CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

Sizemore or Standard, whichever name he chose to give the devil when he checked in, was gone. His church was gone, his body was gone, but his evil lingered on.

Matthew and Grant got to work rebuilding the little church on the outskirts of the Quarter. They’d already started a search for a new minister, and Barry was working to help the church become new and better than before.

The first man to offer help in building the church was JT. He was sober, clean, and apparently dating the young woman with the child in the wheelchair. His life was straightening out.

With a little help, the men were now busy planning their Italian getaway. Although it was against their promise to the women, they were taking weapons with them. They just couldn’t let everything stay at home.

Irene walked toward her friend’s front porch, smiling at her as she sipped her coffee.

“Ruby? Good morning, darlin’,” she smiled.

“Good mornin’, Irene.”

“You okay?”

“Just thinkin’.”

“I sure hope you’re not wastin’ any time thinkin’ about what that man said to you. You’re the best woman I know, Ruby. Best mama, grandmama, and great-grandmama. I’d take your side in any fight, on any day.”

“You’re a gem, Irene. I feel the same about you. No, I wasn’t questionin’ myself so much as all them folks who didn’t feel his evil, didn’t see it.”

“Well,” said Irene, taking a seat beside her friend. “Not everyone has the sense for these things like you and I do. We feel it in our bones, sense it from a mile away. We may not always know exactly what it is, but we know it’s wrong.”

“What are those boys doin’?” asked Ruby, staring at the men seated around the fire. Irene laughed, shaking her head.

“Those poor fools are tryin’ to plan a trip to Italy by themselves. I swear I raised smart boys, but right now, I’m feelin’ like a failure.”

“Maybe we should offer some help,” grinned Ruby.

“Let’s give ‘em a few more minutes of sufferin’. Then, we’ll help them do it all, give them the perfect trip, and I can tell Gaspar about the new animals on the island.”

“Irene,” laughed Ruby, rocking back, “I swear sometimes your evil and goodness are a strange mixture.”

“I know,” she smiled. “It’s what makes my husband love me so much.”