“You can’t be that bad.” Brooke’s voice lowered with innuendo.
As Cash’s hand paused halfway to his mouth, Rachel’s stomach churned at his recognition of Brooke’s interest in him.
“My wife has a true calling to get new members into our church.” The pastor patted his wife’s hand affectionately.
Seriously? Surely the pastor couldn’t be as dense as he seemed not to recognize his wife was coming on to Cash in front of him. The woman had unfortunately underestimated Mag, however.
“She’s calling for something that’s going to get her an ass-whooping if she doesn’t stop.”
Rachel’s mouth dropped open at her sarcastic remark, and Cash broke into laughter.
“What she means, Pastor, is that people around here take church seriously, and I happen to be one of Treepoint’s citizens who isn’t very well liked,” Cash tried to explain his grandmother’s lack of manners. Rachel, personally, thought Mag was the only one in town who had the nerve to call Brooke out.
“‘We’re all God’s children in the search for salvation,’” Pastor Merrick quoted.
“Some need salvation more than others,” Mag agreed.
Rachel wanted to slide under the table, praying Brooke would be wise enough not to set Mag off again. Luckily, Cash changed the subject to fishing, which was one of the pastor’s favorite topics. Rachel was able to relax until the Pattersons rose to leave.
At the door, Cash shook the pastor’s hand as he went out.
“It was nice meeting you, Cash.” Brooke waited until her husband stepped out the door, blatantly ignoring the two women also by the door, taking Cash’s hand in hers. “If you need any help getting caught up in your Bible studies, give me a call.” She then released his hand, following her husband out the door.
Rachel had to grab onto the handlebars of Mag’s wheelchair to hold her back.
“Let my chair go, Rachel. That good man needs to know what kind of woman he’s married to.”
Cash quickly closed the door, standing in front of it with his arms crossed in front of his chest. “Calm down, Mag. You’ll give yourself another stroke.”
“That’s okay. The good Lord will reward me for shining a light on that bitch’s behavior. No Christian woman would behave like that.”
Rachel rolled Mag into the living room before getting her some tea. It took several minutes for the old woman to calm down. She sat down next to her until the anger passed and Mag decided to go take a nap.
“Don’t forget to pray,” Cash said as she rolled herself out of the room. Mag turned to face him, pointing a long, bony finger at him.
“You stay away from that skinny bitch; she’s trouble. That God-fearing man has no idea what he got himself tied to.”
“I’ll stay away,” Cash said solemnly with twinkling eyes.
Rachel had learned that Cash liked to rile his grandmother and couldn’t help her own lips twitching in amusement at Mag’s anger.
“You should be ashamed of yourself. If she had a stroke, it would be your fault,” Rachel accused as soon as Mag left.
Cash leaned back against the couch, putting his booted feet up onto the coffee table. “I couldn’t help it. When she gets like that, it reminds me of when she was younger and she was like that all the time. I’ll never forget when two drunks got in a fight in her back room on moonshine. She broke them up by beating them half to death with a mop handle. Even drunk, they didn’t want to hit a woman, and she took advantage of it. She’s got a mean streak a mile wide. Don’t let her fool you.”
“I won’t. I remember her before she had her stroke, too. My brothers are scared to death of her. They broke her window out one time when Dad took them to her house, and she wore them out with a switch. They never went with Dad again; they were too scared of her.”
Cash laughed until he couldn’t breathe at the idea of his grandmother spanking Rachel’s brothers. Mag had been the biggest bootlegger in the county for decades until the county went wet. Shortly thereafter, she’d had a stroke. She had barely survived, only to be left in a wheelchair, but her fighting spirit had accepted it and had adjusted.
Rachel went into the kitchen and began cleaning up the table, washing the dishes before putting them away. Cash watched television as she worked, aware she was trying to ignore him, but occasionally, he felt her eyes on him.
“You done?” he asked when he saw her put the last dish away.
“Yes.”
“You want to go for a ride on my bike?” He saw the refusal on her face. “You scared to ride with me since I wrecked?”
“No, everyone in town knows that the wreck wasn’t your fault. The driver crossed the center lane. Knox said anyone else less experienced would have died on impact.”
Cash shrugged. “Been in a couple of them. That one was the worst.”
“Why do you keep riding, then?” She came farther into the room, taking a seat in one of the chairs.
“Because there’s nothing else like it on earth. It gets in your blood; the freedom of movement, how it feels when you ride it. It’s hard to explain. Go for a ride with me and you’ll see,” Cash prodded.
“All right. Do I need to get changed?”
“No, your jeans are fine. Grab a jacket, though.”
Before she could change her mind, he led her outside to his bike. Handing her his helmet, he climbed on.
“What about you?”
“Woman, you trying to insult me? I usually don’t ride with one. The only reason it’s on my bike was because I was hoping you would take a ride with me.” He saw it was the wrong thing to say. She was about to change her mind. “Get on, Rachel. We won’t be gone long,” he lied. He planned to keep her out as long as he could.
Gingerly, she climbed on his bike. As soon as she wrapped her arms around him, he turned on the motor, going slow until he felt her begin to relax. They rode through the mountain roads. It was still winter, and the massive pine trees hung over the road creating a canopy, shading them from the bright sun.
He drove until he came to his old homestead, pulling in to stop by the fire pit.
“Come on; I want to show you something.” Cash got off the bike, holding out his hand to help her off.
Rachel climbed off, removing the helmet. The trail was opposite the one she took to her parents’ graves, winding deep into the woods. Both of them walked steadily until they reached a small stream.
“It’s beautiful.”
“It was my grandfather’s favorite place to fish.” Cash squatted down to pick up a small stone before tossing it across the water.
“You’re pretty good at that.”
“He taught me, like he did most everything.” Cash’s voice wasn’t bitter, merely matter of fact. He had made peace with his lack of a relationship with his father years ago.
“Your father and you didn’t get along?” Her tentative question brought a wry smile to his lips.
“No, I couldn’t understand a grown man standing back and watching what went on in that church while he called himself a Christian.”
She didn’t question what he was talking about. She had attended the same church he had. Her parents had left the church, she returned only when Dean had taken over as Pastor.
“Mag quit going, your parents stopped attending. Only the self-righteous idiots like my parents kept going.”
Rachel reached out, touching his arm. “You stopped it, Cash.”
“I didn’t stop any
thing. I left town and sent someone in to do what I didn’t.”
“But your conscious didn’t let you forget. Ultimately, you showed your Christianity more than they ever did.”
“I’m no Christian; I’ve committed every sin in the Bible and then some.” Cash looked at her and wanted to lower her to the grassy bank and show her exactly how pleasurable sinning could be. However, being here had brought back bad memories of his mother’s and father’s disapproval of Mag’s life.
They had cut her out of their lives and had attempted to cut him out of it. He had learned early to use the mountains to run to his grandmother and grandfather, despite their attempts to keep him away.
“Let’s go.” He walked away, forcing himself to slow so she could keep up.
As soon as she got on the bike behind him, he drove back onto the road and headed to where he knew he could find the answers he needed.
He drove until he came to the turnoff to the lake. Slowing down, he turned into the spot where The Last Riders often went swimming. Some of them were there now. The January weather was cool, but for the last couple of days, the weather had been unseasonably warm. A large cooler was placed on the picnic table and several of the members were enjoying their Saturday off from work.
When he turned the bike off, he felt Rachel stiffen at his back.
“What are you doing? I don’t want to stay.”
“Come on, Rachel; I’m thirsty. One drink, and then we’ll leave if you want to.”
He felt her hesitation before she climbed off the bike. They walked to the picnic table where Stori, Raci, and Jewell were sitting while Nickel, Train, and a couple of the other brothers were lying on a blanket with Ember.
Cash pulled a cold beer out of the cooler. “Get a drink. There’s different ones inside.”
As Rachel opened the cooler and pulled out a bottled water, Cash sat down at the picnic table and began talking to Nickel.