Chapter 3
“Phew! Thank goodness that’s over!” Maggie Marshwood heaved a sigh of relief as she took off her smock and hung it up. “Those things feel like they weigh a ton, and they’re really hot.”
“You shouldn’t complain, Maggie,” Diane said as she stripped off her garment. “You did agree to sing in the choir, after all.”
“It was either that or teaching Sunday school, and it seemed like the lesser of two evils!” Maggie went to the mirror in the corner of the room and checked her hair, tugging pins out and letting it fall in long brown tendrils down her back.
“I have to keep in good stead with my parents for now if I want them to fund my degree. That doesn’t mean I have to enjoy it.”
“Even though you’re good at it?”
“You know me, Diane. You’re aware that I don’t like singing. But I hate teaching more.”
Diane didn’t respond to that. Maggie had been disillusioned with their faith for some time now.
Whether it was because she had gone to a non-secular college instead and was trying out new things, or just because she was getting older, Diane didn’t know. This was still her best friend. Although hearing her talk like she didn’t really care about how they were raised was a little concerning.
Mostly because you’ve had the thoughts in your head yourself.
Shut up!
“By the way, did you see the hunk in the congregation?” Maggie asked as she pulled more pins out, popping them into a plastic tub in her hand.
“What?” Diane frowned. “What do you mean by hunk?”
“The guy at the back. The one who could be Chris Hemsworth’s double,” Maggie sighed, “I almost swooned when I saw him. He’s gorgeous.”
Diane rolled her eyes.
“I think you’ve been reading too many Mills and Boon again. That’s going to get you into trouble one of these days.”
“It’s just escapism, Diane. It doesn’t mean I’m going to follow what books write about,” Maggie winked, “although I wouldn’t mind if that guy swept me off my feet.”
“He’s not a member of the congregation, Maggie. He just came for the funeral.”
“How do you know?”
Diane put her smock on the hanger and put it up on the rack.
“I practically ran into him earlier. From the way he talks and behaves, he’s certainly not a member of this church. Not someone you should be associating with.”
Maggie arched an eyebrow.
“I think being around your father and his rigid ideas has turned you into a robot, Diane.”
“Not at all. I know when to stay in my lane.”
“There’s nothing wrong with going over the lines now and then. And you are allowed to admire someone as hunky as him,” Maggie took out the final pin and shook out her hair, “Pastor Gilbert can’t force you into a little box and expect you to stay inside all the time.
You’ve got eyes, and you’re allowed to have opinions on people that would make others blush.”
Diane smiled.
“Is that what it’s like inside your mind, Maggie?”
“I’ve got to keep myself occupied somehow.”
There were times when Diane wondered how she and Maggie were still friends, especially since Maggie went off to college and started to change. Hopefully, it was just a case of growing up and nothing more.
Even so, Maggie’s words did strike a chord in her. Maybe she was a little bit uptight and rigid in what was right and wrong. Diane knew it was a bad habit of hers that she tried to shake, but it wasn’t leaving anytime soon.
Besides, if she allowed herself to relax a little bit and let fresh, different thoughts consume her, it was going to get her into trouble. Diane didn’t want to go that far.
Even when it came to thinking about how handsome the Chris Hemsworth-lookalike was, and how he made her heart flutter just by smiling at her. Why did it have to be him that made that happen? Why did someone who wasn’t a fellow Baptist make her palms sweaty and her knees tremble?
All the more reason to keep away from him.
“Anyway, I’d better head off,” Maggie put her things into her bag, “I want to see how Brent is doing. He’s been almost like a zombie since his mother’s passing.”
“I suppose he’s still in shock.”
“I think anyone would be, given how she passed,” Maggie shrugged on her coat, “I’m going to be heading into Boise this afternoon. I’ve got to deliver some more of my portfolio to my professor. Do you want to come? We can have dinner before we come back.”
Diane shook her head.
“No, it’s going to be too late. It takes over ninety minutes to get to Boise from here. Do that and get back?”
“Oh, of course, I forgot. You have a curfew.”
“There’s no need to be like that, Maggie.”
Maggie snorted.
“Come on, Diane, we’re adults now. My parents are trusting me enough to go out. Your father should be trusting you as well.”
“He trusts me, Maggie,” Diane pointed out. “He just doesn’t want me hurt.”
“Right. He still sees you as the little three-year-old he had to take on all by himself when your mother died. I remember how hard it was to get him to agree to let you go to college.” Maggie slung her bag strap over her shoulder.
“He keeps you at home like a good little puppy, and you don’t even do anything that you want because you’re scared of how it’ll affect him. We may be Baptists, but we don’t have to be shackled to the house and our parents for the rest of our lives because we’re still single.”
Diane didn’t like how her friend was speaking to her. She glared at Maggie.
“How are you and I friends?”
“Sometimes, I wonder,” Maggie headed towards the door, “you’ve got my number. Let me know if you want to tag along. I’ll be leaving just after one.”
Diane didn’t respond. She knew that she wouldn’t be going. Deep down, she really wanted to go to Boise and see the sights, have lunch with her friend and then come back, but her father wouldn’t allow her to do it.
He would say that she had plenty of chores to get on with, and she had to help clean up the church. Even though she could do them easily another day and the routine wouldn’t be disrupted. Gilbert was very rigid on it.