Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good

***This excerpt is from an advance uncorrected proof***

Copyright © 2014 Jan Karon

One





His wife was determined to march him to the country club this Saturday evening. Worse, he d have to stuff himself into his old tux like sausage into a casing.

The Irish breakfast more properly, a resplendent banquet on a plate was the culprit. He had tried to restrict himself to three such repasts during their stay in County Sligo, but ended up devouring seven, two of them out of view of his wife. He didn t know about St. Paul, but the grim baggage of diabetes was definitely this cleric s thorn.

I m still jet-lagged, he said.

Jet lagged? After ten days? Try again, sweetheart.

There was a busy silence. They sat in his study, finishing a second cup of coffee. Rain gleamed on the leaves of the maple outside the vast window; fog capped the mountains beyond. Our observatory, he reasoned, when faced with the alarming cost of so much glass.

It s an important occasion, Timothy. Your doctor is retiring after decades of sleep loss and patients who won t do what the doctor ordered.

So? Hardly anyone ever did what the priest ordered, either.

Then he s volunteering to serve in one of the worst areas of famine in the world.

She pressed her case as he wrestled an unsettling truth with Hoppy Harper out of the picture, he would fall into the hands of Doctor Wilson, who, in his opinion, was yet the unlicked cub, medically speaking.

And Father Timothy Kavanagh, she said, highly esteemed friend and long-time priest of the guest of honor, wants to sit home. The cocked head, the raised eyebrow, the gathering of hoarfrost.

You re absolutely right, he said.

So you re going!

Cynthia, Cynthia. I didn t say I m going, I said you re right that I want to sit home. He gave forth a sigh.

You re so southern.

Jan Karon

The faster and more impersonal the world becomes, the more we need Mitford. The Cleveland Plain Dealer

Karon knits Mitford s small-town characters and multiple storylines into a cozy sweater of a book 4/4 stars. USA Today

Jan Karon reflects contemporary culture more fully than almost any other living novelist. Los Angeles Times

Loyal fans of Karon s Mitford novels and Father Tim will be delighted once again to spend time in this quintessential American village with its leading
citizen and his colorful coterie of friends, family, and dependent souls. Booklist

With the homecoming of much-beloved characters and a few new additions, Karon s latest provides a return to a setting readers have been clamoring to revisit. Longtime readers will not be disappointed by the author s latest cozy redemption tale. Library Journal