Page 39 of A Little Bit More

Christmas Morning in Invertary

This story takes place just after the end of

Can’t Buy Me Love.

In the three short months that David Carlyle had been minister of Invertary’s Presbyterian church, no one had told him not to appoint Lorraine Ferguson as the organizer of the Christmas Day play.

Somebody should have.

As he stood at the front of the church as the congregation filed in, each holding a vigil candle, a cold sweat broke out on David’s brow. One that had nothing to do with the snow outside. No, this was due to the number of naked flames in shaky hands, in a church decorated with bales of hay.

“It’s a barn theme,” Lorraine had told him, practically bouncing from excitement. “The Baxter farm’s lending us some real sheep to add atmosphere. But don’t worry. I’ve organized the youth group to clean up after them.”

David glanced over at the sheep gathered in a pen set up at the front of the church. There were eight of them. They’d come with strict instructions not to dye them pink.

He blinked at the sheep before scanning the bales of hay piled beside them. Then his gaze strayed to the sheaves of hay tied to the end of each pew. Lastly, it came to rest on the candles in the hands of his congregation. The same hands that also held very flammable song sheets.

They were all going to die.

He’d joined the church to avoid burning in hell. Instead, he was going to burn in his own church. And people said God didn’t have a sense of humor…

“Reverend Carlyle,” Caroline McInnes said as she came up beside him.

Normally people just smiled at him as they took their seats, as though some great divide existed between them. But not Caroline. As a member of the town’s council, a successful partner in an arts management agency, and wife of a world-famous singer, little fazed Caroline. On top of all that, she’d been a librarian before marrying Josh. You couldn’t intimidate a librarian. Everybody knew that.

“Merry Christmas, Caroline.” David gave her a genuinely warm smile. “What can I do for you?”

She tucked some stray hair from her sleek blonde bob behind her ear. “I feel I should apologize. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t been able to get you up to speed on the congregation and the different factions within it. As a member of the church social committee, I’ve been lax. I’m so sorry.”

“Nothing to worry about. I’m picking things up as I go.” Like maybe he shouldn’t have trusted a recent drama graduate with the Christmas play. “Do we have fire extinguishers in the church?”Please, God…

“Yes.” She lowered her voice. “I’ve asked my husband and a few others to gather as many as they could and dot them around the sanctuary.”

“Everything they say about you is true, isn’t it?” David said. “You can organize anything.”

Her smile was sweet. “Have you spent any time with my husband and kids?” She shook her head. “No, I can’t organize everything. But if I had been around, I would have suggested that you paired Lorraine with Joanne Baird. Joanne has organized many a play and works as a health and safety inspector for the Fort William Council.”

“Is she here?”Would she shut them down? Did that question sound too hopeful?

“She’s visiting family in Australia.”

“That’s a pity, because this is a disaster waiting to happen.” It was only a matter of time before someone set one of their song sheets alight. If they didn’t get the hay first. “It’s too late to stop this, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Caroline patted his arm. “But we have the fire extinguishers now and people manning them. It’s the best we can do.”

“Next year…if we’re still alive…I’ll make sure Lorraine has someone supervising her.”

“Probably a good idea.” Caroline gave him a sympathetic nod before returning to her seat.

A glance at the clock on the back wall told him it was time to get started, but he’d decided to change the order of things. The thought of people standing with candles lighting their carol sheets was just too much for him. He was only thirty-five. Way too young to die.

He hurried over to where Lorraine waited at the door beside the pulpit. The one that led to the vestry, where Lorraine planned to stay while she narrated the play over the PA system. Apparently, her acting career had been cut short because she vomited every time she stood in front of an audience.

“I think we’ll go straight into the play,” he said. “People are eager to see it. Is it okay with you if we dump the first carol?”

Black curls bounced around her face as she nodded enthusiastically, making him wonder if he’d ever been that young. “We’re totally ready. This is going to be awesome. Aren’t the sheep amazing? And they don’t even smell that much.”

“Aye, they’re…” He couldn’t lie to her. “They’re sheep,” he said at last.