Doing Sunday Service a Disservice

Frankie’s truck is loaded up with Antony, Tobias, and me.

I don’t know why this cowboy can’t stay the fuck away from me.

Thankfully he doesn’t speak, though—if he did, I wouldn’t hear, as I finally found my earbuds and I am happily listening to Calvin Harris’s ~Motion~ album until we stop outside the church.

I get out with as much enthusiasm as a child going to school after the summer holidays.

“At least look like you’re happy to be here, princess,” Tobias grunts as he walks closely behind me.

“I told you never to speak to me, and I’m not a princess. I don’t even believe in this shit, so I’ll look how I want.”

I hear him sigh from behind. “This is important to your uncle, so have a heart and do it for him.”

I turn to him. Damn, he looks cute in his Sunday best. His hair is shorter than I imagined under the cap that he never seems to remove.

“Fuck you,” I mouth before I turn back to walk in the same direction as everyone else.

When we head in, I try to lose Tobias, but he somehow winds up next to me. Maybe God has sent him to punish me while I’m here?

As the service starts, I can’t contain my yawns. It’s such a load of bull—having to sit through this should be seen as a form of torture. I will never understand how people can choose to be here.

I push one of my earbuds in, and to my delight I have 4G in here.

~Well, what do you know, maybe the church is the place to be after all!~

I smile to myself as I check all my socials. Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok—there’s so much I have missed. I see Tobias looking at me with disgust, but I ignore his side glances.

Ben, a guy I was seeing back in England, has sent me something, and I debate whether to open it while in church.

I find it too hard to resist, so I look at the woman to my left and check she’s not spying before pressing play.

Shit, it’s as I thought: a dick vid and pictures of him naked in the mirror showing off his amazing body.

I don’t condone dick anything or pictures of men’s bodies being sent, but I got to give it to the guy, he makes these pictures look good.

I grin as I read the comment below: “He’s missing you more than me!”

It’s a personal joke, and I laugh aloud without realizing. I see Tobias’s head turn toward me, and his gaze moves down to my phone as my hands fiddle to try and turn the illicit content off.

“Sorry, that was inappropriate,” I whisper to him as I smile with delight.

I like that I have wound him up; maybe that’s what my role will be. He will soon stop bothering me if I go out of my way to piss him off.

I finally lose Tobias when I head back out with Frankie. It takes forever to get out of there with everyone stopping Frankie as we leave. I sneak around the side to get my last fix of 4G before we head back to the dark ages.

“How was your first church experience?” Frankie asks as we climb into his truck.

“Oh, it was interesting.” I smile, thinking about the content Tobias caught a glimpse of on my phone. “But I thought you went there all the time,” I add.

He smiles at me. “Not since my Nora left us.”

The old dog made out it was a regular thing to him, until I heard some of the others saying they were glad to see him back. I’m pretty sure Nora left this place a good few years ago.

“What did she die of?” I ask, and I immediately regret my question when his smile turns to sadness. I can see his mind goes off somewhere for a few moments.

“It was a long road to the end. She had cancer. A horrible, horrible illness,” he says before starting the engine.

“Did you two never have kids?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “We had three pregnancies but all of them ended prematurely. It was God’s will.”

God’s will? I can hear the pain in his voice, and this is another reason I hate religion—this poor guy thinks he was never meant to be a father when really it was a medical issue that probably could have been rectified.

These people just accept what they have and call it “God’s will”—it annoys the fuck out of me. I leave it, though. He is obviously harboring some issues about it.

“Hey, Frankie, can I get a lift to Sara’s at some point? she texted me and said she’s in any time.”

He smiles. “I can take you there now if you like.”

“Thanks, that would be great.”

As we drive on, we start to get near to the town we had been to that first day. I recognize the garage we stopped at.

It’s much better down here—there are more houses and people, and when I check my phone, I have 4G again, which cheers me up more.

To my delight, Frankie stops outside a house that has others close by. Lucky Sara lives in such a populated area.

“Thanks for the ride,” I say to Frankie as I see Sara step out onto the front steps.

I head toward her house, and her welcome smile instantly puts me at ease.

“Come on in, my parents are out so we have the house.”

“Is Lee not around?” I ask as I am led into the lounge. It’s pleasant—old-fashioned but pleasant. The sofa is flowery and retro, and the dark-wood furniture makes the room seem smaller.

“Lee doesn’t live here—he lives with Nick. They live above the Arcade bar in town.”

“I think I passed that one. Is that where everyone goes to drink, then?” I ask.

“Sure is, there and the Water Hole—they are the only two honky-tonks outside of the big city.”

“By big city I assume you mean Nashville?”

“Yes. We need to take you down there, it’s about a thirty-five-minute drive without traffic.”

“I’ll be heading that way for uni soon—maybe I will live close to there.”

She shakes her head, confused. “But I thought you were living with Frankie for the next few years?”

I sigh. “I don’t think I’ll survive it—there’s no internet, and not to be rude, but his house is a shithole.”

Deep lines burrow into her forehead, and I assume she knows something I don’t.

“You see, before you were here no one saw Frankie.”

“What do you mean?”

“He had become a recluse, only going out when he absolutely had to. Since you’ve been here, he’s been to the dance, visited Antony, and attended church.”

“How did you know he had—”

“It’s a small town,” she smiles.

“Okay, so me being here is helping him?”

“We think it’s giving him purpose. When your auntie Nora passed away, he gave up. The Kinsley boys were all calling regularly to get him to shower and eat.”

“I never knew this.”

“Yeah, Toby would tell him he was working on jobs and have dinner with the old man most nights of the week.”

“Good old Tobias, hey!”

“What is it with you two, anyway? I think he really likes you.”

I shake my head. She couldn’t be further from the truth. “The guy can’t stand me.”

“Toby is quiet and deep. You might find he doesn’t show his feelings like other guys around here.”

“You seem to know him well.”

She shakes her head. “No one really knows Toby well, apart from his brothers.”

“I don’t intend to get to know him. So, tell me what else there is to do around these parts?”

“Apart from the cowboys, not much,” she laughs.

I think I will like this girl. We laugh a lot when we are together, and I feel like I can trust her.

“So, what are you up to this week?” she asks.

“Nothing, absolute jack shit,” I reply.

“Then why don’t you come out tonight with us? We go for drinks at the Water Hole. Head down with Tanner, and—”

“And Tobias?” I question.

“Well, we all do a lot of stuff together around here, it’s what keeps us sane. The old folk can be too much at times.”

“What about the older Kinsley, Travis?”

“He’s the next group up. He was a few years above us all in school, so he had a different group of friends. Plus, he was a family man from a young age. He’s been with Dawn since he was about fourteen.”

“They are all good-looking guys. What a waste, being stuck up on that ranch.”

“I know I keep blowing Toby’s trumpet, but he’s the driving force behind it all. Tanner, as you have probably already discovered, is a law unto himself. Travis’s focus is on his family, and when their mum died, Antony nearly lost everything. Toby works at the oil field and has been known to do sixteen-hour shifts, then head back to the ranch to pick up what is needed.”

“Okay, okay, so Tobias is some kind of amazing guy—why is he such an arse to me, though?”

“I think he’s scared of his feelings. He’s never been in a serious relationship. He’s a picky one, so if he likes you, he must see something special.”

~I don’t buy it. I still think he’s a dick!~