by Zoe Dawson
I realized I’d been just standing there staring at her. Deke chuckled, but prudently didn’t say anything.
I let go of the bag and she gave me a knowing grin.
She got to work, and as the hot afternoon got hotter, we took a break inside the rectory. We drank a ton of water and Verity made us quick PB&J sandwiches.
Verity sat next to me and Deke was across the table. She pulled the sketchbook over to us and the iPad. “I promised to show you my designs.”
I lifted the cover of the sketchpad, and there was the dress she’d worn today, from different angles and with different hems.
“This is eyelet lace, right?” I shot Deke a look like he’d better not say a damn thing.
“Yes,” she looked at me like I was an alien male that I would know what eyelet lace was.
“My ma had a dress with this kind of lace. I remembered that’s what she called it, but it was a while ago, so I wasn’t positive.”
I flipped the page up, and with every page I turned I got more and more impressed by Verity’s talent. There were more pretty dresses, jeans, pants, shirts, and shorts. When I got to the lacy night clothes, I paused and took in the frilly, barely-there stuff.
All I could do was picture Verity in her own designs. Deke leaned over and said, “Wow. I mean that’s something.”
Verity smiled and blushed a little. I closed the sketchpad. She pushed the button on her iPad and started it up.
“Here are the clothes all made.”
I scrolled through the pictures and a million questions crowded my head. “How did you get all this done? These look like real models.”
She looked at Deke, and he wasn’t an idiot. He got the message. “I’m going to get back to work,” he said and left the table.
“This is part of my plan. I really need to tell you about last year.”
“Verity, what’s going on….oh, Boone.”
I stood up and she slid both the sketch pad and iPad together and set them on the seat next to her.
“I’m replacing your play equipment, Reverend. It was old, and I was worried one of the kids would get hurt.”
He stared at me for a moment, as if he just wasn’t sure what to make of not only my statement, but that I was in here, sitting next to Verity, and that we were quite chummy.
His eyes went to his daughter and he stared at her a moment. “That’s very generous of you. It was on my list of things that needed to be replaced, but there’s never enough money to go around.”
“I was helping, too, Daddy. Summer can’t be all about play,” she said softly and I looked at her because her tone was mutinous, like she knew something was coming and was already bracing herself to face it. I didn’t want Verity to have to justify her time with me, but of course she had to. I was an Outlaw. Even though I tried way too hard to fit into this community, I wasn’t sure the stigma of my daddy and the rest of my ancestors would ever be totally erased.
“Boone, could you give us a moment?”
I turned to look at Verity, but she met her daddy’s eyes head-on. The peach pit was getting ready to stand her ground and all my protective instincts kicked in. I didn’t want to leave her, but Verity looked like she could handle her own battles. She sure had put me in my place a time or two.
I left the rectory and started to haul the pieces that Deke had already broken down, but my head and my heart were with her in that kitchen. It was at least fifteen minutes before she emerged from the rectory and started to help. Her face was tight and she didn’t look at me. It wasn’t hard to figure out that they had argued, but what about? Me? Billy Joe? Her designs?
I also couldn’t stop thinking about how talented she was, that her clothes were already on models. There was a whole different world that Verity had either seen or been a part of, but I had been told that she was in Kenya last year on a mission.
So, how had she accomplished so much from that far away?
I threw myself into getting the pieces assembled for the kids before they came back outside to play.
It was hot, sweaty, manual work, but it kept my mind off things that had unsettled me. I’d finally connected with Verity, and I didn’t want to lose her. I wanted time to see where we could go, yet I got the feeling that something still wasn’t quite right. I wanted the time to see how we could overcome the negative pressure we would get once people learned that we were seeing each other.
As we installed the last bolt on the new equipment, I took off my baseball cap and swiped at my forehead with a rag I had in my back pocket.
“This is amazing, Boone. You’ve done little pockets of education in there, spelling, math, science. Does the train work?”
“Yes, you can either roll it around the track or take it off and play with it separately.”
“I’m heading out to drop this stuff at the dump,” Deke said.
I nodded. He gave me a sympathetic look and walked to the truck.
“Verity…” I started, but it was recess time and the kids came pouring out of the rectory, hollering and racing to check out the new equipment. I was mobbed, and I laughed as they all hugged me around the legs. I patted a lot of little heads. It made me feel really good.
“Boone, thank you for this. I was always worrying about the equipment.” I nodded to Lindsay, and she went off to play with her charges. It was getting late and parents started coming by to pick up the kids. A lot of their kids didn’t want to leave.
Henry ran up to me just as I was going to say something else to Verity.
“This is the best. I love the train.”
“I made it specially for you, Henry. But don’t tell anyone.”
He smiled up at me and then he jumped forward and wrapped his arms around my legs. “I love you, Boone.”
Those words from that little guy tore me up inside. I squatted down and ran my hand over Henry’s soft head. “I love you, too, buddy.”
This time he hugged me around the neck like he was never going to let me go. “Hey, buddy,” I said, my voice a bit wobbly. “Do you think your momma would let you go frogging with us? My brothers and I go on the weekend.”
He pulled away and said with excitement, “Can I, Mom?”
I turned to find Mrs. Ducet standing there, tears in her eyes. I rose, and when Henry didn’t let me go, I just brought him with me.
“What do you say?”
“Frogging. With the Outlaw boys?” She looked at Henry’s happy face.
“Verity will be there,” I said without looking at her.
“Oh, she will?” Mrs. Ducet looked at Henry again, her eyes concerned, and I couldn’t blame her.
“And Aubree Walker.”
“Can I pppllleeeaaassseee, Mom!”
She chuckled.
“I’ll take good care of him.”
“I know you will. Let’s go, Henry.”
He hugged me one more time and gave me a big grin as he took his mother’s hand and they left.
Finally, I was alone with Verity.
“Hey,” I said. “I was going to take you out on a date tonight. Outlaws. Meatloaf is on the menu. It’s my favorite.” I tried to keep it light, but my stomach was already sinking at the look in her eyes.
She looked away. “I don’t know, Boone. Everything is so complicated. It only seems like there are always these huge obstacles in our way. Maybe we’re kidding ourselves.”
“No,” I said. “We’re not. I know what I felt this morning. You felt it, too.”
“I did,” she said. “But, I don’t know—”
“Verity.”
Her daddy stood at the rectory door and she turned to look at him and sighed.
“I’ve got to go. My daddy wants me at the dinner table tonight.”
“But, Verity…”
She turned to go. “I’m sorry, Boone.”
She walked away and her daddy eyed me. I had to wonder if Billy Joe had said something to Verity’s daddy about me punching him. I bet he didn’t say anything about how roughly he’d
treated the revver’s daughter. Since I couldn’t be sure, and I didn’t want to open that can of worms if he hadn’t, I kept my mouth shut.
Dejected, I picked up the tools and set them back in the bag and headed for my truck.
It was tough to put yourself out there. Maybe that was what had kept both of us mute and only staring at each other in high school. Maybe it was too much to overcome.
Maybe.
But as I put my truck in gear, I was sure that what I felt for Verity was worth fighting for. I wasn’t so sure she felt the same.
That hurt. Really hurt.
But I’d learned a long time ago that I couldn’t control other people, least of all Verity, and I didn’t want to. She had a lot of pressure on her from her family. Me, I had a little bit, too. My brothers thought I was nuts.
And maybe I was nuts.
Nuts about Verity.
#
Verity
When I walked into Outlaws after showering and changing, I felt a lot of eyes on me as I went through the kitchen doors, followed with a bit of a buzz. I wondered what the hell that could be about. Marcy had waved at me from the bar, and I’d given her a half-hearted wave back. Geez, could this day get any worse? I was going to have to have a conversation with her.
Brax and Booker were talking and they shut up and broke apart when they saw me. I was starting to get a bad feeling about this.
“My office,” Brax said.
I heaved a sigh. What the fuck was going on now?
As soon as I walked in, Booker shut the door and Brax immediately started looking at my palms.
“What are you doing?” I said, snatching my hands back from him.
“Looking for holes.”
“What?” I was completely confused and getting pissed off. I was still pretty disgruntled with how the day had ended. I wanted Verity here with me and she wasn’t. It just pissed me off all over again. We’d had a really promising beginning. Now? Now I didn’t even know where I stood with her.
“I heard you were the second coming.” Brax leaned against his desk and slipped his thumbs into the belt loops on his jeans.
Oh crap! The church thing! “Where did you hear that?”
“In town. It’s buzzing. You’d think you were the new Messiah.”
Booker narrowed his eyes at me. “What did you do?”
Brax snorted. “He sang in church. He’s the new choir director. What we have here is a bona fide Jesus Freak. I’ve never seen one up close.”
I shifted and winced. Fuck, people were talking about me. In a bad way? “You’re going to see my fist up close to your face, Brax, if you don’t shut the fuck up!”
Booker just closed his eyes and leaned back into the door. Heaving a huge sigh, he said, “What the hell is going on, Boone?”
“It’s only temporary.” I glared at Brax. The only people who would expect to see the Outlaws in church…well…there probably weren’t any in town who would want to see us in their church. “I’m not the new choir director. I just agreed to fill in. That’s all.”
Booker still had his eyes closed, like he was hoping when he opened them it would have all been a dream. “How did this come about?”
Shit! “It was Billy Joe Freeman’s fault. He gave me attitude like I couldn’t sing or something. I just proved him wrong and belted out “Grace Like Rain” to wipe that smirk off his face. The reverend heard me, came in, and before I knew what was happening, I agreed.”
“And?” Brax said.
“And what?”
“The real reason you were showing off.”
Damn, I was going to have to coldcock him again.
Brax swore under his breath. “This is exactly the kind of shenanigans that happen when you start sniffing around a preacher’s daughter.”
“Brax….” I growled. I looked at Booker, who really didn’t look at all sympathetic or amused. I guess he was worried about the fallout.
“Is this girl fucking you over, Boone?” he asked. When I just stood there feeling all alone, Booker shook his head. “You can’t get out of this?”
“No. I can’t go back on my word to the reverend.”
“People expect us to go back on our word,” Booker said.
“I’m not going to,” I said, frowning. It was more because I didn’t want to let Verity down. She would be the one on the hook for another solution if I backed out.
“So you’re singing. In church.”
“Twice.”
After a long moment, Booker sighed. “Twice,” he repeated and there was something in his eyes that was at least partly amused. “The Colonel must be rolling in his grave,” he said with a short laugh.
“I couldn’t say no. Not to the reverend. He really needs our help.”
“So, the congregation doesn’t know you’ll be leading on Sunday?” Booker asked, then narrowed his eyes and pushed away from the door. “Wait! Our help? What the hell, Boone?”
“I need you guys.”
Both of them looked at me like I had taken leave of my senses. I was beginning to feel a bit abandoned, here.
“What? You volunteered us?! The reverend wants the Outlaws in church?” Booker asked.
“I didn’t exactly say it would include my brothers.”
“Lying to a man of God in the house of God. You are going to hell, Boone,” Booker said, giving me one of his disappointed looks.
“No fucking way am I singing in church,” Brax said. “They might try to baptize me, bend me backwards into the river. I’m not going to the river.”
“Brax,” Booker said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You’re already baptized.”
“Oh, shit, I forgot that little piece of info. Fuck.”
Booker grumbled under his breath and rolled his eyes.
“You afraid the roof will cave in on you if you step in a church?” I asked, glaring at Brax.
He shrugged. “Maybe. I haven’t exactly been the most God-fearing guy. More like a sinner.”
“Fornicator,” I said with a smirk.
“That, too,” Braxton grinned.
“We’re all fornicators,” Booker said. “Hell, I’m living in sin with Aubree and loving every minute of it.”
“Well, this isn’t about fornication. Oh, geez.” I said, running my hand through my hair. “That didn’t sound right.” I stopped talking and looked at both of my brothers. “It’s about helping out the reverend. For two Sundays.”
“Are you redeemed, Jesus Freak?” Brax asked.
I figured if I hauled off and socked him one it wouldn’t help convince him to help out. But, geezus, I wanted to. “Come on, Brax. I need you, man.”
“If I do it—and I’m not saying I’m going to—I’m playing my fiddle the way I want to. I want to do more modern stuff.” He gritted out between his teeth.
“Brax.”
“No, I say we shake them up a bit, boys. Rock that church.”
Booker groaned.
We both looked at each other and burst into laughter as Brax shoved away from me. “Okay, Jesus Freak, let’s do this. But I do have one piece of advice for you.”
“What’s that?”
“Watch your back. You know what happened to the first Messiah.”
Booker gave me a pained look. I got out of there before they changed their minds.
As I emerged from the kitchen, I decided it was time to talk to Marcy. Regardless of what happened with Verity, I wasn’t going to see Marcy again. I winced thinking about how I’d used her and she’d used me.
“Hey, Boone,” she said.
“Hey, Marcy.”
“How about we hook up again? Maybe after closing.” She gave me a knowing smile.
She tried to put her arms around my neck and I stepped back. “No. I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” Her eyes narrowed.
“I’m interested in Verity Fairchild. I don’t think we really have any chemistry, and you called me Booker. I’m no stand-in for my brother.”
“Th
at was just a slip of the tongue.”
“I don’t think so,” I said and brushed past her.
“I should have known. Freaking Verity Fairchild isn’t as pure as she tries to make out. I saw the way you were looking at her.”
I stopped and turned around. “That’s my business, Marcy. Don’t cause a scene. Brax hates that. We have to go back to being friends. Agreed?”
“Doesn’t sound like I have a choice,” she grumbled, going back around the bar.
I wasn’t bartending tonight, so I took a seat at our reserved table. Marcy didn’t look happy, but at this point I didn’t really care. Even with meatloaf on the menu, I wasn’t cheered.
#
Verity
I pushed my way into Outlaws. This place was always so damn busy. I looked for Boone at the bar but only saw Marcy what’s-her-name. I headed there, thinking she might know where he was. I’d already stopped at his house, but there had been no answer.
I’d had a fight with my parents. I still couldn’t believe it. I had sat down at the table, as ordered, and thought I could just eat and then be done. But I thought about Boone and how he’d looked when I’d told him I wasn’t sure things could work out.
I still wasn’t sure they could.
But I had also kind of had it with being told what to do, especially after my daddy confronted me in the rectory kitchen about Billy Joe. I skirted around the issue then, but after I’d sat down at the table, I started to feel sick. I wanted to be with Boone. Right now, yet I had caved into my daddy’s pressure. He hadn’t come out and asked me about Boone. I suspected he thought I might be sweet on him, but I wasn’t sure if he wanted to avoid disrupting Boone’s work or he wanted my association with Boone to just go away. I’d blurted out quite plainly that I wasn’t interested Billy Joe Freeman and he should stop hoping for that. And, to stop pushing him at me. Not happening. I had no interest in doing the books for the church and stay in his pocket. I wanted to go to school and be a fashion designer.
He got really angry, but my daddy never shouted. His anger was always calm and controlled, and he always found a way to make me feel ashamed. He tried again with this “outburst,” as he always called it when I was trying to exert some control over my life.
