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he’d ever met. This morning, Chris looked every inch the family man, with his infant son, Rowen, strapped to his chest in one of those cozy-looking baby slings. With an amused grin on his face, he maneuvered through the gathering parishioners to reach Kellan. The two men shook hands and lightly thumped shoulders, being careful not to squash the baby.
    “Look who the cat dragged in. This is a nice surprise.”
    Kellan brushed a few fingers over Rowen’s soft, wispy-haired head. “What can I say? I was moved to attend.”
    “Is that so? Well, no matter the reason, I’m glad you’re here. That being said, I’m assuming you’re aware this opens you up to a lifetime of nagging by my wife about coming to church every Sunday, now that she sees it’s possible.”
    “I can live with that.” He felt a tug on his shirt and looked to see Chris’s daughter, decked out in a poufy pink dress and hair ribbons, smiling at him.
    “Hi, Uncle Kellan.”
    “Daisy dear, you sure look pretty today. But bigger than when I saw you a few days ago.” Squatting, he dropped his cowboy hat on his goddaughter’s head and gave her a tight hug. “My hat almost fits you. Did you grow again?”
    “I think so.”
    “Could you do your uncle Kellan a favor and take a break from that for a little while? Five years old is big enough.”
    The little girl scratched her chin, considering. “I’ll have to work on that.”
    Kellan took his hat in hand and tugged one of her blond pigtails. “Please see that you do.” He stood to find Chris’s wife, Lisa, pointing at his outfit, her face screwed up like she was fixing to laugh.
    “What?” he asked her.
    “Is that the belt buckle you got at our Christmas party? The white elephant gift?”
    Kellan pecked her cheek, then ran a hand over the cool metal ridges of the buckle. “’Bout time I tried it on. Do you like it?”
    She smushed her lips together and shot him an Are you crazy? look. Good thing she wasn’t the one he wanted to impress.
    “What’s so bad about it?”
    She yanked one of the leather straps of his bolo tie. “With this tie, the hat, the buckle, and the boots, you look like a cowboy on Halloween.”
    “I see a dozen other men in this room dressed the same exact way.” He’d been worried about drawing the wrong kind of attention to himself by looking foolish until he took inventory of the other men in attendance and discovered ten bolo ties, twelve belt buckles, and so many boots that he lost count.
    “True, but on you it’s all wrong. This getup isn’t who you are.”
    “It is today.” And if it got him laid again, it would be worth the discomfort and the ribbing by his friends.
    Someone slapped him hard on the back. He twisted to see Vaughn.
    Kellan bumped knuckles with his best friend. “What’s up, Vaughn?”
    “I was across the room when I saw you mosey in, that little bitty belt buckle shining like it was real gold.”
    Kellan rolled his shoulders in a show of mock-indignity. “You all are getting a lot of mileage out of this. Glad I could bring so much joy to your morning. Is this buckle actually small? I think it looks fine.”
    Vaughn let loose with a belly laugh. “You know the saying, you can tell a lot about a man’s goods by the size of his buckle? Well, don’t you worry that pretty-boy head of yours about people getting the wrong impression. There are enough rumors around town to the contrary where you’re concerned.”
    “Vaughn Cooper,” Lisa hissed. “We’re at church. You’re the sheriff.”
    “So?”
    “So act like it.”
    “I came to morning worship, didn’t I? And since I’m here doing my pillar-of-the-community thing, I might as well perpetuate a law-enforcement stereotype and retire to the courtyard for a doughnut. Daisy, you care to join me?”
    Daisy regarded him with soulful eyes. “I have to wait until after church, Uncle Vaughn. And only if I mind my P’s and Q’s. Right, Mommy?”
    Lisa gave her a thumbs-up. “That’s