Page 45 of The Souls of Lost Lake
“Yes. Therein lies another mystery. Did Ava Coons have motive to slay Matthew?” Sanderson sounded as though he were baiting Noah.
Again, Noah didn’t answer.
“Yes, well...” Mr. Sanderson sniffed. “Everyone in town knew that Miss Coons had a thing for Matthew. If anything spoke to her potential innocence, I would assume it would be that.”
Noah remained silent.
“Well, Reverend, I will let you return to your studies of the Word.” Both men stood. Mr. Sanderson’s chair scraped against the floor. Noah walked him to the door and muttered a proper goodbye.
Ava waited, huddling still under the desk, sure that Noah would seek her out when it was safe. She didn’t have long to wait. A few moments later, Noah ducked under the desk, his eyes boring into hers as if she were indeed guilty and he was the judge.
“You had a ‘thing’ for Matthew Hubbard?”
This time, Ava felt a deep flush creep up her neck and into her face. Noah reached in and yanked on her arm, gentle but insistent.
“Come, Ava Coons. Do tell the truth.”
18
It wasn’t that she wastryingto be secretive, but some secrets weren’t hers to tell. She might be a backwoods girl, but Ava had a sense of decency, and that meant holding to her word. Supper was a morbid affair. Hanny maintained her promised absence like a suffragette on strike. Ava could see the light in Hanny’s house next door. She could even smell the roast beef. Better than the cold chicken they were eating with a little salt sprinkled on it. Pulling it from the icebox, Noah must have been too hungry to wait to heat anything up. He all but threw it on the table and then told her to sit down and eat.
Now Noah stabbed at his food like a man about to murder a pest, if not another man, and he reminded Ava of one of those sticks of dynamite that had sparks licking the tip of its fuse. One of these days, this man was going to blow, and Tempter’s Creek better give him fair enough distance or they’d be blown to smithereens too.
Between Noah’s pouting and her stubborn silence, they finished off the chicken just as a knock sounded on the back door. Noah shoved his chair back to answer it, and as soon as the door opened, the place was filled with the smell of hot apple pie. Hanny hustled in as Noah quickly shut the door behind the old woman.
“Brought you both a pie.” She set it on the table on top of a hot pad. Eyeing them both, the old woman rested her hands on her hips. “Go get some plates and I’ll dish it up.”
Noah did as he was told.
Ava stayed still in her chair.
Hanny looked between them when Noah made his way back to the table with three plates.
“You two are trouble like I’ve never seen before.” Hanny served a slice of pie onto one of the plates. “A whole two days with this kerfuffle. I’m not sure you’re going to make it. Neither one of you.” Hanny raised her eyes to the heavens. Or the ceiling. Ava looked at her pie as Noah took it from Hanny and set it on the table in front of Ava with a clatter.
“Did you figure out what you’re going to do?” Hanny eyed Noah. He shook his head and retrieved his own slice of pie. Hanny harrumphed. “I told you, truth will find you out.”
“I know that,” Noah grumbled. He took a bite of his pie, standing in place as if he couldn’t decide whether to sit or run and take cover. “It’s not that simple.”
“Well, it was until you messed it up.” Hanny waved the pie-serving utensil in the air.
“They want to—”
“I know, I know what the good people of this town want to accuse Ava of!” Hanny glowered at Noah. “It’s whatyoudid that I’m talking about. Feeding their frenzy with your deceit—”
“Enough.” Noah marched from the dining room, taking his pie with him.
Hanny and Ava stared after him, silence the only remaining companion in the room. Finally, Hanny saw fit to take her place in Noah’s chair. She folded her hands and rested them on the table. “You know that man has put his entire ministry on the line for you. You realize if they find out he’s hiding you in the parsonage, he’s more than likely to lose his place in the church?”
A pit formed in Ava’s stomach. No. She’d not considered that.
“And furthermore,” Hanny added, “if youareguilty—or even caught and convicted—he could be arrested for helping you.”
Now she felt nauseated.
Hanny stared at her for a long moment, her milky blue eyes grave.
“Are you saying it’d be best if I left?” Ava whispered. She’d been contemplating it anyway. Leave the parsonage. Leave Tempter’s Creek. Just leave.
