“They’ll give up in a minute,” Cash breathed, his hand finding mine in the darkness and squeezing reassuringly.
But the voices weren’t moving away. If anything, they seemed to be getting closer.
“I swear I heard something over here,” one of the women said. “Sounded like... well, never mind what it sounded like.”
My face burned with mortification. Had we been that loud? I thought we’d been careful, but apparently not careful enough. Cash’s jaw was tight as he listened, his protective instincts clearly warring with the need to stay hidden.
“Should we check?” the other voice asked, and my blood ran cold as I realized it was Maggy, my secretary at the church.
“Maggy, no,” the woman said quickly. “We… We should head back.”
The footsteps retreated, voices fading as they headed back toward the main event. We waited several long minutes in tense silence before Cash finally relaxed against me.
“Well,” he said, his voice shaking. “That was close.”
I buried my face in my hands, mortification washing over me in waves. “Oh God. What if they saw?”
“Nobody saw us, Mike. It’s okay.”
I nodded slowly, some of the panic fading. We quickly finished making ourselves presentable, straightening clothes and checking for obvious signs of what we’d been doing. Cash reached up to brush some brick dust from my hair, his touch gentle.
“Ready to go back?” he asked.
I took a deep breath, squaring my shoulders. “Yeah.”
We made our way back toward the fundraiser, emerging from the alley like we’d just been having a quiet conversation. The event was in full swing, with someone attempting a particularly enthusiastic version of “Sweet Home Alabama” on the karaoke stage.
Dolly spotted us immediately, waving us over with theatrical enthusiasm. “There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you two.”
“Sorry,” I said, hoping my voice sounded normal. “We were just... just taking a walk.”
“The hell you were,” a voice said behind me.
I spun on my heel to see a woman from my congregation. I recognized her face, but didn’t know her name. Maggy was standing behind her, her face beet red. I wasn’t worried about her. But this woman… she had hellfire in her eyes.
“I’m not sure I know what you mean,” I began.
“You knowexactlywhat I mean,” she spat. But her anger, I noticed, wasn’t directed at me. Instead, her fury fell on Cash whotensed up immediately as she pointed a finger at him. “The devil came to Sagebrush in this man!”
“Hold on Doreen,” Maggy started.
“You heard it too,” Doreen snapped. “And I saw them. Rutting like pigs in an alley.Disgusting.” She turned to me, her eyes softening for a moment. “I know this man tempted you, Pastor. You aren’t like this. You’rebetterthan this.” She took a step forward, glaring up at Cash. “You’re not somefaggotlike this one.” She poked Cash in the chest, clearly not worried concerned that he was nearly a foot taller than her. “Your daddy was right to run you off after what you did to my boy,” she spat. “And you should’vestayedgone.”
“M-Mrs. Blackburn…” Cash stuttered, his face white as a sheet.
“You ruined my Tyler,” she barked, forcing him back with just a finger and her voice. “Ruined him! He left home because of you! He never talks to me! It’s all your fault! And now… now you’re ruining our new pastor too!” There were tears of fury running down her face. “When are you going to stop ruining everything in this town, Cash Callahan?!”
“Doreen, that is enough!” Dolly said, stepping between her and Cash. “You need to leave, right this instant. Maggy, help her to her car.”
But it was too little, too late. The damage was done. I could see it in Cash’s eyes. It took both Maggy and Dolly to pull Doreen away as she yelled more obscenities in Cash’s direction. Heads turned and the music had died down. But I wasn’t paying attention to any of that. I was just staring at Cash, watching him slowly back away.
“Cash…” I said softly, reaching for him.
“Don’t,” he growled, taking a step back like I was a venomous snake. “Just…don’t.”
And then, before I could say another word, he was gone.
Chapter 26
