“Hallelujah!” the crowd called out even louder than before as the choir launched into another gospel song about protecting a weak lamb from the wolves.
“I know people, Miss Ellery,” Reverend Winston said as the others around them sang. “And I know you have a good heart. You will always be welcome here. Please, let me know if I can do anything for you. Sheriff Fox told me of your struggle, and the women’s group has put together a bag of necessities for you. They’ll drop it off at Dr. Faulkner’s house after lunch.”
Ellery’s hand rose to her heart at the thoughtfulness. “Thank you,” she said, grasping his hand. “Thank you so much.”
“People tell me I’m easy to talk to. I’m happy to sit and hear your story if you ever feel like telling it. Be blessed, Miss Ellery.”
The rest of the service passed quickly, and before she knew it the church was filled with the smell of barbeque. The two choirboys followed the man and woman holding communion only the boys were each holding a giant platter of barbeque. The reverend blessed the gold chalice and then the bread representing the body of Christ before saying a blessing over the two plates of barbeque.
“After you take communion,” Gavin whispered, handing her a five dollar bill, “you take the offering of barbeque from each platter and put your donation to the church in the box of the barbeque you like the most. The one that raises the most money is deemed the winner. The money stays with the church, but the advertising goes to the winner. Then be ready because things get a little dangerous after that.”
“Dangerous, how?”
But communion had started and their row was standing. Ellery followed Tinsley through the procession, received communion, and then the boys solemnly handed her a piece of barbeque from each plate and Ellery felt like dropping to her knees in prayer because nothing had ever tasted so good before.
* * *
In short order the money was counted and Pink Pig won by forty-two dollars. Ellery noticed as Reverend Winston was giving his closing remarks people were starting to crouch in sprinters starting position. Purses were in hand. Hats were being pinned down. Butts were on the edge of the pews.
“Go in peace,” Reverend Winston said, and they were off. The doors were flung open. People were dashing down the aisle. A little old lady hit someone with a cane and tripped them before jumping over them.
“Come on!” Tinsley said, dragging Ellery out of the pew and shoving her way past an older lady with feathers from her hat blinding her as she tried to run down the aisle.
“What’s going on?” Ellery yelled as Gavin pushed her from behind to hurry them along. Wade jumped pews and shot out the door with Harper hot on his heels.
“There’s limited room at the Pink Pig and Lowcountry Smokehouse. You don’t want to be on the waitlist. It’ll take forever!” Gavin yelled up to her. “Go Tinsley! We’ll meet you there!”
Tinsley took off. She was tiny and used it to her advantage, weaving in and out of people as they funneled out the doors and down the stairs. An old man jumped the curb in a Rascal scooter and gunned it down the street. It shot off going at least twenty-five miles per hour as he passed the people sprinting down the street.
“That’s Mr. Gann. He used to build dirt cars for racing, but now that he’s ninety he tinkers with his scooter,” Gavin called out as they hurried down the stairs right as Mr. Gann shot the finger to a man in a motorized wheelchair.
“And that’s Mr. Knoll. He had a competing race team. Dirt track racing is pretty big here.”
“Run Quad!” a large man with deep brown skin and a shaved head yelled. “Five seconds! Faster!”
“That’s Terrance Clemmons III and his son, Terrance the IV. Everyone calls the son Quad and his father, Terry. Quad is a sophomore in high school and a big shot basketball player. Terry’s been coaching him since Quad was able to hold a ball. He’s constantly training Quad, and it’s paying off. Every month we have a new division one coach showing up in town to talk to him about playing in college. Plus he usually gets a good spot in line.”
“He’s so tall,” Ellery called over her shoulder as she weaved her way through the crowd, taking elbows to her sides and stomps to her feet.
“The flat top adds another three inches, but he’s six foot eight and still growing.”
Quad flew past Wade and jumped into the line gathering at the door to Pink Pig. “Last week Lowcountry Smokehouse won, so I’m not surprised Darius won this week. The two usually trade wins. There, Wade and Harper are in line and Tinsley’s not that far behind.”
Gavin slowed Ellery to a fast walk. “How many people can fit?”
“Only about half the congregation can get seats at both places. Otherwise you’re on the waitlist, and it could take anywhere from thirty minutes to three hours to get your seat.”
“Why not go home?” Ellery asked as Gavin grabbed her hand to lead her up to where Trent had now joined Wade, Tinsley, and Harper. Ryker was strutting down the sidewalk. He didn’t run.
“It’s tradition. Everything closes on Sunday except these two restaurants that are only open for brunch. At two in the afternoon, the whole downtown is closed. Everyone goes fishing or boating or the social committees host bake sales, quilt sales, and so on.”
“Ellery, a moment,” Ryker said, stopping next to them in line. “I went out last night and ran into your ex-boyfriend at the yacht club bar with some of his friends. He is telling everyone you and he are a couple and he’s worried sick about you.”
Ellery felt her eyes go wide in shock and hurt. ”How can I not remember? I would think I would remember him, but all I feel is annoyance.”
Ryker gave a sympathetic shrug. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think anyone is buying it. When your ex went to hit on the cocktail waitress, his friends called him pathetic. What I got from this is first, he’s a loser, and second, his friends aren’t real friends. I found the whole thing very fake. Fake girlfriend for appearances and fake friends because of money and connections. As you know, appearances are everything.”
“So, we’re not dating?” Ellery asked as she felt her breath rush out in relief.
“I couldn’t get a straight answer. If you aren’t, he will do anything he can to keep up the appearance that you are together. I don’t know why he’d do that, but I don’t trust him.”
It sounded like a warning and Ellery supposed it could be. Maybe her ex liked the appearance of a doting boyfriend of a missing woman for the attention.
“Thank you,” Ellery said, her spirits somewhat lowered. She hated the idea of a man telling everyone they were together and playing the dutiful and loving boyfriend to the press if that wasn’t true. “I appreciate you helping me out.”
With a nod of his head in acknowledgment of her thanks, Ryker turned to his family and began to chat as Gavin wrapped his arm around her. “It’ll be okay. Don’t worry about him. Who you are is what matters, not what he says you are.”
Ellery rested her head against his shoulder and thought about it. Trying to remember who her ex was was a distraction. She needed to push the distraction away so she could focus on the real issue of narrowing down who wanted her dead.
“Hi, y’all,” a pretty woman with shining chestnut brown hair and electric blue eyes said as she joined the family. Tinsley leaned forward and kissed her cheek before Harper pulled her in for a hug. Each of the men proceeded to kiss her cheek, including the cold and immovable Ryker, who Ellery was beginning to think wasn’t so very cold. “Gavin, I heard you’ve had quite an interesting past couple of days.”
Gavin slung his arm around the woman’s shoulder and pulled her against his side as he smiled at her. Ellery swallowed hard. She felt it and knew exactly what it was—jealousy. And when the woman put her arm around Gavin’s waist as if it belonged there, Ellery had to admit she was not thinking very ladylike thoughts about the woman right then. And that stopped her mid-breath. She’d never been the jealous type. Gavin wasn’t hers, but right now she wanted him to be. In the mid
st of this nightmare, she’d found the man of her dreams, and his name was Gavin. Her heart began to stutter as she looked at him. Really looked at him. Not his sexy body, but who Gavin was. Someone who took care of those in need, someone who risked it all to rescue her, someone who loved his family, someone who cared deeply, and someone who she trusted. And in this moment she realized Gavin was someone she was falling in love with.
13
Gavin pulled Edie to his side and kissed the top of her head. Her eyes were still sad from the death of her husband, but she was working hard at building a life back in her hometown of Shadows Landing.
“Edie,” Gavin said, drawing her attention from something Harper was saying, “I want you to meet a friend of mine.” Gavin saw it then, the way Ellery’s full lips thinned slightly. Something was the matter.
Gavin reached for Ellery, and while she didn’t pull away she seemed rigid. “Ellery, this is Edie Greene.”
“Wecker,” Edie corrected. “Well, Greene and Wecker. Growing up it was Greene, but I got married.” She shook her head and held out her hand to Ellery. “Sorry, I’m new to this widow thing. I just changed my name to Greene-Wecker. It was supposed to be a symbol of me moving on and being a strong independent woman, but it just feels like me playing dress up.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ellery said, relaxing and giving a gentle smile to Edie. “I’m sorry about your husband.”
“Thank you. After he died I moved back here and bought my parents’ old house. With Trent and Ridge’s help, and of course Tinsley’s with her artist’s eye, I’ve slowly been updating it. Are you new to Shadows Landing?”
“I floated by and didn’t want to leave,” Ellery tried to joke, but all it did was cause an image of Ellery almost drowning to come into Gavin’s mind. They were supposed to go boating today, but Gavin didn’t think she was ready to go out on a boat. And if he were honest, he wasn’t either.
“Oh my gosh, you’re the woman Reverend Winston was talking about. I know exactly what you’re going through. I’m so sorry.” Edie reached out and hugged Ellery as the waitress, Tamika, Darius’s teenage granddaughter, called them to their table.
Edie grabbed Ellery’s hand as they followed Tamika to the large rectangular table. Everyone shuffled in and grabbed a seat, and Gavin found himself across from Ellery, who was seated between Edie and Ridge. There was no menu on Sunday. There was only the church special. Barbeque, mac and cheese, collard greens cooked in bacon fat, and sweet tea.
Everyone talked at once as they leaned over each other or talked across the table. There were shouts of laughter, teasing, and stories told as Gavin watched Ellery. She relaxed into herself and soon was part of the family. Gavin felt like a fool, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. When she smiled he felt it all the way to his soul.
“Stop staring like a lovesick teenager,” Ryker whispered with an elbow to the ribs. Gavin grunted as Trent leaned over from his other side.
“But Ryker, he’s in love,” Trent said dramatically.
“I’m not in love,” Gavin hissed, but it even sounded false to his ears. While he may not be completely in love, there was no denying he was well on his way there. There was something about Ellery that seemed to draw him to her.
“Right,” Ryker said. It would have been accented with a roll of his eyes, but Ryker didn’t roll his eyes.
“You’re infatuated. You can’t stop looking at her. Not that I blame you. She’s beautiful, nice, fun to talk to.” Trent stopped and then grinned. “I mean, if you’re not into her, I’ll take her.”
“I already called dibs,” Ryker said.
Gavin snapped his head toward his cousins and glared. “The hell you both will.” Trent tossed back his head and laughed.
“Told you so.” Even Ryker grinned as he shook his head at Gavin. “Shoot me if I ever turn into a lovesick puppy.”
While his mind hadn’t wrapped itself around falling for Ellery, his heart was running toward love with all it had. The way it beat faster when she looked at him was only one of the hints he was falling for the last person he should—a woman who didn’t live in Shadows Landing, a woman who was wanted for murder, a woman with amnesia, a woman who might be his patient. Yeah, his mind knew this wasn’t a good idea, but it wasn’t only his heart telling him it was a good idea as he slid the napkin over his lap. He’d gotten more erections in the last two days than in the entire past year. And dammit, that meant Ryker was right. He was a lovesick teenager again.
“Gavin!”
“What?” He looked at Ridge who had snapped his name.
“You didn’t hear me the first five times I said your name. What were you thinking about?” Ridge asked with a mischievous smile that had Ryker and Trent snickering.
“Today.”
“That’s what we were just talking about. I was asking Ellery if you two were going to join us on the river.”
He looked at Ellery and saw the worry in the fine lines around her eyes and lips. “No. I think we’re going to take it easy. Ellery is still recuperating from her injury.”
She smiled her thanks at him and Gavin felt like a superhero. “I am getting tired. But how about you all stopping by afterwards for dinner? I make really good burgers.”
“I wish, but I have to get back to Charleston. Someone wants me to meet with society matrons,” Ryker said, winking at Ellery. “Rain check?”
“Absolutely. We could all get together on Friday,” Ellery said with a smile and Gavin felt it again—the way his heart constricted. She wasn’t rushing off to get home. She may not realize it, but she was making plans for the future.
“Friday is perfect,” Harper told them. “We can have dinner and then head over to the bar for a couple of drinks.”
“Shameless ploy to get us to spend money in order for you to make money,” Ridge teased as Harper stuck her tongue out at him.
“I was going to say they’re on the house, but not for you anymore,” Harper teased back.
The table laughed again as Harper and Ridge continued to tease each other. The food arrived, and Gavin found himself more relaxed and happier than he’d been in a long time. It was like he discovered a piece of him that had been missing when he hadn’t even known it was missing. He did now though.
* * *
They spent two hours at Pink Pig before they all headed out onto the sidewalk. Gavin slipped his arm around Ellery’s waist as if it belonged there. He held his breath for a moment until he realized she wasn’t going to move away and then the nerves turned to pride as he escorted her down the street to his car. “Thank you for coming with me today.”
“It was so much fun. I just adore your family.”
“Yeah, they’re pretty great. I’m sorry if you wanted to go boating.”
Ellery shook her head as Gavin started the short drive home. “No. Honestly, I was a little nervous to get on a boat. Somewhere in my head I think there’s a bad memory there.”
“It would explain how you ended up in the water.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” Ellery wrapped her arms around her chest and hugged herself as Gavin pulled into his garage and turned off the car. He hopped out and ran around to open her door as an SUV pulled into the driveway right behind him. It looked like the chauffeured SUV Ryker sometimes rode in.
Gavin had his arm around Ellery’s waist as they walked slowly to the edge of the garage. Another car pulled up on the other side of the street as two ladies from church got out of it. However, the huge man getting out of the SUV was not from church. He was dressed in a suit with black sunglasses covering part of his thick square face.
“Can I help you?” Gavin said, stepping protectively between the man and Ellery.
“I’m here to give Miss St. John a ride back to her family.”
“You must be mistaken. This is a friend of the family, Emma Johnson.”
The man moved forward quickly and Gavin held his ground. Ellery screamed. He heard the women shouting, but he couldn’t look because
the man had decided he would go through Gavin instead of around him.
“Get inside!” Gavin ordered as the large man shoved Gavin and pulled out what looked to be a gun. Ellery and Gavin froze. Gavin stepped slowly to the side to place his body in front of Ellery’s. “What do you want?”
“Miss St. John’s presence is required back in Charleston.”
“And I told you, you have the wrong person. I’ve known Emma most of my life. She’s from Kentucky, not Charleston.”
“You might be able to fool—” Thunk. A plate of cookies was thrown through the air like a Frisbee before hitting the man on the back of the head.
“You don’t be holding a gun on someone on Sunday!” Ruby Lewis yelled as she and Winnie Peel, the co-chairs of the church’s women’s league, raced across the street. Well, race wasn’t exactly the right word. Hobbled was probably better since they were around eighty years old and complete opposites in every way except for the hobbling.
Ruby was the exact picture of a sweet rounded grandmother who spent her afternoons baking treats for all the kids in the neighborhood. Her reddish brown skin was now wrinkled, but she always had a smile and a piece of candy stuck in her bra. And there was lots of room in her bra. She was all boobs, belly, and butt and every kid in Shadows Landing loved to get hugs from her because then they got a treat. Winnie on the other hand was just as sweet but in a more fragile way. Her pale skin resembled wrinkled paper, as she no longer went out in the sun much. She couldn’t weigh more than a hundred pounds and slightly resembled a chicken with her sagging skin around her neck and beak-like nose. She may be small, but she was mighty. She ran the church like a well-oiled machine, and no one second-guessed her.
“The Lord will strike you down, so help me God!” Miss Ruby declared as the bright blue feathers from her church hat bounced in her face as she charged toward them.
“Or I will, bless your heart. Don’t you know how rude that is? Don’t you have anything better to do? You need a job. That’s what you need, young man,” Miss Winnie lectured as the rim of her large hot pink floppy sunhat fell forward into her face. But that didn’t stop her, she just used her cane as a way to feel her way up the driveway.
Saving Shadows: Shadows Landing #1 Page 10
