“They transferred their anger to Pastor Johnson. I tell you, son, he had a terrible time of it for a while, but he just hung in there. He prayed, and trusted, and it all worked out fine. Looking back, I can’t say he did much counseling. He did a lot of work with the women’s auxiliary, raising funds, things like that, and he organized activities for the kids. But he didn’t counsel anybody ever. I doubt they trained ministers for that when he went to ministerial school. I imagine their idea of counseling was strictly scriptural.

“The congregation likes you, and you’ve done some good work. You helped May McCorkle out of her mess. She’s working at a hospital now and she’s even got her a nice boyfriend, I hear. You helped my boy Timmy and his wife when they were so depressed with him being out of work for so long.”

“Thanks, Charlie.”

Charlie stood. “As chairman of the Church Board it’s my duty to stay on top of things, help keep things running smoothly. I’d hate for you to get so mad you left. We need you here.” He turned to leave, then stopped, turned again, and looked at Denny. “I’ll get back with you.” Then Charlie closed the door quietly behind him, leaving Denny with his adrenaline pumping and Sarina very much on his mind.

Charlie’s mission was easily accomplished. Max was only too happy to talk about Zachary with an old friend.

“It was a day I hoped never in my life to live through, my son screaming at me like a madman. I didn’t hold on to my cool either, and I went ballistic. Zachary stalked off, and I never saw him again, never had a chance to talk about what he wanted and why. I’ll regret that to my dying day.”

“I sure wish there was some way you could resolve this. It’s a doggone shame the way he’s left it,” Charlie said.

“Worse for Sarina, poor thing. She’s in limbo. What’s she supposed to do, get a divorce?”

“Maybe she ought to,” Charlie replied. “Then she’d be free to make a new life with someone else.”

“Someone like Denny Ledbetter? I hear the crap they’re saying about Denny and Sarina. They’re wrong, you know. That girl’s so full of pain; she’s not interested in Denny or anyone else. And even if she was, can you see this congregation accepting a non-Christian foreigner as their minister’s wife? Look how they treat her. It’s pathetic. They’re pathetic.”

“Folks don’t know where Zachary is: he could be off on business, and she’s fooling around behind his back. A lot of them know Zachary from the time he was born. They feel a certain loyalty to him. They haven’t a clue what he’s turned into.”