Drop Dead Sexy(44)

“I guess that’s Ezra and Zeke Chester,” I said to Catcher.

“It would seem so. With the tall one being Ezra. He seems to have that evangelist vibe about him.”

I laughed at Catcher’s description. A few minutes passed before Ezra walked over to the microphone stand. The buzz of conversation from the crowd began to die down. “Good evening, folks. It sure does my heart good to see so many of you have come out tonight. I hope each and every one of you gets an amazing blessing. First thing, I want us to get the service started by singing a song.” He turned back to the musicians. “Boys, let’s sing I Saw the Light.”

The guitar, fiddle, and piano struck up an upbeat tune. Almost simultaneously, people in the crowd started clapping and stomping their feet in time with the beat. “I wandered so aimless life filled with sin.”

I jerked my gaze from peering at the front of the tent to stare wide-eyed and open-mouthed at Catcher.

He turned to me and grinned. “What?”

“You’re singing.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“You’re good.”

He winked. “Why, thank you. I excel at many things both inside and out of the bedroom.”

After rolling my eyes, I questioned, “So how is it someone like you knows the words to this song?”

Catcher swept a hand to his chest in feigned indignation. “Are you insinuating that I’m not a spiritual person?”

“Maybe.”

“I’ll have you know when I was growing up, I was in church every time the door opened.”

“Really?”

Catcher nodded. “And Bible school every summer.”

“I’m impressed. What denomination?”

He quirked a brow at me. “Guess.”

“Hmm, Baptist?”

“Close. Both my daddy and mama’s families were sprinklers.”

I laughed. “Ah, Methodist.”

“Yup. What about you?”

“I’m a dunking Baptist.”

“I would have probably guessed that.”

“Do I have a Baptist look about me?”

“Not exactly. It’s more about the fact you grew up in a small town in the Bible Belt. I’m sure Taylorsville doesn’t boast many non-Protestant denominations.”

“You’d be right.”

The song came to an end, and Ezra once again took the microphone. “Once again, I just wanna thank everyone for comin’ out tonight. It sure does my heart good to see so many God-fearing people with the desire to hear the preached word and to feel the Holy Spirit.”

I jumped when the man beside me thrust his arm into the air and shouted, “Amen, brother!”

Ezra smiled at the man. “The Lord tells us not to have fear. It is because of my faith that I fear nothing. To illustrate to you how I’m truly under the protection of our Father, I will physically take up serpents.”

It wasn’t until that moment I noticed a box sitting at foot of the altar. I held my breath when Ezra threw back the cover. Then the air was filled with the distinctive clicking sound of rattlesnakes. “Oh my God, he’s a snake handler!”

Snake-handling churches were something of a legend in the Southern backwoods. Since you mainly heard whispers about them, you started to even doubt their existence. The crux of the church doctrine being that people handled poisonous snakes to allegedly prove their faith. They took Mark 16:18 about “taking up serpents” a little too literally. If you held the snake and didn’t get bitten, you got an A + for being faithful. If you did get bitten, you would get a big ol’ F, and most likely you’d be hospitalized or die for your blatant lack of faith. Snake-handling churches were illegal in Georgia, and they had all but disappeared from sight. I had no idea any were still in operation.

Zeke paled slightly “I don’t think you should tonight.”

Ezra shook his head. “But where is your faith, brother?”

“It is with you as always. It’s just I believe we should devote all our time tonight to the salvation of lost souls.”

As Ezra started toward the box, Catcher leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Get ready. Shit’s about to get real.”

I shoved him away and shot him a disapproving look. “Don’t curse in the house of the Lord.”

“This is a tent, Liv.”

“Same thing.”

I couldn’t argue with Catcher anymore. Instead, I was riveted by what was going on with Ezra and the snakes. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ezra shoved his hand inside the rattling box. He whirled around to the crowd and thrust two snakes into the air.

“Oh, hell no,” Catcher murmured under his breath. This time I didn’t bother chastising him since he was echoing my particular sentiment.

The musicians struck up a fast-paced hymn, and Ezra danced around, swinging the snakes around in sync with the music. At the same time, his brother wrung his hands and wore a petrified expression.

Leaning over to Catcher, I said, “What’s up with Zeke?”

“You mean is the fact he looks like he’s about to shit himself with fear part of the show? Like to amp up Ezra’s level of faith?”

“Exactly.”

“If it is, he should win an Oscar for his performance. The dude is actually breaking out in a sweat.”