Sam picked up my hand and kissed it. "That's not the only call I'll make. But I want to start with whoever owns the chapel, and with the minister who married us. Then I'll call some folks in the register of deeds office in the county seat. But for now, let's not disrupt everybody in the house by moving me upstairs. You'd have to tell them why, you know."

Pondering the humiliation of explaining our separation to Lillian and Hazel Marie, to say nothing of Mr. Pickens, I slowly took back my hand. "I guess we couldn't keep it from them, could we? They'd be seeing us go our separate ways every night." I opened the car door and started to slide out. "Well, one good thing-we won't be in the tabloids like Sonny Sutton. But, Sam," I said, turning back, "take a lesson from him. He did the right and gentlemanly thing by moving out without a lot of moaning and groaning about it. And it seems to me that you'd want to protect my good name and my honor at least to that extent."

"Oh, I do, Julia. It's just that I don't think we have to do anything drastic right away."

I got out of the car, then leaned back in. "Then it would behoove you to get it settled today. Besides, I'm tired of moving clothes up and down the stairs."

As soon as I walked into the living room, I almost turned around and walked back out. The most nerve-wrenching, screeching racket filled the house as a power saw screamed its way across a piece of wood. Even with doors closed everywhere, you could hardly hear yourself think, and we were going to have to put up with it for days on end. I was about ready to move back to Sam's house, where there was peace and quiet. But, with a wry twist of my mouth, I realized I was stuck where I was. There wouldn't be the option of moving in with Sam until I knew how closely related we were.

In one of the infrequent moments of silence, I pushed through the door into the kitchen. Hazel Marie was at the table, working on her notes, while Lillian stood at the counter, making sandwiches for lunch.

Before I could say a word, another scream of the saw split the air. They looked up at me, as we waited for it to die down.

"Lord, I don't think I can stand that," I said, pulling out a chair. "Are all the doors closed?"

"Ever'one in the house," Lillian said. "An' still you can't get away from that racket. Them mens say they gonna try to get through with their sawin' today, or maybe tomorrow, then all we have to listen to is nailin' an' hammerin'."

"You'd think they'd do their sawing outside, where it wouldn't be so loud," I said.

Hazel Marie turned a page of her notes. "They told me that if they did that, they'd have to troop through the kitchen a dozen times, taking things upstairs. I didn't think any of us would want that."

"Yes, well, I guess you're right." In an attempt to carry on as normally as possible, in spite of my frazzled state of mind, I tried to settle my nerves and pretend I wasn't about to jump out of my skin. So, gingerly taking a seat across from Hazel Marie, I asked, "How did your meeting with Coleman and Sheriff Frady go?"

We all stopped and covered our ears as another shriek of the saw attacked us. When silence reigned again, Hazel Marie said, "They love our idea of having each unit in the department pick its own contestant, and the sheriff is going to tell them to get right on it. But there may not be more than six or seven contestants the way it works out, which suits me fine. Sheriff Frady said it'd be better to let each squad decide how they want to pick their representative. And, Miss Julia," Hazel Marie went on, looking up at me, "we're going to have to stop calling Coleman Deputy Bates. He's a sergeant now, in charge of the first watch. Isn't that great?"

"Well, it certainly is. And high time, too." I plucked a napkin from the holder on the table and began shredding it. "Where're you going to hold the pageant, Hazel Marie?"

"Oh, I'm glad you asked, because it's all arranged. We're going to rent the high school auditorium. School will be out pretty soon, so it's the perfect place. But, look, I need you to help me decide on the various looks the girls will be judged on."

"Looks?"

"Yes, you know, bathing suit, evening gown, casual wear, and so forth. Each one will be a kind of mini-competition."

"Well," I said, arranging the napkin shreds into a little pile, "I vote against bathing suits."

Lillian grinned. "I knowed you would."

"We have to have a bathing suit competition," Hazel Marie said. "That and evening dress are the basics. But, see, they don't call it the bathing suit competition anymore. It's called Physical Fitness, and the contestants aren't judged just on how they look, but on what kind of shape they're in." She stopped and smiled at what she'd just said. "I guess there's not much difference, is there?"

"Not a bit, as far as I can see."

"Anyway, we'll call it Physical Fitness, which makes it sound more like a sports competition, rather than a comparison of figure sizes." She stopped and looked at what I was doing. "Are you all right, Miss Julia?"

"I'm fine," I said, quickly gathering up what was left of the napkin and wadding it in my hand. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," she said, tapping her pen against the pad in front of her. "You seem a little distracted."

"Not at all. You have my full attention." I stuffed the napkin remnants into my pocketbook. "Tell me about the other categories."

"Well, the evening dress category will be Beauty and Poise, and casual wear will be Expression of Personality. That can be anything from jeans to shorts to sundresses-whatever they want. But, what I want to know is, do we want to add any other competition?"

"What about talent? Aren't you going to have that, or will the judging just be on how these girls look in their various outfits?"

"Oh, yes. Of course, we'll have talent. And that means we'll need music, an orchestra or something, because I'm sure some of the contestants will sing."

"Have mercy," I said, leaning my head on my hands. Then, in an attempt to be helpful, I went on. "Where're you going to get an orchestra?"

"That won't be a problem. I know a local bluegrass band that would love to play. And we'll need music for when the contestants parade around, too."

"Bluegrass, Hazel Marie? What if one of the girls wants to sing opera or something? Heaven forbid, but it's possible."

"Then she'll have to bring her own music. On a record or a CD. The auditorium has a wonderful sound system, so that'll work out. I better check it, though." She leaned over her pad and made a note. "As soon as we know who the girls are, we'll get them to tell us their talent. Then we'll know what kind of backup they'll need."

"This is getting awfully complicated," I said, but my words were drowned out by another wood-eating scream from above. It was just as well, for Hazel Marie was not to be deterred by any cautionary words from me. "I'm going outside," I said, getting up from my chair. "Lillian, if you need me, I'll be in the far corner of the yard, as far away as I can get."

"I'll bring these sam'wiches," she said. "An' we'll have our lunch out there."

Hazel Marie jumped up. "I'll go with you. Let me take some things, Lillian."

I left them to it, and walked out to the arbor, where there were chairs and a table in the shade of a wisteria vine. I needed a minute to myself, for I had more on my mind than a beauty contest. Namely, my status as a married or a single woman. I had fully expected either Hazel Marie or Lillian to draw my attention to the celebrity news of the day, but it looked as if they'd not yet gotten the word.

I sat down in one of the white wooden yard chairs and leaned my head back. Where was Sam? And why hadn't he let me know something? A couple of telephone calls shouldn't have taken this long.

I had almost confided my concerns to Lillian and Hazel Marie, but when Hazel Marie started in on her plans for the pageant, I'd decided not to. No need to upset them if Sam found out that our marriage was legitimate, after all. So, I was trying to keep my worries to myself. But, let me tell you, it was hard to appear interested in half-naked women parading around with their navels in view, when my mind was torn up over the possibility that Sam and I had been doing a different kind of parading.

The screen door slammed behind Hazel Marie and Lillian, as they came bearing trays of sandwiches and lemonade. They sat the trays on the table, and drew up chairs.

"Come on over here an' eat," Lillian said. "Them mens is about to stop for they lunch, too, so we get a little peace an' quiet."

"Where's Sam?" Hazel Marie asked as she poured tea into the glasses. "I thought he'd be home for lunch."

"He'll be along shortly," I said, hoping that was true. "He had to go downtown on business for a little while, and he may've gotten held up. He's going to have to learn to fit into our schedule, though."

"You better stop bein' so hard on that man," Lillian said. "You gonna run him off, you not careful."

I took a bite of an egg salad sandwich so I wouldn't have to answer. Lillian didn't know how close she'd come to what I might have to do.

"You couldn't run him off with a stick," Hazel Marie said, laughing. "He's so happy he finally got you to marry him, he'll put up with anything. I can't wait for J.D. to wrap up his case in Atlanta, and find out that we're all living together."

It pleased me that Hazel Marie was taking the conversation in another direction, so I said, "We could find room for him if he'd get over his aversion to marriage."

Hazel Marie started to say something, but Sam's car pulled into the driveway. I immediately got up and started across the lawn to meet him.

As I walked away, I heard Hazel Marie say, "Isn't that sweet? They just adore each other, and can hardly stay apart."

"I never thought I'd live to see the day," Lillian said.

Let them think what they want, I thought-all I want to know is what he's found out. And if it was good news, there'd be no reason for them to know that any question had ever been raised.

Chapter 10.

"Sam?" I asked, my whole question in the one word. I walked up to him as he got out of the car and reached out to him.

"Julia," he said, as he put his arms around me and pushed my head against his chest. "I hate to tell you this."

"Then don't," I said, straightening up and stepping back from him. "Oh, Sam, I don't want to hear it. It's bad news, isn't it?"

"I'm afraid it is. But, Julia, there's no reason to be upset. The situation's not irreparable, just questionable."

"Questionable? Still? I thought a person was either married or not married, not something in between. Didn't you call people in charge of such things? Couldn't anybody say one way or another? I don't understand."

"Well, it's like this. I called the Wedding Ring Chapel, but the minister, if that's what he was, who did our ceremony has flown the coop."

"What! Why, Sam, it's hardly been a month since we had the ceremony. And you're telling me he waited to do ours, then disappeared?"

Sam rubbed his face, trying not to smile. "I don't really believe he was waiting just for us before he took off."

"Well, what was his reason? Didn't he give notice, a forwarding address, anything? Can't we track him down and find out his qualifications? What's his name, anyway? You had me in such a whirlwind that night, I didn't know what was going on or who was doing what."

"His name's Aaron Kincaid, current address unknown." Sam blew out his breath. I think he'd been holding it, waiting for my reaction.

"Unknown! Get the police on him. Hire Mr. Pickens to track him down." I stopped and reconsidered that suggestion. "No, don't do that. The fewer people who know about this, the better. But we have to find him. He's a perpetrator of illegal marriages."

"Julia," Sam said, putting his hand on my shoulder. "Listen, now. The man told us he had family around here, remember?" I shook my head. I hardly remembered anything of that night. "And," Sam went on, "I've called every Kincaid in the book, and nobody knows him. So it looks like we're not going to find him. The chapel folks think he left Tennessee, but they're not even sure of that. Apparently, he'd only been employed for a few months, and he came with good recommendations. I finally got them to admit that they hadn't checked his ordination, because they were hard up for somebody to take the night shift. If he hadn't come along, they would've had to give up their twenty-four-hour service."

"Well, they Lord," I said. "And, just think, they would've lost a few fifty-dollar weddings."

"Ninety-nine dollars, Julia."

"Don't quibble. I want to know if he was ordained-that's what's important. Didn't the chapel inquire as to his standing in a denomination, or did they just hire him off the street?"

Sam leaned against the fender of the car, his arms crossed in front of him. "They didn't much want to talk about that. But I spoke with someone in the register of deeds office who was very helpful. They knew him, or rather, knew of him, because he's listed as the presiding minister of some twenty-six marriages, of which ours is one. As is Sonny Sutton's, so I guess we're in good company, if you want to look at it that way."

"I don't. But you didn't leave it there, did you?"

"No, I asked what denomination he'd listed." Sam stopped, looked off into space and rubbed his chin. "Thinking to check with a conference headquarters, you know."

"And? Don't keep me in suspense. Tell me."

"Well, it took them a while to find the record, but it looks as if he provided proof of ordination from something called the East Tennessee Fire and Water Baptized Holiness Church, Sanctified."

"Never heard of it."

"Neither had they."

"Well, what does that mean?" I demanded. "Sam, I declare, you are driving me to distraction. Just tell me the bottom line. Are we married or are we living in sin?"

"I'll tell you what's a fact, Julia," Sam said, as he put his arm around me and drew me close. "I don't know. I've called every official in Tennessee I can think of, trying to find out if that Fire and Water whatever church is legitimate, and so far nobody even knows what it is. I've got Binkie working on it, too-"

"You told Binkie! Sam, I didn't want anybody to know the mess we're in." I could've cried at the idea that he'd lay out our troubles to somebody else without consulting me.

"Now, Julia. Binkie's got the contacts and the means to follow this up. And, she's an attorney-your attorney and mine. She's not going to tell anybody anything."

"Oh, me," I moaned, bowing my head. Then, looking back at him, I said, "So what do we do now? How long will it take until we know? I'm confused, Sam. Are we looking for that Kincaid man or are we looking for his church?"

"What I've got Binkie doing is looking for the church headquarters, their conference or synod or whatever organizational setup they have. When we find that, they'll have a list of who they've ordained, and if Kincaid's on it, we're home free."

"And what do we do in the meantime?"

"Keep right on as we are. We married in good faith, and as far as I'm concerned, you're my wife now and forever."

"Yes, well," I said, stepping back. "And if we keep on as we are for the next seven years, there won't be any question about it at all. That may be your idea of a proper marriage, but it's certainly not mine."

"Then here's what we'll do. Let's go down to the courthouse, take out another marriage license, go over to the church, and get Ledbetter to marry us again. Nothing to it, Julia."

"Nothing to it! How can you say that? You want us to announce to the world that we thought we were married and lived like we were married, and all the while we weren't? And"-I suddenly had another thought-"what if it turns out that we're legally married after all? We'd have gone through another marriage and the attendant gossip for nothing. No, I say we do nothing until we know for sure where we stand."

"I'll do whatever you want." Sam turned to me and lifted my face so that we were looking at each other. "But, Julia, if you send me packing while we wait, everybody'll think that our marriage didn't work out. Are you ready for that?"

"Oh, Lord," I moaned. "I thought I'd about outgrown worrying what other people think. But I guess I haven't. No, we've got to keep up a good front. Then if we have to get married again, we'll sneak out to another town. But in this state, Sam, where we know the attorney general is looking out for us." Sam started to laugh, but I soon fixed that. "That is, if I decide I want to get married again. And in the meantime, to keep the gossip down, you can stay here, but you have to move up to Coleman's old room."

"Huh," he said, "so you're going to banish me. That means, you know, that you're going to have to tell everybody in the house what's going on. You ready for that? If you don't want anybody to know, we're going to have to stay together."

"You mean, sleep in the same room, in the same bed, so they'll think we're still . . . ? No, Sam, I don't trust you."

"Smart woman," Sam murmurmed, brushing the hair from my face.

"Don't start in with your teasing."

"I'm not teasing."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm not in the mood for it." I looked across the yard where Lillian and Hazel Marie were eating egg salad sandwiches and laughing together. I was about to shock them out of their good mood with our startling revelation, but there was nothing for it, so I took a deep breath and Sam's hand. "Let's get it over with."

We walked across the lawn toward them, with me dreading every step. Lillian jumped up and poured a glass of tea for Sam, as Hazel Marie handed him a plate.

"We 'bout to give you up," Lillian said to Sam. "Set down an' eat, now, 'fore you cave in. You, too, Miss Julia. Some folks think love be enough, till they stommicks start growlin' on 'em."

"Thank you, Lillian," I said, as she handed me a plate with my half-eaten sandwich on it. "But I don't think either of us have much of an appetite. We have something to tell you. Go ahead, Sam."

Sam shot me a quick glance. "You want me to tell them?"