'I think we're about ready to go,” she said. She looked out the window at the driveway. “Oh, good thinking-you brought your own car. It will be easier to put the carseat in yours.'
Harriet hadn't thought about it at all. It just never occurred to her to drive her aunt's car again. Beth was right, though. The seat was difficult to install in the middle row of seats in Harriet's Honda SUV. It would have been impossible in the tiny back seat of the Beetle.
The carseat finally settled in, and Aunt Beth lifted Wendy into it, carefully buckling the maze of straps.
'Gosh, you just about need a trade school degree to operate one of those things,” Harriet commented.
'Tell me about it,” she said. When you were small your carseat was little more than a booster seat and a lap belt.'
They carefully avoided mentioning Carla, or their concerns for her whereabouts while her daughter was in the car, even if she was too young to understand.
Connie and Robin were waiting on the steps to the Methodist Church when Harriet guided her car into the parking lot.
'DeAnn's inside finding us an empty room,” Robin said as they approached.
'I'm going to take the little one here to the kitchen to meet up with her minder,” Beth said. “I'll meet you back here.'
'Have you heard anything?” Harriet asked Lauren, when she, too, joined the group.
'Thanks for broadcasting,” Lauren said. “I'm sure my friend at NOAA will appreciate everyone knowing what she's doing for us.” She was dressed in black twill pants and a silk khaki tank top. A black-and-tan silk scarf was draped artfully around her neck and onto her shoulders.
'Sorry,” Harriet replied. “But have you heard anything?'
'Don't you think I'd say something if I'd heard any news?” Lauren turned her back on Harriet.
'I was just asking,” she said as Lauren retreated.
'Okay, we can meet in the preschool classroom,” DeAnn announced a few minutes later. Aunt Beth had returned, and Jenny and Sarah arrived.
'Mavis is with her sons and their families,” Connie said. “Do I need to go get her?'
'No,” Harriet said. “I just wanted to review our assignments and talk a little about Carla. Mavis doesn't need to be here for that.'
The women squatted awkwardly on the tiny preschool chairs, and one-by-one, they told the group what they would be doing during the funeral. Robin and DeAnn would mingle with the employees of Foggy Point Fire Protection. Robin had done some legal work for the company before she'd gone into semi-retirement. DeAnn rented movies to most of them on a weekly basis, so she, too, would fit in.
Harry had agreed to introduce Harriet to his friend Nick's dad. Pete was likely to be putty in Connie's hands, and Aunt Beth would be there for reinforcement if needed. Jenny had spent time with Ilsa when the flowers arrived, and they had bonded over their mutual love of gardening. Lauren would be watching for Terry, but more important, she would keep her cell phone on silent and let everyone know when she heard anything about Carla's car. In a stroke of genius, Aunt Beth absolved Sarah of any responsibility because of her role as vocalist in the funeral ceremony.
With their assignments clear, the group struggled to their feet and went to lay the groundwork with their subjects.
People were taking their seats when Harriet and Aunt Beth entered the sanctuary and sat down behind Mavis, who was surrounded by Ben and Harry and the rest of her family. Harriet glanced at her watch and realized an hour had passed.
Pastor Hafer outdid himself. He wove the service seamlessly between Gerald's past and present families. He encouraged all the people left behind to embrace each other and make peace with the fact they might never know what caused Gerald/Gerard to live his life as he had. Once again, Sarah sang, and once again Harriet marveled how such an annoying person could have such a beautiful voice. Carlton had insisted on doing a eulogy, and Pastor Hafer managed to keep him from rambling on unduly.
Gerald's Dutch family might be able to make peace with not knowing what had happened before they met him, but Mavis wouldn't rest until she understood what had happened and neither would Harriet.
Pastor Hafer explained that family only would be attending a brief graveside ceremony in the cemetery behind the church. He encouraged the assembled mourners to gather in the Fellowship Hall for a light repast and assured them the family would join them shortly.
'Showtime,” Aunt Beth said in a quiet voice. She nodded toward Robin and DeAnn, who were already out of their pews and talking earnestly with Foggy Point Fire Protection employees. “I'll be finding Connie so we can corner Pete as soon as they get back to the Fellowship Hall.'
'I'll come with you,” Harriet said. “Harry is supposed to introduce me to Nick's dad.'
The crowd worked its way from the sanctuary to the fellowship hall, most of the females stopping at the bathrooms and a number of the males sneaking out to the parking lot for smoke breaks. The United Methodist Women had prepared a spread of sandwiches, salads, cookies, juice and coffee and tea, and when Harriet entered, people were clustered around the food tables.
She spotted Lauren partially concealed by a potted tree, tapping the buttons on her cell phone. Robin and DeAnn were mingling, and the rest of the Threads were lying in wait for the family, who were visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows on one side of the room.
'Have you noticed who isn't here?” Aunt Beth whispered.
Harriet looked around. Everyone they needed was either in the room or at the gravesite outside. She looked back at her aunt.
' Carlton 's here without Bebe,” Beth said. “You don't see that every day.'
'I don't blame her for staying away,” Harriet said. “She didn't know Gerald, and these people are his friends, not hers.'
'I suppose,” said Aunt Beth. “Young people don't seem to value funerals anyway.'
Harry was still outside when a tall sandy-haired man who looked to be in his early thirties approached them.
'Are you Harriet?” he asked.
'I am.'
'I'm Harry's friend Nick. He called me this morning and said you wanted to talk to my father.'
'I do, but how did you know who I was?'
'I asked Senora Escorcia. She knows everything.” His cheeks pinked slightly. Harriet was once again impressed with Connie's mystique even after all these years.
An older man with short gray hair and a worn-looking blue suit joined them.
'Harriet, this is my dad, Bill,” said Nick. “Dad, this is a friend of Harry's mom who is trying to figure out what happened to his dad.'
'Nice to meet you,” Harriet said.
Bill held his hand out to shake hers but dropped it with an embarrassed laugh when he realized her right arm was strapped down and she had a cup of juice in her left hand.
'Nice to meet you, too,” he said. “Nick here tells me you wanted to ask me a few questions.'
'I do,” Harriet said. She looked at Nick.
'I'll just go get some punch,” he said and backed away.
'I wanted to ask you about Foggy Point Fire Protection back when Gerald worked there.'
'You probably know it wasn't called that back then,” he began. She nodded, and he continued. “Those were some strange times. I'm going to tell you something and ask you not to tell anyone else. If anyone asks me about it, I'll deny it.'
'Go ahead.'
'Times were tense before Gerald left. Carlton 's daddy Marvin was a harsh man. He was struggling to come up with a product that would earn him the kind of money he wanted to be making. Each time one failed, he blamed whoever was working on it. He could never admit that some of his product choices were ill-advised, or even that it was only natural that some of the fibers Gerald invented just didn't do what they expected them to.'
He paused and stared out the window. Harriet knew he wasn't seeing the lawn outside.
'Whenever a project failed, Marvin fired someone. Sometimes more than one someone. I had a houseful of kids,
