A small eternity passed before a man’s shadow broke the dull glow from the overhead light. The silhouette stretched toward the parking lot, until Rafe rounded the corner with a firm stride.
Overcome with relief, she flung open the door and ran to him. He pulled her tight, and she held him even tighter. The coppery scent of blood reached her nose, and she pulled back to look at his face. A Steri-Strip held the skin on his cheek together, and she saw the start of bruising around his left eye.
“You’re hurt—” Her voice cracked.
“It’s nothing. What matters is that Bald Guy—aka Douglas Smith—is safely cuffed and enjoying the back seat of a patrol car.”
“Thank God.” Daisy meant it as a prayer. “Chelsea—did he—was she—”
“I don’t think she was raped. The creep had video equipment set up. He was taking his time.”
Every cell in Daisy’s body recoiled. “Does she know what’s going on?”
“She’s pretty out of it,” Rafe replied. “But she might know if you’re there.”
Arm in arm, they walked toward the crime scene outlined in yellow tape. The light bars on the vehicles now blinked rather than strobed, less urgent but no less serious. A patrol car left as they approached, and through the window, Daisy saw Douglas Smith seated in the back.
The female officer approached them. Rafe introduced Daisy as Chelsea’s friend, and Officer Pettit updated them on Chelsea’s condition. The EMTs were with her now and would transport her to a hospital. Tests would be run, but she appeared to be relatively unharmed except for the drugging. She’d be kept at least overnight, or until the drug was out of her system.
Officer Pettit offered them each a business card. “You two did great work tonight. We’ve been after this guy for a couple of months now. He uses different dating apps to find his victims, picks motels where highways cross, and gets away without a trace. He’s clever.” She called over to her partner. “Hey, O’Brien. Does this make five or six victims?”
“Six.” The male officer joined them, shook Rafe’s hand, and thanked him for making their job easy.
The rattle of the gurney caught Daisy’s attention and she turned. Chelsea lay covered by a sheet and strapped down for safety, but now she was conscious enough to lift her head.
Daisy hurried to her side. The attendants stopped in the middle of the walkway, below a dim light that reflected in Chelsea’s dilated pupils. When she recognized Daisy, she tried to reach for her but the straps held her down. Her mouth worked to form a single word. “Haaannaaah?”
Daisy laid her hand on Chelsea’s forehead. “I’ll take care of her. I know this is scary for you.”
Tears spilled from Chelsea’s eyes.
“You’re not alone, Chels,” Daisy assured her. “Not by a long shot.”
Another whimper slipped from Chelsea’s lips. With her dark hair tangled against the white sheet, she resembled a discarded doll. Another word slowly formed on her lips. “H-h-hooome.”
“To the apartment? I’m sorry, Chels. But you need to go to the hospital.”
“No.” She tried again. “Mich—Mich—”
“Home to Michigan?”
Fresh tears glistened in Chelsea’s dark eyes. Daisy knew exactly how she felt. Tonight Chelsea had become a survivor, someone in need of healing and a new beginning. Silently, Daisy prayed for her friend to invite Jesus into her life, and for God to give Chelsea peace and strength in the arms of her family in Michigan.
Daisy kissed Chelsea’s forehead, then stepped back so the EMTs could load her into the ambulance.
Rafe came to Daisy’s side. “Do you want to go to the hospital?”
“Yes, but I can’t. I told Chelsea I’d take care of Hannah. She’s okay with the babysitter for a while longer, but I need to go home. I’ll bring Chelsea anything she needs tomorrow.”
Rafe took her hand and they walked to his car, both silent until they rounded the corner. The emergency lights faded to reflections on the asphalt, and a calm settled over them both as Rafe opened the passenger door. She started to climb in, but he stopped her with a hand on her arm.
“Hold on a minute.” He took the gun out of his waistband, put it in the glove box, and locked it. Then he paused—his eyes focused on the lock, as if he’d done more than put away the weapon.
Daisy looked up. “What is it?”
He glanced around the parking lot, then at the sleazy motel with the grimy lights, and finally to the Dumpster behind them. “This isn’t the place. It can wait.”
“No.” Concern for him sluiced through her. “A lot just happened—and it couldn’t have been easy. Are you all right?”
“Me? I’m fine.” Surprise brightened his voice. “In fact, I’m great. I won’t say tonight was easy, but it was good. In fact, I realized something important.”
“So did I.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yeah,” she echoed. “But you’re right, this isn’t the place for that conversation.”
They stared at each other for ten long seconds, then they spoke at the same time.
“I love you,” they said in unison.
Daisy smiled. “There’s more.”
“Same here. Daisy, I—”
“Wait. Me first.” She needed to get the words out before she exploded into a million happy pieces and started to babble, or to cry with joy. Or to— Laughing inwardly, she told herself to stop and just breathe. She inhaled gently, but the joy refused to be contained.
Glowing inside, she focused on Rafe’s handsome face. “I know where I belong. I also know where you belong—and it’s not in Refuge.”
“What—wait.” His brow furrowed, causing the Steri-Strip on his cheek to wrinkle. If it hurt, he didn’t seem to notice. “Hold on, Daize. It’s not that simple—”
“It is. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” His voice deepened into a drawl. “Refuge is your home. I won’t ask you to leave. I can do my job anywhere. Tonight proved it.”
“Of course you can.” Confidence rang in her voice. “But you belong in Cincinnati—and so do I.”
He stared into her eyes, giving her time to waffle. “Do you really mean it?”
“Yes. I do.”
When she stayed strong, he pulled her into his arms and they kissed. Easing back, he grinned down at her. “You know what this means, don’t you?”
“I know exactly what it means.” A thousand glorious thoughts pinballed through her mind. “It means I need to tell Lyn I want the job! I have to learn how to spell Cincinnati—”
Rafe chuckled. “Yeah, it’s tricky.”
“It is!” But Daisy didn’t mind at all. “I can’t wait to visit! I need a plane ticket, and I have to tell Miss Joan, and—and—” The next thought brought tears to her eyes, because she truly loved Refuge and her family. “And I have to tell Shane and MJ about what I decided.”
The bittersweet tears spilled over and streamed down her cheeks, but Rafe held her tight while she cried. After a few soggy minutes, she pulled back and laughed. “I’m a blubbery, lachrymose mess!”
His brows arched. “Lachrymose?”
“Vocab app! It means tearful.”
“You’re also a beautiful mess.” He kissed her temple. “What you just said—all that’s true, but I was thinking of something else.”
“What?”
“This means we have all the time in the world to fall even more in love.”
Her heart nearly soared out of her chest. “And to get to know each other even better—”
“A day at a time,” he said for her.
She swiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.”
He kissed her then. A simple kiss. A sweet kiss. Daisy kissed him back just as tenderly, then gave him a mischievous smile. “Do you want to guess where that ranked on the kiss scale?”
He rubbed the side of his face that didn’t have the Steri-Strip. “I’d give it a five.”<
br />
“A five? No way!”
“Definitely a five. Maybe even a four.” Scowling, he glanced around the parking lot. “For one thing, we’re standing by a Dumpster. It stinks. How romantic is that?”
Daisy made a show of sniffing the air. “Ewww. You’re right. Garbage smell.”
“So points off for air quality.” He eyed the run-down motel and shook his head. “More points off for the sleaze factor. This place is a dump.”
“Yes. It’s awful.”
“And another point off for—”
Daisy broke out laughing. “Okay, you win. That kiss gets a five. What do you say to trying again later?”
“I’m all for it.”
“Me too.” With her heart ready to burst, she kissed his cheek.
Rafe smiled into her eyes. “My whole life changed because of you. When I came to Refuge, I couldn’t sleep, suffered from nightmares, and wondered if I could keep it together. But Daisy—you showed me the way back to God. So did Jesse, but mostly it was you.”
“I’m glad.” She hugged him as hard as she could. “It’s a two-way street. I love how we take care of each other.”
The road back to Refuge lay in front of them, but so did a future in a faraway city full of challenges, new people, and a job that would test her in ways she couldn’t yet fathom. But none of that mattered. God was with her now, and he’d be with her in Cincinnati.
And so would Rafe.
Books by Victoria Bylin
The Road to Refuge Series
When He Found Me
A Gift to Cherish
Contemporary Romance
Until I Found You
Together With You
Someone Like You
The Two of Us
Inspirational Westerns
The Bounty Hunter’s Bride
Kansas Courtship
“Home Again” in In a Mother’s Arms
“Josie’s Wedding Dress” in Brides of the West
The Women of Swan’s Nest Series
The Maverick Preacher
Wyoming Lawman
The Outlaw’s Return
Marrying the Major
Harlequin Historicals *
Of Men and Angels
West of Heaven
Abbie’s Outlaw
Midnight Marriage
“A Son is Given” in Stay for Christmas
“The Christmas Dove” in The Magic of Christmas
* These stories have Christian themes, but they were written for the mainstream market. They contain scenes, situations, and language some readers will prefer to avoid.
A Word from Victoria . . .
Dear Readers,
There’s a story behind every book I write. For A Gift to Cherish, the story begins on a rooftop near UC Berkeley in 1979. I’ll never forget standing on top of the student co-op where I lived at the time, gazing up at the stars, then out to the black hole of the San Francisco Bay. City lights lit up the shore and the hills, but nothing could alleviate the heaviness in my heart.
The social scene at the time was everything you might imagine. The culture focused on personal discovery, self-reliance, self-this and self-that. It also emphasized personal freedom and social conscience—both good things in the proper context. But dangerous things, too.
If you’ve just finished reading A Gift to Cherish, you know where this is going. Miss Joan’s story is rooted in that era. I hope you enjoyed meeting her. The details of her life and mine are light years apart, but our spiritual journeys are parallel—from darkness to light, from sin to salvation, and from fear to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will be forever grateful for the unique way God worked in my life, and I pray He works in your life, too.
All the best,
Vicki
Available on Amazon!
Once a strong Christian, third baseman Shane Riley lost his faith the night he injured his knee in a freak car accident. Determined to return to professional baseball and to find the sister he treated badly, Shane retreats to Refuge, Wyoming. There he meets Melissa June “MJ” Townsend, a single mom battling the virus that causes cervical cancer.
MJ wants nothing to do with the handsome athlete—no doubt a womanizer considering the stories in the news. But when a mistake results in Shane renting her garage apartment, they become friends. That friendship blossoms into something deep and pure, leaving MJ with a painful secret to tell. Even more complicated, she discovers an unexpected tie to Shane’s missing sister—a wounded woman who wants nothing to do with the perfect brother who scorned her.
About the Author
Victoria Bylin is known for tackling tough subjects with great compassion. In 2016, Together With You won the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award for Best Contemporary Romance. Her other books, including historical westerns, have finaled in the Carol Awards, the RITAs, and RT Magazine’s Reviewers’ Choice Awards. A native of California, she and her husband now make their home in Lexington, Kentucky.
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