“I think it’s disgusting,” Paulina said. “I’ve attended many congregations of many different faiths throughout my travels, but I’ve never encountered such bold hypocrisy. I wonder how he can even call himself a Christian when he stands up there every Sunday and preaches the words of Christ and then contradicts himself in the way he lives his life and supposedly serves his congregation. As I’ve heard, he caters very much to those who have the most money and influence. But did he once come to visit Kat through the course of her illness? Forgive me if it sounds disrespectful; perhaps it’s even blasphemous for me to assume the attitude of God, but I do not believe for one moment that Jesus would at all approve of such supposed representation of His teachings.”

“If such feelings are blasphemous,” Oliver exclaimed, “then I think we are blasphemers all.”

“Amen,” Amala muttered quietly and looked out the window.

Chapter Thirteen

MAKING PEACE

The days following the funeral continued to be dark and rainy, and the adjustment to living without Kat proved to be difficult. Henry knew that Amala was struggling at least as much as he was, but his ability to be a friend to her had become tangled up in the things Kat had said to them and the awareness that everyone else knew the whole truth.