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“Oh,” Kylie squeaked, undone by his nearness, the deep, smoky timbre of his voice and that perfectly meaningless word “darlin’.”
A microphone whined, and they both looked to the gazebo in the center of the green as Reverend West stepped up to speak. The crowd quickly hushed. Red, white and blue bunting ruffled in the breeze as he welcomed the crowd and led them in eloquent prayer before introducing the mayor. As soon as Pauley pulled a sheaf of folded paper from his pocket, everyone went back to what they’d been doing before the pastor had spoken.
Zach spoke out of the side of his mouth. “Guess we know who commands the respect around here.”
Kylie said nothing, but she couldn’t stop a smile from breaking across her face. Chuckling, he moved off then, and Kylie nodded at the blue-haired matron waiting behind him, her handbag dangling from one wrist, cardboard platter in hand. When the woman’s narrowed gaze cut to a loudly laughing Vincent, Kylie realized that the woman had overheard every word of her conversation with Zach, most likely weighing every word for gossip potential.
As if to prove that assumption, the woman thrust forward her platter, remarking, “Those Clayton boys make fine-looking men, don’t they?”
Kylie hummed a noncommittal reply and dished out the beef. Fine-looking men, indeed. She glanced surreptitiously from Zach to Vincent. Handsome, yes, but at least one of them had proved himself to be a jerk. Her gaze moved back to Zach, following him across the green. It remained to be seen whether the other was as fine as he looked.
By the time Kylie found herself free to enjoy the day, it had all but ended. Just the barest lip of the sun clung to the horizon as she strolled across the grass toward her parents, who had placed their chairs on the church lawn, her father having been charged with opening the church to provide access to the restrooms in the tiny vestibule. A tall form fell into step beside her. Smiling, she glanced up at Zach Clayton, noticing that his jaws had taken on the faint shadow of a day’s growth of beard. The slight stubble gave him a rakishly handsome appearance.
“Where you headed?” he murmured.
“Going to sit with my parents a while.”
“That’s good. I won’t worry about you then.”
Kylie stopped dead in her tracks. “Worry about me?”
He winced. “I, um … well, you’ve seen how Vincent’s been acting.”
“No, not really,” she said. In point of fact, she’d done her dead level best not to notice what Vincent had been up to, but she felt a glow in the center of her chest at the knowledge that Zach worried about her. With all these people here, three or four hundred at least, tall, good-looking Zach Clayton had been keeping an eye on her.
Zach cleared his throat, but the eruption of a loud argument forestalled whatever he’d been about to say.
“I want to go now!” pleaded a brunette in red capris and a red-and-white-striped tank top.
“You will sit down and shut up until I’m ready!” a man bawled right in her face.
“Who is that?” Zach asked, turning in their direction.
“I want to go now!” the woman insisted plaintively.
Kylie wracked her brain. “Uh, Janey … Janey …” She shook her head, unable to find a last name.
“I said be quiet!” the man shouted, launching into a diatribe about whiny, self-centered women.
“That’s Rob Crenshaw. He’s about my age and a friend of Vincent’s.”
Nodding, Zach strode forward. Without thinking, Kylie followed, drawn by Janey’s sobs. Zach didn’t pause, just walked right up and threw his left arm around Rob’s shoulders in what looked like a companionable gesture.
“Rob,” he said calmly. “Rob Crenshaw.”
That surprised the younger man enough to shut him up and have him turning a stupefied gaze on Zach.
“Do I know you?”
“Deputy Sheriff Zach Clayton. How do you do?” Zach said, offering his right hand for a shake. Rob automatically took that hand and then seemed to have some difficulty letting go again. Zach turned him and walked him several steps away from the woman. While the two of them spoke quietly—actually, Zach did most of the talking—Kylie went to Janey.
“You okay?” she asked, patting the other woman on the back.
Heavily freckled and wholesome-looking, with pale hazel eyes and sleek, chin-length, dark-brown hair tucked behind her ears, Janey sniffed and nodded, confessing in a small voice, “He gets like this every time he drinks.”
“I thought alcohol wasn’t allowed on the green.”
“It’s not. He showed up with a snootful.”
Just then, Rob turned and lurched toward Janey. “We’re going,” he announced tersely, seizing her by the upper arm.
Kylie glanced at Zach, who stood with his hands at his hips, watching. “Do you want to go with him?” Kylie asked quickly.
For an instant, Janey hesitated, but then she nodded and let Rob pull her away. Zach watched to make sure Janey was driving. Then he removed his sunshades, folded them, stowed them in his shirt pocket and strolled toward Kylie. She turned as he drew near, and he once more fell into step beside her. They a put a few yards between them and the small crowd that had gathered to gawk.
“You handled that quite easily.”
Zach shrugged. “A bully never expects anyone to stand up to him. He’s surprised when people don’t cower or slink away. If you know what you’re doing, that can give you an upper hand.”
“I guess the badge doesn’t hurt, either.”
“Not a bit,” he admitted with a grin.
He walked her toward her parents. Reverend West stood waiting for them at the edge of the church lawn. Somehow, John West always managed to look as cool as a cucumber, and today proved no exception. His chinos held crisp creases, and the white of his Old Glory T-shirt fairly glowed in the fading light. He stepped forward at once, offering his hand to Zach and greeting Kylie with a nod.
“You two obviously work well together.”
Zach seemed as eager as Kylie to quell talk that involved the terms “you two” and “together.” They both began speaking.
“Oh, I was just talking to Janey.”
“A little private conversation between me and Crenshaw.”
“I wasn’t involved in anything.”
“It’s my job. The badge does most of the work.”
Reverend West laughed and stepped forward to drop one hand atop Zach’s shoulder and the other atop Kylie’s. “I have a couple of spots open on the helpline ministry team with our Church Care Committee.”
Zach flashed a pained look at Kylie.
“Oh, I’m, uh, on call twenty-four hours a day.”
“And I work shifts,” Kylie put in quickly.
“One evening a week,” West said, not in the least deterred. “I believe it will fulfill the voluntary community service requirement of the county sheriff’s new community involvement initiative.”
Zach twisted one corner of his lips into a wry grin. “So it will.”
The reverend looked to Kylie, saying, “I’ll speak to Erin. Make sure she doesn’t schedule you to work during your assigned hours.”
Kylie swallowed a sigh and nodded.
“I’ll tell Martha to expect you for training this Wednesday after prayer meeting then.” With that, West slid his hands into his pants pockets and strolled off in another direction, whistling complacently.
Backing up a step, Zach sent Kylie a loaded look and said, “Remind me to watch my step around him from now on.”
“You and me both.”
“He’s slicker than suntan oil. Glad he’s on the good side.”
“There is that,” she agreed with less enthusiasm than she probably should have displayed.
“Well, I’m working,” Zach said after a moment, shooting a glance at her parents. “Best get back out there.” He walked away with a nod and a wave.
Kylie let out her sigh in one long, tired breath and turned to face her parents, who had watched the whole thing from the comfort of their lawn chairs, bottles of cold iced tea in their hands. Seeing the look of consternation on her face, they both burst out laughing. After a moment, Kylie joined them. For more than a year she’d avoided Reverend West’s enlistment campaigns, and now, in the blink of an eye, she’d been caught. Her gaze drifted across the green until it settled on Zach Clayton’s broad shoulders. At least she had company in the trap.
Kylie sat down on the grass next to her parents. Over the next hour or so, they watched a steady stream of mostly women trek to and from the church. Finally, her mother rose from her chair. “Keep Dad company while I check the supplies in the bathrooms, will you? We don’t want to be poor hosts, and things need to be stocked for Sunday.”
Kylie pushed up to her feet and waved her mother back down. “No, I’ll take care of it.”
“You sure?” Lynette asked even as she sat again.
Nodding, Kylie started toward the church. She knew how hard both of her parents worked. She could do this one small thing for her mom.
“The extra supplies are in the closet behind the sanctuary,” her father called. Kylie flapped a hand in acknowledgment and moved away. “It’s open,” he went on, “but you’ll have to go into the building from the front.”
She climbed the front steps and went into the building.
Crossing the small foyer, she passed through a door on the left. A quick check showed that the paper products were, indeed, running low. Kylie went out again and pushed through the double doors that closed off the darkened sanctuary. She could barely see, but she didn’t turn on the overhead lights. Instead, she went around the edge of the large, pew-lined room and out again through a door behind the piano. She did turn on a light in the back room and propped the door open with a cloth-covered brick, placed there for that purpose, while she went to the far corner of the cluttered space.
Her father had often complained of the lack of a light inside the closet, but it hadn’t been wired for electricity. Kylie unbolted the rarely opened back door and pushed it wide to let in as much light as possible before going into the closet to gather supplies. She carried them back to the vestibule and stocked the restroom, then returned to lock up and turn off lights. Just as she passed through the door behind the piano and into the storage area again, a hand clamped down on her wrist.
She knew at once who held her. Fear rose in her throat, and she instantly reached out to God with mind and soul.
Chapter Four
Gasping, Kylie wrenched away.
“Now, now,” Vincent crooned, crowding her into a stack of padded chairs. “I just want to talk. After all, we were supposed to be on our honeymoon right now.”
“I have nothing to say to you.”
“Kylie, baby, listen. I made a mistake, but it’s not Sherilyn I want.” He dipped his head as if to kiss her.
“I made a mistake, too, Vincent,” she ground out, placing both hands against his chest and shoving. It was like trying to move a brick wall. “I made the mistake of thinking I could be happy with you. Now please let me go!”
“I’ve been letting you go for months,” Vincent grunted, yanking down her hands. “Maybe that’s the problem.”
“Let me go!”
“Don’t push me, Kylie. I don’t want to do something we’ll both regret.”
“Very wise,” said another voice.
Kylie sagged with relief.
Vincent spun to face his cousin. “This is none of your business, Zach!”
“You want to be alone with him, Kylie?”
“No.”
“Then it’s my business,” he said.
Vincent turned a fulminous glare over one shoulder. “You’re going to regret that.”
“Leave her alone, Vincent.”
Suddenly, Vincent launched himself at Zach. The next instant he reeled across the room, bumping into a table crowded with seasonal artificial flower arrangements. Zach followed, pushing aside a flimsy lectern with one foot. Vincent came up swinging, but Zach caught his fist in one hand and stepped close.
“I’m armed, Vincent, and entitled to defend myself. Think about that.”
Jerking away, Vincent stumbled backward. He fell against the corner of the closet and careened right out the back door, somehow managing to get down the steep stairs on his feet. Kylie moved forward without even realizing it until she stood crammed in the doorway shoulder-to-shoulder with Zach. Weaving and huffing, Vincent lifted a hand, pointing at them. Just then, Sherilyn came around the corner of the building.
“Vincent? What’s happening?” She hurried over and tried to steady him. “You okay?”
Vincent shoved her away. Sherilyn reeled but didn’t fall. Sparing not so much as a glance for her, he jabbed his finger at the doorway. “You two have embarrassed me for the last time!”
“You’re embarrassing yourself, Vincent,” Kylie said quietly.
He glared at her, but what she’d said seemed to sink in finally. Whirling around, he stalked off. Sherilyn ran after him. He could be heard growling, “Get away from me!” as Zach pulled the door closed.
Kylie shoved the bolt home and turned to put her back to the door, sighing. “Thank God you came when you did. Again.”
“I saw him follow you inside,” Zach explained. “By the time I could get over here …” He shook his head. “It was all I could do not to run, but I didn’t want to attract attention. I won’t hesitate next time.”
Glad for that, Kylie nodded. Reaching out, he pushed the closet door closed. Kylie opened it again and twisted the lock in the center of the knob before closing it once more.
“What now?” Zach asked.
She pretended not to understand the question. “Now, we watch some fireworks.”
“Okay,” Zach said on a sigh. “Pressing charges against Vincent would do no good and probably make matters worse. Besides, no real harm occurred. I’ll let it go. This time.”
“I think that’s best,” she said, moving swiftly toward the sanctuary.
When she heard the clumps of Zach’s boots on the floor behind her, she switched off the light and stepped out into the larger room. The darkness had deepened just in those few minutes since she’d crossed the space earlier. She groped her way past the piano then found herself slightly disoriented. A touch on her arm startled her, then his hand slid down and found hers. He tugged her forward. She followed gratefully, breaking the contact only when they reached the foyer.
