Nice that the Heunemans shared so much, Faith reflected. It was an interesting approach to marriage and one she ascribed to in theory, but when fact in the form of the cost of one's clothing and a husband who thought all wardrobe needs were covered by a single Lands' End catalog entered into things, budgets had to be surreptitiously adjusted. In this case, hers, which came from Have Faith's profits.
The two women hugged at the door. It had been a long journey.
That night, the Fairchilds were uncharacteristically quiet at the dinner table. Partly because the children were eating with them, which limited topics, and partly because both Faith and Tom were fatigued—emotionally and physically.
Ben made a face at his bowl of lentil stew. 'It looks yucky,' he complained, and Faith realized she did not have the energy to explain to him that the lentils were the delicious tiny ones from France, the beef stock homemade, the carrots, mushrooms, leeks, onions, and garlic the choicest available—all simmered together for several hours. Instead, she put a spoon in his hand and said, 'Eat it. It's good for you.' Sensibly, Ben gauged the direction of the wind and dug in. Tom followed up with, 'And none of these,' pointing to the plate of hot,flaky Cornish pasties filled with ground beef and spices, 'until your bowl is clean.' Then he lapsed back into silence.
Faith realized, despite her thoughts at the Heunemans, she really did want to tell Tom everything she'd learned. It was too much to carry around by herself.
“Honey, did you ever consider that Alden may not have been what he appeared to be?' She spoke before she had time to consider.
“I'm not sure what you're asking. Was Alden Spaulding an alias of some sort? No, I don't think so. Did we know everything about the way he conducted his life? No again, so the answer would be yes.”
Tom must be extremely tired.
“You don't have to work on your sermon tonight, do you?'
“Either tonight or tomorrow night, and that begins to cut things a little close.”
Faith sighed. She missed him.
After the kids were in bed, she brought a cup of tea into his study.
“Look, love,' he said, 'you're not very good at keeping secrets and I have the feeling these are not exactly run-of-the-mill. We've both been under a lot of pressure lately. You seem suddenly to have two jobs, besides the wife/mother stuff. And I have a new one, which is tying up all the loose ends. Why don't you just tell me what's going on?' He put the cup on his desk and pulled his wife onto his lap.
“Alden was a child molester.'
“What!'
“I can't figure out how it connects with his murder, unless there's a third victim I don't know about and it was her husband, father, mother—or the woman herself.'
“It was Audrey, wasn't it? That's why she left the service this morning. Dear God!”
Faith nodded.
“I wish I had known. I wish I could have helped her earlier—and James'
“They're doing all right—better now that Alden is gone. Perhaps, in some way, it's satisfying that he had a violent end.'
“And the other is Penny. You don't have to break any confidences. I can guess.”
Tom was very shaken. It was difficult for the shepherd to learn the flock had been suffering so.
“You still don't want to tell me where Penny is? You're sure she's all right?'
“I promised—and she is all right.' Pix had been in touch with Penny and had called Faith. Penny's major concern of the moment was her dog, and when she learned Millicent was taking care of him, she was fine.
“I hope this will all be over soon.' Tom tightened his arms around Faith, the same way she had around Amy earlier.
“I have a feeling it will. It has to”
It was hard for Faith to leave for work the following morning, even though she knew that the movie company would be in Aleford only for another week if they continued to stay on schedule. The rest of the movie would be shot in L.A. Whether it was because of what she had discovered about Alden or simply because she had had very little time with her family lately, her impulse was to stay put in her own nest. She dragged her preparations out as long as she could.
Tom had been unable to continue working the night before and they had gone to bed early, falling asleepclose to each other. He had planned to spend the morning with the children, but then he asked Faith whether Arlene could take them instead. She couldn't. However, Samantha Miller was free. She came to the door as Faith was trying to leave. Amy and Ben greeted the sitter with such uproarious delight that it was all their mother could do not to pick up the phone, quit the job, and assume her rightful place.
As she drove to the catering kitchen, her arms ached slightly. Must be all the directions they are being pulled in, she thought dismally. She looked out the window as she passed the green, such a misnomer at this time of year. The 'brown' would be more like it. Two weeks ago, they'd been shooting the scaffold scene here. Two weeks ago, Sandra Wilson and Alden Spaulding had both been alive. Life was beginning to imitate art, she realized with a sudden start. Max had intended the group of townspeople on the green and at Town Hall to represent the real sinners, as opposed to the people on the platform. Hypocrites, murderers, gossips—and child molesters. Who had been acting and who had not?
Her crew was already busy packing things up and they were about to leave when the phone rang. It was James Heuneman.
“Tom said I might be able to catch you before you left for work. I won't keep you long.'
“Is everything all right?'
“Yes, or more right than it's been for a long time. Audrey wanted to thank you. I do, too. Talking to you was a tremendous help. After you left, Chief MacIsaac called. I was home by then. I hadn't wanted to leave Audrey for long. He asked me why we had left the service so abruptly. He also seemed to know you'd been to see Audrey. I told him to come over. We de- cided to tell him everything. It's great to have it out in the open, not that we are telling the whole town, but we both thought the police had to be informed.'
“I'm glad, especially if it makes things easier for Audrey. She's a lovely person,' Faith said, inwardly fuming. So Charley was following her!
“And now we are on our way to see the Reverend. We should have taken this to him years ago. However, that wasn't my decision to make.'
“Everything in its own time.' Faith was glad they were going to see Tom. It would make everyone feel better.
“Well, I won't keep you. I just wanted to thank you—oh, I almost forgot. I'm dropping out of the race. I was doing it for Audrey and it's not necessary anymore. Penelope Bartlett belongs on the board”
Here was news. Faith only hoped Penny would be in the neighborhood to serve.
She hung up and went to tell Pix about Penny.
“This has been a very strange election campaign,' Pix commented.
It was an understatement!
The next few hours were busy as usual. It seemed they had barely finished the morning break when everyone started showing up for lunch. Max was working at top speed, too. Maybe he was superstitious. Get as much footage before the newest catastrophe. Cornelia was being run ragged, she told Faith proudly. With Sandra gone, Max had only Ms. Stuyvesant to turn to for the gazillion details that made her life worth living. She was coming for his lunch tray now. 'Remember, he doesn't like the Calistoga water too cold.' Evelyn also wanted a tray, and Cornelia told Faith she'd come back for it after she delivered Max's.
“Oh, we'll bring it to her. Don't worry.' Faith was feeling magnanimous. It would give Corny a few more precious moments with Max.
“Thank you! I won't forget this,' Cornelia promised. Which could mean a fruitcake at Christmas or a job when Corny was producing her own Maxwell Reed movies—or a postcard of Sea World.
Evelyn wanted only a salad, some fresh fruit, andemphatically—plain Perrier. It didn't take long to prepare the tray. And Faith had a single perfect scarlet anemone to put in a bud vase. She looked around. Everyone was
