Letters in the Attic(37)

“Good morning, Pastor Wallace.” She hurried over to him. “Just the man I wanted to see.”

“That’s what I like to hear. And what can I do for you today?”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure if there’s anything you can do. I happened to be out at Tom Maxwell’s house a while ago, and I was wondering how well you know him and his wife.”

“Not very well. I’ve called on them a couple of times and told them both we’d love to have them here at Stony Point Community, but he said they do their worship in private. He was polite enough, but didn’t give me much chance to offer more than a standing invitation.”

“Yes, he told me he’d met you.” Annie smiled at him. “He said you’re a nice guy.”

He winked at her. “Word’s getting out. But seriously, I don’t know much about either of them. He told me they keep to themselves mostly, and that seems to be exactly what they do.”

“That’s what he told me too. Anyway, I wanted to ask you about Sandy.”

“Mrs. Maxwell?” He took a handkerchief from his back pocket, mopped his face and the balding top of his head, and then gestured to a nearby stone bench. “My old hip is acting up again.”

“You should have some of the boys out here doing this.” Annie sat next to him. “Couldn’t the youth group—”

“Oh, they do. Year-round, they do a wonderful job of keeping the grounds tidy. And our men’s group helps out as well—regular as clockwork.” He smiled ruefully. “And sometimes I think I’m twenty years younger than I am and try to do their jobs for them.”

Annie returned that smile that twinkled in his eyes. “And do you let them preach your sermons for you?”

He chuckled. “Point taken, but I couldn’t help myself. When God makes a day like this, it seems like a sin not to go out and enjoy it.”

Annie breathed in as much of the cold, clean air as she could hold and then let it out again. “It’s wonderful, isn’t it? It reminds me of when I was out at the Maxwells’. They have a wonderful garden, even this time of year. That seems to be Sandy’s main hobby.”

“Yes, she did mention that when I met her. It was about all she said.”

“That’s exactly what worries me. She’s so isolated out there, and she seems a little, well, a little scared. OK, maybe scared isn’t quite the word, but she does seem anxious about something. And it only got worse when her husband came home unexpectedly and found me and Alice McFarlane there.”

“Oh my. He didn’t threaten you, did he?”

“No, nothing like that, but I could tell it made Sandy more nervous than she was before. I just don’t know if I should be concerned about her or not. She seemed healthy enough and everything. Alice says maybe we were just there at a bad time.”

“That’s possible, of course. I’ve had to remind myself of the very same thing when I make calls sometimes. Despite my best efforts, I don’t always manage to show up at the most convenient moment. Did you go to see the Maxwells for a reason?”

“I wanted to see where my friend Susan used to live.”

“Ah, the one you’ve been asking about.”

Annie laughed. “I think everybody in town knows that by now, thanks to Peggy Carson.”

“Peggy means well,” he said, his brown eyes twinkling.

“Oh, I know she does. It’s nice of her to ask around too. Working at The Cup & Saucer, she comes in contact with a lot more people than I do. I guess you knew Susan, right?”

“Not really. Not well, anyway. She had been at school when I first came to Stony Point and had just come back here to live when her parents passed away. She was … she was different after that.” A sadness came into his eyes. “No, I take that back. She was different before that. I realize New York is a big place, and it’s not surprising that a young woman might leave behind some of her small-town ways. And after all, I had not known that much about her in the first place, except what her mother and father happened to mention from time to time. But from what I had seen of her, she had always been rather quiet, maybe a little shy.”

Annie nodded. “I always thought so. I could never imagine her being on the stage on Broadway in front of huge audiences, but I guess some people are like that, singers and actors and dancers. They can do anything as long as they get to be someone else while they’re doing it.”

Pastor Wallace smiled. “Every now and then, I get a little tongue-tied myself one-on-one, but I feel perfectly at home behind the pulpit. I can see Susan being that way.”