Page 58 of Not the Bodyguard's Widow
“I’d like to go if we can find one that isn’t too crowded.”
Andrew and Alan consulted the maps on their phones.
Kimberly turned enough to look at Alex. “It’s still Wednesday, right?”
Popping the last of his cone in his mouth, Alex nodded.
“There should be a Bible study at my old church tonight at seven. Can we go?”
“I don’t see why not. Will it look weird to have us with you?”
“Jax’s crew used to follow me. They’d stand by the wall and glare.”
“I’ll probably sit with you and participate. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to Bible study. Elle will too. Adam and Alan will be the more formal presence if needed, or they can blend in. Do you know what they are studying?”
Kimberly pulled up the search engine on her phone. “It should be on the website.”
“Do they have a building floor plan on there too?”
Kimberly handed him the phone and returned to finishing her cone.
Alex handed her phone to Adam to make the final decision.
“We’re good for Bible study.”
Kimberly laughed. “I’m glad to know you’ll be ‘good’ for it. I’d have to explain if you were bad.”
Alex laughed. The others joined in.
Soon they were back in the vehicle and headed for the beach. As the sun warmed Kimberly through the window, she knew she could survive this day too.
22
Paying moreattention to Kimberly than the Bible app on his phone, Alex missed it when they changed chapters. He scrambled to find the new verse before anyone could ask him to read. Two older women sized him up with disapproving glares.
The discussion leader finished with the chapter and closed her Bible. “I know we have all been eager to say something since Kimberly and her friends snuck in here late, but let me be the first to welcome you. And I am sorry about your mother.”
The women swarmed Kimberly with hugs and condolences. A few even touched her belly. The last of the strain drained out of Kimberly’s face as an elderly woman pressed a kiss to her cheek.
Alex stepped to one side, Elle to the other. Adam and Alex were somewhere else in the building, keeping watch.
A short, pink-haired woman in her seventies approached Alex. “Are you another one of those bodyguards or a boyfriend? You look like you could take down that no-good bodyguard who used to follow her to church. But when I see you looking at my little Kimberly... well, it gets me to wondering what your intentions are.”
“I’m a man who will protect Kimberly and her child with my life.” Alex hoped it was a satisfactory answer.
The woman stuck out a hand. “Gladys. Nice to meet you. Are you in town for the funeral?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good. Promise to keep her as far from her no-good father-in-law as you can. He and the media twisted Pastor Baxter’s words for the news report, making it sound like we doubted her when we were cheering her on. Some of us even called in false leads. I said I saw her get off a plane in Fairbanks.”
Alex smiled and wondered how the church-going woman had dealt with the lie.
Kimberly exchanged greetings with a woman about her age in pink scrubs. Alex couldn’t hear what was being said but as concerned faces relaxed, he did too. Elle moved closer to the door—a better position to watch the entire room.
Gladys spoke loudly to a woman near her age. “Boyfriend. Lynda, see how he can’t keep his eyes off her? Wonder if he can stay for some of your lemon bars.”
“I can.” Alex made a show of looking around the room for the treats.
