Chapter Ten

Even as the parishioners filed out of the sanctuary, Kate could tell that something was bothering Phillip. He sat forward with his head down. Was it the sermon or the allegations that still hung over him?

“Are you okay, Phillip?” she said, lightly touching his shoulder.

“I don’t know, Kate.”

She sat down next to him. “What is it?”

He was quiet for a long time. Two women passed them, sending narrowed glances their way, then leaning close to whisper as they moved toward the foyer. Kate stared after them, wondering what they were whispering about and if it had anything to do with why so few people came to church that morning. She tried not to think that it probably had to do with her husband or the article in the paper.

“Was I wrong to move here?” Phillip asked, drawing her attention.

“What do you mean?”

“I left everything—my son, the home that Ginny and I made, everything. And now I feel so...lost and alone.” He lifted his clouded gaze to Kate.

“You’re not alone, Phillip,” she assured, patting his hand. “You have friends here, including Paul and me.”

Phillip shook his head. “You were with me Friday. You and Paul are the only friends I have. Other people, like them”—he motioned toward the women who were now at the back of the church—“are whispering about me. I went to the Country Diner for supper yesterday after you dropped me off at the store. Do you know how many people were staring and whispering as if I’d already been convicted for stealing that mannequin?”

Kate’s heart broke for the man, though she still wondered why his watch had been found in Eli’s store.

“I think I made the wrong choice in moving here,” he said. “Maybe I’m just running away.”

“I’m sorry,” Kate comforted. “You know we’re always here for you, right?”

He nodded mutely, then they sat in silence for several minutes.

Finally Paul came by. “What’s going on?” he asked after exchanging a worried look with Kate.

“I...,” Phillip began, “I guess I could use a friend to talk to.”

Paul sat next to him and said, “I’m here.”

Kate sensed that they needed to talk in private, so she excused herself. She looked around to see if she could locate Eli Weston, but she couldn’t find him.

The foyer was mostly empty now, though a few members lingered in conversation. Renee Lambert came over and leaned close to Kate.

“You know that people are talking about you and Paul, don’t you?” she said, whispering.

Kate stared at her for a moment, then looked away, unsure if she wanted to hear what the woman had to say. Then she took a deep breath and looked the seventy-one-year-old in the eyes. “What are they saying, Renee?” she managed.

“That you and Paul are somehow involved with that theft at Weston’s, or if you aren’t involved, that you’re covering for that Loving fellow.”

Kate couldn’t believe her ears. Renee placed a hand on Kate’s arm as if to calm her.

“I care about you, Kate.” Renee’s tone wasn’t unkind. She seemed concerned, looking out for a friend. “But you have to see how it looks to outsiders—Eli finds that mannequin with Paul’s last name on it, then it’s stolen by the very person you just started working for.”

“I’m not working for Phillip, and no one has proven that he took the mannequin,” Kate corrected.

“He is their lead suspect, isn’t he? He was arrested.”

“He was also released for lack of evidence,” Kate said.

But Renee was on a roll. “Then Paul’s sermon this morning...” The woman’s gaze shifted to Paul and Phillip, who remained near the front of the church, deep in conversation.

“What about it?” Kate said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Some are saying that it sounded a bit like someone who’s trying to shift the focus off himself.” She shrugged.

Kate stared at her, unable to think of anything to say in response. She opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water. Finally she managed, “Renee, you know us better than that.”

“Of course, I do,” Renee said, placing a splayed hand on her chest for emphasis. “I just thought you should be aware that others are saying that Paul is blame shifting...and that doesn’t look good for Faith Briar, now does it?”

Kate started to speak, to defend her husband, but Renee went on. “And you should know, Kate, that some members of the board are talking about it too, about what kind of reputation we want our pastor and our church to have.”

The implication was clear: if there was a stain on the Hanlon name, the church might reconsider whether they wanted to be associated with them.

HAD ELI BEEN AT CHURCH? Kate wondered after she and Paul arrived home. He usually sat in the same area, but she hadn’t seen him there that morning. The young man had been a faithful member of their church body. It wasn’t like him to miss a Sunday. She remembered their last encounter, how he’d looked at her with the hurt of betrayal in his eyes. She couldn’t let this rift continue.

She went to the phone and dialed his number, but it rang and rang, finally going to voice mail.

“Hi, Eli,” she said tentatively after the beep. “I missed you in church today. Wanted to check in and see how you are. Give me a call when you get a chance.”

But after hours passed, and the afternoon sun grew hot, Eli still hadn’t called her back.

THE POWER OF RUMOR WAS STRONG. It ate at Kate for the rest of the afternoon. Who had said such things about Paul and her? Kate had been so flabbergasted by the accusations that she hadn’t thought to ask Renee who’d made them, and yet now that she was home for the afternoon, she couldn’t think of anything else.

So she decided to keep herself busy. A distraction would help. She went into her stained-glass studio and began to consider what sort of design to make for Phillip’s transom window, though she still hoped, for his own sake, that he would choose one of Ginny’s masterpieces.

She looked through several stained-glass magazines, finally settling on a simple design that read “Antiques” in a formal font.

But before she could draw up a template, she needed to get the dimensions of the store’s window. She climbed into her black Honda and headed downtown, parking on Smith Street.

Phillip had left for an estate sale after church, so the place was quiet when she arrived.

Shutting the door and locking it behind her, Kate made her way to the back room, where a tall ladder was kept. She carried it to the front and set it into position alongside the door when she realized she’d forgotten her tape measure. Of all things! She was fairly sure she’d seen one on Phillip’s desk the last time she’d stopped in, so she went to shuffle through the piles of clutter to look for it.

Every receipt, letter, and piece of junk mail Phillip had ever received seemed to lay in the stacks on the scarred oak desk. Kate was tempted to sort and organize but instead lifted one pile and then the next in her search. She had just located the tape measure when a sheet of paper with Phillip’s handwriting caught her eye. It read simply, Estimate on wooden lady?

Kate stared at the note, disbelieving, when a sound of rattling wood filtered from the back door of the shop, followed by breaking glass. Someone was trying to break in.