Riverbend Reunion(86)

“That’s the way I feel, too.” He tipped her chin up and brushed a sweet kiss across her lips.

If she didn’t take a step back, the only work that would get done that day would be in her bedroom with the door closed and locked. With a sigh, she moved away from him and said, “The bull and the sign for outside will be here by noon, but I can sure feel Danny smiling down on us. If he was here, he’d be the first one on the bull.”

“What was that sigh all about?” Wade asked.

“I wanted more than a kiss,” she said honestly.

“Me too, but that’s a big step that we shouldn’t take lightly,” Wade said. “Speaking of Danny riding the bull, he would probably insist on being the first one to plug quarters into the jukebox, too.”

“That was a quick change of subject,” Jessica said.

“Yep, because, darlin’, I’ve wanted more than a few kisses for a long time now.” He nodded.

“I’m ready for that next step anytime you are,” she said.

“Oh, honey, just name the time and place,” he told her.

“We’ll talk about that later tonight,” she said with a smile. “Now back to the bull and jukebox. I’ve promised Daisy she could do that since Lily gets to ride the bull first.”

She could still feel his breath on the soft spot below her ear, and just thinking about it sent waves of warmth through her whole body.

“Hey, where is everyone?” Oscar yelled. “I could use a hand.”

He rolled in two long pews stacked precariously on top of a wheelbarrow. “I found these hiding behind a bunch of empty boxes at the back of the barn. What do y’all think of putting them against the far wall for folks to sit on between dances?”

The pews didn’t look quite as long as the ones that they’d torn apart. “I wonder what those were used for,” Jessica said.

“Probably they were deacon’s benches,” Wade suggested.

“I guess the sanctuary might not have quite lost its halo and wings after all, but I’ve got a better idea,” Jessica said. “Roll them right back outside, and let’s put them on the porch. That way the customers will have a place to sit when they go outside for a breath of fresh air.”

“Now why didn’t I think of that? One on each side of the door, right?” Oscar asked.

Wade stepped over to lend a hand and steady the pews while Oscar eased the wheelbarrow across the foyer and back outside.

Jessica followed, stepped off the porch, and kept walking out into the middle of the parking lot, where she eyeballed the two shorter benches when they took them off the wheelbarrow. “Hey, what if we have Zach paint Danny’s Place on the back of the pews? Maybe if we remind folks enough, they’ll begin to call this place by its rightful name instead of calling it the old church bar.”

“I like that a lot,” Wade said and then pointed to a truck coming their way, kicking up a cloud of dust behind it. “There’s our outside sign now. You can tell him what you want painted on the pews. He’ll probably want to take them back to his shop. There’s no way the paint could dry out here without getting dirt in it.”

“What’s going on?” Mary Nell asked, coming out of the building. “Oh, the sign has arrived!” She sat down on one of the pews. “Where did these come from? I thought we’d torn all the pews apart.”

“I found them in the barn,” Oscar said.

“Well, it’s a good place to use them,” Mary Nell said. “Folks will have a place to sit if they’ve come out for a breath of fresh air or to smoke. You might want to put up a couple of those things to throw cigarette butts in, at the end of the pews.”

Before anyone else could say a word, Risa’s old truck came to a halt in front of the porch, and the twins beat her and Haley out into the parking lot. All four of them grabbed bulging grocery bags from the truck bed and hurried inside.

“Don’t let him start putting it up without us,” Lily yelled.

“We want to watch it,” Daisy said as she brought up the rear. “And where did you find those things?” She nodded toward the pews.

“Hiding in the barn,” Oscar repeated with pride.

Zach, the sign guy, as Oscar referred to him, hopped out of his flatbed truck and waved. “Y’all ready for this?”

“You bet we are,” Wade said. “Can I help you?”

“I never turn down help,” Zach answered. “I plan to use the two supporting poles that are already in place. They’re metal and set in concrete, so the first thing I’ll do is take this old one down. Then I can sure use an extra set of hands to keep this new one steady on the jack until I can get it bolted down solid.”

Wade laid a hand on Jessica’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “You and the girls decide what kind of lettering you want on the pews while I do this little job. Things are sure working out for us, aren’t they?”

“Seems like it.” Jessica sat down on the end of one of the pews.

“Decide what?” Lily and the rest of the team joined them on the porch.

“We’re thinking of having our logo put across the backs of these pews and leaving them out here on the porch.” She waved a hand to take in both benches. “We need to decide what kind of lettering we want, so Zach can get busy on them.”