Beth drew in a sharp breath as a thousand scenarios raced through her thoughts. “Is she hurt? What happened?”
“Th-there was a car. And a man. I was outside with the kids, and I didn’t see him right away. Then one of the boys said he was watching us.” Anna’s voice shook. “But when I turned, I knew it wasn’t all of us. He was focused on Sophie, Beth. And he was so intent that he didn’t realize I’d noticed him. When he saw me, he got in the car and roared away.”
An icy chill swept through Beth. Sophie. “Th-the sheriff?”
“Not here yet. His offices are in the middle of the county. I—I know this could just be my imagination, but I swear, that man was staring at her—and if I hadn’t been outside with the kids…”
Beth leaned her forehead against the wall, fighting back the fear that had dogged her night and day during those last weeks in Chicago.
The threat had been very real there, too.
There’d been the anonymous phone calls.
The sense of being watched.
One night, someone broke into her house while she and Sophie were away, and trashed the den Patrick had used as his home office.
And then a few weeks later it happened again…with much greater repercussions.
“I’m on my way, Anna. Five minutes at the most.”
She scooped a variety of pastries and desserts on a platter, pocketed her car keys and took off her gingham apron. Backing through the swinging doors into the front of the house, she fixed a cheery smile on her face.
“Here you go, folks.” She put the tray on a table. “Help yourself to these, and to the coffeepot. I have to leave for a bit, but I’m sure glad you came!”
She ignored their startled expressions as she hurried back to the kitchen, burst through the back door and ran for her car. Viper shot past her like an ebony blur and vaulted into the car as soon as she opened the door.
Behind her, Beth heard Joel calling her name as she threw the SUV into gear. But nothing was more important than reaching Sophie and holding her tight…and any explanations would be a waste of time.
SOPHIE IMPATIENTLY STRUGGLED out of Beth’s arms. “You’re holding me too tight, Momma!”
She wanted to hold on and never, ever let go, but Beth forced herself to watch her daughter scamper across Anna’s living room to the toy farm set where Olivia was playing.
Anna watched her somberly. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I…could be wrong.”
Beth bit her lower lip, remembering the anonymous caller’s threat at the end of April. “First instincts are usually right. Did you see the man’s face?”
“I was on the other side of the yard, and he was in the shade of that big live oak in the back. I can’t even be sure what kind of car he drove, because it was in the shade too, and partly hidden by the bushes along our fence. Then he took off like his tail was on fire.” Anna ran a hand through her hair. “He was a big man, though. Tall and heavyset. He reminded me of Hubie—” At a sharp knock on the door, she rose from the couch and hurried to the front entry.
But it wasn’t the sheriff knocking. It was Joel, and his face was taut with worry.
“Is everyone all right?” he asked, glancing between the two women and the children playing quietly on the floor.
Anna silently stepped aside to let him in and darted a glance at Beth, clearly leaving any explanations to her.
“Thanks to Anna,” Beth said quietly. “But it’s probably better if she knows what’s going on.”
Anna raised a hand, palm up. “If this is private, you really don’t need to say anything.”
“My husband may have been in some legal trouble before he died. Afterward, someone stalked me in Chicago, and threatened to follow me here.” Beth swallowed. “I’ve had some hang-up calls, and that vandalism at the café. I have no idea if it’s all related, or not.”
Joel frowned at Anna. “Have you called the sheriff?”
She nodded. “But he said it might be an hour. I can’t imagine what we’d do in a real emergency. We’re at the edge of the county, and response times are usually real slow.”
Her gaze veered toward the other children, and Beth knew she had to be worried about the safety of all of them. “I’m thinking that I should probably keep Sophie home with me for a while.”
Anna’s eyes flared wider. “I don’t want you to think—”
“I know you’d keep Sophie safe, believe me. But it’s too much to ask right now, when you’ve got other little ones to watch over.”
“I want to help you out. I really do….” But the doubt and worry on Anna’s face belied her words, and Beth didn’t blame her a bit.
“When I know things are okay, I’ll bring her back. I promise.”
Joel hunkered down and beckoned for Sophie, then swept her up in his arms. It was a reflex, born of a male instinct to protect any small and defenseless child—but the soft, trusting warmth of her nearly stopped his heart. He wanted to hold her tight. Savor the scent of her shampoo, and imagine his own daughter at this age, full of life and energy—
Shaken, he turned and abruptly handed her to Beth. “Let’s go back to the café. After Anna talks to the sheriff, she can send him over there. Is that okay?”
“Of course.” Anna directed a worried frown at Beth. “You take care now, you hear?”
Joel gave her an easy smile. “This is probably nothing at all to worry about. But, like Beth said, it’s probably better for all of you if Sophie stays home for a while. No sense borrowing trouble, right?”
Beth drew in a breath. “Oh, my—I forgot about the cash register.”
“Ole Walt is guarding it,” Joel said with a hint of laughter. “But that might not be a good thing. I think he’s pretty casual about making change.”
HE’D TRIED TO CALM their worries, and put Anna and Beth at ease. But all the way back to the café Joel’s mind had raced with the very real possibility that someone might have been on the verge of abducting Sophie. The guy had certainly displayed an unusual, eerie interest in her that didn’t bode well.
Sophie was one very lucky girl, but that luck might not hold out.
Beth latched the front yard gate after they went through, then locked the café’s front door once they were inside.
Walt, casually seated at a table and still talking to Loraine, waved a hand toward the rest of the café. “Your customers left well satisfied,” he said with a smile. “You’ll notice that not one of your delightful treats is left. They didn’t actually pay, but I think you’ve got some pretty impressive tips laying on the tables.”
“I—I told them it was on the house.” Beth took Sophie from Joel’s arms and gave her a kiss, then put her down and knelt in front of her. “Remember what we talked about?”
Sophie nodded, her expression somber. “I stay in the house. Except if you go with me.”
“Right. And if you’re outside?”
“I only go if you’re with me, and I stay in the yard.”
“Good girl.”
Sophie worried at her lower lip. “Can I go upstairs and get my dolly?”
“Of course. And we need to take Viper outside, too, so I’ll come along.” Beth followed her to the stairway door at the end of the lunch counter, but hesitated and looked back at Joel over her shoulder. “Thanks. For everything.”
“Anytime.”
Walt cleared his throat. “Mind if I ask what’s going on?”
Loraine put her coffee cup down and pushed away from the table. “I’ll let you two talk. I need to get my feed loaded and get back home before the horseshoer shows up.”
Joel waited until Loraine left before answering his uncle. “It’s about Sophie. There was—”
Little footsteps clattered down the stairs, and Sophie appeared at the end of the lunch counter, her face flushed. “My mommy doesn’t feel good. She said you should come!”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JOEL MOTIONED for Walt to take Sophie, then rushed up the stairs, his heart lodged in his
throat. Beth didn’t feel well? She’d been fine minutes before, but the possibilities were endless.
He’d been recertified in CPR and First Aid less than a year ago, and he’d certainly tended his share of heart attacks, strokes and other sudden in-home tragedies. He reached the upstairs landing with Walt close on his heels.
And came face-to-face with Beth.
She was standing, but shaky, her face ghost white. Viper ricocheted from one end of the apartment to the other, growling and sniffing the floor.
“Someone was here.” Her voice was monotone with shock. “I wasn’t even gone an hour, and there were even customers downstairs.”
“You’re sure?” He rested his hands on her shoulders, half expecting her to sink to the floor, but she stiffened and pulled back.
“Th-the bedroom. Someone took a cardboard box from the closet. It’s on my bed and I can tell he went through it.”
“What was in it?”
“Papers, mostly…but he also did this.” She looked down at a fragile china ballerina figurine laying in pieces at her feet. “I always kept it on a high shelf, because it was my grandmother’s. How could anyone know that it meant so much to me?”
“Maybe it was coincidental.”
Her eyes widened as she scanned the room. “And how could someone get up here in broad daylight?”
He mentally reviewed the layout of the main floor. “None of the windows in the café face the rear. If the customers were talking, they might not have heard footsteps…or might’ve assumed it was just you coming back.”
She shuddered. “Sophie and I could have been up here.”
“He probably watched for you to leave, Beth. He must have, to use such a short window of time.”
Her eyes widened. “Which means he was the person who was watching Sophie.”
“Maybe. Or maybe he’s been watching this place for a long time…and grew impatient enough to take a big risk. Did you lock the doors when you left?”
“Of course I did.” She managed a tremulous smile. “I’m from a city, remember? That reflex comes natural as breathing.”
Joel ran a hand over the door frame at the top of the stairs, then jogged downstairs to check the rear entry. When he returned, he found her cradling the china figure in her hands. “There’s no sign of the doors or windows being jimmied.”
She looked at him helplessly. “So what does that mean?”
“Your friend may have slipped in another time, and found a set of keys. Or, he’s a real pro at picking locks. Which means he can easily come right back.”
She’d been pale before, but now she turned white as the shattered figurine. Her eyes looked huge and stricken.
“You’ve mentioned seeing a car lingering outside late at night.”
She nodded. “S-several times. I couldn’t ever see the make and model, though. Once I flipped on all the lights, turned on the porch light and threw open the front door, just to see what would happen. The guy took off like a rocket.”
“I don’t think you and Sophie should stay here anymore.”
“But this is where we live. We have to be here…until I can get it listed and sold. I can’t afford anything else.”
“Any friends you could stay with?”
She closed her eyes in thought, then her shoulders sagged in defeat. She slowly shook her head.
“Gina?”
“She’s divorced. She has a small place and there’s no room.”
“Anna?”
“How can I endanger either of those women and their children? Neither one of them has a husband for protection—” She seemed to catch herself. “Not that having one always makes any difference.”
She was right about bringing trouble into a defenseless situation, which was why Walt’s place wouldn’t be a good option. And that left…
“My place.” At Beth’s shocked expression, he said, “I know. I’m fifteen miles out, and it’s a long drive.” Though I find you way too attractive…and seeing Sophie morning and night will probably bring the old nightmares back a hundredfold.
But it was the safest possible option, and he couldn’t let her say no.
“I—I don’t think so. Not that I don’t appreciate the offer,” she added quickly. “It’s kind of you, really, but I know we’d just be in your way.”
He could almost see the wheels spinning in her brain as she scrambled for good reasons to refuse.
She brightened, then added, “I’ll just install extra good locks, on every window and door. I can leave the stairway door open, so Viper can patrol upstairs and down…and I could even padlock all the yard gates.”
“Any guy over five feet tall could easily vault over that fence,” Joel retorted.
“But the dog—”
“What if this guy has a gun? Or has dogrepellant spray? Or happens to toss poison-laced steak into your yard?”
“The locks…”
“Look around when you go downstairs, Beth. Look at all the glass windows that could be broken. And think about how long it takes for the sheriff to get here—we’re way out of easy range for him and his deputies in this county.”
“My café,” she said, her voice laden with sadness. “The early morning hours when I need to bake. Sophie.”
He knew he should offer to bring Sophie to Beth in town at a decent hour in the morning, so the little girl could sleep longer. But the thought sent a rush of unreasonable fear straight down his spine, followed by the terrible memories of trying to awaken his own little girl….
Her soft, pliant skin had felt like ice beneath his fingertips. Too firm, too still. And he’d been far too late to save her.
What the hell did he know about little kids? The thought terrified him.
And now, he took the easy way out, even as he silently berated himself for being every kind of fool. “You just opened today. Adjust your hours. You could open at ten or eleven. Build up your noon trade, then add some mornings later on.”
“Or I could find someone to stay here at night. Someone to hire,” she added quickly. “I’m not suggesting that you’d want to do it, of course. You’ve got livestock and your dog at home.”
She’d quickly dismissed the idea of him staying here, but now an image flashed into his thoughts—long, sultry nights. Temptation. Deeper involvement wasn’t a good idea, but it was one that had grown more appealing with each passing week.
He cleared his throat, trying to erase the images that followed—of some other man staying here with Beth. Alone.
His blood pressure kicked up a notch. “So where would this person stay? State health codes won’t allow someone to live in a café, and you’re pretty cramped up here as it is. There’d be no privacy.”
She tapped a forefinger against her lower lip. “A night watchman, maybe.”
“That would cost you ten, twelve dollars an hour, easily. Multiply that by seven days a week…”
“Guess that’s not such a good plan.”
“Or, you could stay in the country with me for a while, until we have some answers. I don’t think you’ll sleep well at night if you stay here.” He knew she wouldn’t like the next part, but this time he would be up front. “In the meantime, we could work on a security system, and try to get the sheriff actively working on this situation. So far, he’s been useless. And, we can start looking into your husband’s past. Maybe there’ll be some clues pointing to the guy who has been harassing you.”
She sank back in her chair with weary acceptance. “You’re right, of course. I’m…grateful for your offer.”
“Good, then. Let’s check over this place, inch by inch, so you can see if anything is missing, and then we’ll get you two and the dog packed and ready to go. You could put a sign in the window saying you’ll be opening at eleven or so. Deal?”
A suspicion of tears glistened in her eyes as she surveyed her apartment, but then she swallowed hard and lifted her chin, her hands clenched at her sides. “Definitely a deal. And I promise to pay you for everything yo
u do.”
“It’s not about money, Beth. Not that at all. It’s about keeping you and your little girl safe.”
Beth had seemed shell-shocked at the violation of her home, yet she’d quickly rallied. He could see her determination in the set of her shoulders and the glint in her eyes.
A familiar warmth crept back into his chest…one that had grown stronger every day that they’d worked side by side. One that reminded him that he’d been fooling himself almost from the start.
Initially, he’d told himself that he needed to stay close enough to Beth to find out if she’d be a trustworthy employee for Walt. Maybe it had been a reasonable concern, but it sure hadn’t taken long to find out that his doubts had been misplaced.
The death of his daughter and his bitter divorce had been hard lessons, and he knew he couldn’t ever face that kind of commitment again. Yet he was bringing Beth and Sophie into his home.
How was he going to keep his distance now?
AFTER THOROUGHLY GOING through the apartment with her, Joel helped Beth with the cleanup of the café and some prep work for tomorrow. The sun was low in the sky when she finally buckled Sophie into her car seat and followed him out of town. The narrow two-lane highway wound past several deep ravines, then shot straight as an arrow toward the setting sun, deep into ranch country.
Endless miles of barbed-wire fence flanked the highway on both sides, broken only by an occasional gate protected by a cattle guard, or a ranch sign suspended over a lane that disappeared into the rolling hills without a house, barn or human in sight.
While Sophie dozed in the backseat, Beth had entirely too much time to think…and to second-guess her decision to accept his generous offer.
She’d already known Joel was an honorable man. A protector, who put his family above all else. She’d seen it in the way he’d guarded Walt’s interests, by being cautious about her. In the way he’d paid exquisite attention to the smallest details in the renovations at the clinic, going well beyond what Walt had asked for.
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