The car was almost to her when she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist. Luke pulled her out of the main lane and threw her against the driver’s door of her car, slamming the back door shut at the same time. He flattened himself against her back, shielding her from danger with his own body. They were guarded on either side by the SUVs parked there.
The driver swerved away, nicking the bumper of her car, before barreling out of the parking lot. If only she could see his face! Was it Oliver Deets, the man who’d been watching her son?
Tires squealed as the vehicle roared off down the street.
Jennie’s heart was pounding inside her chest so hard it was painful. “LJ!” she managed to gasp out.
Luke stepped away from her and opened the back door. LJ was still sitting in his booster seat, his eyes wide and confused. The buckle was undone.
A chill went down her spine. Five seconds later, and Luke and LJ might have been out there in the parking lot with her.
“Thanks,” she murmured to Luke, her blood still roaring in her ears. “That was a close one.”
Luke stared at her, his eyes narrowed as they scanned her face. “Are you hurt? I threw you against the car pretty hard.”
“No. Terrified at what almost happened, yes. And definitely grateful that you acted so quickly. But not hurt.”
“Did you get a look at the man who was driving the car?”
She heard what he didn’t ask. Was it Steve? She shook her head, frustrated. “No! I was too panicked. And the sun was in my eyes, so I couldn’t see anything.” A new thought struck her. “Did we get a look at the car? And by we, I mainly mean you, because I only know that it was blue.”
He shrugged. “It was blue, four doors. Looked like your average small sedan.”
“So, no.” She used to tease him that he was the only guy she knew who wasn’t into cars. Growing up Amish, cars weren’t something he paid attention to.
He looked at her for another second. “Do we abandon the milk run?”
She was so tempted to say yes. But then she looked at LJ. “No, let’s go get milk and then go home. LJ won’t understand if we don’t get it.”
How did you explain all that was happening to a four-year-old?
Luke hefted LJ in his arms, pretending the child weighed a ton to make him laugh, and then they power walked into the store, both of them constantly scanning the now peaceful parking lot. In the store, she grabbed two gallons, because she remembered Luke liked milk, too. Then she pushed past the lines with cashiers and went to the self check-out area. She normally avoided those. After dealing with technology all day on the job, it was nice to have some human interaction. But today she wanted to be done and home, locked in her own space.
They were back in her car in under ten minutes and on their way to her apartment. When they pulled in, she realized that home no longer provided the safe feeling she’d had before she left for the store earlier that morning.
“You know,” she commented in a low voice to Luke, “when I woke up this morning, everything was normal. Now I have people trying to kill me, my home has been invaded and my husband has returned from the dead with no memory. I think that sets a record for weird days.”
He didn’t answer for a moment. “I don’t know what to say to that. I’m sorry that I left you alone, although it wasn’t something I planned.”
She opened her mouth, ready to protest that she hadn’t meant for him to feel bad, but he raised a hand. She shut her mouth to listen.
“I don’t remember the time we spent together, but I am getting flashes. Insights? Maybe memories of feelings rather than actual events? I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll remember more, maybe not. But I do want you to know that I never would have left you alone intentionally.”
“I know that, Luke. That wasn’t the type of person you were. You weren’t a great one for planning, but you were never negligent. You were always responsible.” She cleared her throat. “Let’s go in, get out of the open.”
Anything to change the subject.
When they arrived at her apartment door, she paused again, uneasy. “The last time I came home, someone had invaded it.”
Luke gently nudged her aside. She stepped back, LJ at her side, while he checked the lock. When it wouldn’t budge, he held out his hand. “Key,” he mouthed. She nodded and dropped the key into his waiting palm. Briefly, the pads of her fingers tapped his palm. The warmth singeing them was familiar. She ignored it. Now was not the time.
He slowly unlocked the door, trying to be as quiet as possible. They entered the living room together. Luke held a finger to his lips and pointed to the wall next to the door. Jennie nodded in understanding, then moved herself and LJ so that they were both standing with their backs against the wall.
She watched, her gut aching with anxiety, as Luke walked with whisper-soft steps to the kitchen. He exited a few moments later, then disappeared down the hall. She strained her ears and heard the bathroom door open. The bedroom doors were already open wide.
LJ started to speak. Quickly she shushed him, then squatted down to his level.
“We have to be quiet until Daddy comes back,” she whispered to her son.
“Is Daddy on a mission, Mama?”
“Um, yeah, you could say that.”
“If he finishes his mission, can we have ice cream?” His blue eyes were hopeful.
Her heart melted, even while she wanted to cry. Her son was so innocent; he had no idea of the evil that had entered his world. She wanted to keep him ignorant of it as long as she could, if it was possible.
She was also impressed with his burgeoning bartering skills. “If you don’t talk until he returns, then yes.”
His sparkling eyes told her he wouldn’t say a word until Luke returned.
Twenty seconds later, Luke walked back into the room, his smile and nod letting her know all was clear. Only then did the knot in her belly melt. She let out the breath she’d been holding in a long whoosh.
LJ tugged at her arm. When she looked down at him, he pointed at Luke, then he jabbed his finger at his mouth. Jennie let out a laugh, her first real laugh all day.
Luke raised his eyebrows. “What’d I miss?”
She bent to kiss the top of LJ’s curly hair. “Your son was very good and quiet while you were on your mission to check out the apartment. He gets ice cream as a reward.”
Luke’s eyes went soft at the words your son. She fussed with LJ’s hair a moment longer, pretending not to notice until she heard Luke clear his throat.
“Chocolate chip cookie dough?” he asked. His eyes lit up, reminding her of LJ.
She snorted. “What do you think? Is there any other kind?”
“Yay!” LJ raced to the kitchen. She could hear him climbing into his booster seat at the table.
She and Luke followed after him, both of them more relaxed than they had been five minutes earlier.
She scooped out the ice cream into three bowls.
“The hard stuff, Mama.”
She reached into the cupboard and grabbed the homemade chocolate shell topping. She shook it up and poured a generous amount on LJ’s ice cream. He tapped it with his spoon.
“Give it a few more seconds, honey. It needs some time to harden.”
When he tapped again, his spoon thunked against the hard coating. “Oh, goody. It’s ready!”
“Hey, I want to try some, too.” Luke held out his bowl. Jennie rolled her eyes, but complied and poured the chocolate goodness on his treat. Then she shrugged and added some to her own bowl. She usually tried to watch what she ate, but she deserved something special after the day she’d had.
Luke and LJ both bit into their ice cream. LJ looked at his father. “Yum!”
“Jah, it is yum.”
Jennie snickered but refrained from commenting. A few minutes later, she collected the bowls and washed them. LJ took Luke to show him his room and his toys. Jennie looked at her phone. The light was blinking. She pushed Play to listen to the message.
“Jennie, it’s Randi. Hey, when you get this message, call me, please? It’s important.”
She frowned. When she’d talked with Randi earlier that day, Randi had been her normal chatty self. Her voice on the answering machine sounded tense.
Jennie picked up her phone and called Randi. It rang four times before going to voice mail. “It’s me, Jennie. I’ll be available all evening. Call me back.”
She hung up, still frowning, wondering what Randi could have wanted. A voice in her mind whispered that maybe it had something to do with Steve, but that was ridiculous. Randi had never even met Steve. And what she did know about him from Jennie was vague. The only person Jennie had ever shared everything with was Luke.
Not even Aiden knew everything. He knew that Steve had attacked her when she was eleven, but she’d never told him that their stepfather had raped her when she was fifteen. Or that Luke had stopped him from killing her.
“You okay?”
She dropped her phone on the counter, the noise echoing in the quiet kitchen. She hadn’t heard Luke approach.
“Sorry.” She plugged her phone into the charger, hands shaking. “Just thinking. My friend Randi called. I tried to call her back, but she didn’t answer.”
She was babbling and she knew it. Anything to hide her nervous reaction.
He wasn’t fooled. He gently took her hand where it was fumbling with the cord. “It’s all right. I will sleep here tonight on the couch. If anyone tries to break in, I’ll stop them.”
“But the Amish don’t believe in violence. Not even to protect their families.”
A dark shadow passed over his face. Was he regretting joining the church? The shadow lifted. “I won’t shoot a gun. I won’t start a fight. But I will place myself between you and LJ and anyone that tries to hurt you.”
It sounded like a promise. Warmth drizzled down her spine at his words.
Then her guard went up.
She knew he meant well, but regardless of whether or not he remembered her, he had made his choice and joined the Amish church. That wasn’t something he could undo. No matter how much he might want to stay and protect them, sooner or later he would have to leave them.
And no Englisch woman, not even the mother of his son, could go with him.
He didn’t like the paleness in her cheeks. Nor the frantic edge in her voice. She wouldn’t meet his gaze. What was going through her mind?
He put his finger to her chin to raise her eyes to his. In the back of his mind, he was shocked at his boldness. To touch a strange woman!
But this was no stranger. Even if his memory had never returned, this woman had married him and given him a son. He had a responsibility to them. Though he couldn’t see any way for them to ever be a family again.
“Jennie.”
Her eyes finally shot to his. He ignored the sizzle he felt at the connection; he searched her face for some clue to how she was really coping with all that had happened. His gut told him that she was one who tended to close herself off when bad things occurred. With her past, it would make sense that she would have trouble trusting.
Even him. Maybe especially him.
His heart ached at the thought. He shoved it aside. It was something he couldn’t change.
“I’m fine, really,” she responded to his unspoken question. “It’s been a really hard day, and I don’t like not having a plan. I like to know what to expect.”
“You’ve always hated surprises,” he replied, then stopped. How did he know that?
“Do you remember?”
He shook his head, sorry to see the hope draining from her lovely face. She really was a beautiful woman.
Stop it, he cautioned himself. You don’t have the right to notice that.
“It’s not that I remembered it. It’s an impression that I had. I didn’t realize I knew that about you until I said it.”
When she turned and walked away, he wanted to call her back but had no idea what he planned on saying to her. It was a hopeless situation.
No, not hopeless. Gott was still in control, though it was difficult to see through the chaos swirling around them what His plan for them was. If only Luke could see the map that Gott intended them to follow.
Sighing, Luke prowled the perimeter of the living room, reading the spines of the books in the bookshelf and the labels on the DVDs, many of which seemed familiar to him. Had they watched any of these movies together? In his mind, he imagined snuggling with Jennie on the couch, laughing over a movie, possibly eating popcorn. It felt right, like they had done exactly that.
Had. It was in the past, and he had no reason to long for it now. His path had veered from the one he might have trod together with the beautiful brunette giggling softly with LJ. He tilted his head for a moment, rubbing his chest as the sound caught at him with the force of a fist striking him.
Lord, guide me. Give me the strength to protect them and to do Your will. Whether I want to do it or not.
Moving to the window, he shoved the curtains out of the way and peered down at the street below. The view was peaceful: trees covered with snow, the lawn a white blanket stretching out to the street. In the waning light, the snow almost seemed to glow. A snowplow drove past, its large plow scraping the road, creating a foot-tall barrier of snow along the side of the road.
Was someone out there now, watching them, planning another ambush? It was highly unlikely that whoever was behind the attacks was done. After all, there had been two attempts on Jennie’s life today.
They should have called the police after the second attempt. It was a foreign thought to him. But Jennie wasn’t Amish. She should have thought of it. Unless she didn’t see the point. They couldn’t identify the driver or the car. Would going to the police have changed things?
He let the curtains fall closed again.
The rest of the afternoon passed in tense silence. He tried to start up several conversations with Jennie, but sooner or later, one of them would lose the thread of the conversation. Dinner was a simple affair of grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. LJ scrunched up his face when his mother poured a small amount of soup in his bowl, then grinned in delight when she placed a dill pickle spear on the plate next to his sandwich.
Luke shuddered, then glanced up, surprised when a chuckle gurgled out of Jennie.
“What?”
“You never did like pickles.”
“They’re unnatural.”
A full belly laugh erupted from her. “Oh, my. You used to cringe when I would eat them straight out of the jar. Sometimes I’d do it just to see your reaction.”
“You are a cruel woman.” He fought the urge to grin, attempting to school his face into a stern expression. It probably looked ridiculous.
She winked, then dropped her eyes. No doubt, she recalled the seriousness of their situation.
After dinner, Jennie rose to give LJ his bath and put him to bed.
“I’ll take care of the dishes,” Luke offered.
She raised an eyebrow. “You used to avoid doing dishes like the plague.”
He grimaced. “I don’t like doing dishes, true, but it’s a job that has to be done, ain’t so?”
Her nose wrinkled up. “You even sound Amish now. When we met, you went out of your way to sound American.”
“Englisch,” he corrected. Still, he frowned. “I remember feeling rebellious as a teenager. I don’t anymore.”
“Obviously.”
He couldn’t tell if she was being critical or stating a fact.
“Come on, LJ. Bath time.”
“Yippee!” The four-year-old hopped down from his seat. “With bubbles?”
“With bubbles.”
Luke found himself smiling at his son’s exuberance. The smile faded as he contemplated the situation while doing the dishes. How would he protect them? He knew what Steve Curtis looked like, but by now it was clear that Steve had other people coming after Jennie. It could be anyone they passed on the street. It could even be people she knew and trusted.
Although, she didn’t seem like a person who trusted that many people. Her mother may have been partly to blame for that. It was hard to imagine a mother abandoning her children the way Jennie’s parent had. The horrible things she’d endured while in the foster care system couldn’t have helped. And then Steve had attacked her. His lips tightened at the thought of the young girl she had once been suffering, with no one to listen.
An image of Jennie flashed in his mind, hair in a disheveled ponytail, tears tracking down a dirty, bruised face. He blinked and the image was gone. Was it a memory? His heart hurt for that girl.
And he marveled at the strong woman she’d grown into. Jennie might have suffered, but she was certainly not a victim. She’d raised a smart, happy son. A son who had no idea that the world could be a dangerous place.
His son.
Danke, Gott, for keeping them safe. Help me protect them.
Thirty minutes later, a clean LJ rushed down the hall to hug him good-night. “Night, Daddy! I’m going to sleep in Mama’s room tonight.”
“I don’t want to let him out of my sight,” Jennie explained. “Is that silly?”
“I think it’s smart,” Luke said, “after the day you had.”
She tossed him a quick, weary smile, before leading LJ off to bed. She was back fifteen minutes later, her arms stacked with bedding for him.
“I have extra blankets in the hall closet if you get cold.”
“Danke.” He took the linens from her, almost flinching when their fingers met. The tingle he felt at the touch was not good, definitely not something he should enjoy. He couldn’t help it, though. She is my wife, even if I don’t remember her.
The thought brought no comfort.
He set about putting the sheet on the couch. Leaving his boots and his hat near the door, he stretched out, determined to sleep.
An hour later, he was still wide-awake, listening to the cars drive up and down the road. Was Steve in one of those cars?
At about one in the morning, he woke with a shout, the dream about being caught in a fire, trying to get to Jennie and LJ fading. Tossing the blanket aside, he jumped up from the couch and went to look out the window to check for any perils again. He couldn’t see anything through the thick haze of fresh falling snow. The windows shook with the force of the wind. He laid one hand flat against the pane. It was ice-cold. His breath misted the glass.
Uneasy, he walked down the hall. He could hear LJ’s light snore coming from Jennie’s room. A second later, he smiled when he heard a soft noise inside. She’d sneezed in her sleep.
She had asthma, he recalled.
Frustrated, he willed himself to recall more. Nothing came.
Finally, he returned to the couch.
It was going to be a long night.