“It’s okay. It’s me.” Nick released his grasp on Sarah’s arms and stepped around in front of her so she could see him. “It’s Nick Jennings. You’re okay.”
Sarah clamped her mouth shut and a hint of embarrassment touched the corners of her eyes.
Nick’s gaze drifted from her frightened face to the tableau on Sarah’s kitchen table. “What happened here?” He quickly glanced around the room.
“Do you think I honestly know?” Her voice held more than an edge of annoyance. “I came downstairs and found this.” She jabbed her index finger at the coiled-up snake on her kitchen table. She picked up a small book on the edge of the table and slipped it into the hutch.
“Was your front door open when you came downstairs?” He made the logical leap, having found the door yawning open upon his arrival.
“Yes.” She rubbed her forehead and winced when she made contact with the bandage. “I don’t understand. I locked up last night after you left.”
“You didn’t hear anything?”
Sarah shook her head; all the color had drained from her already pale face.
“I came down around four in the morning to get a glass of water. There was nothing on the table then—I’m sure of it. I mean, other than my notebook.” With a shaky hand, she pointed toward the hutch where she had just put the book. “Whoever did this, did it in the early-morning hours.”
Nick tipped his head, looking out the back kitchen window. From here, he could see a couple Amish boys doing chores at the neighboring barn. “Maybe someone next door saw something. I’ll go pay them a visit.”
“Ephram and Ruben Zook were picked up last night for smashing bottles, remember? I don’t think they’re going to want to talk to you.” Sarah pulled out a chair and sat down heavily. She moved as if to put her elbows on the table when she grimaced at the proximity of the snake and slumped against the tall wooden back of the chair and crossed her arms. Every muscle in her body seemed to be trembling.
“Did they admit to throwing the rock through the church window?” Sarah looked up at Nick with a hint of hope in her eyes that he didn’t understand.
“No. Only a few bottles were smashed. They hadn’t meant any harm and promised to clean it up today. Apparently, they were returning home after the Sunday singings when they ran into some of their Englisch friends.” He lifted his palms. “Might have been a case of hanging out with the wrong crowd.”
Sarah rubbed the back of her neck. “Let’s leave them out of this then. I don’t want to stir up any more trouble.”
“That ship has sailed. Between last night and this morning, it seems you have poked a hornet’s nest.”
She looked up at him with an unreadable expression.
He leaned in closer to examine a cell phone under a severed snake’s head. Gruesome. He frowned. “I have a hard time believing the same person who threw a rock through the window did this.” He winced at the putrid smell. “Dismembering animals? That’s sick.” He shook his head. “Not to mention breaking and entering.”
Sarah rubbed the back of her neck but didn’t say anything.
“Is there anything else you might want to share with me?” Nick thought of the vague reference his sister had made. Did Sarah have dark secrets that put her in jeopardy? Or had some punks thought it would be great fun to harass a single woman living out in the country on her own?
Sarah’s weary gaze shifted to the badge on his uniform, then up to his face. The brief moment of vulnerability disappeared and was replaced by an inscrutable expression. “No. I don’t know who did this.”
“What are you hiding?” Nick’s job always had him pushing for the truth from people who often weren’t willing to offer it.
Was she a fugitive?
The unlikely scenario flitted from his brain when footsteps sounded on the front porch. “Hello,” called a woman with the lilt he recognized as belonging to the Amish.
Nick moved to the front door. Sarah followed close behind.
Nick stepped into the doorway and was greeted by an Amish woman with a young Amish girl by her side. Sarah slipped next to him and paused in the doorway. Standing this close to her emphasized how petite and vulnerable she was.
“Good morning, Temperance,” Sarah greeted the Amish woman, then her gaze dropped to the little girl, no more than seven or eight years old, holding her mother’s hand. “Morning, Patience.”
Temperance fidgeted with the apron on her dress. “Is everything okay? We noticed you had law enforcement over here. I know my boys got in some trouble last night. This doesn’t have anything to do with that, does it? They said they weren’t near the church.” The Amish woman’s gaze drifted from Nick to the bandage on her neighbor’s head. “My boys are gut. They wouldn’t have damaged a church.”
Sarah lifted her hand and touched the bandage gingerly. “I know. Ruben and Ephram have been nothing but helpful to me.”
“Is everything okay this morning?” Temperance asked.
Sarah waved her hand in dismissal. “I’m fine. Deputy Jennings was checking up on me.” Nick had never actually told her why he had shown up this morning. Checking in on her was part of it. The other was to see if she was in any real danger. Based on the circumstances, he’d have to go with yes.
As if reading his mind, Sarah squared her shoulders and stepped onto the porch. Was she trying to block the view into her home to make sure her neighbor’s young daughter wasn’t frightened by the dead snake on the table? Nick doubted they’d be able to see all the way into the kitchen. To be sure, Nick joined her and pulled the door closed behind him. “Hate to let bugs into the house.”
“Everything’s okay.” Sarah smiled at the child. “You want to come over later and we’ll read more of Laura Ingalls Wilder?”
The little girl smiled brightly, but her mother took her by the shoulders and guided her toward the porch steps. “Patience has a few chores to do. I don’t know if she’ll have time for stories.”
Sarah’s shoulders sagged, and the small smile slid from her lips. “Okay.” The single word held so much disappointment.
Temperance brushed at an imaginary spot on her cape. “We wanted to make sure everything was gut over here. That’s all. We have a lot to do on the farm.”
The two guests said their goodbyes, and Sarah’s eyes followed the pair as they crossed the yard to their home next door.
“Temperance is usually friendlier to me,” Sarah said, almost as if musing to herself. “She must be upset that I got her boys into trouble.”
“You didn’t get her boys into trouble. They made their own decision when they smashed the bottles. Besides, the Amish aren’t partial to law enforcement. Maybe once they knew you were okay, they were eager to leave because of me.” Nick wanted to run the back of his fingers across the porcelain skin of her cheek and give her the “it’s not you, it’s me” speech, but he knew better. She was a stranger, really. Prior to last night, he had only passed her with little more than a “Hello” or “Goodbye” in small-town Apple Creek.
Sarah sat down on the top step of the porch. Her pink toes curved around the edge of the step. “What brought you out here this morning, Deputy Jennings?” She emphasized his title, as if it were a bad thing. “Did your sister talk to you?”
Walking over to the railing, he rubbed the back of his neck. He leaned back against the railing so that they were almost back-to-back. He turned to study her serious profile. It was as if she didn’t want to make eye contact. “It’s not what you think. My sister always respects doctor-patient confidentiality.”
“But you suspected something more was going on than a rock through a church window?”
Nick let the silence stretch between them. A gust of wind rustled up and bent the corn stalks growing in the fields next to her house.
Sarah ran a hand down her long ponytail and shifted to face him, a serious expression in her bright blue eyes. “I’m afraid he’s found me.” Her shoulders drew up, then came down on a heavy sigh.
Nick jerked his head back, and he pushed off the railing. He slipped past her on the steps and turned around to face her so he could look into her eyes. “Who found you?” Nick didn’t understand the protective urge he felt for this woman. He hardly knew her.
Sarah gave him a cynical look and no longer seemed to want to talk to him.
“You know the person who broke into your house? Do you think he also threw the rock last night?”
He studied her. Her blond bangs framed her face, hiding most of the bandage covering her stitches. “I’m afraid I do.”
Frustration grew in his belly. “Stop being coy and start talking if you want me to help you.”
“I didn’t ask for your help.” She stared at him, anger flashing in her eyes, before she looked away.
“My job is to help you.” Then he softened his tone. “Who has an ax to grind with you?”
“I’m a social worker. I’m sure I have lots of enemies.” Was she suddenly backpedalling?
Nick tilted his head and tried to coax her to look at him, but she seemed more focused on the street behind him. “You said you thought you knew who did this.”
Sarah bowed her head and threaded her fingers behind her neck. “My ex-boyfriend found me. Now he’s going to toy with me until I go running back home. Where he can protect me.” Cynicism and defeat laced her tone. “It’s the only explanation.” She narrowed her gaze but still didn’t look at him. “He must really think I’m stupid.”
“You ran away from your ex-boyfriend?” Hot blood pumped through his veins.
Her head snapped up, and she directed her fiery gaze at him. “It’s not like I had a choice.”
“I didn’t...” Nick forced his hands to relax, and he sat down on the step next to her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound accusatory. I have zero tolerance for men who hit women...”
“That makes two of us.” She laughed, a brittle sound. “I put up with him for longer than I should have.” She shook her head slowly. “I couldn’t believe I had turned into one of those women who lets men—” she seemed to be struggling for the right word “—control them. My mother raised me better.” The summer sunlight shimmered in unshed tears. He resisted the urge to pull her into an embrace.
“You did nothing wrong,” he said, trying to comfort her with his words, all he had a right to offer.
“I didn’t have a choice.”
“What about the police?”
“He is the police.” Sarah studied him as he absorbed that piece of information.
“Where?”
“In a small town right outside of Buffalo. Orchard Gardens.” She sounded resigned, sad. “I lived in Buffalo, but he knew a lot of guys on the force there, too. I didn’t know who to trust.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this last night?”
Her gaze locked on the badge on his chest. Then she lifted her wounded eyes to meet his.
“Do you think we belong to one big fraternity? That we’ll protect each other no matter what?”
“That’s what happened at home. Jimmy can be persuasive. He concocted some story that was so convincing that the other officers thought I was crazy. That I had a drinking problem and was using him to cover it up.”
“I’m sorry.”
He caught her hiking a skeptical eyebrow.
“You can trust me.” The words sounded strange on his lips. Here he was telling her she could trust him, when he had his own trust issues.
“I don’t know who to trust anymore. So few people know where I am, I don’t know how he found me.”
“We don’t know that for sure.”
“It seems like the only logical answer.”
He watched myriad emotions play across her face. He wished he knew her—the situation—well enough to offer her solid advice. Instead he asked, “What do you plan to do now?”
“I don’t know.” She ran a finger along the tender skin under her eye. “I guess I’ll have to move. Again.”
* * *
Six months.
Six. Short. Months. Apparently that’s the expiration date on keeping secrets. It took six months for Officer Jimmy Braeden to find Sarah. Now she’d have to move. Again.
But for now, she had to sit. Focus. Figure out her next step.
Life seemed surreal sitting on her front porch next to Deputy Jennings. She had a hard time thinking of him as simply Nick. He really seemed to care about her well-being, but was his interest genuine?
What if he knows Jimmy? Buffalo isn’t that far away, and law enforcement is one big boys’ club. Dread pooled in her stomach. Has Jimmy asked him to keep tabs on me? Or am I being overly dramatic? Seeing a dead snake sliced up on her table could do that to a girl living alone.
Or maybe this was how small-town cops operated. Making personal visits to the victim the next morning. No nefarious intent.
Sarah blinked and refocused her eyes on the stalks of corn swaying in the morning breeze in the field across the street. There was a sense of timelessness about sitting out here on the farmhouse steps, where a farmer and his family once lived over a hundred years ago.
“Maybe the Amish are on to something?” Sarah’s gaze drifted to the farm next door.
“What’s that?” Nick’s smooth, deep voice had a soothing quality. He turned and they locked gazes. Half his mouth crooked into a wry grin. If she was being truthful, she’d admit to herself how handsome he was. Longish wavy dark hair swept off his face and behind his ears, the ends brushing against his collar. A neatly trimmed goatee on his chin.
A breeze picked up, and a hint of aloe and soap mingled with the corn and freshly chopped hay. She quickly dismissed her keen sense of awareness of him. She had been alone too long. She refocused her attention on the farm next door. Her Amish neighbors made their life off the land, dependent on no one, save for the small rent she paid on this house.
“The Amish live a quiet life. Each generation following in the steps of the one before them. Very little changing.” She thought of Mary Ruth, her young Amish friend, who liked to chat about her future. She seemed so full of hope. Sarah didn’t know what hope felt like anymore. Didn’t know if she’d ever have hope again. Would she forever have to hide from Jimmy?
Sarah ran a hand down her bare arm. The heat from the sun was already strong, beating down on her. If she sat here much longer, she’d be sunburned. She laughed to herself. That was the least of her worries.
She reached up and grabbed the railing and pulled herself to her feet. She swiped the dust of the porch from the back of her pants.
“I have a meeting with a client later today.”
“An Amish client?”
“Not today.” But it wasn’t unusual to see Amish clients. Not all was right within the Amish world. The young adults seemed to struggle the most as the temptations of the outside world crept into their insular lifestyle, tainting it. “It’s with a single mom. I can’t cancel the meeting. Not at the last minute.”
Sarah decided she’d explain to her client that a personal matter had come up and she wouldn’t be able to make future meetings. A tiny piece of her heart broke. How long would it be before another social worker took her place? She sighed. Maybe never. “I’ll have to come up with a plan for my next move.”
Nick stood and faced her. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“Deputy Jennings—”
“Call me Nick,” he said again. She was trying to avoid calling him by his given name, believing the formality would keep a wall between them.
“As long as we’re talking names, my full name is Sarah Lynn Gardner. I’ve used Sarah Lynn to protect my identity. But I suppose that’s not relevant anymore.”
Sarah gazed at him warily. “I left my sick mother in Buffalo to hide here in Apple Creek. Apparently, I wasn’t adept at staying under the radar.” She shrugged. “Maybe my next move should be home. Since Jimmy’s going to find me anyway...” The sound of her mother’s breathless gasps over the phone broke her heart. “I’m afraid my mother won’t be around much longer.”
“I’m sorry about your mother.”
“Me, too.” She paused with her hand on the doorknob. “I’m beginning to think that no matter what I do, it won’t be the right thing. I have to be able to live with myself. And right now, I’m thinking I’ll live with regret for the rest of my life if my mother dies when I’m not there.”
“How would your mother feel if your ex-boyfriend killed you?”
Sarah spun around, anger pumping through her veins. “Low blow.”
“Your ex must be violent if you’re hiding here.”
She nodded, a lump clogging her throat. Jimmy was capable of doing almost anything. She had promised her mother she’d stay safe. Running back to Jimmy’s home turf wasn’t staying safe. Putting herself in jeopardy would be going against her mother’s wishes.
And wouldn’t she be putting her mother in jeopardy, too?
And how could Sarah abandon her clients here? It was unlikely another social worker would move to Apple Creek anytime soon. Sarah pressed her fingers to her temple, a headache forming behind her eyes.
“Are you okay?” Nick asked, his voice low and full of concern. “I didn’t mean to be so blunt.” If she hadn’t sworn off all men, he’d be someone she’d be drawn to. Too bad she wasn’t interested in starting a relationship. And especially not with another cop.
“I’m getting a headache.”
“You said earlier that social workers are often the target of disgruntled clients.”
“Yeah...” she replied, wondering what he was getting at.
“Before you uproot your entire life here in Apple Creek, let me do some investigating. Maybe those boys caught throwing bottles in town last night really do know something about this.” Nick pointed at her front door, indicating the dismembered snake inside.
Sarah rubbed her arms. A flicker of hope blossomed in her belly. Some angry Amish boys seemed a whole lot less threatening than six-foot-four Jimmy Braeden. However, the dismembered snake head placed on her phone—the one she had used for the first time to call her mom—sent renewed dread pulsing through her heart.
It had to be Jimmy.
It had to be.
* * *
“I’m going to talk to Ephram and Ruben Zook. They were part of the group last night.” Nick slowed at the bottom of the porch steps.
Sarah paused with her hand on the doorknob. Closing her eyes briefly, her shoulders sagged. “They’re good boys. Perhaps just caught up with the wrong kids last night.”
“Maybe they can shed some light on what happened.”
“Like I said before, they’re not going to want to talk to you.”
“I’ll play nice.”
“Temperance’s sons don’t strike me as the kind to get into trouble. Ruben has been courting Mary Ruth Beiler, one of the Amish girls who I’ve grown fond of.” Sarah scratched her head.
“It’s not unusual for the Amish to blow off some steam after the Sunday-night singings. They are teenagers after all.” Sarah touched her bandage and winced. “Maybe it’s not such a good idea for you to go over there. I don’t want to cause any trouble. Amos, their father, has been kind enough to rent me this house. Temperance brings me vegetables from their garden. I don’t want to stir up trouble for them.”
Climbing the steps to close the distance between them, Nick held up his palms. “Ruben and Ephram are young adults. I have to check to see if they know something. Or maybe they saw something. You think the snake was left in the early morning hours?”
“It wasn’t there when I came down during the night for a glass of water.” Sarah got a faraway look in her eyes, and he thought he detected a shudder. “What if whoever left the snake was already in the house watching me get a glass of water? Writing in my journal?”
Nick placed a hand on her arm and had to admit he was surprised when she didn’t pull away. “You’re fine. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I’ll start by finding you someplace else to stay.”
Sarah stuck out her lower lip and blew her bangs off her forehead. “I—” she ran her fingers through her bangs “—I haven’t decided what I’m going to do.” Indecision flashed in her eyes.
Nick tipped his head at Sarah and lifted an eyebrow. “Do you feel safe staying here?”
“Maybe it was a foolish prank.” Sarah’s voice didn’t hold any conviction.
“I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you stay here alone in this house.”
“Letting me?” A fiery look descended into her eyes. She shook her head in disgust despite the flicker of fear that swept across her features. This was a woman who had been badly hurt and had trust issues bigger than his.
Nick decided to extend a peace offering for his misstep. “Would you mind coming next door with me? They might be more receptive to talking if I brought along a friendly face.” Nick lifted a pleading eyebrow.
“Yeah, throw me under the bus.” She pointed to her forehead. “Remember, I’m the reason they got hauled in last night.”
“Technically, they were picked up for breaking bottles in the alley.” He watched Sarah carefully, waiting for her hard expression to soften.
“At the very least, the Zooks should know that someone broke into your house. They are your neighbors and your landlord. They need to take precautions, too.”
“Let’s go then. But my money is on Jimmy.”
Nick followed Sarah across the lawn to the neighbor’s property. A couple young men, their heads covered by straw hats, worked near the barn. Sarah pointed at the closer man. “That’s Ephram. And Ruben’s over there.”
Ephram stopped what he was doing as they approached. Ruben seemed determined to finish his morning chores without interruption.
Nick had been warned when he had started this job about a year ago when he returned from his military service that the Amish were good people, but they didn’t take kindly to law enforcement. They liked to handle things within their own community. Having grown up here, Nick already understood this, but he had never worked in the capacity of law enforcement and been directly impacted by their misgivings until recently.
“Morning, men,” Nick called, trying to sound friendly. “Could Miss Gardner and I have a word with you?”
“Hello, boys.” Sarah smiled. “Ephram, Ruben, this is Deputy Jennings.” Ephram and Ruben both looked to be in their late teens, twenty at most.
Ruben stepped forward and crossed his arms, tucking his fingers under his armpits. His eyes moved to the bandage on Sarah’s head. “Real sorry to hear you’re injured. Good thing Mary Ruth wasn’t there. She could have been injured, too.” Something about the tight set of his mouth suggested he wasn’t happy about Mary Ruth working with Sarah. But Nick couldn’t be sure.
“Do you know who was horsing around outside the church? Who might have thrown the rock?”
“We went to the singing,” Ruben said. “Mary Ruth was supposed to be there.” A hint of annoyance laced his tone. “We were foolish and broke some bottles in the alley. That’s all. We weren’t near the church.”
“Listen,” Nick spoke up, “Miss Gardner had more trouble in the early morning hours. Right here at the house on your property.”
Ephram stopped shoveling slop into the pigs’ troughs and stared at him. “What kind of trouble?” Nick tried to determine if his question was genuine or an act.
Sarah opened her mouth, but before she had a chance to say anything, Nick help up his hand. He didn’t want her to give away details of the crime. Not yet.
“Someone broke into Sarah’s house between the hours of four and eight a.m. Did you see anything?”
Ephram glanced down and pushed the dirt around with the toe of his boot. “Neh.”
“What about you, Ruben?” Sarah asked.
Ruben took off his hat and scrubbed his hand across his blunt-cut hair. His face was clean shaven now, but once he got married, Nick wondered if he’d have enough facial hair to grow a beard. “I overslept this morning.”
“And I had to do his chores until he got his sorry self down here.”
“No sign of anyone lurking on the porch? Running across the yard? Anything?”
“Neh,” they said in unison.
Out of the corner of his eye, Nick noticed their mother crossing the yard to them. “Can we help you?” Temperance seemed more standoffish than she had when she made her way over to Sarah’s porch just a little while ago.
“We’re trying to determine if your sons saw anything suspicious around my house in the early-morning hours.”
Temperance snapped her attention to her nearly grown sons. “This morning? Something happened at the house this morning? Why didn’t you tell me when I came over?”
“I didn’t want to worry little Patience,” Sarah said.
Temperance’s lips thinned into a line. “Apple Creek sure has had its share of incidences over the past few years. If you boys saw something, you need to speak up.”
“Neh, Mem, we didn’t see anything,” Ruben said.
Temperance smiled tightly at her neighbor. “My boys are gut boys. They both have plans to prepare for baptism, and I don’t want anything to derail that. Nothing,” she added for emphasis. “It makes me wonder if renting that place to an Englischer was such a good idea.”
All the color seemed to drain from Sarah’s face.
Temperance adjusted her bonnet and straightened her shoulders. “I like you, Sarah, and I understand you’ve fallen on hard times. But my husband decided to rent the house next door against his better wishes. He warned me this was one step closer to inviting the outside world in.” She fussed with her apron, obviously uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. “I had to convince my husband to rent the home to you. Miss Ellinor has always been kind to me. It was a favor. Please don’t make me regret my decision.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Nick could see Sarah squirming. She was obviously a woman who didn’t like conflict.
“That’s not my intent,” Sarah said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry. We’ll let you get back to work.”
“Sarah,” Temperance called, “I know you’re doing the work you feel you need to do, but the Amish like to keep things within their own community.”
“I understand and respect that,” Sarah said. “However, if someone chooses to come to me for help, I will not turn them away. And my intent is not to encourage them to leave the Amish faith, but rather heal within themselves so they can be the best person they can be, whether they choose to be baptized Amish or not.”
Temperance seemed to wince. “I like you. I really do. I enjoy having you as a neighbor. But please be careful how you interact with the Amish.”
“Do you know something, Mrs. Zook?” Nick asked. Something in her nervous mannerisms made him grow suspicious.
“Neh. Not at all. Our family could use the extra finances from the rent, and I’d hate to see Sarah leave...or worse, get hurt.”
“I’ll see that she’s kept safe,” Nick said.
Sarah bowed her head, and red splotches appeared on her face.
Suddenly, Mrs. Zook’s face lit up. “Perhaps we can let our dog come stay at the house. He makes a pretty good guard dog.” The woman was obviously ready to change the subject. “He’d probably lick an attacker to death, but at least his bark would alert you.”
“That’s not a bad idea.” But Nick still felt it advisable for Sarah to move out. She was too isolated out here, even with the Zooks next door. Several hundred feet across a vast field afforded a potential attacker the time and seclusion he needed to do whatever he desired.
Nick tipped his head toward the boys working near the barn. “If your boys remember anything, you’ll let me know?” He realized he was grasping at straws. No way would Mrs. Zook contact him.
“They’re gut,” she repeated.
“Even the strongest kids have fallen prey to peer pressure,” Nick said evenly.
“Peer pressure out here on the farm is different than whatever you experienced growing up in that big estate on Apple Creek Bluff. You can’t relate.” She hesitated a fraction. “Nor do we expect you to.”
Nick forced a weary smile, deciding he’d catch the boys another time. Perhaps when he noticed them in town, away from the watchful eye of their parents. “If you see anything suspicious on your property, please let me know.”
Temperance lifted her chin and gave him a subtle nod.
When they returned to Sarah’s yard, she turned to Nick. “What did Temperance mean about you not being able to relate because of where you grew up?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, debating how much to tell her. Who he was and where he grew up weren’t secrets, but it seemed that once people found out he was one of the Jennings who grew up in the huge home sitting on the escarpment in Apple Creek, well, it colored their perception of him. Made them believe he was some rich boy playing at being a cop.
He dropped his arm and smiled. If he wanted Sarah to trust him, he’d have to trust her. “My parents own Jennings Enterprises. They have a lot of money.” He left it at that. “I grew up pretty comfortable.”
She studied him for a second, then shrugged. “No shame in that, but I can see some people might take issue with it.”
“Mostly because they believe I can’t relate because I’ve never struggled with money issues.” He supported himself now. He was an adult, but he definitely had a leg up on getting to where he was today.
“What do you make of our conversation with the Zooks?” Nick changed the subject.
“The Zooks are a good family. I’m sure if they saw something, they would have told us.” Sarah slowed by the porch. “Temperance is feeling particularly vulnerable. Her sons are right at the age where they’ll be making the decision to be baptized and marry and join the Amish community for life. She’s undoubtedly afraid they’ll get caught up in something that might delay their entrance into the baptismal preparation classes.”
Nick rocked back on his heels. “You’ve picked up on the local customs rather quickly. How long have you been in town?” He felt a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth.
“Six months.” She smiled. Her whole face changed when she smiled. He didn’t think she could be more attractive. “My job sometimes involves counseling the Amish. Knowing about their culture helps me help them.”
Nick nodded.
“I hate dragging a good family into my mess. I don’t want to put them in danger.” Sarah bit her lip, indecision darkening her eyes.
“They might know something.”
“Maybe.” She sounded doubtful.
“You really think it’s your old boyfriend.”
“I’m worried.”
“Let me protect you.”
“I’d hardly think it’s appropriate for me to move in with you. Perhaps I’ll take Temperance up on her offer and have their dog keep me company.”
It was Nick’s turn to smile.
“Let me make a few phone calls. I can send extra patrols out here. What time will you be done with work today?”
“Late afternoon.”
“Meet me at the diner for dinner? We can come up with a plan.”
“A plan other than packing up and moving again doesn’t sound practical.” She tipped her head from side to side as if easing out the kinks. “I don’t think so.”
“You can’t keep running.”
“I can if I want to live.”