Free Secret Agent Minister by Lenora Worth Page A

there. He…he’s got a clear thing for you, honey.”
    Lydia’s heart bounced and lifted like a string of beads being tossed through the air, then righted itself. “He…we’re…coworkers and fellow Christians, so yes, I’m sure he cares about me through the love of Christ.”
    Kissie grinned. “Yeah, right. Baby, there is the love of Christ, and then there is the love of a man for a woman. Maybe you’re both blind to it.”
    Lydia knew how she felt, but it had never occurred to her that Pastor Dev might have even the tiniest bit of an inkling of returning those feelings. “Are you saying—”
    Kissie held up a jewel bedecked hand. “I’m just saying something’s brewing in this place besides the coffee, understand?”
    Lydia smiled then, gaining a new confidence. “I think I just might.”
    Kissie gave her a long, intense look. “Good, then. ’Cause the better you understand Devon Malone, the more able you’ll be when the time comes for him to reach out to you. He’s gonna need someone strong when this is all over. You just might be the one.”
    Lydia let the echo of that prediction reverberate throughout her system. Then she remembered last night and how he’d cried in her arms. How he’d looked into her eyes as if he were a drowning man. A woman didn’t forget a look like that. A woman didn’t forget a man like Pastor Dev.
    “I’ll be here, always,” she told Kissie. “You have my word on that.”
    “I never doubted it,” Kissie said with a soft smile.
    Lydia took a seat on one of the plush settees and waited for Pastor Dev, her thoughts going from a working relationship to something more meaningful and deep. Closing her eyes, she let the soothing praise music coming from the next room help to calm her frazzled nerves.
    Could it be so, Lord? she asked, prayed, hoped. Did the man she love also love her back? Well, he was going through a whole heap of trouble to protect her. And he did have about a million burdens on his mind. Maybe it was simply being thrown together. That alone was enough to make him more protective and considerate.
    Lydia thought about that angle, and decided instead of whining and fighting him at every turn, she would try really hard to be more cooperative. She wouldn’t be any trouble at all. She’d do everything he said so that they could get back home to Dixon and the work of the church.
    And then, once all of this was behind them and they were back on a routine, she’d see if Pastor Devon Malone still looked at her the way he’d looked at her tonight. And she’d find out if it mattered whether she was wearing a red dress or not.

SEVEN
    L ydia realized two things as she looked through the eye slits of her red-sequined feathered mask at the formal parlor of the elegant Garden District antebellum mansion. One, she was way out of her league with all these rich folks wearing real diamonds and fake smiles. And two, Pastor Dev sure looked good in a tuxedo and a black satin mask.
    The big white-columned two-storied house had to be well over one hundred years old. The furnishings were all priceless antiques. And Lydia knew antiques from living over her Aunt Mabel’s Antique Depot. The names Hepplewhite, Chippendale, Windsor and Duncan Phyfe floated through her mind as she admired the huge sideboards and buffets loaded with food and the gleaming secretary sitting in one corner, a crystal bowl of floating magnolia blossoms its only adornment. She was pretty sure the ornate burgundy-and-gold strung rug in the parlor was an aged Aubusson. And the artwork and knickknacks indicated an eclectic taste, with a mixture of old world style and modern abstracts vying for the attention of the dressy crowd.
    The French doors on every side of the long square house were thrown open to the mild summer night, while ancient ceiling fans hummed and swirled, bringing down refreshing breezes from the high, ornately scrolled ceilings. Classical music wafted out over the wind, courtesy of a string