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.The fairgrounds flew past, a few chain restaurants, the high school… Soon they’d be past the Hollow and back in the dark countryside, still another twenty minutes, and a few more hills and valleys away from the medical center.Off to her left, halfway down the hollow, glowing with lights to draw the attention of people from miles around, stood Doug Croyden’s revival tent.Erected on the grounds of the Evangelical Brotherhood Church, it nearly equaled the permanent structure in size.Bryan inhaled with a phlegmy rattle that sounded like an old man with emphysema.He exhaled and gave a little whimper.Mason.She needed Mason’s help, and she needed it right now.Ava braked hard and turned off the county route onto the road that led to the church.“What?” Bryan opened his eyes.“Where are we going?”“Don’t worry about it.Just get some rest.” She didn’t want to explain, and the fact that he closed his eyes again without asking more questions told her how awful he felt.The parking lot of the church was filled, and a man was directing the overflow traffic into the Dairy Swirl parking lot across the road from the church.Ava was caught in a line of cars that inched along.She cursed silently, but it was too late to change her mind and continue on to the clinic.Trapped in the river of cars, she was carried along to her destination.She hadn’t counted on basically everyone from every Podunk town to show up for a revival.Would she be able to get inside the tent? And if she managed to drag poor, exhausted Bryan all the way there, would she even get a chance to see Mason?But the biggest question of all was—could he help her sick brother?Chapter TwentyIt felt too familiar, waiting in the wings for his turn on stage and listening to the choir sing.The popular Christian song inspired the audience to join in and wave their arms.He had to admit it was kind of impressive to hear that swell of music from a couple of hundred people.A bigger crowd than last night, and Doug practically radiated glee as he bounded across the stage.“Brothers, Sisters, welcome!” he boomed.“If you leave here tonight with nothing more than a resolution to try harder to get close to Jesus, my mission is complete.It’s all about the trying, isn’t it? The journey toward our common goal, communion with our Lord.”A collective Amen met his words, and Doug rolled on.Mason had heard his speeches so many times he could practically recite the text.Love and redemption and forsaking bad habits.Offering one’s life to a higher power.There was nothing wrong in the message per se, but Mason could never quite buy Doug’s profession of belief.The man was too… Slimy was a strong word.Maybe slick was better.And Mason felt perpetually torn between gratitude to the man who’d taken him under his wing when he was lost and wandering, and his dislike of Doug’s shady ways.It was a weird relationship.The sooner he could sever it, the better.Only two more shows to complete their agreement, then he was off to Atlanta to reconnect with Gina and maybe make a different sort of life for himself.A life that doesn’t include Ava.What good is that? He squelched the thought.Last night hadn’t been so bad.He’d trotted on stage and jumped through Doug’s hoops like a performing dog.He didn’t even have to speak.Doug did all the talking, selecting the precious few who would be healed and guiding them onto the stage, while rambling on about their need for unwavering faith.Mason located the issue and relieved it.If it was something he couldn’t repair, he’d shake his head.Doug would regretfully inform the person that the power of their faith wasn’t sufficient and send them back to their seat.That had only happened once last night—a woman so deteriorated she already had one foot out the door.Mason sensed her drifting toward wherever spirits went after life.It was her family that had practically forced her to come that night, and she’d done it to please them, not because she’d actually wanted to step back from the edge of that dark secret.Three easy fixes and a couple of more complex ones, and then Mason signaled that he’d had enough.Doug wrapped up the healing portion of the evening with another inspiring speech, while a ripple of disappointed murmuring swept through the audience.They’d wanted more.They always did.More dramatic healing.More proof of something magical in the world.More proof of God, Mason supposed.He’d slept deeply that night and most of the next day and still woke feeling tired, ate a pile of food that hardly seemed enough to relieve his gnawing hunger, and now he was about to do it all over again.“Just a couple tonight,” he’d warned Doug before the preacher went on stage.The show man nodded.“Leave them clamoring for more and there’ll be even bigger attendance tomorrow.Your last hurrah—unless you decide to stick with us for a while.”Mason hadn’t bothered to reply
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