Chapter Three

Kate walked home slowly from Ada’s, both because she felt too tired to walk at her usual quick pace and because she needed time to think about what to do next. It was quite a long walk, so she had plenty of time to think. Investments...The only person in Copper Mill who handled investments was Matt Lawson. Of course, there were investment advisers over in Pine Ridge, Kate was sure, but they didn’t volunteer with the Faith Freezer Program.

Matt Lawson. The only thing she could think of was to go talk to him. But what was she going to say? “Did you steal money from Ada Blount? Did you con a sick old woman into writing checks that can’t be traced?” It was ridiculous, and she couldn’t see it eliciting a confession of guilt. But she was going to have to start somewhere...

Kate walked past the sheriff’s office and thought grimly that if Sheriff Roberts could read her mind, he’d be out of his office like a shot to follow her. Luckily his car wasn’t there. She took a deep breath and crossed Hamilton Road. She could see the Bixby house on Smoky Mountain Road, with Faith Briar Church across from it.

Lord, you’re going to have to help me. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m going to talk to him, and I don’t want to. Kate remembered a prayer from one of her morning devotionals and whispered it: “Lord, help me when I don’t know what to do, and help me even more when I know what to do but don’t want to do it.” That about summed up her situation.

She walked past the Bixby house and up to the parsonage. It was a small, three bedroom ranch, and when she and Paul had first set foot in the decorating disaster it had been, all she could think was that God had a considerable sense of humor. Since then Kate had stripped the ceilings of their popcorn texture, reworked every wall and window of the oversized living room, replaced the fluorescent lights, and completely transformed the third bedroom into her stained-glass studio. It had become home, warm and welcoming, and never did she need it as much as right then.

She took off her light sweater and set it and her purse down on the table in the entryway. Then she walked over to the sliding-glass doors in the living room and looked out at the maple in their backyard, then up to the trees that covered the hills behind their home. The redbud and dogwood were no longer blooming, but the giant tulip poplars were full of living green and orange sconces. Kate especially looked forward to when the mimosa flowered, the trees draped in pink feathers, although she’d been told in no uncertain terms by Old Man Parsons that mimosas were nothing but pests, and she should dig them out. That was never going to happen. If anything, she decided she would plant some in their yard, where she could enjoy them.

“Hey, good lookin’.”

Kate jumped. Paul stood in the doorway wearing a bathrobe, a towel draped around his neck, his hair wet and spiky from a shower.

“Oh! You startled me!” she gasped.

“I’m sorry. Are you okay?” he asked, walking over to her.

“I’m fine,” she said, kissing him. “Just...How was your day?”

“Busy. I worked out some notes for my sermon, visited a few people, that sort of thing. What have you been up to? Get any work done in your studio?”

“No.” Kate shook her head. “This morning was my day to volunteer with the freezer program, and then I went down to the Country Diner for lunch, and after that I went to visit Ada Blount.”

“That was nice of you. I know she always appreciates company. But don’t you think you’d better get moving if you’re going to get ready?”

“Ready? For what?” Kate frantically racked her brain but drew a blank.

“It’s Friday night. The dinner dance down at the Depot Inn? The annual fund-raiser for community projects,” Paul reminded her. He looked surprised that she’d forget a social occasion like this. “That’s why I took a shower early, to give you a chance to get all prettied up.”

“Oh, good heavens!” Kate exclaimed, leaping away from him. “Look at the time.”

“You’ve got an hour and a half.”

“That’s barely enough,” she called as she ran to their bedroom.

Paul followed, slowly, rubbing his head with the towel. “You must have had quite a day.”

Kate whirled around the bedroom, pulling out underwear and stockings from the dresser and laying them on the bed. “Yes, well, all kinds of things happened.”

“Such as?”

“Well, first off, Joe Tucker dropped a pan of lasagna all over himself and the kitchen floor,” Kate said, her voice muffled as she looked in the closet for the shoes she’d bought to go with her new dress. “But it wasn’t his fault. Kisses attacked him.”

Paul laughed. “Kisses attacked Joe? What did he go for, his toes?”

“He was going for the lasagna,” Kate said, emerging with a shoe box that contained a pair of cream-colored wedges. “He was in Renee’s tote in the corner, and when Joe opened the oven door, Kisses burst out.”

“I’ll bet that was a sight.”

“It was.” Kate set the shoe box down beside the bed. “Did you leave me any hot water?”

“I think so,” Paul said.

Kate started to pass him on her way to the bathroom, but he pulled her into his arms. “So, what are you wearing tonight?”

“It’s a surprise. Now let me get ready and do you proud, Mr. Hanlon.”

“You always do.” He grinned.

She kissed him lightly on the cheek and hurried to the bathroom.

As she showered and dressed, Kate wondered why she hadn’t told Paul everything. She wasn’t sure. For one thing, she didn’t want to put a damper on such a special evening. For another, there really wasn’t time to fill him in beforehand. Besides, it would upset Paul terribly, and she really didn’t have any hard facts yet. But those are all excuses, she thought. The truth is, I’m not ready to talk about this with anybody, even Paul.

Kate finished brushing her hair and twisted it up into a knot, leaving little wisps to frame her face. She put on a touch of lipstick and powder, then went out into the living room. Paul was sitting on the couch, reading a book. He glanced up as she came in, rose, and took a long, careful look at her. She was wearing an embroidered pink jacquard jacket over a bias-cut cream-chiffon dress. The pink set off her skin; the chiffon skirt swirled gently around her legs. Her warm brown eyes glowed as he smiled.

“I’m such a lucky man. You look absolutely beautiful,” he said, his blue eyes shining with pride.

“Thank you,” she replied, taking his arm. “I’m pretty lucky myself.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” he smiled, kissing her.

Kate laughed. “I’m so glad we’re together,” she whispered as they went to the car.

THE DINNER DANCE was being held at the Depot Inn on Main Street for two reasons: it was convenient, and it was traditional. Some people, specifically Renee Lambert, had argued that it was time to move the annual fund-raiser to the Hamilton Springs Hotel, with its lavish ballroom and world-class restaurant, but she had been ignored. Some things were just too hard to change.

The large banquet room was decorated with pink and white crepe-paper ribbons and streamers and pink and white balloons, and a massive bouquet of pink and white flowers stood on a small table in front of the podium. Nobody was at the podium, and the band wasn’t playing yet, which was just as well. With almost everyone in town there, talking and laughing, the noise was deafening.

Kate looked around as Paul took their coats and hung them up. Livvy Jenner and her husband, Danny, were across the room talking to Sam Gorman, owner of the Mercantile. Kate could see Amanda Bly with Dot Bagley, Martha Sinclair, and a group of elderly ladies already seated at one of the round dining tables, all talking animatedly. Joe Tucker and Skip Spencer, the town deputy, were talking intently about something, which was surprising, considering the vast age difference between them. But then, Joe found something interesting to talk about with everyone he met.

Kate and Paul worked their way across the room toward the Jenners, with whom they were to share a table.

“Kate!” Livvy said. “You look lovely! And so elegant. Talbots?”

“Yes,” Kate said. “I couldn’t resist. I love your outfit too.”

“Thanks,” Livvy said. She was wearing a beaded black tunic over a black sheath. As they all sat down, she added, “I got it last Christmas, and this is the first chance I’ve had to wear it. Say, I thought you were going to stop by the library earlier. I was hoping we could go for a walk.”

“I’m sorry. I was working at Faith Freezer this morning,” Kate said, gazing around the table. Each place was already set with water, rolls and salad.

“Maybe next week. We’ve got to get out and enjoy this beautiful weather.”

“I know.” Kate agreed, then looked around the room. “It’s a great turnout, isn’t it?”

“A little loud,” Livvy said, sighing.

“Everything okay?” Kate asked.

“Oh yes. It’s just that we had all the sixth graders over at the library this afternoon for a workshop on pirates.” Livvy shook her head. “They enjoyed themselves heartily, and I still have a slight headache.”

“So much for quiet in the library?”

Livvy rolled her eyes. “Those days are long gone,” she said. “When I think back to when I was a little girl, you never dreamed of making a sound. But now the children run around, making all the noise they can, and when you ask the mothers, or the teachers, if they couldn’t be a little quieter, you just get a look like you’d asked them to stuff the kids into a closet.”

Kate tried not to giggle.

“Tell me about your latest stained-glass project,” Livvy prompted.

“Well, I’ve got an idea for night-light covers,” Kate said. “Roses. Red, white, pink, and maybe blue. What do you think?”

“I think they sound lovely. When can I see one?”

“Well, I haven’t actually made one yet...just sketches,” Kate admitted. “But as soon as I do, I’ll bring one down for you to look at.”

The entrées were being served, and Paul said a quiet grace for their table. As they ate fried chicken, mashed potatoes, fried okra, and green beans, the group chatted about events around town.

“Say,” Danny said, “have you guys seen the little 1971 Roadster MG the Wilson boys are restoring?”

“No!” Sam and Paul said simultaneously, with identical longing.

“It’s the prettiest thing you ever saw in your life,” Danny went on. “Cherry red, with—”

Livvy leaned over to Kate and said, “We’ve lost them for the evening.”

Kate nodded. “I’m afraid so.”

The men went from talking about the MG to LuAnne Matthews’ new truck, and the discussion lasted through the chess pie and coffee. It only stopped when Lawton Briddle, mayor of Copper Mill, rose and went to the podium. The microphone gave a long squeal, crackled, and then settled down as Lawton spoke, welcoming everyone and thanking folks for coming.

“Now y’all know that this community fund-raiser is a fairly recent part of Copper Mill history. It got started during World War II as a savings-bond drive for the war effort. Back then our chairwoman was Caroline Beauregard Johnston, who chaired it for many, many years, and we are all very thankful to her.”

The mayor continued, “After the war was over, everyone agreed that it would be a shame to let such a fun community event come to an end.”

Everyone applauded.

“And now we use the funds for various community projects around town. Over the years the fund-raiser has paid for everything from the cenotaph in the cemetery, memorializing Copper Mill’s war dead, to the Arbor Day plantings in the various parks around town. In the past ten years, it’s helped fund the Girl Scouts, the Regional Early Childhood Intervention Program, the County Help Line, the County Crisis Center, the Reading and Radio Resource, and our latest members, the Bixby House Temporary Shelter and Faith Freezer Program.”

Kate winced.

Lawton raised his hands and said, “Let’s all give a round of applause to all of these worthy programs.”

As she joined in the applause, Kate again thought of her conversation with Emma and said a quick prayer that everything would turn out all right.

“Well, folks, enough of my talk. Let’s have a big hand for everyone involved in this event. Loretta Sweet, food. Sam Gorman, publicity. Abby Pippins, decorations. And, of course, Renee Lambert, our chairwoman.”

Everyone stood as their names were called, and Renee was still standing when the applause stopped. She sat down as Lawton finished his speech, “And now, let’s work off some of that wonderful dinner with dancing and music from Jack Kelly’s Small Town Big Band Orchestra!”

There was more applause as Lawton stepped away from the microphone with a flourish and the music started.

Paul looked across at Kate and asked, “Would you care to dance, Mrs. Hanlon?”

“I’d love to, Mr. Hanlon.” She smiled at him as he walked around the table and took her hand. He led her to the dance floor and they began to sway.

“This is so nice,” Kate said after a few minutes.

“I agree. It reminds me of when we were courting.”

She smiled again and nestled closer to him. There were a number of couples on the dance floor, including Junius and Amanda. Renee was dancing with Lawton Briddle, and the Jenners were on the floor as well. Joe was sitting at a table next to the dance floor, his eyes following Amanda wherever Junius took her.

I do believe he has a crush on her, Kate thought. Well, they say opposites attract, but...poor man. I don’t think he has a chance.

Sitting beside Joe were Old Man Parsons and Clifton Beasley, both ignoring the dancing as they worked their way through the extra pieces of pie at their table. As Paul guided her around the floor, Kate saw Matt Lawson standing alone near the coffee urns.

He looks like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rockers, Kate thought. Why does he come to these things if all he’s going to do is stand in a corner? Suddenly the idea of Matt being a crook seemed absolutely ludicrous. He didn’t seem capable of it. For that matter, she didn’t even know if he’d ever been to Ada’s. That was something she’d have to check out.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” Renee’s voice boomed out.

Kate glanced over and saw that Renee was speaking to Amanda.

“I was being whirled around so that I never noticed where we were going.”

“It’s my fault,” Lawton said.

“I should say it was,” Renee chided playfully. “But never mind. We’ll just keep going. I could dance all night, indeed I could.”

Kate raised her eyebrows at Paul, who smiled back. The music stopped, and everyone clapped. “Do you feel like dancing all night?” Paul asked.

“After some more coffee,” Kate said.

They threaded their way back to their table. Sam had gone over to Joe’s table, and they were talking with animation. Even Old Man Parsons seemed to be interested, so Kate decided they weren’t discussing the MG or the truck. Old Man Parsons didn’t care about cars or any other form of modern technology.

As the evening progressed, Kate’s main entertainment, apart from dancing with Paul and chatting with Livvy, was watching Renee Lambert chasing Junius Lawson. LuAnne had been right: Junius was popular. Over the next two hours, he danced with almost every lady there except Renee, and it was obviously disturbing her. Especially when he asked Amanda to dance a second time. Amanda refused, but she must have done it very nicely, Kate thought, because Junius’ feelings didn’t seem to be hurt. He moved on to Dot Bagley, and when their dance was over, he came by the Hanlon table.

“Kate,” he said, “would you dance with me?”

“Aren’t you tired yet, Junius?” Kate asked, laughing. “You’ve danced with almost everyone in the room.”

“But not you,” he pointed out. “Would you?”

“I’d love to,” Kate said.

As they spun around the dance floor, Kate realized she was in the hands of a master. She felt more graceful, more light on her feet than she ever had before. Junius was such a wonderful dancer that he made her look—and feel—much better than she was.

“You’re a wonderful dancer,” Junius said when the music stopped.

“No,” Kate said honestly. “You are. And you make whoever dances with you wonderful.”

Junius’ cheeks reddened. “Well, everyone has a talent. I’ve always loved to dance.”

“You should have gone to Hollywood,” Kate said.

“Given Fred Astaire a run for his money?”

“Of course.”

Junius shook his head. “No. Asheville was a big enough town for me.”

“Is that where you’re from?”

“Lived there for years. It’s a great city.”

“A lot bigger than Copper Mill,” Kate said.

“Mmm. But I’ve grown to love it here. A small town is a warm place to be, especially as you grow old. Not that you’d know about that,” Junius added, his eyes twinkling.

“You are a flatterer,” Kate said.

Junius smiled widely. “Not at all. Another dance sometime?”

“I would be more than happy to,” Kate replied.

He bowed, then went off in search of another partner.

“Well!” Renee’s voice boomed as she came up beside Kate. “I don’t know what other people think, but in the old days, pastors’ wives didn’t dance with anyone but their husbands. If they danced at all!”

Kate paused so she wouldn’t say something she’d regret. Then she smiled brightly. “You’re right. I’ll have to remember that. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’ve got to go talk to someone.” And before Renee could say anything else, Kate walked over to Amanda’s table. “Hello, Amanda. May I sit with you awhile?”

“Please do,” Amanda said.

Kate sat down and looked across the room. Sure enough, there went Renee, positioning herself to be next in line to dance with Junius.

“So, how are you enjoying the evening?” Kate asked.

“Very much,” Amanda replied. “We don’t have a lot of occasions like these anymore in Copper Mill.”

“Did there used to be more? When you were young?” Kate knew Amanda had grown up in Copper Mill and would know all about the town’s history.

“Oh yes. There weren’t all these videos and disks and things. We had to make our own entertainment, so we had hay rides and barn dances and street dances and every kind of dance we could get away with.” Amanda’s eyes were bright. “It was wonderful. I feel sorry for young girls today. They don’t ever dress up, it seems, and they don’t ever get to dance cheek to cheek, and they don’t seem nearly as happy as we were. But then maybe I’m just being nostalgic.”

Kate nodded.

“Probably everybody feels their youth, their time to be young, was the best, simply because it was theirs,” Amanda continued. “Just as when you’re young, you know that nobody ever felt as strongly, thought as deeply, or lived as fully as you do.” She smiled a little ruefully. “No wonder there’s always a generation gap. Robert Browning had it right when he wrote ‘Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.’”

Kate smiled, delighted, and Amanda recited some more of the poem. Then she stopped and sighed.

Kate glanced over to where Paul was talking with Joe, Sam, and Skip. The four looked as if they were all talking at once, happy and excited. She sincerely hoped that she and Paul would grow old together, that their thirty years of marriage would become forty, fifty, even sixty. As many years as possible, please, Lord.

“I hope Joe isn’t leading those boys into trouble,” Amanda said sharply, looking at the group huddled around him.

“What on earth do you mean?” Kate asked, surprised.

“Just that when I was a girl, if there was any misbehavior going on, Joe Tucker was always in the thick of it.”

Kate looked at Amanda in disbelief.

Dot Bagley came over, carrying coats. “You about ready to go, Amanda?”

“Yes, I think so,” Amanda said, getting up carefully and putting on her coat. “I’m tired.”

“Wait a minute,” Kate said anxiously. “What you said about Joe...”

Amanda sighed. “All that was a long time ago. I shouldn’t have said anything. Forget what I said, please?”

Kate assured Amanda she would, but after a minute, she got up and walked over to Paul’s group, passing Renee, who was smiling broadly as she danced with Junius.

The four men stopped talking as soon as Kate approached, and the look on Paul’s face made her ask as lightly as she could, “What are y’all plotting over here, anyway?”

“Wh-wh-what?” Paul stuttered.

“She’s caught us, gentlemen,” Joe said. “We’re going to have to tell her the truth.” He turned to Kate, leaned forward on his walking stick, and said, solemnly, “These boys were making plans to take over the government and institute a new world order. Everybody’s going to have to sleep late in the morning, eat dessert first, and go fishing every Saturday. What do you think?”

“I think you look a little guilty for something as silly as that,” Kate replied, her eyes on Paul. He did look guilty. What was going on?

Joe shook his head. “Now isn’t that a woman for you? Always trying to find out a man’s secrets and never willing to share hers.”

“True.” She managed a smile. “But I’m always prepared to listen.”

Joe laughed. “You are one determined lady. I’ll leave her to you, Pastor,” he said and walked off, taking Skip with him.

Kate turned to Paul. “Is there something I should know?” she asked seriously.

“No,” Paul replied. “We were just cooking up a little plan for the summer concert series.”

“Oh, the root-beer floats,” Kate said, feeling a surprising amount of relief. “Joe told us all about that at lunch.”

Paul and Sam exchanged a quick glance.

“Did he? Well, he’s got a few more ideas like that,” Sam said.

Suddenly Kate found herself yawning.

“You’re tired,” Paul said. “Let’s go home. See you later, Sam.”

“Later, Paul.”

Kate and Paul headed toward the door. Most people were gone. Renee and Junius were still dancing, almost alone on the dance floor. Maybe Renee would get to dance all night.

Kate looked up at Paul and snuggled closer to him. “Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be.”