We had one church in Pelican Bay. It started out as an old Quaker establishment when the town was first settled, and then over the years turned from one denomination to the other until now we used it as a nondenominational building, which hosted services every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening.
If you wanted any of the big mega churches with the fancy lights and music, you had to leave the area, but none of the traditional families did. It was a town right to cram yourself in the little church each weekend. A long-running rumor said more than one woman kept attendance on those who showed.
Three years ago, I paid to have the parking lot paved, but when I drove up that afternoon there were already so many cars in the lot, they forced me to park in a makeshift dirt section of additional parking. My car did not enjoy the lackluster accommodations. It still hadn’t recovered from allowing Katy to drive it the other day. The paint would never be the same.
I parked the Tesla and stepped out, locking the car with my key fob and then waiting as Tabitha shut the door from the vehicle next to me along with Ridge.
We nodded to one another, which normally would’ve been enough, but I hadn’t seen Katy in over twenty-four hours, and even though Ridge’s man now gave me a report on her daily activities, it wasn’t the same as seeing her face.
“How is she doing?” I asked before Tabitha moved too far away.
She ran her fingers through her brunette hair. “She’s okay. We stayed up last night and ate two pints of ice cream. I think that helped.”
Her answer helped soothe my fears. I wished I could’ve been the one to ease Katy’s fears and anguish, but if not me, Tabitha was a good second choice. “I’m glad she has you ladies.” Friendships were important.
They were something so many people took for granted, but I never would. My closest friends were family. When you had money, determining if someone wanted you for your actual companionship or what you could provide them became difficult. Katy’s honestly was what first drew me to her—that and her need to save the frogs. With her there was no question. She did not want me for my money.
Tabitha gave me a weird expression but didn’t comment about what I said. Katy always kept a large circle of friends even when we were in school, but the tightknit circle she’d formed with the women who worked in the bakery were deep friendships. And they seemed to be an excellent match for one another.
“I’m going to go find her and see if she needs help,” Tabitha said to both Ridge and me. She picked up her footsteps and walked ahead of us into the church. If she went any faster, I’d have accused her of running away.
Ridge and I stopped by the end of the car, looking out at the crowd but not speaking. The sun was warm even on the early fall day, and I grew hot in my suit. I wore the black not only because it was a funeral, but one time Katy said I looked best in the dark color. I’m pretty sure she made a comment about being the devil afterward and the suit being a warning, but I looked at the bright side of every situation regarding her.
There was a hint of hay in the air as the late-season farmers tilled their crops and spread the pollen for miles. I wished nothing more than to be in the church at that moment beside Katy, offering her support on the day she’d most certainly need it.
Ridge took his first steps toward the chapel, and I followed closely enough to whisper so our conversation would not be overheard. “We agreed Chip was at the high school reunion to meet Jason, but have you come up with any confirmation or leads to confirm?” I asked.
Ridge shook his head. “No one can put him in the building until he was a corpse. We’ve run every lead in town and given our findings to Anderson with the promise he didn’t have anything else either.”
I grunted in irritation. Hours continued to tick away, and it would only be a matter of time before Katy found herself in more trouble. We had a when-not-if situation on our hands.
“I need to get this solved before Katy puts herself in harm’s way.” She was lucky to get out of the breaking and entering charge, and even though I had reach in this town, I couldn’t guarantee to keep her out of every reckless decision she made. Her choices grew worse as the year continued.
Ridge smiled. “I can hook you up with the basic camera package. It gives me peace of mind.”
I bet it did. Ridge wired cameras over half this town. He knew Tabitha’s whereabouts at every moment. It wasn’t jealousy or distrust. They had a tight relationship. He wanted to make sure he knew where she was so if something happened, he could jump into action. More than once in this town he’d been caught unaware and cameras had helped. Thankfully, so far, they’d been able to stop disaster before it happened, but I understood his desire not to want to take many chances.
“No, I can’t do cameras. Katy would kill me.” Maybe for real.
We reached the church where Katy’s mother and father stood outside the short steps greeting people at the front. We took our place in the line and then each greeted them together.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said to Katy’s mother, shaking her hand.
“Thank you,” she said smiling at me too brightly for a funeral. She was able to regain her composure and have a straight-lipped expression by the time Ridge reached her place. What the hell was going on with her?
I walked up the steps of the church, leaving Ridge behind, when I saw Jose Meyer standing on the outskirts. He clapped me on the shoulder as I stopped beside him. Jose was old and crabby, so the friendly back pat meant he wanted something.
“We should see about a fundraiser to purchase air conditioning for this building,” he said pulling on his shirt collar as beads of sweat dripped off his forehead.
“What do you care? I’ve never seen you here on a Sunday morning,” I said and laughed. “No worries. I called Jerome, and he promised to be here on Monday morning to take over the construction of his building. I can’t say thank you enough for giving him the permit to start again.”
Jose wiped the sweat from his head. “No trouble. We want to get this building finished too.”
“All those tax dollars.”
He laughed by throwing his head back with his mouth wide open. More than one person glanced in our direction. “It will be quite a boon.”
The church continued to swell with people, making the heat more suffocating as Katy’s grandmother’s funeral gathered a large crowd. She’d probably fill the church and then some. Even though the old woman spent half her life fighting with most of these people on a weekly basis, the residents of Pelican Bay always came out to remember and say goodbye to one of their own.
