Page 21 of Dangerous December
“The youth group at the Agate Creek Community Church could do it in a snap,” she said decisively. “They’re always looking for fundraiser projects. Buy them pizza, make a donation to their program, and you’ll have this cleaned up in no time.Though given who your mom was and what she did for them, they’d probably come for free.”
What she did for ayouth group?Atchurch?Olivia had to be confusing Vivian Sloane with someone else.
She laughed aloud. “From your expression, I get the feeling you didn’t know your mom very well in her later years.”
“I haven’t been around here much since I enlisted. We...didn’t always see eye to eye.”
“Something she always regretted, no matter what you might think.” Olivia drew closer and rested a slender hand on his shoulder. “I believe she once said that you two were too much alike.”
He stifled a snort at that. Country club events and golf tournaments certainly hadn’t been his focus, to the exclusion of everything else. He’d only been a bothersome child.
“I think she mentioned ‘stubborn’ and ‘independent’ once or twice, but my memory could be wrong.” Olivia winked. “I guess I’d better be going. Maybe I’ll see you in church on Sunday?”
He shrugged.Not likely.
She waggled the tips of her fingers in farewell as she left, leaving him to count the number of times he’d been asked about church in the past twenty-four hours.
Barring a few of the newer people in town, everyone he’d encountered seemed to recognize his name whenever he stopped at a store or gas station. They offered condolences about his parents and dredged up pleasantries about how much they were missed in these parts.
And they assumed Dev would be slipping into the traditional Sloane pew, right up front.
But he’d seen too much, learned too much over the years to resume his family’s superficial, pious role again.
Maybe God watched over the good folks of Agate Creek, but He sure hadn’t followed Dev to the Middle East or into thehalls of Walter Reed. And if He hadn’t stepped in when Dev had needed Him most, He certainly wouldn’t care about what happened to him now.
The cell phone on his belt clip vibrated. He lifted it and glanced at the caller ID, trying to ignore the instant rush of awareness that he’d tried to forget. He almost said a silent prayer for strength before he caught himself.
It wasBeth.
CHAPTER EIGHT
At the sharp rap on the door of Beth’s office at the back of the bookstore, Elana grabbed for her son and retreated to the corner of the room, dragging him with her.
Their dark eyes widened with fear, even though Beth had told them Dev was on his way.
The door cracked open a few inches.
“Beth? What’s going on here—” Dev pushed the door farther open, caught sight of the cowering woman, and seemed to instantly assess the situation.
He stepped inside, closed the door, and offered her a disarming grin as he eased into one of the chairs. “I’m Vivian’s son, Devlin Sloane. I’m guessing that you must be Elana Mendez?”
The woman managed a single, jerky nod.
“She couldn’t meet with us yesterday, so I called and asked if she could stop here after work.”
Her hands clasped on her desktop, Beth leaned forward to smile warmly at the seven-year-old by the woman’s side.
She prayed that Dev wouldn’t telegraph surprise or pity when he got a closer look at the boy’s twisted leg and the gaunt, slight appearance he and his mother shared. “And this is her handsome young son, Cody.”
If Dev noticed anything unusual, his expression didn’t betray his thoughts. “Nice to meet you both.”
“I’m glad you got my text, Dev. I thought it might be good if the three of us talked, just as we did with the other residents. So we’re all on the same page.” Beth tilted her head at Cody. “If all this grown-up talk is boring, I know Janet has a plateful of chocolate-chip cookies you two could share.”
Elana bit her lower lip as she glanced uncertainly between Beth and her son. “I don’t think...well...”
“The store is quiet right now. I can ask Janet to stay with him in the children’s area. It used to be an office, so there’s just one entrance. I’ll ask her to lock the door.”
After a long pause, the young woman nodded and said something to Cody in rapid-fire Spanish. She watched pensively when Janet came and led him away slowly enough to accommodate his pronounced limp.
