The ladies wave and greet people on the other side of the fellowship hall, and I impatiently wait for Lucy’s eyes to fall on me. I even scooch myself out of the group to be more noticeable.
Karoline pops up and swoops Mason into a hug beside me, saying something about being in their Sunday school room and organizing literature.
I, however, still go unnoticed, so I answer Mrs. Netty’s question while flicking my gaze between her and Lucy. “I went to college at Ole Miss, and I decided I liked this area enough to stick around after some years of travel.”
“Hi, Finley! Glad you made it this morning,” Karoline interrupts, her arm looped through Mason’s. I glance at Mason who has a sheepish look on his face. I specifically remember telling himnotto tell people I was coming, but I guess fiancées are excluded from secrecy.
“Good to see you, Karoline.” I turn my attention back to Lucy.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell her,” she whispers, a hint of mischievousness in her voice, and I chuckle with a shake of my head.
Lucy finally turns in my direction, and we lock eyes. A look akin to horror flashes across her face, and my heart shatters.
“Oh, Lucy, Lorelei,” Mrs. Netty hollers from the other side of me. “Come meet this here young man. He’s from a different country.”
I swallow the utter fear building in my throat as the twins exchange glances. Lucy’s eyes are saucers, her lips pressed taut, while Lorelei’s hand flies to cover her eye and her jaw drops open.
They simultaneously wave to the older woman and then make a bee-line for the restroom off to the right of them.
And to make matters worse, it’s at that time Gabriel and Anders are ushered through the door by an older gentleman. “Found two lost souls wandering around outside. Figured they’d like some coffee and fellowship,” he drawls.
“Three new visitors in one day? Color me shocked,” Mrs. Netty says, then she saddles up to my PPOs who look like they want to make like a snake and shed their skins right about now. “Handsome young things. You should meet my granddaughters, Lorelei and Lucy Spence.”
Granddaughters?
I snap my attention back to the old lady. “You’re Lucy’s grandmother?” The question slips through without my permission.
“Why yes I am, Finley.” She ditches Gabriel and Anders, walking with her cane back over to me. The two misplaced men shift closer and closer towards Mason. Mrs. Netty places a frail, wrinkled handon my shoulder and looks up at me with shining blue eyes, very similar to Lucy’s. “Do you have a thing for my granddaughter?”
One could hear a feather brush across the floor; all eyes in the fellowship room cut to me.
The answer is obviously yes, but will she be comfortable with me proclaiming my intentions to date her to the entire congregation? Will that scare her away? The frown at the end of the night didn’t have to mean that she had a bad time. It could have meant a million things, and I’ve tried to convince myself of that.
Saving me from answering, a man in a suit with gray hair and a kind smile—Pastor Rawls, Braxton’s father—opens the door to the fellowship hall and says, “Time for Sunday school. Everyone get to your classes.”
I sneak a glance at Mrs. Netty who now narrows her eyes, watching me like a hawk. Since she is Lucy’s grandmother, I want to make a good impression. I paste a grin to my face, lean in, and whisper, “I’m very interested in Lucy, but I still have to find out if she’s interested in me.”
Mrs. Netty guffaws, a tear springing free at the corner of her eye. “Oh, darlin’ boy. If that girl ain’t interested in you, then I’d keel over dead. The men she’s dated in the past…” She grumbles the last part. Something stirs in my stomach at her mention of Lucy’s dating history, but I’m sure it’s nothing compared to mine. I can’t hold anything against her when my private life has been on full display for anyone interested in an obscure country’s royal gossip.
While everyone shuffles off to various classrooms, the twins finally emerge from the restroom.
“Go say hey to the lady.” Mrs. Netty nudges me with the tip of her cane.
I smile and nod, say a quick thank you and goodbye, inhale a steadying breath, straighten my back, and walk with false bravado towards the twins.
Everyone seems to have dispersed by now, except for Mrs. Netty, whose eyes I canfeelburning a hole into my back. I might have shaken everyone else as an audience, but that lady isn’t going anywhere.
I wave to Lucy, and by default, her sister. Both girls wave back and make no motion to meet me halfway. After a few more strides, I’m standing in front of them.
“Hi, Lucy.” I step forward to embrace her, but her arms stay at her side as her eyes dart between me and her sister. Right as I’m about to drop my arms, Lorelei gives Lucy a little shove, sending her tripping into my open span, her hands flattening across my chest for stability.
Can she feel the intensity of my heartbeat?
I make quick work of steadying Lucy by snaking my arms around her tightly, and I cling onto her until her soft hands travel apprehensively up my chest and across my shoulders, like she’s unsure if it’s okay to touch me like this, before wrapping loosely around my neck.
Somebody call the fire department because this flame ripping through my veins is about to cause internal combustion.
To thank her for her service, I wink at Lorelei over Lucy’s shoulder. She smiles, shifting her eyes away. Or, er, eye. The black oneis pretty swollen, and I don’t think she could open it all the way if she tried.
