Not Paul again! She was starting to wonder if Paul converted to Christianity just to annoy her.
Her father’s voice as he recited Paul’s doctrine seeped into her thoughts even as she tried to shut him out. Fornication, infidelity, adultery, premarital sex, and homosexuality, probably the absolute last topics Lovey wanted to hear about today.
Christ never mentioned any of these by name, not even during his Sermon on the Mount. Based on that observation, she’d always assumed he valued integrity and truth above all else. And nothing in her life up to this point had seemed truer or more pure than the time she was spending with Royal. How could that be a sin?
“The works of the flesh lead us down the path of moral impurity.” He read a few more choice passages from Galatians before he launched into more of Paul’s list of don’ts again. Today’s morality lesson? She had one choice. Marry a man and have babies, end of discussion. Paul’s view of relationships was extremely narrow, and apparently, so was her father’s.
Several times during his long recitation, Lovey considered escaping to the privy and never coming back. More than once, her cheeks felt so hot she’d have sworn she’d had a hot flash or come down with a fever and might actually faint. It was as if her father could read her mind or that he had some way to know exactly how she’d spent her Friday night while he’d been away. She could hardly look at him as he spoke and instead focused her attention on the floral arrangement in front of the altar.
“Each of these sins is a perversion of something good. And because of the power of sin to corrupt, we must call upon the divine to break us free from its bondage.” The passion in his voice rose to a dramatic pitch toward the end of his sermon before he offered his closing remarks and signaled the pianist to begin the altar call. Lovey stopped counting after the third repeat of the same chorus.
She was desperate for someone to be saved, so they could at least move to the lunch portion of their day. Lovey needed some fresh air.
❖
Royal hadn’t ridden their family’s horse, Midnight, in many days. Sunday morning turned out to be so beautiful that she saddled up the dark mare and made a plan to ride over to Lovey’s church in the hopes she’d catch her after the service. She knew today was Decoration Day so she’d use the excuse of bringing flowers to a few distant relatives enjoying their final rest in the grassy, tree-lined cemetery next to the church.
She and Midnight chose a trail away from the main road that led up the ridge from her mother’s house and then down an old logging road that would put her out very near the Baptist church.
It was close to one o’clock when she pulled Midnight to a stop under some shady hardwoods and tied her off so that she could nibble some grass. They’d stopped along the way, and as a result, Royal had a handful of wildflowers to leave at the graves.
There was quite a crowd gathered beside a long table, which looked to be where the ladies of the church were laying out all the dishes of food. It took Royal a moment to spot Lovey and then it took Lovey another moment to notice Royal standing at the edge of the church lawn. Royal waved a hello and Lovey walked toward her. It occurred to Royal that this might have been something she should have asked Lovey about before just showing up. They’d never really been together in public except for the occasional encounter at the general store.
She could tell by Lovey’s reserved demeanor that she was uncomfortable.
Lovey stopped a respectable distance from Royal.
“What are you doing here?”
“Don’t you mean hello?” Royal tried to make a joke because she could tell Lovey was nervous. Damn, why had she been so impulsive and just shown up like this? But the truth was, she knew why. Because she wanted to be part of Lovey’s life. Not just her after hours life, but her daytime life too.
“I’m sorry. Yes, I meant to say hello.” Lovey smiled, but her posture signaled tension. “You just took me by surprise. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Royal revealed the flowers that had been down at her side and Lovey visibly flinched. “Don’t worry. These aren’t for you. They’re for my two great-uncles buried somewhere over there.” Royal tipped her chin in the direction of the cemetery.
“Of course.” Lovey fidgeted with her hands along the sides of her dress. “Will you stay and eat then?”
Royal was considering whether she should stay or go. This hadn’t gone quite like she’d envisioned. “What was the sermon about today?” She thought maybe a little small talk would lighten the mood between them.
“Sins of the flesh.”
“You’re joking.” Royal had made things worse by asking.
“No, I’m not joking. I had to sit quietly and listen for more than an hour about how everything that you and I have done together has damned us both.”
Royal swallowed with difficulty, her mouth suddenly dry. “You don’t really think that, do you?”
“No, of course not.” But the look on Lovey’s face was doing little to convince Royal that this was a true statement.
Royal was just about to say something else to try to lighten Lovey’s mood when out of nowhere, Joe Dawson showed up.
“Hiya, Royal.” He pulled his hat off politely with his greeting.
“Hi, Joe.” Royal wasn’t sure how to read Lovey’s reaction to Joe. She seemed a bit sheepish as she glanced sideways up at Joe.
“Lovey, I have a seat for us in the shade.” He smiled down at Lovey. “Come
