Drop Dead Sexy

Ezra Chester held his tent revivals about forty-five minutes from Taylorsville. After getting off the interstate, we spent most of the drive on two-lane roads. It was fifteen minutes after we left the nearest town and any semblance of civilization that we came to our turn. Catcher grimaced the moment the gravel on the road started kicking up on the sides of his car, which I had been right in guessing was a convertible. It was a fire-engine red Mustang.

The road ended at what appeared to be some abandoned fairgrounds. There were so many people in attendance that the cars overflowed onto grass lot and were parked along the roadside. In the middle of the field, two giant tents had been erected. “Looks like quite the crowd,” Catcher noted.

I unbuckled my seatbelt. “Yeah, well, Patricia did say he had a big following.”

“My question would be how the hell does a guy like this get a following, least of all a big one? I mean, this doesn’t impress me as the type of thing you advertise in the newspapers or on Facebook. And I didn’t see any billboards on the way.”

Catcher was right. The only advertisement of any kind had been the small signs that said Tent Revival Ahead. “I guess word of mouth,” I replied, as I shut the door.

After coming around the side of the car, Catcher took my hand in his, which of course made me all goofy feeling, and we started walking down the road. We then cut through the high grass in the field.

Once we reached the tent, we found the rows of metal chairs had been filled, and it was standing room only. At the right side of the tent, a few musicians armed with banjos, guitars, and a fiddle were playing a hymn. In front of them was a small, wooden floor with a microphone stand in the center. Two middle-aged men in black suits with salt and pepper hair stood on the stage, surveying the people coming in. From time to time, the tallest one would throw up a hand in greeting and smile. Sometimes he would nod.

“I guess that’s Ezra and Zeke Chester,” I said to Catcher.

“It would seem so. With the tall one being Ezra. He seems to have that evangelist vibe about him.”

I laughed at Catcher’s description. A few minutes passed before Ezra walked over to the microphone stand. The buzz of conversation from the crowd began to die down. “Good evening, folks. It sure does my heart good to see so many of you have come out tonight. I hope each and every one of you gets an amazing blessing. First thing, I want us to get the service started by singing a song.” He turned back to the musicians. “Boys, let’s sing I Saw the Light.”

The guitar, fiddle, and piano struck up an upbeat tune. Almost simultaneously, people in the crowd started clapping and stomping their feet in time with the beat. “I wandered so aimless life filled with sin.”

I jerked my gaze from peering at the front of the tent to stare wide-eyed and open-mouthed at Catcher.

He turned to me and grinned. “What?”

“You’re singing.”

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

“You’re good.”

He winked. “Why, thank you. I excel at many things both inside and out of the bedroom.”

After rolling my eyes, I questioned, “So how is it someone like you knows the words to this song?”

Catcher swept a hand to his chest in feigned indignation. “Are you insinuating that I’m not a spiritual person?”

“Maybe.”

“I’ll have you know when I was growing up, I was in church every time the door opened.”

“Really?”

Catcher nodded. “And Bible school every summer.”

“I’m impressed. What denomination?”

He quirked a brow at me. “Guess.”

“Hmm, Baptist?”

“Close. Both my daddy and mama’s families were sprinklers.”

I laughed. “Ah, Methodist.”

“Yup. What about you?”

“I’m a dunking Baptist.”

“I would have probably guessed that.”

“Do I have a Baptist look about me?”

“Not exactly. It’s more about the fact you grew up in a small town in the Bible Belt. I’m sure Taylorsville doesn’t boast many non-Protestant denominations.”

“You’d be right.”

The song came to an end, and Ezra once again took the microphone. “Once again, I just wanna thank everyone for comin’ out tonight. It sure does my heart good to see so many God-fearing people with the desire to hear the preached word and to feel the Holy Spirit.”

I jumped when the man beside me thrust his arm into the air and shouted, “Amen, brother!”

Ezra smiled at the man. “The Lord tells us not to have fear. It is because of my faith that I fear nothing. To illustrate to you how I’m truly under the protection of our Father, I will physically take up serpents.”