揋ot awful quiet,?Oscar whispered. 揟hink they all might be considerin?leavin?the building in case lightnin?comes shootin?down past the ceiling fans??
揗aybe so, or just leaving it in protest to us being here since we are all so evil.?Mary Nell slid into the second pew on the right beside Jessica.
揑抎 like to welcome everyone this morning,?Jasper said. 揕et抯 start off with a congregational hymn. We will begin our service with number thirteen this morning, and I抦 asking everyone to open up your hearts and sing loud enough that the angels in heaven can hear us.?
She settled for the second pew, leaving the first one empty. Jessica grabbed the last hymnal from the back of the pew in front of her and turned to the right page and shared it with Wade, but instead of singing, she leaned over and whispered, 揝tella is right across the aisle from us.?
揑 can feel the heat coming off her glares,?Mary Nell said just above a whisper. 揝urely she won抰 say anything to Risa in a church house.?
揥e抣l hope not,?Jessica said out the corner of her mouth.
揝hhh,?Wade said ever so softly. 揥e抮e tempting God as it is. We don抰 need to talk.?
揗ight was well get struck dead for a sheep as a lamb,?Jessica told him. 揂nd besides, I can抰 sing anyway.?
Wade tried to sing, but his thoughts drifted, and he kept losing his place, so he finally quit. The last time he was in this very church, he had sat alone on the front pew. He hadn抰 heard a word the preacher said that day. Danny抯 closed casket was in front of him, and he felt as if he couldn抰 breathe. Maybe ten or twenty people sat behind him梐 few of Danny抯 classmates, and some members of the church who never missed a funeral or a wedding.
He didn抰 feel like an elephant was sitting on his chest this morning like he had at the funeral, but sitting so close to Jessica sure put an extra beat in his heart. He liked having her in his life and was grateful to have someone to share the joy of a new venture with, who also understood his past.
After the singing, the preacher took his place behind the lectern. His sermon that morning was all about forgiving and forgetting. Wade wasn抰 ready for that, so he blocked the preacher out and thought about redesigning the bar. When the preacher asked an elderly gentleman to give the benediction, Wade bowed his head like everyone else and gave thanks that the service was finally over so he and Oscar could grab a burger at the local diner and go play dominoes with a bunch of older guys at Oscar抯 house.
He stood up with the rest of the folks and turned to walk out into the aisle. Oscar and Mary Nell had already stepped out in front of Stella, who had stopped at the end of her pew and glared at each person as they made their way from between pews. Wade could have sworn that the whole church was suddenly hotter抧 a barbed-wire fence in hell just from the expression on Stella抯 face.
Haley, the last one to face Stella, nodded and whispered out the corner of her mouth like a gangster, 揟his is not the time or the place to create a scene. Not even God will forgive you for being ugly to your kinfolks in a church house.?
Stella crossed her arms over her chest. 揇on抰 you give me advice,?she said aloud.
揗other敆Risa took a step back and looked Stella right in the eye棑Haley is right. Don抰 test me in God抯 house or you might be embarrassed.?
揧ou are a disgrace to me,?Stella spat. 揑 don抰 want you in my church. Go find another one, or else just stay in that bar you抮e helping build on Sunday morning. I抣l tell you one thing.?Her finger shot up just an inch from Risa抯 nose. 揟here are some of us that won抰 take this layin?down. We are planning a demonstration at your bar on Tuesday evening, and we抮e asking the whole congregation to come out and sign our petition to the city council to revoke your right to build anything in that church. We would rather see it burned to the ground than have a house of God turned into a honky-tonk.?
揃ring it on,?Oscar said. 揥e will be waiting. Do you plan to just sing hymns as you protest, or will there be preaching??
揥e will sing God抯 hymns until He hears us and sends lightning to strike that place,?Stella said. 揑抳e been praying every night that God will set it on fire, and I believe He hears the prayers of his faithful Christians.?
揟hat sounds like 慙izzie and the Rainman.挃 Lily giggled.
揑n that song, Lizzie dances around a fire to make it rain. Are you going to dance around the parking lot to bring down fire, Granny Stella??Daisy asked.
揂re you going to wear clothes or dance naked??Lily asked. 揈ither way, I抦 going to stand out by the road and turn this into a TikTok. It should be a great show.?
揧ou!?Stella抯 finger waved over to include the twins. 揧ou both should be put in foster care. Your mother isn抰 fit to raise you, and I don抰 even know what a TikTok is.?