Alec gave the swing a push with his foot. Libby had been gone half an hour. He’d been praying that she would find favor with Vanessa, that a door to a good relationship might be opened between the two women. He had a sense that God was answering that prayer.
He heard a car and straightened. His stomach tightened when he recognized his truck, driven by his nephew. He rose to confront Zach for breaking curfew. This wasn’t going to go well, but it had to be done. He waited under the security light.
The interior light came on when Zach got out of the truck. His whistle died on his lips when he realized Alec was standing on the walk. “Hey, Uncle Alec.”
“It’s nearly one,” Alec said. “Your curfew is midnight.”
“I’m seventeen years old. I don’t need a curfew.”
“Well, you have one anyway. Nothing good happens after midnight. Just things like this.” He held out Zach’s pocketknife. “I found this on one of the little islands. Along with beer bottles.”
Zach snatched the knife from his hand. “I didn’t do anything.”
“You’re saying you didn’t have a little beer, have a little fun?”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. You telling me you’ve never had a beer?”
“You’re underage.”
“And you never drank when you were my age? Come on, Uncle Alec. I’ve heard the stories about you. You were no saint.”
“Which is why I’m trying to keep you from making my mistakes.”
The security light illuminated Zach’s angry face. He clenched his fists. “I don’t have to listen to this.”
Alec grabbed his arm as he started past. “You will listen. The next time you’re not here at midnight, I’ll come looking for you. I imagine it would be embarrassing to be hauled home in front of your friends.”
“You wouldn’t do that.”
“I would and I will. This is a small island. I know every nook and cranny. You won’t be able to hide from me.”
Zach’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll run away.”
“And you’ll end up in a boys’ home. Is that what you want? Look, Zach, I’m trying to help you. I know it hurts that your parents are gone. How do you think your dad feels when he looks down from heaven and sees how you’re acting?”
Zach took a step back. “I’m trying to make sense of it, okay? I always wanted to be the kind of man my dad was. I idolized him. But what good did it do Dad to try to please God if he was just going to kill him?”
Alec tried to embrace the boy but Zach shook him off, so he dropped his arms back to his sides. “Integrity has rewards that are more valuable than how many days we spend on the earth.”
The boy’s face worked to restrain emotion. “If God cared, he wouldn’t have taken both my parents. That’s just plain cruel. Mom and Dad always told me that God loves me. I wish I could still believe it.”
“I can see why you think he doesn’t. Psalms says, ‘Blessed in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints.’ I know we miss them, but now they are alive like never before. God doesn’t view death in this life the same way we do.” Alec thought he saw a sheen of tears in Zach’s eyes.
“Is that supposed to make me feel better? It doesn’t. I want my dad. I want to come home and hear Mom’s voice. No one could make peanut-butter cookies like her. And she cared. So did Dad.” Zach’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t have anyone anymore.”
Alec put his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You have me. And your grandparents. Plenty of us love you, Zach. Don’t shut us out. We’re all in this together. We’re all hurting.”
He opened his arms, fully expecting Zach to turn away. Instead, the boy buried his face in Alec’s chest.
“I miss them,” Zach said.
Alec hugged him. He struggled to speak past the lump shutting off his throat. “I do too. But we’re still family. We will get through this.”
Zach pulled away, looking a little embarrassed by his outburst. “I’ll try to be home on time tomorrow.”
“I’ll wait up.” He wanted Zach to know the rules still stood. “Time for bed, bud. We have church in just a few hours.”
Zach made a face but said nothing as they walked to the porch. When Zach went inside, Alec settled back on the swing to wait for Libby. The front door creaked, and she burst through the opening with a smile on her face. He rose as she rushed toward him. She launched herself at him, and he caught her and hugged her. The scent of her vanilla shampoo filled his head. “I guess it went well?” He had to grin at her exuberance.
Her arms went around his waist and she hugged him. “It went super, Alec. You were so right.”
He didn’t want to let her go, but when she pulled away, he released her and led her to the swing. “So tell me about it.”
Her face beamed as she told him about the pictures and Vanessa’s reaction to the necklace. “It was hard. Really hard. But you were right—my sacrifice opened a door between us. We may never be as close as typical sisters, but we’re on the right path. We have a lot to get caught up on. She’s going to tell me about Dad, and I’m going to tell her about Mom.”
Her voice was full of excitement, and he smiled. “God always comes through.”
“I think I’ve learned more about God this week than I have my entire life,” she said. “And it’s all thanks to you.”
He hugged her. It was a habit he could get used to. “I’m not the Holy Spirit. He was telling you the right thing to do, and you obeyed.”
He’d never been able to talk to another woman about God so freely. That had to mean something.
People of every age and description crowded the pews at church. Fishermen, stay-at-home moms, and shop owners mingled as friends and neighbors. Libby squeezed past Alec to stand in the aisle and shake hands. People eyed her curiously but were a little more standoffish than the last time she’d been in town.
If she were alone for a few minutes, she would slip up to the front and sit in the first pew. Not that God would answer her question of why. Libby wasn’t ready to accept that Nicole was dead. Not yet. She didn’t feel any sense of closure.
Alec touched her shoulder, and she realized most of the people had cleared out. She smiled at him. “Sorry, I was woolgathering.”
“You okay?”
She nodded, her throat too full to speak. “I love this church. It was built in about 1890?”
He nodded. “You’re good.”
“Comes with the job.”
His eyes were grave. “I wanted to wait until church was over to tell you. The article in the paper came out today. It’s on the front page.”
She examined his expression. “It’s bad?”
“Yeah.” He took her elbow and guided her down the aisle to the front where they settled on the pew. He opened his Bible and pulled out a clipping. “He basically implies you’re another Susan Smith.”
The woman who drowned her children. Numb, she took the clipping and scanned it. “He talks about my mother’s death too, even though I was never charged with that. He’s painted me as some kind of monster.”
She was stunned. This was even worse than she’d expected. Why would Earl do something so vicious? She’d liked him on the trip from Kitty Hawk. Was this his revenge for her not telling him about Nicole’s disappearance sooner?
Alec’s expression was pained. “I’m sorry, Libby. This is my fault. I thought he’d help us, not hurt us.”
He’d said us as though they were one unit. The realization that he sided with her was a comfort she could cling to. “What can we do about this?”
“Not much. Suing him for libel would just draw more attention to it. All we can do is try to find out who grabbed Nicole. And make him look stupid.”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked, searching his face for clues.
“Doing what?”
“Helping me. Standing by me. Your own cousin thinks I might be guilty.”
He was silent a moment. “You’re Ray’s daughter. He would expect me to help you.”
Not quite what she’d wanted to hear. She’d hoped he’d tell her he liked her. That he believed in her. “You’ve never said why you idolized my father so much.”
He closed his Bible. “Ray was my father’s best friend. He was like a second dad to me. More than that, like a real dad. My father was often busy with his fishing boats. Dawn to dusk, he was out hauling in seafood. Lobster, crab, fish. He never had time to pitch me a ball or take me to the mainland for a game.”
“He was working, providing for his family.”
He nodded. “Sure. But Ray made time. And when I got into trouble when I was in high school, he turned me around. Forced his way through my rebellion with love and strength. It’s because of him that I’m a Christian today.”
“Why would he do that? Care about a kid that wasn’t his own?”
“I honestly think he was trying to be Jesus in the flesh to me. To do what he could to share his faith through his actions.” His gaze searched hers. “And maybe he was trying to atone for what he did to you. I know that’s what you’re wondering. Why did he help me and not you? Trust me though, Libby. Your dad was a good man.”
“So he was a model Christian.” She’d been more of a lax one. When was the last time she helped someone out just to bring praise to Jesus? Never. She wanted to do better, though, to shine like Alec did. Her hand went to her neck, but it was bare. No WWJD necklace anymore. Its impact hadn’t faded though. She prayed it never would.
His smile was gentle. “Ray was more than a model Christian. He was a conduit for God’s love to most everyone he met. I often saw him take bags of food to widows and give money to those in need.”
She remembered turning away that woman who was collecting money for the house-fire victims. “He had plenty to give.”
“Not in the early days. He always said God would provide for his needs. He just had to be faithful.” He smiled. “Tina used to get so aggravated when he’d raid her larder and leave them without food. They couldn’t always afford to buy more, so he’d trudge off to the store to buy peanut butter and bread. They always made it though. He would tell her that you can’t out-give God.”
She couldn’t imagine that kind of generosity. If only she’d had a chance to know him.