Page 93 of A Surefire Love
Anson took a breath, started to answer, stopped. Was it possible Eric hadn’t told his own family the decision he’d instigated? “The room was spared, but I believe it still has smoke damage.”
“Ah. Okay. Good. ’Cuz someone said it was because you quit.”
Anson had wanted to let the leadership board tell the congregation what happened, but he couldn’t let that slide. “I don’t work at the church anymore, but I didn’t quit.”
Dylan cocked his head like a puzzled puppy. “Huh?”
“They let me go.”
Dylan froze, mouth open. “No.” Somehow, he managed to not move his jaw.
“Afraid so.”
“Because of the fire?” He was back in motion, balling his hands under his crossed arms.
“No.” Although during that last meeting, one of Eric’stalking points had been his prediction about the fire decreasing giving. “Not directly, anyway.”
“Then it was because of my dad?”
“The leadership board made the decision together.” Hopefully that was diplomatic enough.
“My dad is such a ….” Dylan clenched his jaw.
Part of him would’ve loved to finish the thought, but he took a page from Blaze’s playbook instead. “The board is doing what they feel is best for the church.”
“So, no more youth group?”
“My understanding is they’re coming up with a plan, but if you want details, you’ll have to talk with your dad.”
“Carter’s going to …. Are you sure this isn’t because of the fire? It was an accident. You shouldn’t be punished for it.”
Dylan spoke with a little too much certainty.
“Is there something you want to tell me?”
“What do you mean? No. Why?”
“How do you know the fire was an accident?”
“You just said.”
“I said that was the theory. You sound pretty sure.”
“No, I’m not. I’m not. I just ….” His hands popped back out the ends of his sleeves. “Okay, so all I know is we sent you the text.”
“What text?”
“The one about the fire. It wasn’t from my dad. It was from me and Carter. Well, Carter, but he did it because I was worried about the church.”
“How did you know about the fire that early on?”
“One of my dad’s friends called and told him. The guy saw all the fire trucks and called because he knows Dad is kind of in charge or whatever. Carter and I heard Dad getting ready to go see what was happening, so we asked himwhat was going on. I was really worried. Carter said you could help.”
“Why use your dad’s phone?”
“We checked to see if he called you, but he only called Pastor Greg, so we sent the text. But we figured he might be mad about it, so we deleted it from his phone. He doesn’t know he texted you. Maybe don’t tell him? He’d be mad. But I guess you probably couldn’t really help, huh? The fire was so big.”
Spoken with the confidence of a witness, but Anson hadn’t spotted him at the church. “Did you see it?”
