Ninety minutes later, Devil guided a shell-shocked Molly out of the church with a hand on her lower back.  Pausing to shake hands with the pastor and his wife, Devil followed her down the steps to where Grant and Karen waited for them on the sidewalk.

Rubbing his hands together, Grant greeted them with a wide smile.  “So,” he drawled.  “Is today the day of the big announcement or are you just gonna prep Mom and Daddy for upcoming events?” he asked eagerly.

“Grant,” Karen chastised, smacking her husband’s arm as their children played in the nearby grass, “Keep your voice down.”

Keeping Molly’s hand in his, Devil squeezed gently.  “Today is indeed the day.”

“Well, wait,” Molly interrupted quickly, shaking out of her sermon-induced fog and latching onto Grant’s idea like a lifeline.  “Maybe Grant is onto something.  A little prep might not hurt.  Maybe we just mention to Mom and Dad today that we’ve been seeing each other.  Give them a little time to digest that before we spring an engagement on them.”

“Today, Margaret,” Devil insisted firmly, turning to nail her with a hard look.  “No backtracking.”

“I, for one, still can’t wrap my head around this,” Karen murmured, her long dark hair bouncing against her shoulders as she shook her head and looked between Devil and Molly.  “You could have knocked me over with a feather when Grant told me about the plan y’all hatched.”

“Not y’all,” Molly corrected quickly, shielding her eyes from the afternoon sunlight.  “Him,” she said, jerking her head in Devil’s direction.  “This is all his fool idea.  I’m going along with it for Nana’s sake.”

Devil shrugged, sharing a grin with Grant.  “Hey, whatever gets you to the altar on time, babe.” 

“Devil Delancy!” Anne Ramsey called from behind them, “Get yourself over here and give me a hug!” she ordered as she hurried down the steps toward her children.

Molly watched as Devil turned and enveloped her mother in a bear hug, lifting her feet off the ground as her father rolled his eyes behind her.  “Hello, Daddy,” she greeted her father, moving quickly to press a kiss to his clean-shaven jaw.

 “Hey, Peanut,” Walter Ramsey murmured, wrapping one arm around his daughter’s waist and hugging her against him.  “We were surprised to see you and the Devil show up together,” he said, winking at Devil as the younger man put Anne back on her feet.  “It’s good to see you, son,” he declared with a grin, reaching out and shaking Devil’s hand.

“Yes, it’s been too long!” Anne tittered, patting his back.  “What in the world are you doing here?”

“I actually escorted Molly this morning.  I do believe she might think my soul’s in need of saving,” he replied with a grin at Molly.

“Oh, good grief,” Molly muttered, holding her hand out to Sami as she and Vivian joined the group. 

Clandestinely slipping her small silver flask into Molly’s hand, Sami grinned.  “Problems?” she murmured, casting a look over at Molly’s family.

“You have no idea,” Molly whispered, sliding the small metal container into her purse and watching as Devil and her parents chatted amiably as people spilled out of the church.  “Tell me that you and Viv are coming for lunch,” she demanded under her breath.  Misery loved company, and by God, she needed all the support she could get for this little explosion that was waiting to happen!

“Sorry, I’ve got a case to prep or I would,” Vivian apologized with a sympathetic look.

“And I’ve got a runway show for charity this afternoon,” Sami explained with a shrug.  “Grant promised to video it for me, though.”

“You’re both abandoning me?” Molly asked desperately, shifting her gaze between the two women who were supposed to protect her from such horrors as the family fireworks.

“Oh, honey,” Vivian consoled, “You’ll be fine.  The Lord is with you.”

“And apparently so is the Devil,” Sami cackled as Devil turned to snag Molly’s wrist and pull her against his side.

“Toodles!” Sami waggled her fingers at Molly as she and Vivian headed toward their cars.

Staring longingly after them, Molly could feel her family’s eyes on her and Devil.  Forcing a smile as she faced her parents, she couldn’t help but notice that they both stared at her oddly. If it hadn’t been for her greying auburn hair, her mother could have been an identical twin of Dixie Carter...and she had Julia Sugarbaker’s attitude to match.  And the older he got, her father bore a passing resemblance to a taller Martin Sheen.  At this point, though, Molly was certain that neither of them were interested in any part of the three-act comedy that was developing around them.

Before she could try to come up with any sort of comment or explanation, Devil explained with a smile, “Molly, I was just thanking your mother for inviting me to lunch this afternoon.  She said she’s serving her legendary pork tenderloin.”

Pork tenderloin?  Molly’s eyes widened as she hid her left hand behind her back.  “Momma, you only cook that when we’re having guests for Sunday dinner.  You didn’t know about Devil, did you?”

Curiously eying the arm Devil had snaked around her daughter’s waist, Anne slowly lifted her eyes to Molly.  “No, I didn’t.  Although, I am just delighted he’ll be joining us.  I actually had invited that handsome new youth pastor to eat with us.  You met Pastor Davis last week, remember?”

“Oh, God,” Molly murmured weakly as she realized her well-intentioned mother had orchestrated yet another of her matchmaking schemes.  At least once she was married, those would end.  Maybe there was an upside to holy matrimony.  “Yes, ma’am.  I remember.”

“Well, he seemed real interested in getting to know you better.  He’s around your age, handsome, and most importantly single,” Anne confided meaningfully. “I invited him before we left for vacation, dear.  I don’t think the poor thing gets many home-cooked meals, and he needs to spend time with a family.”

As he watched his sister’s face pale more with each passing word, Grant murmured excitedly to his wife, “This gets better and better,”

“Quiet,” Karen chastised him softly, elbowing him sharply in the ribs. 

“Well, we’d better be on our way,” Anne proclaimed with motherly authority.  “Molly, would you like to ride with your father and me?” she asked pointedly even as she smiled sweetly at Devil.

“Actually, I think I’ll need Molly.  We need to make a couple of business-related phone calls on the way, don’t we, Sugar?” he asked with a warm look down at Molly.  Glancing back at her parents, he smiled.  “Your daughter keeps me on the straight and narrow path.  I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

Anne beamed at her daughter. “Is that so?”

“Uhmmm….” Molly hummed uncertainly, wishing the Earth would open and just swallow her whole.  Between Devil’s hands on her body and her mother’s keen eyes watching their every move, she was about two steps away from running screaming for the hills.

“On the seventh day even God rested, son,” Molly’s father teased Devil good naturedly.  “Don’t you ever take any time off from the wheeling and dealing?”

“Rarely, sir.  But I think that will be changing soon,” Devil answered with a grin and another fond look at Molly that her eagle-eyed mother immediately noticed.

“Well, alright,” Anne conceded with a faint nod.  “Don’t talk and drive, though, you two.  Pull off on the side of the road and take your time.  We’ll see you back at the house.”

 Watching as the family dispersed to their vehicles, Devil grinned down at the shocked woman beside him.  “I think your momma just gave us permission to go parking for a bit, sweetheart.”

“In case you missed it, my mother is trying to hook my wagon to a preacher’s cart, Devil,” Molly hissed under her breath as he opened her car door.

“That’s only because she doesn’t know about me yet – a situation that we’re going to rectify in short order,” he informed her with a wink as she settled in the leather seat before he slammed her car door closed.