of my mind, and with him here it’s even worse. Second, sure he’s here now, but what if he suddenly decided he needed to return to the mission in Texas?”
“I think he’s made it clear he plans to settle here to be with you.”
“But I need to love him enough to return with him to Corpus Christi if he goes. And I can’t do that right now.”
“Because you don’t love him enough?”
“Because I’m terrified. Besides, my thoughts about God are not the best thoughts after what happened with Joni, and a shared faith is vital. I’ve seen that with your mom and dad. The spirit—whatever spirit it was—in Barry hated the Spirit in Kirstie.”
“So which spirit do you choose? Barry’s or Mom’s? You’ve seen evidence of both. You’ve seen tons of evidence in Gerard. It kind of seeps out of him like sunlight through a clean window.”
“I don’t have what it takes to keep up with Gerard’s God.”
“Okay.” Lynley placed a gentle hand on Megan’s arm. “Take your time. Hey, seriously, you’ve missed so much action at the Thompson home the past three days.”
“Fights between Nora and Kirstie?”
“Well, sure, there’s that. You know Mom and Nora can’t be in the same room for ten minutes without arguing. I think Nora loves the company, though, and she experimented with a new cookie recipe. I thought you’d at least stop by.”
“You had a funeral to plan, and I didn’t want to interfere.”
“Stop that. You know you’re family, even if I did behave like a shrew the other night.”
“How have you felt over the weekend?”
Lynley’s eyes narrowed as she studied Megan in silence for a moment. “Civil today. You and Nora both seem to think there’s a leak or contaminant in the house that’s affecting Mom, and maybe even me, though neither of you has come right out and said it.”
Megan nodded.
“What kind of contaminant?”
“Wish I knew.” Megan had picked up the mail for the clinic today. Kirstie’s toxicology screen was negative, which wasn’t surprising, but it was disappointing. Now they had to keep looking.
“You could have told me,” Lynley said.
“It wasn’t my call.”
Lynley nodded. “Mom. There’s nothing like a mother’s loving protection to make a grown woman want to gnaw on bones.”
The door opened and Gerard stepped out. “You ladies behaving?”
“What’s it to you?” Megan stuck her tongue out at him. Their comfortable companionship had fallen back into place today as they’d worked together, side by side, silently searching for land and local history. No kisses, no romance, just friendship. He seemed to have known what she needed.
Gerard beckoned them. “Reverend Gripka’s getting ready to start.”
Lynley looked at Megan. “Do me a favor? Reverend Tom’s probably going to have people stand up and say all kinds of nice things about Dad. If I start to interrupt or argue, pinch me?”
“If you’ll do the same for me.”
“Deal.”
Kirstie sat between Lynley and Megan on the hard wooden pew in the front row of the funeral home. As she had expected, the minister breezed through the eulogy about Barry and segued into a short sermon about righteous living. She smiled. That was why she’d chosen him to conduct the service. No lies about the deceased. No ugly truths either. He left the attendees to form their own opinion about Barry amongst themselves.
The service concluded quickly, and she sat watching friends and neighbors as they filed past the casket and walked over to hug her and Lynley once more. She saw few tears, and she couldn’t bring herself to shed more, though she’d managed to weep a time or two upon their arrival and when viewing the body, when she’d suddenly started to wonder what life would have been like if she’d married a man who had been steadfast as a husband and father. That was the saddest thing of all—Barry’s choices.
During most of her adult years Kirstie had attended dozens of visitations and funerals, and she was typically replenished by them. Most of the funerals she’d attended had been for people who’d known for years that when they died they would be in Heaven. Barry had never cared. He had only maligned Kirstie for her faith.
She was hugging yet another neighbor when a familiar figure caught her attention from across the room. She felt herself tense. A few pieces of blackness fell away when she recognized Alec Thompson. Just Alec in a suit. But Alec seldom wore a suit, and the one he wore tonight was actually one his father had once worn in his