“Aren’t you supposed to be babysitting a dead guy?”
She smacked his chest. “Don’t disrespect the dead.”
His mouth hung open. “He started it.”
“How?” she demanded, her hand on her hip.
“He literally died of boredom in the middle of my sermon. If that’s not an insult, I don’t know what is.” Though he was joking, there was a hint of insecurity behind it.
Evie grabbed his arms and squeezed, trying to convey a sense of strength and belief in him. “I think your sermon was so beautiful that it opened the pearly gates and he just walked right through.”
Seth’s eyes warmed, and his hands came up to cup her elbows. “Evie,” he whispered. “Sometimes you say the sweetest things.” His eyes dropped to her lips.
Without thinking, she moistened them. Her heart sped up, and her breath became hot.
He dropped his hand. “I don’t want rumors to start that I have the key to the pearly gates—our regulars will be too afraid to show up.”
She rolled her eyes. “You—”
Her retort was interrupted by Ryan Porter pounding through the back door. He was the other teenager in their congregation. A good kid, wiry in build, he wore thick glasses and a ready smile. “Pastor Powell,” he panted. “The closing hymn’s almost over. If you don’t hurry, everyone will know you snuck out.”
“Shoot.” Seth dropped his hold on Evie and burst out the door at a run, his tie flapping.
Feeling so much more alone than she had just a moment ago, Evie rubbed her elbows. How could a man fill the room so entirely? She absently picked up her diet soda can.
Ryan glanced at her drink. “You gonna drink that?” He swallowed loudly.
She glanced down and then handed it over, not even sorry to see it go. “Thanks for keeping an eye out for him.” She opened the cupboard and fished out a package of cookies, offering him those as well.
He nodded as he ripped into the container and shoved one into his mouth. “Anytime.” He took a swig of the soda and sauntered out of the kitchen.
Evie shook her head. “What in the world have I gotten myself into?”
First, there was the dead man in the church office. And she’d put him there. If people hadn’t already questioned her ability to be a good preacher’s wife, that might just tip the scales.
Second, she’d married a man in name only—well, he had become her friend. But even that friendship was tainted by the lie they played for the rest of the world.
Third, she wanted to be married to Seth for real, to know she belonged in his heart and not just in the ring on her finger. To be able to kiss him whenever she wanted—which was quite often.
She leaned against the counter, wondering what kind of a person she was to think that a half marriage was a good enough marriage. Because when it came right down to it, she was happier here than she’d been anywhere else with anyone else.
What did that say about her?
Chapter Ten
Seth
Something was wrong with his wife. Seth couldn’t figure out what it was, and it was driving him crazy. Evie was so vibrant when they’d married, so full of life that it spilled out of her and flooded the people she came into contact with.
But now …
She was less bright than she’d been.
He stared at a picture on the wall in his office of Jesus pulling Peter out of the water—lifting him higher, to solid ground. Which was always an interesting thought, because the water was no more stable than it had been moments before when Peter had sunk. The only thing that changed was Peter.
Evie was like Peter. Bold. Daring. Constantly expressing her love for the Lord.
The only thing Seth could come up with was thathewas dragging her down. Somehow, his inner darkness and past were contagious.
