“MY HEART FELL in my chest when I saw all those sheriff cars around the store.” Dede smiled across the table. “I should have known you’d have everything under control.”

Abby shrugged, a little uncomfortable with all the praise she’d been receiving, but still gratified her instincts had led her to catch a bad guy.

The only one who’d been quiet was Ethan, and Abby guessed she knew why. But she preferred to have the conversation with him in private. Right now they were in a small Mexican restaurant on the highway, Abby to eat the lunch she missed and the others to eat dinner. By the time the deputies had finished with Abby at the Butte Falls market, it was dark and dinnertime. Jon knew the deputies who had responded and stayed behind to get more information out of them.

Ethan, Dede, and Jon had come looking for Abby when she didn’t return to lunch. By the time they’d arrived at the store, three Jackson County sheriff’s deputies were on scene to deal with the man and the girls. Abby had called Dede, but the church build was noisy and busy and Dede didn’t hear the phone right away.

“I’m just glad I was in the right place at the right time,” Abby told everyone.

It turned out that the ponytailed man had a felony warrant in the system for assault and kidnapping. The three girls were all from California, runaways who’d encountered something they never expected: a guy who said he would help them find real jobs but instead forced them into prostitution. Once they saw their captor in handcuffs, they opened up about their ordeal, which had been going on for between six and eight months.

Before Abby had a chance to say anything to Ethan, Jon joined them at the table. They’d been waiting for him to arrive before ordering.

“I just finished talking to the deputy who stayed behind to tow the camper,” Jon shared. “Apparently the guy you tangled with planned on taking those girls to Portland.”

“Why’d he stop in Butte Falls?” Ethan frowned. “That’s out of the way if you’re going to Portland.”

“He said he needed some gas money. The deputies don’t believe that story and are working hard to get the truth. Will Bascom promised to stop by the build tomorrow and let us know what else they find out.”

“You know, Abby,” Dede said, “this part of the country might not seem as dangerous as where you work, but we do have our issues, and being a corridor for human trafficking is one of them.”

“Sadly true,” Jon said. “I was born and raised in Medford. I’ve done a lot of work in this area as well, and I’ve seen and heard things that sometimes make me wonder if the big bad city isn’t invading our peace and quiet.”

“Sin has no boundaries,” Dede said.

Abby nodded in agreement and noted how close Jon and Dede seemed. To Abby’s knowledge her aunt had not dated since her husband died, many years ago. She was happy if after all this time Dede had finally found a match.

Abby picked at her dinner, jazzed about the arrest of the ponytailed guy. Woody was right; getting back on the horse and catching bad guys was powerful medicine. Clayton Joiner would always be with her; she couldn’t run away from that. But she could move on and do her job again.

“I’ll give you a ride back to Dede’s,” Ethan said to Abby after they finished dinner. From his demeanor, she knew it was time for the conversation that had been brewing since she intervened with the ponytailed man.

“Sure, that’s a great idea.” Abby was not one to put things off. She felt stronger in a lot of ways, more clear on where she wanted to go, and Ethan deserved to know how she felt about things.

“You’re upset, aren’t you?” she asked as he drove out of the restaurant lot.

“A little. Abby, you could have been killed.”

“Ethan, I know how to handle myself. I couldn’t ignore those kids crying.”

“I’m not saying ignore.” He glanced from the road to her and back again. “You could have just called the local police. You didn’t have to put yourself in danger.”

“Things happened. I won’t apologize for saving those girls.”

He pulled over and stopped the car, turning to face her. “I’m not asking that you apologize. All I’m asking is that you think carefully before you act. I was actually praying that by taking more time off from work, you were considering other, safer avenues.”

Abby sighed and took Ethan’s hand. “I love my work. It’s my mission field. We’ve been down this road so many times. You travel to dangerous places, and I trust your judgment. Why can’t you trust mine?”

“Didn’t all the work we accomplished this week inspire you?”

“It did. It was great. I feel privileged to have been part of it. But it’s not my calling.”

“What about being with me?”

Abby held his gaze, pain tugging in her heart at the sadness she saw in his eyes. “Ethan, I love you and I’m committed to working on this relationship; believe that.”

After a minute he smiled. “I do believe that,” he said, “and I am too.” Ethan squeezed her hand and drove back onto the road.

The day after her ponytail man confrontation, Abby saw Deputy Bascom when he arrived at the work site. She waved to the stocky cop as he wandered around the chaos. She guessed he was looking for her.

“Just the person I wanted to find —Detective Hart, the homicide investigator from Long Beach up here on vacation who cracks human trafficking rings on her lunch hour,” he said with a smile when he saw her.

“Hello, Deputy Bascom.” She shook his outstretched hand. “Do you have more news?”

He ducked his head. “I sure do. We eventually peeled down to the real story and it had nothing to do with gas money. We found two more girls held against their will at a spread in Butte Falls, with a man waiting to buy one of the young ladies you freed.”

“Buy?” Abby’s eyes went wide, and she was amazed that something criminal could still surprise her.

“Yep. He’s in custody. Two more girls are free, and we also shut down an active meth lab. Thanks again for the intervention. By the way, how are you enjoying your working vacation?”

Abby chuckled. “Actually, I’m having the time of my life. This has been a great experience.”

Will nodded. “I’ve been involved with two church builds. It’s a great feeling to help those who really need it. Thanks again for helping some kids who really needed it as well. Great observation on your part.” He shook her hand one more time before saying good-bye.

She couldn’t help but notice Ethan watching Bascom as he climbed into his vehicle and drove away. Ethan had been avoiding her since their conversation last night. He’d asked when she planned on going back to Long Beach. She said she didn’t know and at that time she didn’t. But now she knew she was ready. She meant what she said when she told him she was committed to working on their relationship, but a thought nagged: How can we truly be a couple when our hearts take us in different directions? Abby did love Ethan, but she knew she’d never join him on the mission field. Could he live with that if they were married?

Could she?

“I’m glad we can help Pastor Cliff,” Abby said to Dede as they drove from Butte Falls to Lake Creek at the end of the day. “What a nice family he has.”

“He’s a great guy. He and his family deserve some good times after all the hard they’ve endured.”

And it did me good to help, Abby thought. I’m okay. I’m back.

I can return to work. I need to return to work.