her because Crow was too close to Saylor. Talking to her as if they were in a private conversation. His head tilted down, his shoulder almost brushing her arm. Too close. There were other people to talk to here. Until Saylor, he’d barely spoken to anyone.
I unclenched my teeth and smiled at something Lemon had said because she was smiling, so it seemed like that was what I should be doing. Saylor threw her head back and laughed. Crow inched closer. My hands were fisted at my sides. I uncurled each finger, counting backward from twenty.
“Father, I brought you some of my fudge cookies,” Sibby’s irritating voice rang out.
Saylor’s gaze finally shifted from Crow to look my way. Her eyes darted from me to Sibby. I felt the other woman touching my arm, and I knew if I didn’t stop staring at Saylor, people would notice. They’d talk. I turned to Sibby, forcing another smile.
“Uh, thank you,” I said.
She handed one to me, then put it up to my lips. Either I was going to open or she was going to shove it between my teeth. I let her put the cookie in my mouth. When I flickered another glance at Saylor, she was listening to Crow again. Why the fuck was he so chatty?
The cookie tasted like sandpaper as I swallowed, then held up a hand to keep her from forcing more into my mouth. “Thank you, but I’d better eat dinner first. Don’t want to ruin my appetite.”
She made a show of wrapping it up for me in a napkin, then tucking it in her purse.
“Father, the food is ready,” Lora Gail called out.
I turned to see if Saylor could hear that over Crow’s incessant talking. Seeing her heading this way with him behind her gave me a little relief. I wanted to wait on her. Take her with me. Put my hand on her back and make it clear that she was mine. But I couldn’t.
Daniel got in line behind me. I asked about his week, doing my best not to listen for Saylor’s voice. To hear what Daniel said and respond properly. But she laughed again, and every muscle in my body locked up, the all-consuming rage pounding in my veins, making me want to plant my fist in Crow’s face.
Taking a drink, I didn’t even know what I’d put on my plate. I went to take a seat at one of the picnic tables.
Saylor, you’d better bring your sweet ass over here when you get your food.
I sat so that no one could sit on the end of the bench beside me, but left enough space so that I could move over for Saylor. Just in case the table filled up before she got here.
I waited for her to turn and look back at me. I used my eyes to cut toward the seat beside me. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth before she looked away.
Watching her walk away at three in the morning into the darkness had been difficult. She slept in my arms for two hours. I had wanted to keep her there more than I wanted my next breath.
She’d told me she loved me.
She loved me.
Crow’s talking to her didn’t mean anything. She wanted me. Not Crow. His hand touched her back, and I had to grip the edge of the table to keep from bolting up and stalking across the space and breaking his arm.
Saylor tensed and stepped out of the way so that his hand had to fall away. It was a smooth move, as if she had practice at it. She probably did. What man could look at her and not want her? Then, when he got to know her he’d been addicted.
She took a glass of lemonade, then began walking toward me. Sibby was suddenly taking the seat on my other side, entirely too close. I scooted to make sure there was enough room for Saylor, moving my cup over further so that Sibby had to put some space between us and not plaster herself to my side.
“I have the rest of your cookie right here, Father,” Sibby said, leaning over me and placing it on the other side of my plate.
My eyes weren’t on her though. I was watching Saylor. Her steps faltered, and I could see the indecision in her expression.
“Saylor,” I called out. “Please, come sit. I wanted to ask you how the food pantry was coming along,” I said, patting the spot beside me that belonged to her.
She continued this way.
“Food pantry? What food pantry is that?” Sibby said in fake interest.
I ignored her, waiting on Saylor. When she walked over to take the seat I had for her, Sibby leaned forward.
“There is plenty of room across from us. There is no need to box Father Jude in like that. It’s rude.” She dropped her voice to a mock whisper on the last word.
Sibby was about to get shoved onto the grass. The woman was pushing me, and I was not the man that needed any more pushing tonight. Crow had done enough.
Saylor paused. If I had to grab her ass and pull it into this seat, I would.
A plate was set down across the table from me.
“You can sit beside me, Saylor,” Crow told her with a smile. “You can even box me in. I don’t mind at all.”
Saylor seemed uncertain. I didn’t know what to say to not make it obvious I wanted her ass beside me.
She walked around the table after a beat of silence, and the image of taking the table and tossing it with Crow and Sibby still on it played out in my head.
Motherfucker!
Saylor took a seat beside Crow, but there was more distance between their bodies than there was between Sibby and me. Since Sibby and Crow had fucked up my getting Saylor close to me, I moved over, getting some space.
“The shelves look great. What’s next?” I asked her, already knowing this.
We’d talked about it. I just needed a reason to look at her. Hear her talk. Keep her eyes on me.
“What shelves?” Sibby interrupted.
Saylor’s gaze flickered over to her, then back to me.
That’s right, Dimples. Eyes on me.
“Well, we have three different food distributers that are going to donate their close-to-expiration items that they can’t stock stores with, but are still good. We get the first shipment next week. And I have some donation containers that I am going to set inside for tomorrow.”
I nodded. “Yes, I made sure to add the need for nonperishable donations to the bulletin this week.”
“Oh, you’re helping with a food pantry for the needy?” Sibby asked.
Saylor gave her a brief smile. “Yes.”
“That’s a lot of responsibility and work. Who is in charge of it? I might be able to fit in some hours to help.”
“I am,” Saylor told her.
Crow’s eyes had yet to leave Saylor’s face.
“Oh my, are you qualified for something like that? I would hate for the church’s funding to be misused.”
I opened my mouth to shut Sibby up, but Saylor’s eyes flared. I saw the fire in them, and I decided to let my girl handle this. I wanted to watch.
“Thank you for the concern, Sippy,” she drawled, purposely saying her name wrong.
I had to bite the inside of my mouth to keep from grinning.
“But you see, I’ve yet to use one dime of the church’s funding, nor do I intend to. Perhaps look up the word donations and read its definition. That will help you better understand what it is I am doing. As for help, I have all I need. But if you truly want to, I’ll be sure to partner you up with Sister Mena. That way, she can make sure you don’t make any mistakes.”
Saylor picked up her lemonade and took a drink, still smiling sweetly. Her dimples popped, and my chest swelled. Damn, she was cute.
Sibby cleared her throat, struggling for something to say. Saylor didn’t drop her steady gaze, making the other woman shift in her seat. The challenge sparking in her eyes might be intimidating Sibby, but it was making me hard. And I had to get that under control.
“It seems I offended you. I hadn’t meant to. My concern is just for Father Jude.” She touched my arm. “He’s such a good, trusting man. I wouldn’t want anything someone did to make him look bad.”
Saylor’s gaze dropped to Sibby’s hand. “Then, perhaps you should stop touching him and leaning so close to him. He is a priest, and the last time I checked, he had taken a vow of celibacy. All your flirting and feeding him—it’s incredibly inappropriate, and it makes everyone around you uncomfortable. Including Father Jude. Learn to read the room.”
I coughed to cover my startled laugh. Damn, my girl had teeth when triggered.
Sibby snatched her hand off me. “I take objection to such accusations,” Sibby said, her tone horrified.
Saylor lifted her shoulder. “It’s not accusations when it’s just stating what you are doing. Perhaps you should look up the definition of that word too. You might also want to look up bullshit . That’s another good one for you to know.”
A chuckle came from Crow, and Sibby grabbed her plate and stood up.
“I won’t sit here and be talked to like this.” She stood there, waiting, but I wasn’t sure for what. Then, she burst into tears and let out a loud, dramatic sob.
I was the priest and in charge of the meeting. I knew it was my cue to do something, but comforting Sibby made me literally ill.
“I’m ready to get some dessert,” Crow said. “Why don’t you come with me, Saylor? We can let Father Jude, uh, handle things.”
My gaze swung to Saylor’s, and her cheeks were pink from the dressing-down she’d just given. I couldn’t ask her to stay. We had drawn everyone’s attention. My looking at her right now was bad. I turned to Crow and gave him a nod, unable to say anything, then turned to stand up.
I tried to say something that would shut Sibby up, but my complete attention was on Crow walking closely beside Saylor.