paused and zeroed in on a framed diploma hanging on the far wall. “Wow. Massachusetts? I’m impressed. You actually graduated from a seminary there?”
“Yes.” James joined her, his hands stuffed nonchalantly into the pockets of his jeans. “I wasn’t raised in the church like a lot of people are. When I finally gave my life to the Lord I wanted to do it right, so I decided to go to school to learn about the Bible. One thing led to another and here I am.”
“Amazing.” Lillie read aloud from the certificate. “James Robert Warner.”
“That’s me.” To his consternation, she began to giggle. “What’s so funny?”
“You really don’t know?” Chuckling, Lillie turned to face him. A wide grin split her face and made her blue eyes sparkle with delight.
“Know what?” Of all the reactions he’d had to his higher education, hers was the strangest. He couldn’t imagine that she disapproved, yet she certainly wasn’t taking his hard-won ordination seriously.
“You’ve missed a great opportunity here,” she said, obviously struggling to keep from breaking up as she spoke.
“I have?”
“Yes. You shouldn’t go by Brother James or Brother Warner.”
“I shouldn’t?”
“No.” A chortle shook her shoulders and roused the kitten, so she absently scratched it behind the ears. “This may not be Georgia or Louisiana but it’s still the South,” she said. “If you really want to fit in around here you have to start calling yourself Brother Jim Bob!”
His eyebrow arched. “That’s a joke, right?”
“Yes. And no. In case you haven’t noticed, most of us have two first names.”
“Like Darla Sue?” He paused, smiling. “So, what’s your other name?”
“Just Lillie.”
“Oh, no, you don’t. You started this. Come on. If you don’t fess up I’ll keep asking around until somebody tells me. What’s your middle name, Miss Lillie?”
She pulled a face. “I forget.”
He crossed his arms and shook his head. “Uh-uh. Not good enough. Shall I guess? Sue? Lynn? Mary?”
“Much worse than that,” she said with resignation. “My mother was a flower lover. She couldn’t decide which of four names to use so she tagged me with all of them. I’m officially Lillie Rose Iris Daisy Delaney.”
Grinning, James was incredulous. “You have to be joking.”
She snorted derisively. “I wish I was. You’d be doing me a big favor if you didn’t use any of them. Okay?”
“Okay. As long as you don’t start calling me Jim Bob and inspire everybody else to do it, too.”
She stuck out her hand. “Deal.”
As James took it to shake on their agreement, he was struck by how soft her skin was, how lovely she looked with those loose flower petals dusting her silky light brown hair.
He quickly pulled away. The last thing he intended to let himself do was admire another woman. He’d been married once and had experienced the agony of his wife’s disloyalty and their subsequent divorce. When she had died unexpectedly, he had still grieved, yet his mind was made up. Never again would he trust like that, love like that. It had hurt too much.
Besides, he reminded himself, he had work to do for the Lord. That was all he needed or wanted. His congregation was the only family he required and his life was already complete. Period.
Looking at Lillie and seeing her guileless smile, he wondered why, for the first time in years, he was tempted to question that sensible conclusion.
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