by Tari Faris
“I’m done talking.” Libby stood, but that didn’t deter him.
“Do you feel that maybe Nate Williams abused his privileges with the board to funnel the grant money to try saving his family’s business?”
Libby hurried down the steps. “This interview is over. I have lunch plans, and you need to leave.”
The man offered an evil grin if she’d ever seen one, then winked and walked down the steps, past the Mustang. He slid into an old hatchback across the street and pulled away.
What a jerk!
Libby glanced down at her phone again. Her hands were shaking. Maybe she’d wait at Austin’s. She sent him a quick text as she crossed the grass to his porch.
She didn’t bother knocking, she just let herself in and dropped onto the couch.
“Austin, is that you, love?” A woman’s voice floated in from the other room. “If you want me to think of this place as home, then we have to have a talk about this kitchen.”
A chill ran through Libby as she tried to piece together this alternate reality she’d stepped into.
When she didn’t respond, a tall, shapely woman with long black hair appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. She wore designer jeans that fit snug to her legs, a white blouse that had to have cost more than three of Libby’s shirts, and the apron that Austin had worn the day he made burgers. “Oh, hello. Can I help you?”
Help her? What was this woman doing in her boyfriend’s house?
Shiro trotted in from the kitchen and licked Libby’s hand.
“Oh, baby, leave this nice lady alone. Come to Mama.”
Shiro quickly obeyed and walked back toward the kitchen, stopping to let the woman’s long red nails scratch her head.
That shook Libby out of her daze. “Excuse me, who are you?”
“Strange question for someone who just barged into my house, but I hear small towns can be strange.” She held out her left hand so that a large diamond could be seen glittering from the third finger. “I’m Austin’s fiancée.”
Fiancée? The air rushed from Libby’s lungs. “I have to go.” She stood and fled out the door. She had just reached the bottom of the steps when Austin walked up.
“I’ll be ready to go in five.” He leaned forward to plant a kiss on Libby’s cheek, but she jerked back. “Libby?”
The door to the house creaked open as the woman stepped out. “Surprise, Austin.”
Austin’s face paled, then reddened to the point that Libby feared he might not be breathing. “What are you doing here?”
“You said that if I loved you, I’d come. Here I am.” She struck a little pose, seeming oblivious to the tension around her. “Does your friend Lizzy want to stay for lunch? I put spaghetti on. I know it’s your favorite. Then some of my special peach pie for dessert.”
Libby had heard enough. She turned away, but Austin grabbed her shoulder. “Let me explain. She’s my ex-fiancée. I have no idea what she’s doing here.”
She studied him for the truth but couldn’t make sense of anything. The woman still stood at the door, the large diamond sparkling from her hand. “She has a ring, Austin.”
“Because she wouldn’t give it back.”
She turned away again, but he blocked her path. His hands gently landed on her arms, and it took all her willpower not to step toward the warmth they offered.
“I need you to believe me. I love you.”
Everything spun around her. Colin had said he loved her once too. But Austin wasn’t Colin, and he’d proven his love time and again lately. She reached up and ran her hand along his clean-shaven jaw. “Do you really love me?”
“Austin, I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.” The woman’s words were laced with anger.
Austin’s jaw twitched as his head whipped back to the porch. “Becky, if you don’t—”
“Becky?” It hit Libby like a smack in the face. She dropped her hand and backed up.
Austin’s eyes locked with hers again, but now they were filled with fear—or maybe that was guilt.
“Your dad called me Becky. Your phone call the night of spying was from Becky. You said it was nothing.” The last word came out with extra bite. She pushed past him, but he followed her all the way to her car.
“It is nothing. And I’d have told you about her at the right time. I was going to tell you at the end of our date, but I got sidetracked with Nate dropping the ball. You know me. Do you really think I would stand here and lie to you?”
Would Austin lie? Everything in her wanted to scream no. But Colin had lied. Luke’s dad had lied. And hadn’t Austin lied to the reporter about Nate’s and his relationship? Maybe that wasn’t the same thing, but she couldn’t ignore it as she was trying to determine truth from fiction.
“I don’t know.” Libby slipped into her car and started the engine.
“How can you not know?” Austin’s words carried over the sound of the engine. “Don’t go.”
She ignored him as she backed out. Becky still stood at the top of the steps, smiling and waving. Libby needed to figure things out, and she wasn’t going to do it while his ex-fiancée kept chiming in—if she really was an ex.
Libby didn’t know where she was going, she just drove. About a mile out of town, she found herself at the plot where the schoolhouse had once stood. She pulled into the little drive and shut off the engine.
So much had happened since she stumbled across that building on her bike ride with Olivia.
She rested her forehead on the steering wheel as tears poured down her cheeks. Maybe Becky really was an ex. But why hadn’t Austin told Libby about her before? There had been so many opportunities when she’d shared about Colin and everything that happened in London.
The rumble of an engine grew louder and Libby checked her mirror. Nate pulled his motorcycle next to her car and cut the engine. He slid off his helmet and peered at her. He looked like he was about to ask if everything was okay but stopped. No doubt her puffy red eyes answered that.
Nate climbed off his bike, sat on the hood of her car, and patted the spot next to him. So like Nate. Always there ready to help solve someone’s problems.
Libby climbed out and sat next to him, pulling her knees up to her chest.
Nate didn’t say anything. He just waited.
“Becky just showed up.”
He let out a low whistle. “That girl has the worst timing ever.”
“You know her?”
“I know of her. Caroline and Grant never had a kind word for her.”
“Are they still engaged?” She studied his eyes for some glimmer of hope.
He leaned back on his hands but kept his gaze fixed in the distance. “My understanding is that they broke things off before Austin moved here. Then again, Austin and I don’t share much these days.”
“She seems to think they’re still engaged.” A little hiccup escaped with the last word.
“From what I’ve heard of her, she’s the worst. Manipulative. Selfish. And just plain mean. But I guess you’ll have to decide if you believe Austin or her.”
“Is this where you give me a story from the Bible and tell me it’s my grace point?”
“Am I that predictable?” Nate dropped his head in his hands. “When I came here fresh out of seminary, I was sure I had all the answers. Right now I can’t even find my own answers.”
Libby stared out at the field of brown grass. “But if you don’t have the answers, then who does?”
The rumble of Austin’s truck grew louder just before it pulled off the road. Austin rushed around the front of the truck but paused when he caught sight of Nate sitting next to Libby.
Libby slid off the hood, shoved her hands in her back pockets, and drew a deep breath. “Hi.”
He didn’t say anything. He just looked from her to Nate.
She took another step toward him. “Nate explained about Becky and—”
He took a step back. “And you had no problem believing him.”
“What?” Libby looke
d back at Nate and then at Austin. “No, he just told me about—”
“About what I already told you. You didn’t believe me, but I guess I’m not as trustworthy as Pastor Nate. Right?”
She stepped toward him again, but he held up his hand. Maybe it had been a mistake not to hear him out, but she hadn’t run to Nate. How was she the bad guy here?
Libby crossed her arms. “You could have told me about her before. But you didn’t.”
“You probably would have checked the facts with Nate anyway.” Austin rubbed his hands over his face, then walked back toward the truck. “I thought I had at least one person in my corner. I guess I come in second to Nate with everyone.”
“Austin!” Libby yelled after him, but he was already in his truck. He revved the engine and pulled away without a backward glance.
Of course he didn’t look back. Austin didn’t offer second chances.
sixteen
What was the phrase? When it rains, it pours. Nate had never seen the truth in that statement until today. He jogged toward the double doors of the church, doing his best to stay dry. There had been a steady mist for an hour, but now it was beginning to fall in heavy drops.
Nate pushed through the front door and paused. Mayor Jameson sat in the waiting area outside his office. His round belly stretched the buttons of his suit coat, his ever-present smile absent.
“Afternoon, Mayor.” Nate extended his hand. “What can I do for you?”
The mayor stood and shook it. “Sorry to drop in without an appointment.”
“I always have time for you.” Nate opened the door to his office. “Why don’t we sit down?” He stepped around his desk and motioned to a chair for the mayor.
The mayor sat, then laid his briefcase on his lap and clicked it open. “I assume you saw the article by West Shore Entertainment online this morning.”
The mayor pulled out a printed copy of the article and laid it on the desk, but Nate didn’t pick it up. He’d read it after a heads-up from a mysterious text first thing that morning, and he didn’t care to read that garbage again. But even from this distance, the words misappropriation of funds, nepotism, and unqualified jumped off the page.
The mayor shut his briefcase and set it aside. “Those are some pretty serious allegations.”
“You were there.” Nate leaned forward on the desk with his elbows. “You know that wasn’t how it went down.”
“Right you are.” Mayor Jameson’s head bobbed a few times. “However, I’ve been contacted by Reader’s Weekly. They’re freezing the funds until they look into the matter.”
Freezing the funds? That meant no check for Austin.
The mayor took out a handkerchief and dabbed at his forehead. “I’m hoping to have it all cleared up in a week or two, but these types of things can take time. It could take months.”
Great. Time was one thing Austin didn’t have.
Nate steepled his fingers. “Is there anything I can do?”
“No, you hold tight. We’ll get it worked out.” The mayor shoved the hankie back in his pocket and stood. When Nate came around the desk, the mayor dropped his arm around his shoulders. “The truth will set you free. Isn’t that right?”
“That’s what they say.” Nate walked the mayor to the door.
Dale Kensington sat waiting in the lobby, his silver head bent over his phone. He stood up at their approach, pulling his briefcase under his arm. Whatever Dale was here about, Nate doubted it would end with a side hug.
The mayor smiled at Dale and shook his hand, but Nate would have sworn that neither of the men truly meant it. The mayor paused as if to say something more but instead just nodded and grabbed the umbrella he’d left by the door.
Dale’s eyes settled on Nate before he motioned to his office. “We need to talk.”
Nate held the door open wider and led Dale to the chair the mayor had just vacated. He couldn’t ignore the contrast of the two men. Dale had the other guy beat in hair and the cost of their suits. But Dale was half the mayor in girth and—in this case—character too. Nate had only seen that look in Dale’s beady little eyes once before, and that was when he was trying to buy Luke’s house from under him last year. This wasn’t going to go well.
Dale set his briefcase on the floor next to him and pulled out a file. “I’ll get straight to it. I never thought my brother should have hired you, and it seems I was right.”
That was getting straight to it, all right.
“People are always going on about how people change. But what’s the old saying—‘you can’t change a leopard’s spots’?” Dale opened the file and pulled a copy of the article out. He waved it in the air, then dropped it on the desk. Great, now he was gathering a collection.
Nate gripped the arms of the chair until his fingers ached. “The article is misleading.”
“Maybe. But it’s what people will remember. It’s what they’ll believe. Not to mention it shed a lot of light on you and your brother’s relationship, which seems to be different than you shared in that interview.” Dale slapped the article on Nate’s desk. “If you had any respect for this town, you’d resign from your position on the council and as pastor of this church.”
“The mayor doesn’t agree.” Nate drew in a slow breath through his nose. Losing his cool at this point wouldn’t help his case any. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I disagree. You’ve done a lot of things wrong in your life.” Dale refocused on the contents of the folder in his hand. “What about getting kicked off the football team in high school for drinking?” He pulled out the article that had run in Nate’s high school paper and dropped it on the desk.
“Two charges of drug possession.” Two copies of his mug shot hit the desk. “And then the DUI that totaled your father’s company van.” He added the article that had run in the paper along with the issued ticket. “That nearly took down the family business, didn’t it? The same family business that you arranged to get the contract to settle your guilt.”
Dale pulled out a larger stack of papers. “Then there are the parties. The internet never goes away, does it?”
Page after page of photos printed from Facebook landed in front of Nate. In most he had his arm around a girl and a beer in hand. The one of him kissing a girl turned his stomach. He didn’t even remember her name. He’d deleted as many as he could and untagged himself, but Dale was right, the internet never fully went away. How many hours had the man spent gathering all this?
Dale smacked the rest of the file down on his desk. “I can’t say that spells out pastor material.”
“I’ve done all I can to make restitution for those, and God has forgiven me.”
“Does that make you an example to the church? I can’t help wondering if my brother knew about all of this when he convinced the board to hire you.”
“He knew. The whole board knew about my past.” Nate clenched his fists. He hadn’t passed around a photo album, but he’d been candid. “I’m forgiven—”
“Forgiven by God, yes. But the town of Heritage deserves someone who can lead by example. The last church board may not have believed that, but I’m on the board now.” Dale pointed to the stack of papers. “You’re not the pastor for us. I’ll expect your resignation by the end of the day.” He slapped his briefcase shut, stood, and strode out.
Nate winced as the door slammed on his office and on his calling. He stared at his sins laid out in front of him, all in neat black-and-white copies.
The truth will set you free? Sometimes.
Other times the truth stood as an irrefutable testimony against you.
Part of him wanted to fight, but if he fought Kensington, he could expect it to get ugly. And when it got ugly in the church, no one won. It would be better to disappear and not taint all the good he had done here. Besides, not every part of him disagreed with the man.
Nate powered up his computer, opened a Word document, and began typing out a letter of resignation.
No matt
er how many times she read it, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Olivia sat at the dining room table, scrolling over the article on her tablet. She moved back to the top and started reading it again. The same bold headline kept flashing back at her. “Local Pastor Misappropriates Town Grant Money to Save His Family Business.”
Talk about misrepresenting the truth. But how many readers would believe it because it was on the internet?
The article went on to claim that Austin wasn’t qualified for such a large project. And quoted Libby saying that she’d been the one to design the square when Austin couldn’t come up with a design that the town would accept. He was going to love that.
Olivia checked the time. She needed to leave if she was going to make her meeting with her editor. Her phone rang. Frank Lang flashed across her caller ID.
“Hello?”
“Do you know what I’m reading right now?” The bite in his words couldn’t be missed.
“No, sir.” But she could sure guess.
“A front-page article about the town where you live. A front-page article gracing the cover of our competitor.” His volume rose with each sentence. “A front-page article covering the topic I asked you to cover and you said there was no story there.”
She almost printed it off just so she could rip it up. “The article isn’t telling the whole story.”
“But you knew there was a story, didn’t you?”
Her hesitation was enough.
“Don’t bother coming in for the meeting. And don’t bother turning in any more articles. I don’t think you have what it takes to be a reporter.”
The line went dead and Olivia dropped her phone on the table. That was it. Any hope of getting a good recommendation from Mr. Lang was gone.
Libby pushed through the front door with Darcy and Spitz on their leashes. She detached the dogs and filled their waters.
Olivia waved her tablet in Libby’s direction. “What did you say to that reporter?”
“What do you mean?”
“You haven’t seen it?” Olivia held the tablet out.
Libby took it, and her eyes widened and filled with tears as she scanned the material. “He misquoted me. I didn’t mean—”
