The shrill of the hydraulic saw in Ephraim’s hand didn’t keep him from hearing the amplified ring of the office phone. Stopping the wood in front of the rotating blade, he glanced up. His foreman moved toward the corner office to answer it. Grey’s lively steps gave no hint to the troubles he kept buried. Despite how long they’d known each other, the two never spoke about what weighed on him.

Tomorrow was Saturday—Becca’s deadline day—and Ephraim had no more answers now than when she’d given him the ultimatum day before yesterday. Trying to focus on the piece of wood in front of him, Ephraim couldn’t keep from thinking of Cara. She needed help, and he wanted to give it to her, but was Becca right? Was he going about this the wrong way? He’d taken a vow to live according to the Ordnung. Having a young Englischer woman in his home was in direct violation of the Old Ways. It wouldn’t be considered wise by any Christian standards.

How could helping her be right if it had the potential to cause division between him and everything he believed in—if it separated him from his family and community? The Amish reached out to those who weren’t Amish. But never like this.

The community would have issues with her living at his place, but the real problems would arise when they learned who she was—the daughter of Malinda Riehl Atwater. He didn’t want to tell Cara that her mother had left a trail of devastated loved ones. Twice.

When he was twelve, he’d overheard the adults saying Malinda had broken her vows to the church. She left Dry Lake and her fiancé mere weeks before their wedding. All for an outsider. A drifter who’d come through and stolen her good sense. Was her daughter doing the same thing to him, coming to Dry Lake as a drifter and on a course to ruin his life? Even if she wasn’t, would the community believe her innocent of that?

Sunlight shifted across the concrete floor, catching his eye. He glanced up to see Grey. Ephraim turned the saw off.

“Call for you. Someone from social services,” Grey said softly.

“Thanks.” He went to the office and closed the door behind him. The woman on the phone asked a few questions before telling him of her plans to conduct an in-home visit that afternoon. He thanked her and hung up the phone, his heart racing. His time was up for keeping secrets. Once the social worker pulled into his driveway and went into his house, the news would permeate the community like pollen in springtime.

He picked up the newspaper from his desk. A dozen large red x’s filled the little boxes on the for-rent page. He’d made calls for two days, searching for an apartment for Cara and Lori. He’d found nothing. His Daed would take the news much better if Ephraim could say she’d be leaving in a day or two.

He studied each square he’d made an x in, wondering if there was any way he could get her moved before Sunday. Church was to be held at his place this week. If Cara could be gone by then, his punishment from the church leaders wouldn’t be as severe.

By this time tomorrow everyone in the district would probably know he’d shared his home with a woman. He knew Becca hadn’t said anything, not yet. She wanted to give Ephraim time to alter the situation. But he had to tell Daed before someone else did. Anna Mary needed to know too. But when he’d gone by her place earlier, her mother said a driver had taken her to her sister’s last night.

He tossed the newspaper into the trash. His anxiety rose, as if a firestorm were headed straight for his house.

As Cara placed the clean lunch plates in the cabinet, the doorbell rang.

“Get that, please,” Mrs. Howard called from her bed.

Cara glanced through a window into the backyard, checking on Lori.

After three nights of staying in a house instead of a barn, she could feel the effects of regular meals and sound sleep at night. It was midafternoon, and she still had a bit of energy, and her hands were steady.

When she opened the front door, a middle-aged man with red hair and freckles stared back at her. “Cara?”

A nervous chill ran down her spine. “Do I know you?”

He shook his head. “I’m Robbie. I work for Ephraim.” He pointed to the front seat of his car, where a young woman sat. “That’s Annie, Ephraim’s fourteen-year-old stepsister. She’s to take your place here, and you’re to go back to his house. He said to tell you a Mrs. Forrester called, and she’ll be at his home in about an hour.”

Feeling as if she were suffocating, she nodded. “Okay, give me a minute.”

“I’ll be in the car.”

Her mind whirled with disjointed thoughts as she went down the hallway to Mrs. Howard’s bedroom. Ephraim’s willingness to help her was unbelievable. She felt he wasn’t the least bit attracted to her, but he did seem as honest and direct now as twenty years ago when he’d asked if she was a boy or a girl.

An image of him popped into her mind, followed by a thought that made her chuckle. Hollywood would love to get hold of him. She didn’t know if he could act, but he was definitely a looker with that strawberry blond hair and those gray blue eyes. Six feet of pure drawing power, as Kendal would say.

When Cara entered the bedroom, Mrs. Howard looked up from her book.

“Remember when I told you I might need to leave during the day sometime this week?” Cara waited until she nodded. “Well, I need to go now There’s a driver outside, and he brought Annie, a young Amish woman, to sit with you until your husband gets home.”

“No problem, dear. Can she weed the garden?”

“Being fourteen and Amish, she’s sure to be better at it than I am.”