As Devil stepped into the small lobby of the Baptist church, Molly immediately hurried toward him. Latching onto his arm, she lifted her gaze to his. “You didn’t leave a mangled body in the parking lot, did you?” she whispered frantically. “Seriously, it’s still a crime even if he had it coming, Devil.”
Smiling benignly down at her, Devil bent to whisper in her ear. “Careful, darlin’. I might get the idea that you care what happens to me.”
“I care enough not to want to be a witness at the murder trial,” Molly whispered back as Devil wrapped one arm around her waist and tucked her against his side.
“Everything’s fine, baby,” he soothed, squeezing her hip. “Sean is just taking a moment to think about some things I shared with him. He won’t create any scenes for us, I promise. Now, let’s go find our seats before the service starts,” he suggested, urging her toward the arched entrance into the church’s sanctuary.
Breathing deeply, Molly let Devil guide her down the center aisle, nodding to several people she knew as they turned to look at them. Lord, this was worse than the time she’d tucked her dress in her pantyhose, she thought hopelessly. It seemed like everyone was staring at them – especially the women. Not that she could particularly blame them, Devil cut a handsome form in his tailored suit. Between his rugged good looks and attractive body, she was the envy of most every woman inside the church under the age of fifty.
When she spotted Sami waving at her from the pew behind Grant and Karen, Molly smiled in relief. “Here, Dev. This is where we sit,” she whispered, pulling him into the wooden seat and plopping down beside Sami.
“You okay?” the blonde murmured as Molly dropped her purse to the floor by her feet and settled against the pew beside Devil. In front of them, Grant and Karen stole peeks at them over their shoulders. Leaning forward, Sami eyed Devil, “Please tell me that you left pieces of that sinner scattered over the parking lot.”
Devil merely smiled as Molly leaned toward her model friend, nodding to her concerned mother as she turned around to stare from two pews ahead. “Everything is handled, Sami,” she whispered, trying to smile reassuringly as she lifted her hand to offer her momma a tiny wave. Sighing when she only received a hard look from the woman who’d given her life, Molly sagged against Devil’s side. She could tell the older woman was trying to figure out why Devil had accompanied her to church, but good manners prevented her from jumping the two rows of seats it would take to find out. After all, her mother was the model of Southern grace and decorum...at least in the Lord’s house. The inquisition would come as soon as the final amen was uttered; of this, Molly was certain. “Please, just tell me your flask is in your handbag like it usually is,” she begged her best friend in a quiet voice.
“Oh, honey, you know I’m always packin’.” Sami grinned, staring straight ahead as Vivian snickered softly from the other side of her.
“Wonderful. Don’t move far from my side then,” Molly returned in a hushed voice as Grant turned to stare at them again, his eyes dancing merrily.
“Did ya kill ‘im?” he asked Devil in a low voice as the choir shuffled in at the front of the church.
“Not yet,” Devil denied with a faint smile, sliding his arm around Molly’s tense shoulders. “But he won’t be making any more problems after today,” he assured his best friend.
Throughout the three hymns the choir sang over the next fifteen minutes, Molly tapped her foot nervously, singing along as she stole looks at Devil. She’d seen Sean wander in about five minutes ago and take his seat beside a woman she didn’t know. He didn’t look any worse for wear, but she’d known him long enough to see he was shaken. She knew it was un-Christian to wish a plague of frogs and locusts on her mortal enemy as she sat in the house of the Lord, but she couldn’t help the glee she felt.
Frowning at her brother when he looked at Devil over his shoulder for the fourth time in as many minutes, Molly leaned forward, grabbing the back of the pew in front of her. “What in the world are you looking for, Grant?” she whispered to the amused man as Devil took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together.
“Honestly? I’m trying to spot The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, sis.” Seeing the confusion in her green eyes, he grinned. “You got Devil Delancy inside a church,” he explained softly. “That’s GOT to be a sign that the end times are nigh!”
“Yeah,” Sami chortled softly, overhearing Grant’s statement. “I’m pretty sure I heard Gabriel blowing his horn when Devil walked through the door.”
“Shhhh,” Vivian shushed them all. “The preaching is starting,” she warned, nodding to the head of the church where Pastor Martin was climbing into the pulpit.
Shifting in her seat as Pastor Martin cleared his throat and faced the gathered congregation, Molly felt Devil’s arm snake across the back of the pew and around her shoulders, unobtrusively tugging her against his chest. Relaxing against him, Molly sighed as his broad hand massaged the tense muscle in her shoulder just as the Pastor began his sermon. She owed that to the older man; he had, after all, been her pastor since she was knee-high to a grasshopper.
“Friends and guests, I want to welcome each one of you back into the house of Our Lord and Savior. Today, our scripture reading is taken from Ephesians 5:22-23,” Pastor Martin announced as he held up his Bible for the assembly to see. “Luckily, I don’t even need the Good Book to quote this verse, friends. I know it well. Wives,” he recited in a booming, charismatic voice, “submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.”
Staring out at the congregation, the Pastor dropped his Bible back to the podium and smiled. “That’s right, my brothers and sisters! Today, we’re gonna talk about what makes a righteous and good marriage!”
And as Molly hung her head in the audience, she heard Devil chuckle beside her.
“I think you might wanna pay attention to this sermon, honey,” Devil teased against her ear and squeezed her shoulder gently.
Lifting her eyes to the ceiling of the church, Molly shook her head. “It’s official. I think the Lord really has forsaken me,” she acknowledged as Sami, Viv, and Devil all stifled chuckles.
If she was going to hell, she was bound and determined to take passengers along with her on the ride!