Mayor of Macon's Point by Inglath Cooper

Author:Inglath Cooper
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-09-18T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE at Macon’s Point First Baptist began at eleven. It was the only church Annie had ever been to where there was actually standing room only at quarter till. The church, with its wonderful old stained-glass windows, was some hundred and fifty years old and sat smack in the center of town. It had been one of the first buildings erected by the area’s early citizens, and the town, as it was to become, grew outward from here.

“Mama, where’s Aunt Clarice?” Tommy looked up from the bulletin he’d been folding into a fan.

“She must be running a little late this morning.”

No sooner had Annie said the words than Clarice appeared beside them, breathless but smiling. “Hey,” she said, voice lowered. “Can I climb over?”

“Sure,” Annie said, letting her sister squeeze by to sit on the other side of Tommy.

Clarice gave him a smooch on the forehead. “What’s up, scooter?”

Tommy smiled and said, “Nothing, Aunt Clarice.”

“Nothing? Goodness, that’s boring.”

Annie smiled at their teasing.

Clarice’s eyes suddenly went wide.

“What?” Annie said.

“He’s here!”

Annie turned to follow her sister’s surprised gaze. On the other side of the aisle was Jack Corbin sitting next to Essie Poindexter. No sooner had Annie spotted him than he looked up, catching the two of them staring. Heat torched Annie’s face. She gave a quick wave and as impersonal a smile as she could muster.

“Oh, my heart, Annie,” Clarice stage-whispered. “He’s wearing a suit! Does he look good in that or what?”

“I’m wearing a suit, Aunt Clarice,” Tommy chimed in.

“You certainly are, Mr. Handsome,” she said.

Tommy grinned, old enough to appreciate his aunt’s adoration.

Annie reached for a hymnal and turned to the first song listed on the board to the right of the pulpit, trying not to look as flustered as she felt. She had not expected to see Jack here this morning. Her insides felt as if they’d suffered a small earthquake, and her hands shook a little where they gripped the songbook.

Annie...

The self-chiding might be deserved, but the truth was her reaction to Jack Corbin was not something she had any control over. She couldn’t obliterate its existence altogether, but she could ignore it. Which she pointedly set out to do.

The choir director stepped up to the podium and raised a hand for everyone to stand. The piano and organ struck up with one of Annie’s favorites, “Just as I Am,” and she turned her focus to the song’s poignant strains.

Was it her imagination, or did she feel Jack’s gaze from across the aisle? And why was it that among all the others in the congregation, she singled out his voice following the music, rich and deep?

* * *

ANNIE AND TOMMY pulled into the parking lot of Kinley’s Grocery just before one that afternoon. After the service, Clarice had hung back to say hello to Jack and tell him she was looking forward to tonight. Annie had said she and Tommy were going on so they could make a quick stop at the Dairy Queen to get some lunch.

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