“Who decides what their place will be?”
She was challenging him again. Narrowing his eyes to let her know he didn’t appreciate it, he folded his arms. “I do.”
There was a pause, as if she thought he’d elaborate, but he didn’t. Ultimately, it was Rachel who broke the silence.
“And if I were to join, what would my place be?”
The image that came to Ethan’s mind dispelled his irritation. She didn’t know how he expected her to behave. She was a feminist, like so many of the young women he’d known in college. But she’d learn her true calling. She’d fulfill her role just like his mother had. “I would make a very special place for you,” he said.
The way Nate shifted toward his wife told Ethan this statement had been accurately identified as a threat. But it wasn’t enough for Ethan to conquer Rachel. He wanted to subjugate Nate, too.
“I would love it if you both came to live here. There’s no rent, no medical bills, no grocery bills. No rich or poor. We are all children of God, all equal in His eyes.”
“And the work?” Nate asked.
“Is divided up just as equitably.”
“With all the positions of authority occupied by men,” Rachel said.
“Everyone does what’s suited to him or her.”
Nate’s expression gave nothing away as he thrust his large hands into the pockets of his chinos, but Rachel was clearly displeased enough to frown as her husband changed the subject. “How’d you get into the cheese business? Is it what your father did?”
Ethan selected a reply calculated to make them admire him even more—one he hoped would strike a chord in Rachel. Along with hesitation and distrust, there was pain inside her. Ethan could sense it, but he wasn’t sure where it was coming from. She’d mentioned losing her mother. Was that the only reason she kept the world at a distance? Or were there others?
“No, my father was an abusive alcoholic,” he said. “He couldn’t hold down a job.”
“That’s terrible,” she murmured. “I’m sorry.”
“Mine wasn’t an easy childhood. But we can overcome our pasts. That’s the chief message of my ministry. I am proof.”
She stepped away from the racks of curd and peeked inside the refrigerators that held the wheels already formed. “You’ve done very well.” Closing the door, she gestured around them. “You’ve not only established a new community, you’ve devised a way to provide for them.”
“One of my first converts was raised by a chemist who was also a homesteader,” he explained. “She’d been taught to make cheese and to do a variety of other things—garden, can, sew. She’s been a great asset to the community.”
“What’s her job?” Rachel asked.
Ethan allowed himself a wry smile at her stubborn resistance to the concept that God intended women to be subservient. “She makes cheese like the others. That’s what she’s good at.”
Rachel’s lips thinned. “I’m sure she finds it stimulating.”
Before Ethan could respond to her sarcasm, Nate opened the door. “Is this the end of the tour?”
Ethan hadn’t shown them the hidden bunker where he stored the guns and weapons. Neither had he shown them the shallow grave that hid Courtney’s body. But the tour was definitely over. “That’s it.”
“What about Todd?”
“Todd?” he repeated as though he didn’t remember.
“Martha’s husband,” Nate clarified. “You said I’d meet him.”
“And you will. I expect he’ll be at the party.” He clapped his hands to lend his words a note of finality. “Now, once the celebration is finished, I hope you’ll feel comfortable returning to Portal with word that we are not kidnappers. That we have no idea where young Courtney could be hiding.”
“I’ll be sure to tell her mother,” Rachel murmured.
“Great. I hear music. Let’s not miss the fun.”
Rachel slipped her hand into her husband’s as Ethan led them back across the compound.
It was the first time Rachel had reached out to him. Nate wasn’t positive why she’d done it, but he got the impression it was to show Ethan her preference for him. He liked that. He also liked the way her fingers slipped so easily through his. The physical contact gave him confidence that, as conflicted as they felt about each other, they were united against Ethan.
“Alpha and Omega” kept his back to them the entire walk. When they got to the large tent not far from the Enlightenment Hall, he paused to hold the flap for them. But once inside he became the center of attention and proceeded to play the part of God’s anointed. Men and women alike flocked to him, kneeling at his feet and kissing his hands. He occasionally glanced over to make sure his guests were taking it all in, but Nate was glad when he and Rachel could drift away and get lost in the crowd. Many of the revelers were dancing to Bob Marley and other Jamaican music, enhanced by three men playing bongo drums at one end of the tent. Sometimes the people on the dance floor migrated to the edges to let a particular group of men or women perform.
“You okay?” he murmured to Rachel when he felt it was safe to speak to her without being overheard.
She released his hand and folded her arms, hugging herself. “I hate him,” she said.
“I thought you were impressed by him, that you sort of admired him.”
“I’m impressed by his ability to awe and inspire. But I’m revolted by everything he is and everything he does. Did you hear what he said to me about the women in the commune? Why do they put up with it? I don’t know if I can fake acceptance of all this…crap.”
“I’m not exactly an admirer myself,” he responded. “That’s part of the reason we’ve got to put a stop to it, right?”
“Right.”
“Anyway, you told me you were good at faking it.”
He’d been hoping to get her to smile, but she didn’t. “My skin crawls at the thought of letting Ethan touch me and, even worse, pretending to like it.”
“He won’t touch you.”
Rachel studied the crowd. “It’s far tamer than I expected it to be.”
“Tame? It looks pretty wild to me, for a religious group.”
“At least everyone’s wearing clothes.”
He chuckled. “For now.” Several women were serving beer at a makeshift bar, but as far as Nate could tell, no drugs were being passed around. Ethan probably saved that kind of worship for special occasions. Otherwise, it’d be too expensive. He needed to be careful with money if he was going to fulfill the big plans he had for Paradise. The school alone would be an ambitious project. “I wish we knew what Todd looks like,” he said. “I’m still hoping to run into him.”