“Just let me die,” Willa mumbled, praying the door she was headed for was a bathroom. Opening it slowly, she found a small bathroom with an old-fashioned tub.
“This one you give me?” Willa said out loud, thinking of the thousands of things she had prayed for since she was a little girl.
She gently washed her face with a soft washcloth, feeling as if it were a Brillo pad. Then she stared at her reflection. Her eyes were so bloodshot she looked like a vampire, and her blouse had been buttoned wrong. She fixed her appearance as best she could before she went back into the bedroom, nearly tripping over her tennis shoes and barely managing to keep herself from falling onto the bed.
Carefully picking up her shoes, she sat down on the bed to put them on. When she finished, she went to the bedroom door.
“Please, please let me get out of here without Lucky seeing me.” She was beginning to feel like she was on a roll when she managed to slip out of the unfamiliar home.
It was still early enough that hardly any traffic was around except a few early risers going into the diner for breakfast. She didn’t look in their direction, walking toward her house. It was only a couple of blocks away.
Willa had no choice other than to knock on her front door. She couldn’t remember where her purse was. It was a sad day when she hoped a thief had it instead of having to face Lucky to get it back.
After Mrs. Stevens opened the door, letting her inside, Willa thanked her then explained she had to get ready for church. Mrs. Stevens departed, leaving Willa feeling guilty for rushing her off. Then the clock on her wall had her running upstairs to get the kids up for the service.
As Leanne and Charlie both grumbled, wanting to sleep in, she sympathized, wanting to climb into her own bed and pull the covers over her head. She darn sure didn’t want to have to face Lucky. However, no catastrophe made attending church impossible, so Willa ushered the children to her van and into the front pew with a few seconds to spare. She had barely leaned back when the side door opened and Lucky entered.
Willa determinedly stared down at the Bible in her hands. Listening to his sermon without lifting her head, she wished there was some way to get out of standing with him at the end of the service.
The service ended much too soon. Hearing Lucky step down from the podium, she began to stand with Caroline in her arms. Lucky stopped next to her, taking the girl from her, then held out his free hand. Willa took it, her fingers trembling within his grip as they walked down the aisle to the doorway.
The line of parishioners seemed never-ending, and Willa simply wanted to escape and go home.
“Willa, Lucky.” Curt Dawkins stopped in front of them.
Lucky was slow to take the hand held out to him, shaking it briefly before placing his arm around Willa.
“I heard you were engaged. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Lucky started to greet the parishioner behind Curt, but he didn’t take the hint, not moving forward.
“I saw you sneaking out of the back of the church this morning, Willa. Guess you and the pastor decided not to wait for a wedding night, but then, not many do anymore. Isn’t that right, Pastor? I was having breakfast with Jenna before she leaves town. I’m thinking of buying her house. We could be neighbors soon, Willa.” Willa didn’t miss the subtle threat that Curt gave her nor the insulting tone in his voice when he talked to Lucky.
“Jenna found her employment opportunities in Treepoint dried up. It would be a shame if the funding for the new football field dried up, too. The school board wouldn’t be happy if they found out the football coach insulted one of the donors.”
Curt paled, leaving without another word.
“What was that about?”
“The Last Riders make regular donations to the school and community, and since I’m the vice president, Viper lets me make the decisions on who to donate the money to. That football field is going to cost thousands of dollars. If they don’t get a new field, they’re going to have to lay out a season until it can be repaired.”
“Oh.”
Treepoint was fanatical over its football. Curt making one of the donors angry would not only get him fired, but probably lynched by the townspeople. Not even his popularity as a high school football star would save him.
Lily was farther down the line, holding her small son whom Willa managed to snag away from her for a few moments.
“I see you made it to church,” Lily teased.
Willa nuzzled the baby’s sweet smelling neck, hiding her face.
“None of the other women answered the door when I tried to wake them. I called Stud to check on Sex Piston and the rest of her crew, and they were at the hospital. Killyama was getting her stomach pumped.”
“Is she all right?” Willa had come to like the abrasive woman.
“She’s fine, but the hospital had to call Penni to find out what she put in the lemonade.”
“What was it?” Willa was afraid to hear her answer.
“Moonshine she bought from the Porter brothers.”
“Sweet Jesus.” Willa used her elbow to poke Lucky in the stomach. “It’s not funny.”
“Yes, it is.” Lucky wiped his tears of mirth away.
“She had drunk half a pitcher. She had alcohol poisoning.”
“How much did you have?” Lucky asked, moving away from her elbow.
“Two glasses. I think.” Willa found everything after the first glass hazy.
“Penni was going to visit her at the hospital when I was leaving for church.”
“She wasn’t sick like the rest of us?”
“No, Penni has a cast-iron stomach. I found that out in college. She used to drink men three times her size under the table.” Lily took John back into her arms. “I’ll see you at tonight’s service. I’m going to go home to make Killyama some soup. The hospital is going to release her this afternoon.”
“Tell her I hope she feels better soon.”
“I will.”
“I’ll have to make sure I save some time today to prepare,” Lucky stated.
“What for?” Willa smiled as Angus approached, his eyebrows looking like two caterpillars attacking each other.
“Penni’s eulogy. If she gets anywhere near Killyama, she’s gonna die.”
Willa laughed so hard her head spun, and she had to lean against Lucky for support. Maybe she should stop by her doctor’s office tomorrow to make sure she didn’t have any ill effects from Penni’s lemonade concoction.
Angus grabbed her in a bear hug, lifting her off her feet. After placing her back down, he slapped Lucky on the back.
“Makes me feel good to see a young couple in love as much as Myrtle and I are. Hope you have as many years together as we’ve had. Our fifty-third anniversary is next Thursday.”
Angus’s wife rolled her eyes at her husband. “He’s tactfully trying
to remind you about our cake.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Willa said, noticing Lucky had become remote, standing silently until the older couple left.
“I need to leave. I’m having lunch at the diner. The Last Riders are waiting for me.”
Willa took Caroline from him. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He had placed an invisible barrier between them, telling her without words the only relationship they shared was an act to deceive others. The Last Riders were the ones he wanted to spend his time with.
Lucky nodded, locking the church door then leaving her and the children to walk to the parking lot alone. She put the children in the van and drove home, refusing to acknowledge the hurt she was feeling throughout the entire drive.
He had left her last night without making love to her, which told her he wasn’t attracted enough to her to actually have sex with her. Today, he wanted to make sure she wasn’t building any misconceptions about his feelings toward her.
* * *
Willa stood at the sink, washing the dishes after lunch.
“Why aren’t you using the dishwasher?” Leanne asked, placing a glass into the sudsy water.
Willa shrugged. “Sometimes I like to do them by hand.”
“Why are you crying?”
Willa sniffed. “I’m not crying.”
“I can do the dishes.” Leanne took the plate out of her hand, moving in front of the sink. It was the first real overture the teenager had made toward her.
“I’ll take the kids out to play.” Willa dried her hands on a dishtowel.
All she had to do was open the backdoor and the little girls ran outside. Willa followed them, yelling at Charlie to come out and play with the girls. The sisters loved their brother to chase them around the yard.
Willa came to a stop when she stepped outside and saw what the girls were doing. A solid black German Shepherd was sitting on his haunches while the girls wrapped their arms around his neck. Terror filled Willa at the sight.
“Caroline, Chrissy, come here. Right now. Move slowly toward me,” Willa urged, trying to keep the panic out of her voice.