The vibrating floor beneath Grace’s bed caused her to waken, and the rumbling roar made her aware that something horrible must have happened. She scrambled off the bed and without even bothering to put on her shoes, rushed from her room. At the bottom of the steps, she nearly collided with Martha as she dashed into the house.
“What happened, Grace? It sounded like something blew up in here. I heard it all the way out in the barn.”
Trembling, Grace shook her head. “I—I don’t know. I was upstairs in my room and heard a terrible noise. It shook my bed, rattled the windows, and vibrated the walls.” Her gaze went to the kitchen. “You don’t suppose—”
Martha made a beeline for the kitchen, with Grace right on her heels. Their mother was kneeling on the floor by the table, her arms wrapped around Anna. On the other side of the table lay several broken jars, with blobs of applesauce splattered everywhere.
Grace’s heart pounded, and she rushed to her mother’s side. “What happened? Is Anna hurt? Are you okay, Mom?”
“The pressure cooker’s gauge must be faulty. It exploded when I was out on the porch.” Mom’s voice trembled with emotion. “Anna’s shaken up, but she seems to be okay.” She nodded toward the broken glass. “Thankfully, nothing went past that side of the table.”
“Dad put a new gauge on the cooker a few weeks ago,” Martha said, stepping around the mess and up to the stove. “Makes no sense that it would go like that.”
Grace reached for Anna, but the child wouldn’t budge. She clung to Mom, weeping for all she was worth.
“That’s what I get for leaving the stove unattended and going outside to see where your daed was heading,” Mom said tearfully. “That reporter had me so rattled with all his questions, and then when Anna showed up saying her grossdaadi was mad at her and was going somewhere—”
Grace felt immediate concern. “Reporter? What reporter?”
“The fellow who asked me some questions in town the day we went looking for your wedding dress material.” Mom clambered to her feet, pulling Anna to her side. “First that land developer showed up, and he followed me into the kitchen. Then the reporter came to the door, and soon after the land developer left, the reporter came into the kitchen. When Anna ran into the house and said your daed was going someplace, I went outside to see what was up.”
“I thought Gary had left Holmes County.”
“Said he was back now and doing a follow-up story about our break-ins.” Mom glanced toward the door. “Without even thinking, I left him in the kitchen with Anna, but he headed out a few minutes before the explosion.”
Grace gritted her teeth so hard her jaw ached. Could Gary have had something to do with the pressure cooker exploding? Could he have tampered with the valve while Mom was outside talking to Dad? She glanced down at her daughter, still whimpering and clinging to Mom’s skirts; then she moved quickly toward the door.
“Where are you going?” Mom called after her.
“Outside to see if I can find Gary.”
“Not without me.” Martha caught up to Grace at the door and pushed it open. “If you do catch up to that curious reporter, you shouldn’t be alone with him.”
Grace offered her sister a grateful smile. “I appreciate your concern.”
As Martha followed Grace down the porch steps, her thoughts raced like a runaway horse. What if her sister was right and the reporter was responsible for the break-ins and other attacks? If they couldn’t report it to the sheriff or prove that he’d done it, how would they ever make him stop?
“There’s no sign of his car.” Grace pointed to the driveway. “Guess that means he’s already gone.”
“Maybe so, but let’s look out by the road, in case he parked his car somewhere nearby,” Martha suggested.
“Jah, okay.”
They hurried down the driveway, and when they approached the mailbox by the road, they saw him standing across the street with a camera pointed at them. Grace turned her head, but Martha marched boldly across the street until she stood face-to-face with Gary. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Just taking a few pictures to go with the article I’m planning to write.” He turned the camera toward her, but she put her hand in front of the lens.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Gary’s eyes widened, and his jaw dropped open. Apparently, he wasn’t used to hearing an Amish woman speak so boldly.
Grace joined them. “Wh–what are you doing here, Gary?”
“I’m back in the area again, hoping to do another story or two.” He nodded at Grace. “I came by to see if there have been any more attacks at your place.”
Martha planted both hands on her hips and stared up at him. “Did you mess with the gauge on our mother’s pressure cooker?”
“Of course not. Why do you ask?”
“It blew up minutes after you left our house. Since you were alone in the kitchen—”
He held up his hand. “I hope you’re not insinuating that I had anything to do with it.”
“My daughter was in the kitchen when the cooker blew.” Grace took a step closer to him.
His eyebrows furrowed. “Your daughter? That little girl with the whiny mouth is yours?”
Grace nodded. “My secret’s out now, so you have nothing to hold over me anymore.”
He scratched the back of his head. “What secret are you talking about?”
Martha stepped between them. “Anna. She’s talking about Anna.”
“Huh?” Gary looked at Grace, over at Martha, then back at Grace again. “You two are talking in circles. I have no idea what secret you’re referring to.”
“The one about me being married to Wade and giving birth to his daughter.”
“I never knew you and Wade had a kid.”
“You said you knew he’d married me.”
“Yeah, I knew that much.”
“After I broke up with you and started dating Wade, you said you would get even with me.”
He shrugged. “Guys say and do a lot of things when they’re trying to keep a woman.”
“It seems odd that we never had any attacks until you showed up in Holmes County,” Martha put in. “And since you’ve been asking all sorts of questions and pestering Grace to have coffee with you and all, you’re our prime suspect.”
Gary leaned his head back and howled. “Prime suspect? Who do you think you are—the Nancy Drew of the Amish?”
“Who?”
“Never mind.” Gary turned to face Grace again. “You and your little sister are acting paranoid. You have no proof that I’m anything other than a reporter trying to do his job.” He pointed to his camera. “Do you honestly think I would be stupid enough to jeopardize my chance to sell a dynamic piece to some big publication?”
She opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off. “As I said, I’m back in the area to do a few more stories on the Amish, and I might do a couple articles about some of the events happening in the area. So whether you like it or not, I’ll be sticking around Holmes County for as long as I want.”
Grace’s face paled, and her whole body trembled. Martha didn’t think it was doing either of them any good to continue arguing with the Englisher, so she took hold of her sister’s arm and steered her toward the house. “Let’s go, Grace.”
“Say, Gracie. Did you and that Amish man ever get married?” Gary called after her.
She gave a quick nod.
Martha glanced over her shoulder as Gary headed for his car parked on the shoulder of the road. She felt certain of one thing: If he was responsible for the things that had happened to them, God would deal with him in His time.