Chapter 19

The four of us went into the sanctuary for the only adult Sunday school class in the little church. My friend, Greg, the police chief, taught the class. His Bible study was always good. He explained the verses and how they related to our everyday life. As he finished, Greg said, "I would like for Bill to address two issues. The first is to introduce Eve to us again along with the other beautiful lady who seems to be attached to Todd. Second, I would like to hear his thoughts about Horace."

I stood pulling Eve beside me. I said, "It is my distinct pleasure to again introduce Eve Baylor to you all. She was with me in church last Sunday and I have managed not to scare her off yet. She did bring help in the form of Joan Tatum who is sitting between her and Todd.

"Second is Hurricane Horace. I looked this morning and it appears to be growing in strength and coming due north toward us. I'm no expert but my best guess is that we are in for a very serious event. It's been many years since a category five hurricane has hit this area. Take the warnings seriously. We should know more Monday morning. If you have places to go to get away, I would suggest that you fasten every thing down and get out of here. My place is only ninety miles from the coast and most of you live south of me. It could be bad."

I sat back down. Greg said, "It's good to see two gorgeous ladies here and I hope they return. I'm not surprised by Bill's statement about Horace. That seems to be the direction that the official word is headed. Let's pray." Greg prayed and we were dismissed. Eve and Joan were mobbed!

Greg walked over to where Todd and I were standing. He said, "Those are two gorgeous ladies, gentlemen." We nodded in agreement. He continued. "Eve would like you to be by her side, Bill. You're the reason she's here. Todd, for you, it's not yet as completely defined but you should dive in. She seems to really like you already." We stood there until he said, "Go!"

I walked up to Eve just as Todd came up to Joan from the other direction. Eve put her arms around my neck and kissed me hard. "I wanted you here so I could do that." She smiled happily. A few of the other women grinned. There were a few guys hanging in the back who looked envious.

I looked over at Joan and Todd. Todd had a lip-shaped spot on his cheek that matched Joan's lipstick. She had her arms around his arm and her head leaning on his shoulder. She was smiling. Todd looked stunned but happy.

At that moment, the pianist began to play and people moved to take their seats for the main service. We moved back to our seats with the ladies in the middle.

At the proper time in the service, Todd and I each introduced our ladies. He went first and there was a murmur. When I introduced Eve, the murmur grew louder. For one, people had figured out who she was and, second, the was the second Sunday in a row for her to be here by my side.

Everything went well and it was a good sermon. After the benediction, we slowly made our way to the door and outside. Everyone wanted to talk to us, well, to Eve. My pastor said, "Miss Baylor, thank you for coming with Bill. I hope you bring him back often."

She looked him in the eye and said, 'I plan to be at Bill's side most of the time for the next fifty or sixty years." She grinned at me. "He'll just have to suffer with my constant presence." She laughed and I chuckled. Persons around us gave us a group "wow!" at that bit of news.

We finally made it to the car after Eve made it a point to speak with Martha again. I drove us home. We went inside to change into more comfortable clothing. For me, that mean losing my coat and tie. I went into the bedroom to do that and watched as Eve changed clothes. We kissed some before heading back to the living room. I noticed that we weren't the only couple a bit flushed!

Before I could say anything about lunch, Joan said, "Eve, did you know that Todd is only a year older than I?"

Eve answered, "No. is that important?" She grinned.

Joan said, "Only because 'one' of the reasons Bill gave for choosing you over me was the age difference."

Eve grinned. "I hope that he gave another reason first."

"He did but you will have to talk to him about it." Neither of the ladies were wearing skirts now.

Eve pushed me down into a big easy chair and then slithered onto my lap. She grinned at me. "What reason did you give first?"

I said, "I told her that my heart was subject to a prior claim."

She grinned some more. "Who? Angela? Joanne? Someone who lives in this area?"

I just kissed her. That got involved and we were panting when we came up for air. "Good answer," she said.

I said, "Does anyone want some lunch?"

Eve said sultrily. "You're on my menu."

Todd said, "We can go to Michael's or somewhere else."

I nodded. "I can cook hamburgers on the grill but there isn't much to go with them."

Eve said, "That's not important. I just want to curl up in your lap. We can worry more about supper."

I said, "Okay. We'll have some hamburgers for lunch. Tomorrow, grocery shopping is a necessity. I'm low on food and my cupboard is pretty bare right now. That's not good with a storm coming. I need to check the storm cellar, too. Eve, I worry about this one. I noticed the clouds are coming up from the south to indicate that it's coming this way."

Eve said, "Show me." She stood and pulled me up. We all went outside and looked south. To get a really good sight distance, we had to walk out a ways from the house. When we did, we could see the clouds gathering in the far distance.

Eve asked, "Bill, the hurricane's still far away isn't it?"

"Yes, but a powerful hurricane will push bands of rain hundreds of miles from its center. That is what we are seeing. If we go inside, we will find that rain is in the forecast. It won't lighten up unless Horace veers away from us."

Todd said, "Bill, you think this one is coming to us?"

"Yes, the conditions suggest that. I haven't seen any projection that would turn it. Worse are the projections for it to intensify. Remember, Katrina was 'only' a three and Horace's already a three expected to be for a four by now."

I fired up the grill and brought out hamburger patties with buns. I also had chips and pickles. It wasn't much but we had enough. I told them that we would go out for supper.

We enjoyed the afternoon sitting outside. The clouds kept it from being too hot outside. I have a patio with comfortable seating. It was the middle of the afternoon when we went inside. The ladies wanted to change clothes to go out. It was very humid.

I wanted to look at weather on the computer. Horace was coming. It was now a four and, it looked to me, would arrive no later than Tuesday. That meant that we would be seeing serious rain tomorrow. Eve came into the radio room wearing a band of cloth across her hips that extended to cover some of her breasts! She said, "Do you like this dress?" She turned her back to me and bent at the waist. She was on display! She turned back around after straightening up.

I put my hand over my heart and pretended to gasp. "That's a dress? Wow! That is very hot! Be still my heart."

She chuckled. "I had hoped to stimulate you a bit lower." I put my hand on my stomach. She shook her head. I dropped it a little to my gut. She shook her head again, grinning. I dropped my hand to my knee. She said, "I can tell I have had the desired effect on you. What are you going to do about feeding us?"

I said, "The choices are not many for Sunday supper. We will probably have to ride half an hour or so in some direction. Brantley and Luverne neither one have much in the way of places for Sunday supper."

"I don't care where we go. I just want to be with you."

I smiled at her. "That's the idea. We'll see what ideas Todd may have." I stood and we went into the living room.

Joan and Todd were there and Todd was staring at Joan who was also wearing a very short dress. I smiled. "Todd, we ought to take these beautiful ladies out somewhere. Do you have any ideas for Sunday supper?"