Denny sat in his office thinking about Ida’s visit and what she had said about his parishioners saying nice things about him, saying that he had helped them. Which ones? he wondered, making a mental list of those he had seen recently.

Timmy Herrill and his wife had been in. Timmy was still out of work, almost a year now, poor fellow, and the Herrill household strained at the seams. Charlie had been in to talk about it. He and Velma were considering taking an apartment in Weaverville and giving over the house to the young family. If they moved, he would miss them. He hoped they’d still come to church.

Molly and her husband had dropped in to talk about one of their boys, Alfred, recently diagnosed with ADD, attention deficit disorder. Where did these names come from? Boys were loud, and some boys were wilder and louder than others. He himself had been a handful at the orphanage. Today there were labels for everything. On the other hand, Denny had seen Alfie, as they called him, tearing up and down Cove Road on his bike, popping wheelies and yelling at the top of his lungs, annoying everyone. He was rather a wild one.

Denny chewed the end of his pencil. Alfie had almost crashed his bike into Pastor Johnson one time, rest his soul. Denny had grabbed the pastor’s arm and yanked him onto the grass as the boy careened past. He and Pastor Johnson had sat on the stoop of the church for a time then and talked about whether to call Alfie’s mother at Bella’s Park, where she worked. Denny had been gung ho to do this. Pastor Johnson restrained him.

“Kids will be kids,” he said, “Let’s not make a big issue of this.”

He missed Pastor Johnson; the community missed him. Well, no sense sitting here commiserating with himself over the loss of his friend and surrogate father. He could never fill his shoes, but he could do his best to tend the old man’s flock.

Denny pushed up from his chair, Pastor Johnson’s chair. He moved slowly down the narrow hallway to the sanctuary. Light from the stained-glass windows played across the pews and aisle. Denny slipped into a pew, bowed his head, and prayed for courage and guidance. And please, God, don’t send me anyone else to counsel for a while.

29

Photography Workshop in New Mexico

Several days later, Amelia announced her intention to sign up for a photography workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico. “Miriam and Sadie are going with me, and I am so excited.”

Across the table, Hannah looked up and raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, all right, it’s not about their wanting to shoot pictures. I want to bring them with me. Miriam’s never been out west, and Sadie’s thrilled. Santa Fe is special, and working with Martha Dinsk is very special.”

“Who’s she?” Hannah asked.