her for the funeral.
“And that was the final blow? That he wouldn’t be there for you?”
“Not quite.” This was the hard part—the part she hadn’t told Drew or even Natalie. But Lauren needed to hear it all. “There was a man,” she said, “a longtime friend of my father’s. He was widowed and made no bones about being attracted to me, but I wasn’t the least bit interested. He was just a friend, and barely that.
“When he heard about my father’s death, he flew down from Washington, D.C., and did his best to be kind and helpful. Yes, maybe he was a little too friendly, but without Will there, I needed some support. My mother was a wreck, so I had to make a lot of the arrangements. I truly appreciated his help.
“Two days before the funeral, Will changed his mind and decided to come. He phoned the house to let me know. My mother took the call and told him I’d gone to lunch with this man. She went on and on about how helpful he’d been and how much I’d appreciated his being there. Will hung up the phone and went ballistic.”
Tori turned onto the street that led to the hospital. “When I didn’t hear from him for the next three days, I gave him a call. He ripped me up one side and down the other—pretty much accused me of having an affair, which couldn’t have been further from the truth. That was when I knew it was over. I came home two weeks later with divorce papers. End of story.”
Tori pulled into the hospital parking lot. How trivial it all sounded in the retelling—two proud, stubborn people who’d had a misunderstanding and couldn’t forgive each other. But at the time it hadn’t been trivial at all. It had been like the end of the world.
“And the man?” Lauren spoke as if she already knew. “Who was he?”
Tori pulled into a parking spot, turned off the engine, and unfastened her seat belt. “Congressman Garn Prescott, of course—your father.”
* * *
After Natalie’s phone call Sheriff Abner Sweeney had driven back to town to pick up his wife. Bethel sat beside him now, her plump body rigid, her narrow-lipped mouth fixed in a straight line. She’d agreed to go with Abner. But he could sense her inner struggle. She had cast her daughter out for her sin. Now righteous judgment warred with compassion and motherly love.
Bethel, a preacher’s only daughter, had grown up with her father’s ironclad values. She’d raised her children as she had been raised, never dreaming that she’d one day be faced with an agonizing choice like this one.
“So Vonda and the baby are all right?” she asked Abner for perhaps the third time.
“That’s what Natalie told me.”
“But she doesn’t know her husband’s dead?”
“That’s what I understand. Natalie said it was our place to tell her.”
“You tell her, then. You’re used to doing things like that.”
“Fine, I’ll tell her. But you need to be there.” Abner was already wondering how Ralph had died. Natalie hadn’t offered any details. Had Vonda’s husband perished fighting the blaze? Or . . . but no, that didn’t make sense. Why on earth would Ralph set fire to his employer’s barn—especially if he couldn’t make it out of the barn in time to save his own life?
Ralph’s pickup sat in the graveled driveway, in front of Natalie’s SUV. The old rust bucket wasn’t fit for anything but scrap. He could sell it and give Vonda the money toward a decent car. Lord knows, she was going to need it.
Strange that Ralph wouldn’t have driven to fight the fire. Covering the distance on foot would have wasted precious minutes. Had somebody else picked him up? Or had he walked to the barn before the fire started?
For now, those questions would have to wait. Abner had a job to do, but he was also a father. His helpless, grieving daughter needed him, and he would be there for her.
Natalie came out onto the stoop as they pulled up. She hadn’t been friendly to Abner since that mess with Beau last spring. But at least she’d come when Vonda needed help.
“Your daughter and the baby seem fine,” she said before they could speak. “But just to be sure, you’ll want to get them checked out by a real doctor, at the hospital.”
“Thank you,” Abner said. “I’ve been wondering about Ralph. How did he—”
“They found his body after the fire was out. That’s all I