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against her back and swayed, as if to minimize pressure. For the first time Elisa realized she was pregnant. The sundress, which fell from a high yoke, had hidden it.
    There was no time to say anything else. A car sped into the parking lot and pulled into a slot several spaces away. Elisa had never been interested in cars, and she was only rarely able to tell one from another. But this was a sports car, low-slung and elegant. The door opened, and a shapely leg appeared, followed by the body to go with it.
    The woman who emerged was nearly as tall as Sam, with dark-red curls that fell past her shoulders, a carefully painted megawatt smile, and white shorts that stopped just shy of revealing. As she approached she was preceded by a scent that Elisa could only recognize as expensive. Nothing about the woman was cheap, although the overall effect flirted with it.
    “Sam.” She went to him and kissed him. The kiss wasn’t long enough to embarrass anyone, but long enough to stake her claim. “I took a taxi to Chevy Chase and borrowed Jenny’s Viper so I wouldn’t have to rent some old wreck at the airport. You remember Jenny O’Donnell? Senator O’Donnell’s daughter? What do you think?”
    She didn’t give him time to answer. She turned to the others. “I’m Christine Fletcher.” She held out her hand to Tessa, then to Helen. “Sam’s fiancée.”
    “We’ve met,” Helen said dryly. “I’ve lost count how many times.”
    “I am so bad with names and faces,” Christine drawled. She turned and thrust her hand at Elisa. “But I know I haven’t met you. I would remember that lovely hair. I’ve wished for hair like that my whole life.”
    “Elisa Martinez.” Elisa put her hand in Christine’s and felt the strength of the other woman’s grip. She also felt something cutting into her fingers. When Christine withdrew her hand, Elisa noted rings, one on each finger except the little one, each with a different flashy gemstone. Her eyes flicked to Christine’s left hand, where a modest diamond resided on the ring finger.
    Elisa wondered if the rings were a message of sorts. The English expression “on one hand” seemed to have been coined for the situation. On one hand Christine Fletcher was a woman of obvious wealth. On the other the fiancée of a man of moderate income.
    “I’m here for the fiesta.” Christine pressed one hand against her chest and lifted the other in the air as she swivelled her hips. “Let the festivities begin.”
    “Me, I’ll be home binding this quilt,” Helen said. “Let’s get to it, Tessa.”
    Tessa inclined her head toward Elisa. “Are you ready to go?”
    Elisa glanced over to see that Sam was watching her. From the corner of her eye, she noted that Christine was watching him.
    Tessa said goodbye for both herself and her grandmother, then took Helen’s arm.
    Sam spoke. “Elisa, if you have any questions tonight, just find me and ask away.”
    “I will. Thank you.” Elisa followed Tessa and her grandmother, and gratefully escaped.

C HAPTER Three
    “S o who’s the Mayan goddess, Sam?”
    Sam helped Christine out of the tricked-out Dodge Viper, the likes of which the simple brick parsonage had never seen. “Elisa has applied to be our new sexton.”
    “Sex-ton?” She raised one shapely brow. “Are we getting right to the heart of the matter, honey?”
    He pulled her close and kissed her hair. Her body was warm and soft against him, and his reacted accordingly. “It’s not like you to be catty.”
    “Hey, I’m just marking my territory like a good pussycat. She’s a head turner. Even the preacher man noticed.”
    “The preacher man is not immune to a beautiful woman, but he’s committed to another one.”
    Christine lifted her lips for a luxuriant kiss, then she put her arm around his waist, and he led her up the flagstone walk. “She is beautiful, but I’m not worried. She’s not your type.”
    “You could have fooled me.” Sam said it as a joke, but he