Beth rose to her feet. “Tomorrow may be Saturday, but I have to be at work early. Lily, you and Evie have to be at the church early, too, remember? The luncheon we’re having for Pastor Patterson and his wife?”
“Yes. Rachel is helping, too, and Willa is bringing dessert. You’re right; we should go. I don’t want to tire you, King.” When Lily got to her feet, thanking Beth silently for stepping in, Evie rose to her feet, also.
Lily went to King, reaching up to brush his cheek with a kiss. “I hope to see you Sunday.”
When Lily would have turned away, King took her hand. “You haven’t called me Dad since I was shot.”
Evie could tell from the expression on Lily’s face that the woman didn’t know how to respond. Evie took a step forward, reaching her hand out for King to take. He released Lily reluctantly to take her hand.
“Thanks for dinner, King.” Evie maneuvered her body, giving Lily the opportunity to slip away. King tracked her movements before coming back to hers.
“Will I be seeing you Sunday, too?”
“I’ll be at the church,” Evie confirmed. She would be there, but she didn’t know why it mattered to him.
“Good, I’ll look forward to it.”
Evie nodded, unable to bring herself to say the same.
She took a deep breath of fresh air when she was finally outside. It could have gone worse. It didn’t take a genius to figure out King wasn’t happy with Lily’s choice of husband, but Lily and Shade were leaving Monday for Alaska and King would be headed back to Queen City.
Evie walked to the truck, sliding in next to Lily. It was quiet on the way back to the clubhouse.
The sooner he left, the better. What damage could he do from Queen City?
Chapter 6
Evie placed the large cake on the center of the dessert table where they had set up the recreation room.
“Willa, the cake is too pretty to cut.” Evie turned back to the woman who had brought the cake.
Her friendly face flushed from the compliment. “Thank you for helping me carry it in, Evie.”
“I didn’t mind. I managed to swipe a taste or two along the way.” Evie smiled, licking the tip of her finger.
“That just makes a man want to miss lunch and go straight for dessert.”
Evie braced herself before replying to King. He had managed to come up to them when she wasn’t paying attention. Damn cake. Her sweet tooth had managed to get her in trouble more than once.
As soon as Willa noticed a man was near, she closed down her smile, becoming more contained.
“Willa, this is King, Lily’s father,” Evie performed the introductions. If the asshole says one thing out of place to her, I will smack him upside his head, she promised herself.
Willa was extremely shy and self-conscious of her weight. Personally, Evie didn’t think it was anyone else’s business but her own, yet the woman had received many ugly comments from people who were insensitive and uncaring about hurting her.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Willa murmured.
“Did you bake the cake?”
Willa nodded.
“I’ve been to several large cities and a variety of states, and that cake is one of the most beautiful ones I’ve seen.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you own a shop?”
“No, I bake at home. It keeps me busy enough.”
“Well, if you decide to open a store, let me know. I would invest not only my money, but my stomach, to opening one.”
Even Evie had to laugh at his expression staring at the cake.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Willa lost her self-consciousness, asking King where he was from.
“Did you bring a cake?” Lucky’s voice filled with disbelief, interrupting King’s description.
“Yes.” Willa’s startled eyes flew to Lucky’s.
“You baked a cake to greet the new minister, but never made me one?” Lucky’s accusing eyes were on Willa’s embarrassed face. Evie wanted to kick the dumb man.
“I wouldn’t have baked you one, either. Do you remember when you took over? There were three tables of food and four for desserts.”
“There was?”
“Yes, there was,” Evie confirmed.
“I actually made you a cake when you arrived.” Willa’s soft voice was filled with embarrassment.
“Georgia packed it in. When you saw her, you assumed she had made it.”
Lucky was the one turning red now. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It doesn’t matter; you ate it. I brought it for you to eat, not for the compliments.” All the single women in the parish had filled the tables, trying to get his attention, but Willa had let someone else take credit for her cake. “Excuse me. I haven’t met the new pastor yet.” Willa moved away toward the new minister, whose wife was standing by his side.
Pastor Patterson was handsome and the same age as Lucky. If he hadn’t been married, the women would have been all over him. From his wife’s glare, Evie sensed she wasn’t going to tolerate any women becoming too friendly with her husband.
Brooke Patterson’s rounded belly showed she was pregnant, although Evie couldn’t imagine her being a mother. The cold bitch hid her true colors from Merrick, but Evie was fully aware of who she really was.
When she had walked into the church and saw Brooke, she had been stunned, almost leaving. The only reason she had stayed was because Evie knew the manipulating woman would find a way to use it to her advantage.
Brooke’s eyes swept Willa from head to toe. After Willa introduced herself she held her hand out to Pastor Patterson, who took it, greeting her back. When he released it, he then introduced her to his wife.
“Dean told me you teach bible study for the youth on Wednesday. I’ll be taking it over if you don’t mind. I consider it my duty as the Pastor’s wife. I hope you don’t mind?”
“No.”
It wouldn’t matter if she did, Evie thought, since Brooke hadn’t really given Willa the choice.
“Anything I can do to help you settle in to your new church—” Willa began.
“We have an abundance of volunteers. Of course, they’re all women,” Brooke broke in snidely.
True to form, her frostbitten greeting to Willa proved too much for her to handle, and soon after, Evie saw Willa leaving. King and Lucky noticed, also.
“Where’s she going?” Lucky asked.
“She’s leaving,” Evie said sadly. She would be surprised if Willa came back.
“Why?” Lucky asked. “She’s not even going to give him a chance?”
“She did.”
Lucky was dressed in slacks and a shirt. He was dressed nicely but had not worn a suit, sticking to his promise of not donning one again. Men like Lucky would never understand a woman like Willa, but Merrick’s wife had; that was why she had managed to frighten Willa off.
“Let’s eat. I’m hungry.” Evie moved toward the table. She had directed her comment to Lucky, but King was the one who stood next to her, fixing a plate for himself.
Evie couldn’t resist. “You didn’t bring Henry to fix your plate?”
“He’s here, but he’s too worried about stuffing his own face to worry about me.” King nodded to Henry sitting at one of the tables with two plates in front of him.
“Every man for himself?”
“When someone else is cooking, yes.”
As Evie laughed, sitting down at a table, King sat down next to her. “Where’s Lily?”
“She’s downstairs at the church store with Rachel. Several parishioners brought their donations in today. She’ll be up later.”
When King took a bite of a casserole, his expression had Evie handing him several napkins. She continued eating her own food while he tried to rinse out his mouth with his iced tea.
“Gina made that. Never been to a hometown potluck?”
“No.” His strangled voice had Evie giving him advice.
“Next time, take a small bite unt
il you’re sure if you like it or not. Of course, I do have the hometown advantage and know the best cooks.”
“You knew it was going to taste bad?” King asked, taking another drink of tea.
“I was hoping she was improving. At Christmas, she made a potato casserole that was almost edible. That looked really good; I was waiting to see if it was before I got some. I guess I won’t be making a trip back.”
King’s next bite was tiny as he chewed thoughtfully. “You could have given me a warning.”
“I figured you deserved it after last night.”