Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
“I was thinking that we’d put a little Texas twist on this year’s Christmas pageant.
” Maisy Dawson smiled brightly, showing off the space between her front teeth.
Cheyenne always thought the space made her smile look so open and friendly.
And you couldn’t get friendlier than Maisy Dawson.
Everyone in town loved the happy-go-lucky rodeo cowgirl.
Especially after she married one of the Double Diamond bad boys.
Sawyer Dawson was one good-looking cowboy. He sat in the second row of the church working on his laptop and occasionally glancing up to exchange adoring looks with his wife.
Cheyenne could only hope a boy would look at her like that some day.
She prayed that boy would be Joey Mac. He was the only reason she’d agreed to be in the pageant.
Miss Gertie had told her Joey Mac attended church regularly with his family and would no doubt be at the rehearsal.
But Joey was nowhere to be seen. In fact, the only teenage boy there was Nathan Riddell.
He sat a few kids away on the steps that led to the altar.
From the scowl on his face, it was obvious that his mama, who was helping Maisy with the pageant, had forced him to be there.
“Texas twist?” Luanne’s heavily mascaraed eyes scrunched in confusion. “Is that like the Texas swing? What does country dancing have to do with baby Jesus’s birth?”
Maisy laughed. “I’m not talking about dancing.
I’m talking about putting a little Texas flare to the pageant.
Instead of three wise men, we’ll have three wise cattle ranchers.
The Angels of the Lord can have wings, but also cute little gold glitter cowboy boots and hats with halos attached.
Mary will wear a pretty dress and cowboy boots.
And Joseph will wear a hat, jeans, and a western shirt.
Or maybe a Texas flag t-shirt. The star of Bethlehem will be the big ol’ lone star from our great state. ”
Luanne and her friend, Raynelle Coffman, stared at Maisy for a long moment. Cheyenne thought for sure that they were going to call the idea sacrilegious and veto it. Instead, they both released loud whoops that echoed off the high ceiling.
“This is going to be the best Christmas pageant ever!” Raynelle said. “Even better than the pageant where Lyle Sykes played that beautiful rendition of “O Holy Night” on his accordion.”
“That was a good pageant,” Luanne said. “I hated to see Lyle move away. But this idea is going to top him. And I know exactly who should be Joseph. My Nathan would be a perfect Texas Joseph and he already has a Texas flag t-shirt that I bought him for his birthday last year.”
Nathan looked up from his depressed slouch and shook his head. “Oh, no. I’m not being Joseph, Mom. You said if I came, I’d just be helping get the little kids out on stage when it was their turn.”
Luanne sent him a stern look. “Now Nate, don’t backtalk your mama. Being Joseph will be a lot easier than having to deal with a bunch of snot-nosed kids. All you have to do is say a few lines and look adoringly at Mary and Jesus.”
“I’m not doing—”
“Of course you’re going to be Joseph,” Miss Gertie, who was sitting in the front row, cut in. “We need someone older and wiser to be Joseph and you’re the oldest boy here.” She looked right at Cheyenne. “And you’ll be a perfect Mary.”
Cheyenne wasn’t surprised Miss Gertie wanted her to be Mary.
She’d mentioned it at the hardware store.
But Cheyenne had envisioned being Mary to Joey Mac’s Joseph.
She’d envisioned him looking at her adoringly as she held baby Jesus.
She’d hoped to even get a kiss. Not on stage, but backstage.
She did not want to be Nathan Riddell’s Mary.
Unfortunately, before she could think of an excuse for why she couldn’t do it, Miss Gertie continued with all the reasons for why she should.
“You and Nathan are a good match. You’re around the same age and you’re both good kids who aren’t more wrapped up in yourselves than you are in other people.
I know Maisy can count on you both to show up for every rehearsal and be the leaders.
And if you’re not Mary, Cheyenne, I’m not letting Gray Dove be baby Jesus.
I won’t have some irresponsible teenage girl dropping my grandniece on her head. ”
Cheyenne knew how much Miss Gertie was looking forward to her niece being baby Jesus in the Christmas pageant. And so were Reba and Val. Since they all had been so hospitable to Cheyenne and her daddy after their trailer burned to the ground, she couldn’t disappoint them and refuse to be Mary.
“I’ll be Mary,” she mumbled.
Miss Gertie sent her a look of approval before she looked at Maisy. “Well don’t just stand there lookin’ stupid, Maisy Dawson. Let’s get this show on the road.”
Maisy laughed, and then started dividing the kids into groups while Raynelle handed out scripts. Luanne pulled Cheyenne and Nathan up the steps to the altar.
“You two are old enough to practice by yourselves.” She handed them each a script. “I have to keep the little angels from raising holy hell.”
Once she was gone, Nathan and Cheyenne went over their lines. They didn’t have that many so it didn’t take long. After going over them a few more times, they sat in some chairs behind the pulpit and watched Maisy, Raynelle, and Luanne try to corral the other kids.
“I understand now why we’re the only teenagers here,” she said. “Our friends knew better than to come.”
Nathan nodded. “Yeah. I should’ve used the excuse that your dad needed me to stay late at the garage.”
“Do you like working at the garage? I know it can be kind of boring working for my dad. He doesn’t like to talk.”
“I don’t think he’s boring. He doesn’t talk much, but I don’t like to talk much either. And he’s teaching me a lot about cars. He even said that he’d help me fix up my old truck.”
The news made Cheyenne frown. “He won’t let me drive yet. I can’t even get a permit.”
Nathan nodded. “He is pretty protective of you. He made it clear that he expects me to stay away from you.”
She rolled her eyes. “He thinks all boys are after me.”
There was an awkward silence before Nathan spoke. “I know quite a few who are.”
Cheyenne glanced over at him with surprise. “What? Who?”
“It doesn’t matter. Not when you only have eyes for Joey Mac.”
“Who told you that?”
“No one had to tell me. Everyone in town knows . . . including Joey Mac.”
Cheyenne wanted to die right then and there. “How do you know he knows I like him? Did he tell you?”
“Joey and I aren’t really friends. But I overheard him talking.”
“What did he say?”
Nathan hesitated for a second before he answered. “Billy Rhines said he was thinking about asking you out and Joey told him not to waste his time. Your heart belonged to him.”
It was the truth. Her heart did belong to Joey Mac. But she also felt a little uncomfortable with the possessive way he’d warned Billy off. Still, Joey Mac was possessive of her! Although what difference did it make? Her father would never let her go on a date with Joey. Or even to a party.
Unless she didn’t tell her daddy.
But how could she sneak out to the party when her father kept such close tabs on her? She couldn’t even spend the night at a friend’s house without him talking to their parents first. She was surprised he’d even let her come to rehearsals alone.
Alone.
She looked down at her script and smiled. Maybe being Mary would have its benefits.
“What are you thinking about?”
She glanced up to see Nathan watching her.
His brown eyes weren’t as pretty as Joey’s, but they were nice.
And so was his face. Not in the Joey kind of take your breath away, but she had to admit that Nathan was cute with his brown wavy hair and freckles.
He had a wholesome face. The kind parents trusted.
Which is probably why her father had hired him.
And if her father trusted him, that might work in her favor.
“I was just thinking that maybe you could start driving me to rehearsals. That way my dad doesn’t have to drive me every night.” Then on the night of Joey’s party, it would be that much easier to slip away without anyone being the wiser. Except for Nathan. But he didn’t look like a tattletale.
“You want me to bring you to rehearsals?” Nathan studied her for long moment, and she worried he’d read right through her deception.
But finally he nodded. “Okay. I guess I could do that.” He fidgeted in his chair as his gaze skittered away from her.
“I could even take you home tonight if you want.”
“That would be awesome! I’ll text my dad to make sure it’s okay.”
But after sending the text, reality set in. There was no way her father was going to let her ride home with a boy. No matter how much he trusted Nathan. Cheyenne was destined to end up like poor Miss Applegate.
Old and alone.
When her phone pinged with an incoming text, she knew it would be a big fat NO. She lifted her phone prepared to reply with lots of angry emojis. But then she read her father’s answer and all she could do was stare at the words in stunned disbelief.
I think that’s a great idea. Have fun!