Pie Town - Lynne Hinton [108]
“Oris’s angel,” George finally answered Trina. “Her name is Alice and she was the one who got me back here and the one who helped me find you.” He stuck a toothpick in his mouth.
Trina looked at the priest. “I didn’t think you believed in angels,” she recalled.
“I didn’t believe in a lot of things,” he responded. “What can I say? I’m a different man.” He winked at Trina. “I got boots.”
“Still . . .” Oris said. “It took more than an angel to build this church. It was a lot of folks to get this thing done.” He grinned at George. “No disrespect, Father, but you are useless with a hammer.”
George laughed. “Well, thank God Bernie came around when he did. I was about ready to quit that day he finally got out of his truck and walked across the street and helped me stake out the foundation.”
Oris nodded. “That was a good couple of weeks after he had been watching you. He’d come up to the diner and give us a report every day at lunch about your progress.” Oris changed his voice to sound like Bernie’s. “ ‘That stupid priest is hammering the stakes in backward,’ he’d say. ‘He’s tying the strings loose and at the wrong ends.’ ” Oris laughed. “And then, we’d all finish eating and drive out here and watch you make a fool out of yourself.”
“Yeah, I was meaning to thank you for your support during that time.” George reached behind him and gave Oris a punch on the shoulder.
“Well, we eventually all pitched in,” he responded, rubbing his arm. “Sooner or later everybody did their part.” The old man smiled.
The three of them stood looking at the new church, recalling the efforts of everyone in town, the way they came, a few at first, more later. They thought about all the work that had been done by the people of Pie Town that winter, the men who laid the foundation and hoisted the frame, the women who nailed in the beams and mixed the stucco, the children who carried tools and picked up trash. They knew that the rebuilding of Holy Family Church became important to all of the citizens of Pie Town. It became the endeavor that brought them together, sealed them in their commitment and their refusal to see the construction fail. It became their place, their church, their sanctuary, and day after day, night after night, shifts came and went, until by the time of completion, the finishing of every wall and floorboard and altar railing, every person, even those uninterested in the outcome, had, in one way or another, without being preached to or harassed, without explanation of what was supposed to happen or request for assistance or membership, participated in its success.
“It sure is something,” Trina said again, rubbing her belly and shaking her head.
“It certainly is,” Oris noted. “We have ourselves a church.”
“More than that,” George added. “We have ourselves a home.”
Chapter Forty-two
When the time came it wasn’t clear which service would be the first held in the new building. Just like everything else regarding the facility, the design, the furniture, the fixtures, the colors, this decision was made by consensus. A meeting was held and all voices were heard.
Some thought the church should have its own special gathering, held only in honor of the completion of the building, a dedication event, complete with high-ranking priests and dignitaries from the state. Others thought the first event should be a Sunday Mass, the perfect demonstration of the building’s purpose.
Once these ideas were shared, along with a few others, and it seemed like everyone was starting to take sides, it was Trina, the newest resident of Pie Town, the apprentice to Frank at the garage and girlfriend of his son, befriended by Katie White and doted on by Fred and Bea, who made the one suggestion that stopped the bickering and caused everyone to agree that her idea was the right way to start up Holy Family Church again.
Roger and Malene were to be remarried, and Alexandria