Always Tried and Proven Read Online Free

little bit, he's just wonderful.  I know you'll like him.  And, he will love having you sing in the tent."
         "Fine.  I'll just be a minute."  Callie mumbled.  She put on a long, cobalt blue silk tunic with matching pants, and combed out her long hair.  Then, reluctantly, she walked out to her living room to find Sam sitting on the patio with his coffee.
         He watched her walk toward him with unmasked interest – and what certainly appeared to be a good measure of male appreciation.  Callie found it difficult to equate this man with the one that Sadie had described.  He wasn’t preacher-like or stand-offish toward her in any way, shape or form.  And that was quite unusual for a preacher, in Callie’s experience.
         "Sadie's about ready.  She should be with you in just a sec."  She informed him stiffly.  She simply couldn't help it, she couldn't relax.  For some reason, this man unnerved her terribly. 
         "Can I get you some coffee?" he asked teasingly.  "You look as if you're still fighting off sleep."
         "Don't worry about it.  Most people would be up by this time.  I didn't work last night, but sleeping in late is a deeply ingrained habit."  She explained.
          "What do you do?" he asked lightly.
         "I'm an entertainer."  She answered coolly.
         "Really?  Tell me more."  He asked quietly.
        "I'm just a good old, Country singer. I work in bars."  She answered simply, but her eyes offered a chilly challenge.  Her words were like a gauntlet, thrown at his feet.
        "Don't you buy it, Sam.  She can sing anything, and make you weep.  Nothing is too high, too low or too challenging for this lady."  Sadie praised as she joined them.  “She’s got the sweetest tone you could imagine, and yet at the same time, she can conjure the sexiest growl and purr you ever heard.”
         Sam stood up and welcomed Sadie with a big hug.  "Hello, Sadie.  My, it's good to see you." He said with conviction.
         "I can certainly say the same to you."  Sadie purred, hugging him soundly.  "You've been gone too long!  How was your trip?"
         "Eh, a bit rough, but I'll be all right."  He dismissed it.  "We got the job done, anyway." 
        "You can tell me all about it while we drive."   Sadie suggested.  "We are running a bit late, Sam.  I'm sorry."
         "No problem."  He assured her, finishing the coffee quickly.  He stood up and turned his eyes to Callie.  "Callie, thank you.  You've been very gracious to me.  I hope that we'll see you at the tent?"
         "Oh;  you will, Sam.”  Sadie intercepted.  I haven't had a chance to tell you, but Callie is going to sing at the tent tonight.  And perhaps every night this month.  I'll fill you in as we go .” She hinted. 
          But Sam's eyes never left Callie's face, so Sadie’s hint was all but lost on him.  "All right, already." He said with good-natured irritation.  He picked up Callie's hand and squeezed it gently, examining her slim fingers and her shining, clear painted nails.  Then he looked up into her eyes; and he seemed to look through to her deepest place, her private core.  He somehow managed in that instant, to get inside her skin.  He touched her there, in her deepest heart.
          She felt almost as though someone had punched her quickly in the stomach, knocked the wind from her, suddenly.  Except that there was a sweet excitement that sped through her , and flooded her with tingling warmth.
         "Tonight then, Callie."  He said quietly.  Then he turned, and followed Sadie out the front door.
         Callie couldn't help gaping after him.  She gasped, suddenly close to panic as he closed the door behind him.  This preacher had found a way to get to her, and she was extremely uncomfortable with that!  She didn’t want any religious experiences or romantic overtures either, for that matter.  Not with someone like this