Chapter 8
Lottie figured the preacher’s sermon would be on the resurrection since it was Easter Sunday, but Parker opted to speak on loving your neighbor—like Jesus did in his lifetime.
According to what he had to say that morning, Jesus’s birth, death, and resurrection were important times to remember, but the more vital thing was those years between birth and ascension into heaven. That was where the life lessons were.
That guilty feeling that had draped itself over her shoulders earlier got even heavier when she thought about lying to Bernie.
The old gal had been nothing but kind to her and deserved more respect than that.
Add in the shame of what they were doing to the rest of the family, and it put another hundred pounds onto the weight.
She hated both the shameful feeling, as well as the attraction that seemed to be growing by the hour to Knox.
With Knox’s shoulder pressed against hers and sending waves of heat flowing through her body, she battled two wars within her heart.
She glanced up at the ceiling and wouldn’t have been a bit surprised to see lightning streaking down upon her head.
Man plans. God laughs.
Lottie figured that remembering that old saying was to teach her what impulsiveness would get her. She should have figured in all the odds when she sat down beside Knox and asked him to be her fake boyfriend. But she hadn’t, and now she was in a pickle.
If she was honest with herself, she’d done that on the spur of the moment because she thought he was sexy. Now she was developing feelings for him, and he couldn’t feel the same way. If he did, he wouldn’t be sitting beside her as cool as a snow cone.
On more than one occasion, her mother had scolded her when she wasn’t paying attention.
According to her, Lottie had squirrels chasing around in her head.
That meant she couldn’t grab onto a thought and hold it before she was off chasing another one.
Lottie thought she had overcome the inability to control her brain waves.
But evidently, she was still chasing a virtual, hyperactive squirrel on a fast-moving merry-go-round that morning, because she couldn’t grab one idea or memory before another one pushed it out of the way.
Squirrel number one told her that she should break up with Knox before this ruse went on another week.
She turned slightly to look at him, and that thought was pushed out of her mind with the next furry critter who pictured him with water dripping from him when he got out of the shower.
Her breath caught in her chest at the visual of him with a towel wrapped so low that she could see all his ripped abs.
With great effort, she managed to put that image from her mind, but then he reached over and took her hand in his, and a dose of desire flooded her—right there in the church.
Ivy nudged her on the shoulder and whispered, “Wake up. Service is almost over.”
She nodded and focused on the preacher.
“I sure hope that I will be preaching to a crowd this big next week,” Parker said.
“Now, Endora will lead the hymn, and one more thing, my mother-in-law wants me to remind you about,” he said.
“The community Easter egg hunt starts at three o’clock this afternoon at the Paradise.
Everyone is invited, and there will be a leftover potluck afterward.
Bring your half-eaten pies, cakes, and whatever else you’ve got, and we’ll all have a picnic under the shade trees in the backyard.
Now if everyone will stand and turn to page one in the hymnals, we’ll close with ‘Tell Me the Story of Jesus’ instead of a benediction. Last verse only,” Parker said.
“We should sneak out the side door,” Ivy said when they finished singing.
“Oh, no!” Knox shook his head. “I want to introduce Lottie to as many people as possible. She might not be able to put faces and names together, but she will remember how friendly everyone is here in Spanish Fort.”
Bernie looped her arm into Lottie’s. “Not today. We’re all going home instead of chitchatting. We can talk to Parker when he gets to the Paradise.”
Lottie glanced over at Knox.
He shrugged and grinned. “What Aunt Bernie says is the law.”
“And don’t you never forget it.” Bernie’s tone was sharp, but the smile on her face told a different story.
When they were outside, along with an exodus of the rest of the Paradise family, Bernie leaned over and whispered. “We need to have a long conversation in private this afternoon. So, carve out a few minutes and come find me.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lottie agreed.
“You kids don’t dilly-dawdle on the way home,” Bernie said in a shrill voice. “I’m starving, and Mary Jane won’t let Parker say grace until we are all there.”
“I bet we beat you,” Knox challenged.
“That’s your motorcycle mouth making bets that your bicycle butt can’t keep. My chariot is here, and you still have to get to your truck.” Bernie said as she waved and got into the SUV with Joe Clay and Mary Jane.
Knox laced his fingers with Lottie’s, and she giggled.
“What’s so funny? Is my hand sweaty?” Knox asked.
“No, but the salty old Bernie who ran a bar would have said that she bets that your ass can’t keep up, not your butt. What happened to her?”
Knox helped her settle into the seat and then closed the truck door. “It’s Sunday. Trust me, any other day of the week she can melt concrete with her cussin’.”
Lottie fastened her seat belt and noticed a movement outside the truck window. She whipped around to see a short brunette wrap her arms around Knox’s body and hug him tightly. A fireball of real jealousy landed in the middle of Lottie’s heart and created a huge blaze.
Remember that this is fake and that you have no right to even a smidgen of envy or resentment. Her mother’s voice was clear in her head.
“People can see him, and there will be talk that could sabotage what we have going here,” she muttered.
“Sorry about that,” Knox said as he slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
“If we were really in a relationship, I would be pitching a hissy fit.”
“Then thank God we are not.” He drove away from the parking lot.
She crossed her arms over her chest. “Who was that woman?”
“Geneva Wilcot. She lives between here and Nocona, and I made a verbal deal with her last night to buy some land from her,” he answered.
“And she had to hug you?”
Knox turned down the lane leading to the Paradise. “What’s that to you?”
“People might have seen and reported to Bernie, who would tell your family, and they would catch us in a lie, and it would be so embarrassing, and…” She stopped long enough to catch her breath.
“What my family thinks or doesn’t really isn’t an issue. This is our pretend world, and we might have an argument along the way. But to ease your jealous mind…”
“I am not jealous,” she declared.
He parked at the end of a long row of vehicles. “Sounds to me like you could be.”
She turned toward him and gave him a double dose of stink eye. “Do you want to come home on weekends and go on blind dates? Shall I call Audrey and see if I can borrow the potbellied pig to bring to the café? You’ve got as much skin in this game as I do.”
“Geneva lives in southern Louisiana and is in this area to settle her grandfather’s estate,” Knox said.
“Roman Wilcot owned the land between here and Nocona that I want to buy. I called her yesterday afternoon, and she quoted me a good price if I would buy the whole acreage. She gave me a hug because she thought she would have to sell it off in piecemeal style and maybe have an auction for the house and its contents. Now she can go home to her husband and four kids and not stay in Nocona any longer.”
Lottie should have been satisfied with that explanation, but she wasn’t. “Why did she come to this church?”
“Because her grandparents attended services here their entire lives. They were both born in Spanish Fort, got married in that church, and their funeral services were held there,” he answered, “and she wanted one last memory of the place. Any more questions, or are you still jealous?”
“Why are you buying a big chunk of land?”
“Because it’s got a nice little two-bedroom frame house on it, and I’m tired of living in a trailer,” he answered as he got out of the truck.
He was right. Knowing his business wasn’t any concern of hers, and yet a nosy streak came out to replace the jealousy. “How much land is it?”
“Six hundred and forty acres,” he answered.
“Why buy all…that…when…” she stammered.
“Because I can and because I want to and because I have a vision for the future,” he answered as he slipped an arm around her shoulders.
“I talked to Tripp, and he thinks it’s a solid investment, so other than signing papers, it’s a done deal.
Time to get into character, darlin’. Smile and look at me like you could be falling in love with me. ”
Pasting on a smile and looking into his eyes wasn’t difficult. “What is this vision of yours anyway?” she asked out the corner of her mouth.
“That’s classified right now.”
* * *
Eggs, plastic and real, were scattered all over the huge backyard and around the barn, and Knox even hid half a dozen behind the pots of flowers on Bernie’s porch.
The ones that Daisy and Heather had put glitter on sparkled like diamonds when the bright sun rays hit them.
He stopped and took a picture of the freshly mowed yard, now covered with hundreds of eggs waiting to be picked up.
The sound of vehicles arriving, along with folks telling their kids to be patient, took his attention away from the sight.
Folks who thought if you didn’t arrive fifteen minutes early, you were late carried food to the tables that had been set up in the barn.
Kids were blurs as they chased around in the part of the yard that wasn’t roped off for the egg hunt, or else ran into the barn to check out what they could buy later with their bunny money.