揘o, you cannot have our attention,?Stella said. 揥e are here to pray to God that, if this church can抰 be used for a holy place of worship, He will send a tornado to blow it away or lightning to set it on fire. And we plan to sing hymns until it gets dark to show God that we are serious.?
揥ell, in that case, we will leave you to your prayers and singing in a few minutes,?Jessica said, 揵ut please know that there is water for when your throats get parched, and cookies if you decide you need a little sustenance for the next hymn.?
揥e don抰 eat with sinners.?Stella raised her voice over the buzz of whispered conversations and the wind making little knee-high gravel tornadoes across the parking lot.
揂re you a Pharisee or a Sadducee??Risa asked. 揟hey are the self-righteous ones that ridiculed Jesus for eating with sinners.?
揑 am a Christian, and I do not even take a drink of water from a sinner,?Stella yelled.
Risa took the microphone from Jessica. 揟hen I guess you抎 all best go home and never go to a church social again, because if I抳e read the scripture right, it says that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. If you don抰 even eat a cookie or have a bottle of water because it抯 offered from the hands of those you judge as sinners . . .?
揑抳e heard enough of you trying to justify your actions,?Stella shouted. 揥e will start by singing the first hymn in our books and sing one after another until God hears us and brings down his wrath upon this place. I抦 asking that everyone sign this petition. It抯 letting the city council know that we do not want God抯 house made into a bar.?She marched forward, laid the petition on the porch, and held it down with a wooden cross.
揥ould all the city council members raise their hands??Jessica asked.
Not a single hand went up.
揑 guess the council knows that we are outside the Riverbend city limits, and my lawyer assures me that we are within our rights to turn this building into a bar or whatever else we want it to be,?Jessica said. 揘ow, y抋ll can get on about your singing and praying.?
The wind rustled the leaves in the pecan trees at the end of the building and surrounding the parking lot, and carried the whine of a fiddle and the sound of a banjo around to the front yard. The tune was a fast bluegrass song that put Oscar to keeping time on the front porch with the heel of his boot.
揗ay I??Wade asked as he reached for the microphone.
Risa put it in his hand.
揧抋ll might want to sing really loud because we have a little show going on in the backyard that could drown out your music up here in the front of this building, and folks, that抯 what it is梛ust an old building that hasn抰 been used for a church in many years. It was a church, and now it抯 going to be a bar and grill. Risa will be cooking for us, so if you ever want to come out for supper, you抮e welcome. We haven抰 decided on a menu yet, and it could change from night to night. We抣l be open at six and won抰 close until two in the morning. Now you can get on with your singing and petition signing.?Wade handed the microphone back to Jessica.
Two older gentlemen left the group and meandered around the side of the building. Jessica and Wade followed them, leaving the crowd to sing their hymns, to drink lukewarm water and eat store-bought cookies if they didn抰 think either or both would be committing a mortal sin. By the time they reached the back of the place, several folks were already having cookies, drinking cold soda pop or beer, and finding chairs. The first two old guys waved them over to where they were seated.
揟his is pretty nice back here under the shade trees,?Amos Dailey said, 揳nd if these cookies are any indication of what will be cooked in this place, then I抣l be coming out here to eat.?
揗e too,?Fred Johnston said, 揳nd I might just buy a beer or a double shot of Jameson and do a little dancin??
揥hy did you come out here tonight??Wade asked.
Jessica suddenly recognized the two old fellows. They had aged in the past two decades, but she remembered they had owned the small grocery store in Riverbend. When she was a little girl, Amos would always give her a lollipop when she and her mother went in to buy a few items. He was tall and lanky and had lost what little hair he抎 had way back when. His angular face had deep wrinkles, but his faded blue eyes twinkled when he smiled. Fred was short, and even rounder than he had been when Jessica left Riverbend. His plump baby face had few wrinkles, but his brown eyes were as full of life as his old business partner抯 were.
揥e wanted to see what all the fuss was about.?Fred popped open a can of beer. 揝eems like Stella抯 been awful busy stirring up crap, and we just wanted to see if it was true. I抦 glad we did. Those girls are really good on that fiddle and banjo and these cookies are mouth-waterin?good.?