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I looked up Celia Shaw on the Internet that night My coht by Martin so he could work at home froh to send and receive eames bored me, I&039;d discovered, and my money was "handled" by my accountant, so I only turned the machine on a couple of times a week

Celia was supposed to be twenty-five, I learned, a figure I took with a grain of salt She&039;d been born in Wil in a movie I hadn&039;t realized there wereto the article, it was quite acenter Well, back to Celia Her edseparated froe was in doubt Linda Shaw had left the infant Celia with an aunt and uncle, and fled Linda resurfaced in California a couple of years later, dead She&039;d committed suicide in a ic beginning

Though er, my mother had been a rock I&039;d never had aunts and uncles, since both my parents were only children (which may have contributed to their problems), but my mother had a whole network of friends, fa become more sympathetic to Celia Shahom I&039;d been quite prepared to dislike, I continued scrolling along I examined pictures of Celia in various movies I&039;d never seen I paused to check out a dress Celia had worn to the Emmy Awards Hmmm I was more conservative sartorially than I&039;d realized

I peered at the picture Had she had to glue that bit into place? How had she planned to cope if she&039;d dropped her purse? Of course, soladly; Celia Shaould never have to perform any little service for herself, at least not for the next ten years Still, what if she&039;d forgotten her posture and sluive her that

According to her bio, Celia Shaw had won escalating parts in five minor films and two major television shows However, Whimsical Death, a two-partrole Chip Brodnax was taking the role of Robin His face was familiar to me, but I couldn&039;t remember where I&039;d seen him I didn&039;t watch a lot of television, but I was sure I&039;d noticed hi before

The saazine was on the website, the one of her with Robin at a party There was another shot of Celia holding her Eiven age of twenty-five was literally less than the truth, there was no doubt in er than me

As I closed down the computer and went upstairs for my bath, I wondered why I&039;d bothered to search out this infor to play o, since I&039;d refused permission for a character to havethat I&039;d have an interest in the wo Prayer that Wednesday night This was by no means my normal schedule, I&039;s, but that was the liuild, the vestry, and the annual Christ to have a slightly guilty feeling, as though I watched PBS every night yet didn&039;t send in a di, I scooted into an empty pew close to the back of the sh the ritual that meant so much to me

As I was about to shake Father Aubrey Scott&039;s hand while I was going out the door, he said, "Could you stay for a minute? I&039;d like to have a feords"

"Sure," I said I&039;d always been fond of Aubrey In fact, I&039;d dated him for many months Then I&039;d met Martin and he&039;d met Emily, and we&039;d parted amiably The warh ation that he&039;d need to discuss with me, but I couldn&039;t come up with a one

With a sense of mild expectation, I settled on a bench in the quiet churchyard while the other congregants got in their cars and switched on their headlights in the gathering dusk Soon we&039;d have the tih the lighted s I could see Aubrey&039;s wife, E around the church She was raising kneelers that had been left down, picking up prograhts Elizabeth, Ehter by her deceased first husband, hadn&039;t been in church that night She&039;d probably used ho; Elizabeth, now ten, was quite a handful But Aubrey never regretted adopting Elizabeth; he doted on her

Having divested himself of his robe, Aubrey carayer than he&039;d been when he&039;d first come to Lawrenceton to take the helm of St Stephen&039;s Was Aubrey thirty-nine? Or closer to forty-two? I caught e far too often these days

"I have sorave

"Ask ahead," I told him From the open church door came a thwack! as Emily raised the fourth kneeler from the back on the left, which was a little noisier than the others

"Would it offend you if the movie company filmed some scenes here at the church?" he asked

Whatever I&039;d expected, it wasn&039;t this request I was glad of the darkness, since I had no idea what my face looked like I couldn&039;t think of what to say

"The vestryis," he continued, after a pause to offer h in coet a new roof put on St Stephen&039;s - both the parish hall and the church But if you have the slightest objection, we&039;ll forego the money It won&039;t be worth it You&039;re one of ours The vote on that was unanimous"

So ether to lock the words inside There was only one answer I could possibly give "Of course," I said "For a new roof, you have to say yes" I knew my voice was much cooler than I wanted it to be, and I kneords weren&039;t exactly enthusiastic or even very civil, but that was the best I could do

"You don&039;t sound okay about it," Aubrey said after a hesitation "You sound like you want o play in traffic"