“I’m not waiting another hour for some lawyer to tell me what’s mine,” he said.

“Dad gave the key to me,” I said.

“He asked me to hold it until Samuel arrives.”

“Dad was sick and confused,” Julian said, stepping closer.

“He didn’t know what he was doing.”

He reached into the pew and grabbed my left wrist with both hands.

The fabric of my dark sleeve bunched beneath his fingers as he twisted my arm toward his belt.

Two female cousins stopped cold on the carpet near the vestibule pews, their paper fans frozen in midair.