Chapter 26
Mike
Istood there, rooted to the spot, the entire town staring at me from their plastic seats. The music had stopped and everyone had gone quiet.
I felt like I was drowning in their collective gaze, the weight of judgment and curiosity pressing down on me until I could barely breathe.
Some faces showed shock, others disgust, but a few, thank God, looked sympathetic.
Brooks was pushing through the crowd toward me, his expression fierce with protective anger.
“Show’s over, folks,” Dolly announced loudly, her voice cutting through the uncomfortable silence. “Let’s get back to the music, shall we? Who wants to sing next?”
But the damage was already done. I could feel the whispers starting, see the way some people were pulling out their phones.
By tomorrow morning, half of Texas would know that Pastor Mike Johnson had been caught in a compromising position with the town’s notorious asshole that he’d been shacking up with for nearly a month.
“Mike.” Brooks reached me, his hand settling on my shoulder. “You okay?”
I nodded automatically, though I wasn’t sure it was true.
My mind was racing, calculating the fallout, wondering if I’d just destroyed everything I’d worked for.
But underneath the panic, all I could think about was Cash’s face when Doreen had said those horrible things, when she’d blamed him for everything.
And the way he’d looked at me like I was going to abandon him too.
“Where did he go?” I asked, scanning the crowd desperately.
“Probably to his truck,” Rowan said, appearing at Brooks’ side. His face was grim. “That woman... she had no right to say those things.”
“She’s Tyler Blackburn’s mother,” Brooks said quietly. “He and Cash were... caught, back in high school. When it came out, both their families lost their minds. Cash was kicked out by his father and Tyler left town right after graduation and never came back.”
My stomach clenched. No wonder Cash had looked so devastated. This wasn’t just about us being caught. This was about old wounds being ripped open, about a past he’d never fully escaped. The one he was so desperately trying to heal from.
“I have to find him,” I said, already moving toward the parking area.
“Mike, wait.” Brooks caught my arm. “Maybe give him some space. He’s probably—
“No.” I pulled free, my voice harder than I’d intended. “I’m not letting him run. Not this time.”
I pushed through the lingering crowd, ignoring the stares and whispered comments. My heart was pounding as I reached the makeshift parking lot, my eyes searching frantically for Cash’s familiar truck. But even as I scanned the rows of vehicles, I had a sinking feeling I was too late.
His truck was gone.
I stood there in the empty parking space where his truck had been, feeling like the ground had opened up beneath my feet. He’d run. Just like I’d been afraid he would from the very beginning. The moment things got difficult, the moment his past caught up with him, he’d chosen flight over fight.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out with shaking hands, hoping desperately to see Cash’s name on the screen. Instead, I saw Maggy’s name on the screen.
Maggy: I’m so sorry, Mike. Doreen was out of line. Don’t let Cash out of your sights.
I couldn’t help but scoff, all the hope gone from my body. It was too fucking late for that now. Cash was already gone. And judging by the look on his face, he was never coming back.
I stared at my phone for a long moment, Maggy’s text blurring through the tears I was fighting back. The irony wasn’t lost on me. He was already miles away, probably driving as fast as he could toward the county line.
My hands were shaking as I dialed his number, pressing the phone to my ear and listening to it ring. Once, twice, three times. Then straight to voicemail.
“Cash, please,” I said after the beep, my voice cracking despite my efforts to stay calm. “Please don’t do this. Don’t run. We can work through this, whatever it takes. Just... just come back. Please.”
I hung up and immediately called again. Voicemail. Again. Voicemail.
“Fuck,” I whispered, shoving the phone back in my pocket.
“Any luck?” Brooks asked, approaching with Rowan close behind. The concern in both their faces made my chest tighten.
“Gone,” I said, the word tasting like ash in my mouth. “He’s gone, and he’s not answering his phone.”
Brooks ran a hand through his hair, looking older than his years. “I should’ve seen this coming. The moment Doreen opened her mouth, I should’ve gotten between them.”
“This isn’t your fault,” I said quickly. How could he have known? “It’s mine. I should never… God, what was I thinking? In public like that?”
“You were thinking you cared about him,” Rowan said quietly. “And there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s not like the rest of us haven’t done things like that.”
But there was everything wrong with it, wasn’t there?
I was supposed to be the responsible one, the voice of reason.
Instead, I’d let my desire for Cash override every bit of common sense I possessed.
And now he was gone, probably convinced that I’d choose my career over him when push came to shove.
The worst part was, I wasn’t sure he was wrong to think that. We’d tried to keep things casual. When that didn’t work, we kept it secret. I’d given him no indication that I was willing to be publicly his and the town pastor at the same time.
“I need to go to the ranch,” I said suddenly. “He might go there. It’s where he always goes when he’s hurting.”
Brooks shook his head. “Mike, I don’t think—”
“I have to try,” I interrupted. “I can’t just let him disappear. Not like this. Not when he thinks... when he thinks I’m going to abandon him too.”
The drive to Cash’s ranch felt like the longest twenty minutes of my life. My hands gripped the church van steering wheel so tight my knuckles were white, and I kept checking my phone every few seconds, hoping for a text or missed call that never came.
When I pulled up to the property, my heart sank. No truck. No sign of him anywhere.
I got out anyway, walking through the debris field that had once been his childhood home. The moonlight cast eerie shadows across the scattered remains, making everything look even more desolate than usual. I called his name, my voice echoing in the emptiness, but there was no response.
Standing there among the ruins of his past, I felt the full weight of what had just happened crash down on me.
This wasn’t just about getting caught in a compromising position.
This was about Cash facing his worst nightmare of being exposed, humiliated, and blamed for corrupting someone else.
Just like what had happened with Tyler Blackburn all those years ago.
I pulled out my phone and tried calling him again, pacing through the wreckage as it rang endlessly before going to voicemail. The sound of my own breathing seemed unnaturally loud in the stillness.
“Cash, it’s me again,” I said after the beep, my voice hoarse.
“I’m at the ranch. I know you’re not here, but.
.. I needed to see it. To understand.” I kicked at a piece of charred wood, watching it skitter across the foundation.
“That woman, Doreen, she was wrong. About everything. You didn’t ruin Tyler, and you’re not ruining me.
You’re the best thing that’s happened to me since I got to this godforsaken town. ”
I ended the call and immediately dialed again. This time it went straight to voicemail without ringing. He’d turned his phone off.
The smart thing would be to go home, give him space to cool down, try again in the morning.
But the thought of Cash driving through the night, convinced that I’d choose my reputation over him, made my chest feel like it was caving in.
I’d seen the look in his eyes when Doreen had pointed her finger at him.
Pure shame, like he believed every word she’d spat at him.
I climbed back into the van and started driving, not really sure where I was going.
The county roads stretched out in front of me, empty and dark.
He could be anywhere by now. Hell, he could already be halfway to Oklahoma or New Mexico, putting as much distance as possible between himself and Sagebrush.
My phone rang, and I nearly swerved off the road grabbing for it. But it wasn’t Cash’s name on the screen.
“Brooks?” I answered, my voice tight with hope.
“Any sign of him?”
“No. His phone’s off now.” I pulled over to the side of the road, suddenly exhausted. “I fucked up, Brooks. I should have stood up for him back there. Should have told that woman to go to hell.”
“You were in shock,” Brooks said gently. “We all were. Doreen blindsided everyone with that bullshit.”
“That’s not an excuse.” I rubbed my eyes with my free hand, feeling the weight of my failure settling over me like a blanket. “He needed me to choose him in that moment, and I froze.”
There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. Then Brooks spoke, his voice careful. “Mike, I’m gonna ask you something, and I need you to be honest. When push comes to shove, when the church board gets wind of this and starts making noise, what are you gonna do?”
The question hit me like a physical blow. Because it was the same question Cash was probably asking himself right now, alone in his truck somewhere in the darkness. And if I was being completely honest, I didn’t know the answer.
“I...” I started, then stopped. What could I say? That I’d choose Cash over my calling? That I’d throw away everything I’d worked for, everything I believed God had called me to do? But the alternative was losing the man I was falling in love with, and that felt just as impossible.
“That’s what I thought,” Brooks said quietly, not unkindly. “And that’s probably what Cash is thinking too.” He let out a long sigh. “That’s something you need to figure out. Once you do that, then you can give Cash an honest answer.”
“Yeah,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I know.”
I hung up and sat there on the side of the dark country road, staring at my phone like it might magically produce the answers I needed.
Brooks was right, and that was the hell of it.
Cash had run because he knew exactly what choice I’d make when it came down to it.
He’d seen it in my face back there, the way I’d frozen when Doreen had started her tirade.
The way I’d stood there like a deer in headlights instead of defending him.
My phone buzzed with a text from Dolly.
Dolly: Fundraiser’s winding down. Most folks have cleared out. You okay, sugar?
I stared at the message for a long moment before typing back.
Me: Not really. But I will be.
It was a lie, but it was easier than explaining that I felt like my world was falling apart.
I started the van and began the long drive back to town, my mind churning over everything that had happened.
The way Cash had looked at me in that alley, like I was everything he’d ever wanted.
The way he’d sung karaoke earlier, finally looking like he belonged somewhere.
And then Doreen’s venom, stripping all of that away in an instant.
By the time I got back to the parsonage, it was nearly midnight.
The house felt impossibly empty without Cash’s presence.
I walked through the rooms we’d shared, seeing evidence of him everywhere.
His coffee mug in the sink. And that letter from his father on the kitchen table that he’d read over and over again.
I picked up the letter, turning it over in my palm. He’d told me about finding it, about how the letter that had suggested Cash would find someone special someday. Someone special enough to give his mother’s ring to.
The thought made my chest ache. Had Cash been thinking about that when he’d left it here? Had he been imagining a future where we could be open about what we meant to each other? A future where we were more than just lovers?
I set the letter back down and pulled out my phone, trying his number one more time. It went straight to voicemail again.
“Cash,” I said, sinking down onto the edge of the bed.
“I know you probably don’t want to hear from me right now, but I need you to know something.
What happened tonight... it doesn’t change how I feel about you.
It doesn’t change anything between us. I’m not going anywhere, and I’m not giving up on this. On us.”
I paused, struggling to find the right words.
“I know I froze back there. I know I should have done more to defend you. But I was scared and caught off guard, and I’m sorry.
You deserved better from me in that moment.
” My voice cracked slightly. “Please don’t let hateful people win.
Don’t let them drive you away from the life you were starting to build here.
Come home, Cash. Please.” I paused. “I… I love you.”
I ended the call and set the phone on the nightstand, then lay back on the bed still fully clothed.
The ceiling stared back at me, offering no answers.
Tomorrow I’d have to face the fallout. There would be phone calls, meetings, probably a formal complaint filed with the denominational office.
My career was likely over, at least here in Sagebrush.
But lying there in the dark, breathing in the faint scent of Cash’s cologne that still clung to the pillows, I realized something that should have terrified me but somehow didn’t. I didn’t care about my career anymore. Not if it meant losing him.
I loved Cash Callahan, and I just hoped it wasn’t too late to get him back.