Chapter Twenty-Six

And so the sheriff released him into your custody?” Paul helped Kate pick up the last of the serving dishes and carried them to the counter.

Kate waved him back to the table. “Just for tonight. The only alternative was for them to let him sleep in one of the cells. I couldn’t do that.”

She sank into the chair opposite Paul’s and lowered her voice so as not to disturb the exhausted boy stretched out on the foldout couch in Paul’s study. “He needs a good night’s sleep, and he wasn’t going to get it there.”

Paul dropped his tone to match hers. “I didn’t want to ask too many questions during dinner. It was obvious he’d already been through the wringer. What I’ve picked up so far is that he ran away from home and came here looking for his father, then he wrecked the Mustang when he tried to drive it to Memphis. Right?”

Kate smiled wearily. “That’s the short version. We’ll save the details for after this is all over.”

“Which will be . . . ?”

“Tomorrow around lunchtime, if all goes according to plan. The sheriff got ahold of both Josh’s parents. It seems his dad is still in Memphis. They had a storm that knocked out the phone lines for a couple of days, and Josh assumed he had moved when he’d been there all along.”

Paul shook his head. “Poor kid.”

“His mother agreed to let his dad bring him back home so they could all sit down together and sort things out.”

Paul’s lips curved. “I have a feeling he’ll be glad to have some backup when he faces her after taking off like that.”

“I have a feeling you’re right.” Kate managed a laugh. “She’s been beside herself ever since he left, and who can blame her?”

Paul stretched his leg out and leaned down to adjust his moon boot. “It was a foolish thing to do, all right, but I guess we all do some foolish things when we’re young.”

“Amen to that. But I suspect this particular young man has learned a good bit in the past couple of weeks. I can just about guarantee he’ll never be tempted to take something that doesn’t belong to him after this. Especially after Sheriff Roberts told him he could have spent the next three years in a juvenile detention center for what he did.”

Paul let out a low whistle. “Does he have any idea how fortunate he is that Myers and Loretta chose not to press charges?”

“He does now. He was a very shaken young man by the time it was all said and done.” She stifled a giggle. “At least by the time Loretta got through with him. She and LuAnne came down together and read him the riot act. I thought he was ready to break down and cry when Loretta told him he could do her more good by coming back and working off his debt during the next couple of summer vacations than sitting in juvie somewhere. It won’t begin to cover what the insurance paid for the damage, but he’ll be taking some responsibility for his actions.”

Paul grinned. “She’ll spoil him to death once she gets over being mad. Does he know that?”

“He will.” Kate chuckled. “At least he won’t have to worry about being hungry the next time he comes to Copper Mill.”

“What about Roland Myers? I get the feeling his reaction may have been a whole different story.”

Kate pressed her hand over her mouth to hold back her laughter. “I’ll say. He was so relieved to have an excuse not to work on that Mustang, I think he would have pinned a medal on Josh if he’d had one. It wasn’t quite the response Sheriff Roberts was expecting.”

“And what about you?” Paul reached over and tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “I assume you didn’t press charges against him for stealing your wallet and landing you in the middle of this whole mess.”

Kate tilted her head and pressed her cheek against his palm. “Mercy triumphs over judgment,” she quoted from one of her favorite verses.

“There’s a lot of good in that boy, Paul. We both felt it. More than anything, he needs a father’s guidance. I think this will be a turning point in his life.”

Paul’s eyes took on a tender gleam, and he leaned across the table to touch his lips to hers. “I love you, Katie girl.”

“YOU OKAY BACK THERE, SON?” Paul turned and looked over his shoulder at Josh riding in the rear seat of Kate’s Honda. “You’re jumpier than a jackrabbit at a coyote convention.”

Kate peered in the rearview mirror in time to catch sight of the boy’s shamefaced grin. “Sorry. I guess I’m just nervous.” He resumed his fidgeting, but in a more restrained manner.

Paul turned to look at Josh over the seat back. “I know it’s a big moment for you, but it’s going to be okay. Just take it one step at a time.”

Kate put her left blinker on and turned south down Euclid. “He told the sheriff he’d meet us at the clock tower, so I thought I’d park somewhere by the Town Green. But look! All the parking places are full, every last one of them. What on earth is going on?”

“I have no idea.” Paul turned back around and looked out the windshield. “I’ve never seen it like this on a weekday morning.”

He scanned the parking slots as she drove along the east side of the green, then turned right onto Main Street. “Maybe we should try over by the library.”

Kate pressed the accelerator. “That’s probably our best—”

“Hey, look over there!” Josh scooted forward, pointing between them across the green toward the corner of Smith and Hamilton. “What are all those people doing?”

Kate looked toward the spot he indicated and saw a mob of people coming from every direction, converging on the diner like an army of ants.

Oh no. Not again.

“Over there!” Josh shouted, practically in her ear. “There’s a place to park between that blue van and the white truck.”

Kate eyed the slot. It was barely wide enough to qualify as a parking space. She took it anyway, trying to leave more room on Paul’s side of the car.

She eased her own door open and squeezed out, then ran around the front of the car and motioned to Paul and Josh. “Come on.”

The three of them hurried across the green as quickly as Paul could manage with his moon boot. Just as they reached the outer edge of the crowd, Paul grabbed Kate’s hand. “Wait. It isn’t another demonstration. Look up there.”

Kate looked over the heads in front of her and felt as if she’d traveled back to a time before the accident. The tarps were gone, and the building looked just as it did before.

No, not quite. Stretched across the front of the building, a brightly colored banner proclaimed: Welcome to Our Grand Reopening!

Tears stung Kate’s eyes. She dashed them away, then squeezed Paul’s arm. “I don’t believe them. Neither Loretta nor LuAnne said a word about this yesterday.”

A familiar voice rang out. “May I have your attention!”

Kate craned her neck and saw Loretta Sweet, apparently standing on some kind of platform that put her in view of the whole crowd.

The hum of voices diminished, then quieted altogether.

Loretta cleared her throat. “I’ve been in this town a long time, and I’ve spent a lot of hours back in that old kitchen. When the accident took out the dining area, I really wondered if this wasn’t an opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade ...in other words, to grab the cash from the insurance and run off to Florida and live happily ever after. But the loyalty of my customers made me rethink that idea—even if some of you carried it a little too far.” Her pointed glances brought ripples of nervous laughter from various spots in the crowd.

“Anyway, the good news is, I’ve decided to stay. The Country Diner has been a fixture in Copper Mill for a good many years, and it’s going to continue to be just that as long as I’m around.”

She raised both arms into the air. “So thank you all for coming out today. We’re going to reopen the doors now, and we want to invite you inside for a look at the all-new Country Diner!”

Cheers erupted, and the mass of people started moving forward. Kate looked hopefully at Paul, but he shook his head.

“There’s no way we’d be able to move around inside with all those people. Let’s wait until after Josh’s dad comes. Things should thin out by then.”

They stood back in a little knot while jubilant customers descended on the diner. Kate leaned against Paul. “I’m glad she decided not to take the money and run.”

“Me too. Copper Mill just wouldn’t have been the same without—”

“Pastor?”

They turned at the sound of the voice behind them. Avery Griffin stood next to Josh, shuffling his feet.

“I’m glad I ran into you,” he said. “I wanted to tell you good-bye.”

Paul’s jaw dropped. “What’s going on? Did I miss something?”

Avery smiled and shook his head. “I made up my mind a couple of days ago, and I want to do this before I lose my nerve.”

“You’re leaving?” Kate sputtered. “But why?”

Avery looked away, then back at Paul. “I’ve learned a lot workin’ for you at the church. The faith you had in me made me have faith in myself. And that helped me prove to myself that I can clean up my act and stay sober.”

Joy shone in the broad smile that creased his cheeks. “It’s a good feelin’, I can tell you that. I know you’ve taken some flak for hiring me. No one’s ever stood by me like that before, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it.”

Josh’s face scrunched up. “I don’t get it. If things are going so great, why do you want to take off? Running away doesn’t solve anything.”

When all three adults stared at him, he ducked his head and kicked at the grass. “Well, it doesn’t,” he mumbled. “Believe me, I ought to know.”

Avery clapped the boy on the back. “You’re right about that, and it’s a good lesson to learn.” He turned back to Paul. “I know I can stay on the straight and narrow, but most people around here aren’t ever gonna let me forget my past. I want to move on and make a new start somewhere else.”

Paul hooked his thumbs in his pockets and angled his head to one side. “I understand, and I can’t say I blame you. Keep in touch, will you? We’ll be praying for you.”

Paul extended his hand. “You’re a good man, Avery. It’s been a pleasure knowing you.”

Avery started to speak, then he clamped his lips together and gripped Paul’s hand in a firm handshake. He looked at Kate next. “Missus Hanlon, you’ve been real good to me too. I’ll never forget the way you and LuAnne came out to check on me when I was sick.”

Kate could see his chin tremble ever so slightly when he turned and held out his hand to Josh.

Instead of responding, Josh stared over Avery’s shoulder with a frozen expression on his face.

“That’s him. That’s my dad. Even after ten years, I’d know him anywhere.”