A cowboy and his wife sat a little bit further down. They both looked at her and blinked, and Chapelle’s face filled with heat.
“Do you make it a habit of stealing people’s seats?” A man’s voice tickled her eardrums and his breath washed across the back of her earlobe.
Chapelle startled and turned, coming face-to-face with the gorgeous cowboy from Friday night.
“You weren’t here,” she said, taking in the length of the man’s eyelashes.
“I left my book and my phone,” he said, standing at the end of the bench. “So I could talk to my daddy’s neighbor for five seconds.”
He glared at her, and Chapelle’s first instinct was to glare right back. “There’s plenty of room,” she said. “Are those your parents down there?”
“Yes.” His mouth barely moved as he said the word.
Chapelle did what any reasonable person would do. She turned her knees to the side to give him room to step past her. When he didn’t immediately do so, she looked up at him and said, “Well, go on.”
He muttered something that sounded dangerously close to, “I wanted to sit on the end,” and did everything he could not totouch her as he brushed by, almost as if she was diseased and he would catch it if he got too close.
In the tiny space between the bench and the back of the pew in front of them, he leaned down to pick up his Bible and his phone. He glared at her as he sat down in their place. “Is your brother coming?” he asked. “Your boyfriend?”
Chapelle’s throat tightened, but she shook her head. “No. They don’t live here.”
“You’re dating someone who doesn’t live here?” His eyebrows went up in pure cowboy judgment.
Chapelle gave his grouchy attitude right back to him. “I don’t see how this is any of your business.”
“You took my dinnerandmy seat,” he said. “Seems like everything you do is becoming my business.”
“Hey, Deke,” a man said, and Chapelle’s eyes flew to him.
Deke got to his feet and looked uncertain, though it was clear he wanted to shake the man’s hand, and he wasn’t sitting or standing on the end of the aisle.
“Hey, Luke,” he said.
Luke moved to the bench in front of them, and he and Deke shared an awkward embrace over the back of the pew. “Did you get my message?”
“Yeah, I sure did,” Luke said, glancing at Chapelle. “You can come over any time. Should be fine.”
Of course Chapelle knew who Luke Young was. The man was a legend from a legendary country music band. And while Chapelle had grown up in Idaho and not Wyoming, she’d come here for a reason. She adored small towns and a slower way of life. She’d become a dirt scientist, for crying out loud—listening to country music was practically part of her job description.
“I’m thinking maybe tomorrow,” Deke said. “I’ve got a massage with your wife, and maybe we can meet after.”
“Sure. What time’s that?” Luke pulled out his phone.
“Ten-thirty.”
“Let’s do lunch, then,” Luke said, and they shook hands. Luke smiled as he left to go sit with his family while Deke sat back down and threw Chapelle a look out of the corner of his eye.
“Wish I hadn’t told you I have a massage tomorrow at ten-thirty. You’re probably going to try and steal that too.”
Chapelle’s mouth fell open, and then the choir began to sing, so she couldn’t even respond. She’d seen how quickly Deke changed from broody cowboy to “hey, it’s great to see you, Luke” and back again, and part of her really wanted him to turn his charms on her.
That would be a change,she thought as she got to her feet and started to clap along with the choir. Deke did not—which seemed to track for him—and Chapelle couldn’t help the wicked thoughts that ran through her mind.
I wonder how hard it would be to find out Luke Young’s wife’s name and what massage studio she works at, and call and insist on a ten-thirty appointment.
Chapelle wouldn’t really do it, of course, but it was fun to fantasize about. And with that, Chapelle knew for certain that she needed change in her life, as she was now resorting to torturing complete strangers for no reason whatsoever.
As the song ended and she sat back down, she closed her eyes and prayed,Guide my feet, Lord, and I will walk in thy way. Oh—and it would be really great if the path led somewhere warm.
