Hayden shook his head and scooted over.
“Good.” Tanner settled in the seat. “I thought maybe, you know.”
“Know what?”
“You were saving this seat for Riley.”
Hayden pointed his thumb in the direction behind him. “She sits there.”
“Oh. It’s been a while since I’ve been in church. Didn’t realize there was assigned seating.”
Smirking, Hayden shook his head. “Technically there isn’t, but everyone knows there really is.”
Tanner leaned over and whispered, “So, you and Riley. What’s going on there?”
“We’re friends.” He stared straight ahead. Tanner normally wasn’t so nosy.
“Just friends?”
“Yes.” Hayden clenched his jaw.
“Good. So you won’t mind if I ask her out?”
Hayden shot him a deadly look.
Tanner chuckled and held up his hands. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I also got close to the truth, apparently.”
Jesse started playing guitar, and Hayden was glad for the interruption because he was ready to throttle Tanner, which was not appropriate church behavior. Tanner was still grinning when Jesse finished the worship song. He was about to start another when a low murmuring started in the crowd.
Tanner glanced around. “What’s going on?” he asked Hayden, as everyone focused their gazes at the back of the church.
“I don’t know.” But when Hayden twisted around in his seat, his stomach dropped. Walking into church, head held high, was Tracey McAllister.
Hayden spun around and saw Riley staring straight ahead, iciness returning to her eyes. Uh-oh. He glanced at Erma, who was gripping Bea’s arm. Double uh-oh. If he were a cursing man, he would have been thinking much worse.
***
Riley forced herself not to let her mother bother her. Tracey had walked straight to the front row and sat down, passing everyone else in the church, some who might have recognized her, despite her hard life having erased any semblance of the youth she had when she left Maple Falls. She crossed her legs and set her purse next to her, as if she were as much of a fixture on Sunday mornings as the Bosom Buddies were.
Gripping the edge of the pew, Riley yanked her gaze from her. Tracey was doing this on purpose, disturbing the service and drawing attention to herself in the most dramatic way possible. Riley didn’t know why, and she didn’t care what her reasons were. She wasn’t going to give her mother the satisfaction of bothering her. But as soon as the service was over, she was getting out of this building.
Before Jared could say amen to the final prayer, Riley slid out of the pew and dashed outside, heading straight for Mimi’s car. Her stomach churned. Being outside in the hot, sticky air contributed to her nausea. But she’d rather be out here than inside withher.
She turned her back to the church, fishing for the key in her purse. She found it and opened the driver’s side door, then got inside, put the air conditioner on full blast, and slammed the door. As soon as she started to put the car in reverse, she saw Hayden rush out of the church and run toward her.
She gripped the gear shift. She’d been an absolute jerk to him yesterday and had outright ignored him the day before. Which was wrong. But she couldn’t help it. Her mother showing up reminded her of how this would end. The same as everything ended—with Riley getting hurt.
Hayden tapped on the window. She hesitated before pressing the button and rolling it down. “What?”
He blinked. “Let’s go.”
She frowned. “Go where?”
“I’ll tell you.” He rounded the car and got into the passenger’s seat. “Drive.”
“Where—”
“Just trust me, okay?”
