“Oh, dear. I didn’t even offer to help.” Leah clasped her hands together, worry creasing her brow.

Mark reached out and caught her fingers. She jumped, almost pulling back before catching herself. Staring down to where he’d grabbed her hands, his darker ones covering her pale skin, she realized how long it had been since a man had actually held her hands.

“No reason to be nervous,” he said. “That’s a bad habit of yours, clasping your hands whenever you’re worried.

She swallowed, reminding herself that Mark worked for the sheriff. As handsome and attractive as he was, she had to get a grip on herself. She couldn’t let her guard down.

Forcing herself to relax, she smiled gently at Mark. “I’ll remember that,” she said.

CHERYL WOLVERTON

grew up in a military town, though her father was no longer in the service when she was born. She attended Tomlinson Junior High School and Lawton High School, and was attending Cameron when she met her husband, Steve. After a whirlwind courtship of two weeks they became engaged. Four months later they were married, and that was over seventeen years ago.

Cheryl and Steve have two wonderful children, Christina, sixteen, and Jeremiah, thirteen. Cheryl loves having two teenagers in the house.

As for books, Cheryl has written nine novels for the Steeple Hill Love Inspired line and is currently working on new novels. You can contact Cheryl at P.O. Box 207, Slaughter, LA 70777. She loves to hear from readers.

A Husband To Hold
Cheryl Wolverton

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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For thou art my rock and my fortress;

therefore for Thy name’s sake lead me, and guide me.

—Psalms: 31:3

Dedicated to my mother-in-law, Phyllis,

and my father-in-law, Mr. Wolverton, aka John.

Thanks for your wonderful son.

He’s a rare treasure. Also to Dottie Ramsey,

one of the best teachers I’ve ever met.

Acknowledgments:

To the Zachary Police Department. My kids

have grown up with you guys and you’re the best.

Thanks for the job you do and thanks

for being there to use in a purely fictional way.

Thanks also to my wonderful gentle editor,

Patience Smith, who takes time to tell me how she

feels about my stories, and works with me to help

me grow. You are a treasure, dear one, whom I hope

to have a long time! And to my agent, Deidre.

Thanks for representing me! And always to

my husband, Steve, and my kids, Christina and

Jeremiah (though if you are an English teacher at

Zachary High or Northwestern Middle,

you don’t know they’re my kids!).

Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Epilogue

Letter to Reader

Prologue

September, 1994

“Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust…”

Leah Hawkins heard the words as she stared at the casket before her. It was over, done with, finished.

She wanted to cry, but the tears would not come. She was still too much in shock over what she’d discovered about her husband only three days ago when the person had showed up at her door.

“…an honorable man who served as one of our city’s finest…”

Honorable? She stared at the coffin as the preacher rambled on. She had thought her husband honorable. Everyone in church had thought him honorable. Otherwise he wouldn’t have been a deacon. Even Zachary’s finest had thought him honorable or he wouldn’t have been a police officer.

“…commit him now to a heavenly father…”

Commit him to God? Leah could only hope God would have mercy on his soul. How she prayed God would have mercy. She hoped. She prayed, but she could not cry.

The horrible tales backed up with evidence told by the person on that awful day still filled her mind.

“…and we finally ask, Almighty God, that You find the murderer of this fine respected citizen, this loving husband and father, this upright Christian…”

Leah’s heart beat faster. Looking down at her husband’s still, peaceful face she thought, the pastor can pray for someone to find your murderer, Bobby, but I already know who murdered you.

She knew. And so did one other person.

Glancing up, her gaze riveted to the man standing at the opposite end of the procession. He was a man in uniform, wearing gloves, teary eyed and in mourning with the others around him. A pall-bearer, he was well-known himself. The press had interviewed him about her husband’s death. They had no details, except he’d been killed in the line of duty. The murderer had covered all tracks well, except for one small detail.

One person besides her knew who the murderer was.

Her husband’s partner.

Dan Milano.

She had proof of the murder.

And he suspected it.

What would he do? Would he come after her for that proof? Put out a warrant? There was no telling what would happen. She knew how police officers worked. And she couldn’t stick around to find out if Dan would pursue her in this very deadly game.

She knew, when the funeral was over, she would never be safe here in Zachary again. Or anywhere else in Louisiana for that matter. She would have to walk away from this funeral, away from her life, away from everything she had or risk exposing the truth, the secret she held. A secret that could very well lead to her death.

Chapter One

Present Day

“I hear you’re interested in learning a bit more about our countryside?”

Leah Thomas looked up from the box of papers she was going through. Glancing across the room to locate the librarian and anyone else browsing the aisles, she sized up the man in front of her.

Tall, slender, dark hair and dark good looks with a slightly Cajun accent, he leaned casually against the card file cabinet, his arms and sneakered feet crossed.

“You’re Laura’s brother,” Leah commented, placing him from church. Laura Walker McCade had come to Hill Creek, Texas, a few years before, intent on finding this missing brother, only to end up having amnesia and nearly being killed. It had taken Zach’s help and Laura’s need to know to finally locate Mark, who had been hiding out from a local drug ring. Mark had actually been helping the FBI, if the rumors were true.

Leah shivered with memory.

“That’s me, chérie,” he drawled and Leah well knew he was saying dear in that Cajun French of his. She’d heard all about the cowboy who spoke French. She could point him out as well. Any single female—and a few married ones—could.

“My sister sent me over here to talk with you,” he continued. “She’s busy with her new baby son and stepdaughter and couldn’t take you up on your idea but thought I’d be ideal for the job.”

Dressed in dark blue jeans and a light-blue button-down shirt, this man looked as if he could handle anything. Broad shoulders, lean hips, a cocky smile. But…

“You work for Sheriff Mitch McCade,” she murmured.

“I am the official photographer and basically work for him. It’s more of a contractual type thing,” Mark Walker corrected. “Is that a problem?”

Dropping the papers back into the box, she shook her head. “I don’t—of course not.”

She smoothed the light pink, granny-style dress she wore and then shoved her blond hair back behind her ear. Knowing her nervous conduct wasn’t lost on this man she winced inwardly. Still, she couldn’t help her reactions. “I really just need to learn how to do some photography for a class I’m going to be leading into the wilderness later this summer break. That, and I need to find a few good camping spots. I suppose I could do that on my own, Mr. Walker, since Laura isn’t available. I mean, I did ask her months ago.”

Mark pushed away from the catalogue file he leaned against and removed the toothpick from his mouth.

Leah couldn’t help but tense.

“Really now, Ms. Thomas, I don’t mind at all. I know you’re a favorite of the kids over there at school. And believe me, with all of Freckles McCade’s family out where I live, I have a feeling this would be a much needed break from the noise.”

Leah relaxed hearing him mention Dr. Julian McCade’s wife, Susan, and her brothers and sisters, who lived out on an old farm with them. “That’s right. Sherri mentioned you live out there in a converted bunkhouse.”

“Freckles’s sister? Yeah. She would mention that.” Grinning a sardonic grin he strolled over and lowered himself to one of the four chairs that were set around the table where Leah’s research box sat. “So, why don’t you tell me a little bit about what you’d like to learn?”

Leah hesitated. She didn’t care overly much for the police but as long as Laura and Mark had been in town she’d learned they were good citizens and nice people—at least on the outside. Even if they were good people, she still had to worry about letting something slip or being recognized. But this program meant so much to her.

Sitting at a right angle to him, she resigned herself to talking with this man. “We are having a tri-county special session for the exceptional children in the area. I’ve managed to get a small grant that will partially pay for thirteen handicapped children to go on a nature expedition. It’s to enrich their learning experiences and social interaction.”

Mark nodded, slipping the toothpick back in his mouth. “I heard something about this. Jon mentioned it in the pulpit the other day,” he said, referring to their pastor, Jon Ferguson.

“Yes. He did. Pastor Ferguson has been instrumental in getting the word out about the summer opportunity for these handicapped children.”

“So what exactly do you need?” Mark asked now.

“Well,” Leah began. If there was one thing that could overcome her wariness toward others, it was the discussion of children. Not six weeks after her husband’s death she lost her own child in a miscarriage. She still grieved over the loss of her unborn child and her husband. The children that she taught almost filled that empty spot that had never completely healed. No matter how she cried out to God over her loss there was still a part of her that grieved, one little area where she had hidden the past.

She had a feeling she’d never stop grieving her child’s loss or her husband’s death until the chapter of her former life closed.

But solving the past would never happen. She wouldn’t and couldn’t let it happen. She was safe here, living again. She threw herself into helping these kids here at Hill Creek to take her mind off that emptiness, refusing to trust any person completely except her children. Smiling now as she talked about “her” children, she said, “The places I am going to take them have to be mapped out before I get final approval. I already have the adult supervisors and equipment. The only other paraphernalia I need are simply the things the state of Texas wants for publicity and such.”

“So you want…?” Mark asked.

“I want a guide to help me map out a safe route for a two-night stay in the desert. I want the guide to teach me how to use a camera and help me take some photographs of the area for this mission. And I’m willing to pay.”

Mark Walker studied the petite blonde before him. Though Leah may have acted as if she needed time to place him, he hadn’t required a moment to identify who she was. His first day in church he’d noticed her.

She was gentle, so very feminine, quiet—how could he not notice her? The way she shied away from Mitch and his sister, Laura, made the sheriff keep an eye on her.

She reminded him of an injured wren that needed protecting. Whether Leah knew it or not, half the town watched out for her. He knew Mitch certainly did. Mitch had actually thought of marrying this woman at one time when he’d been looking for someone to settle down with. Of course, Mitch had almost married every woman in town so that didn’t really count.

He was glad when Suzi had snagged Mitch. The man had been totally blind to the fact Suzi loved him.

Leah would have never done for Mitch. She was high maintenance, he’d bet anything. Looking at the wide blue eyes now as she stared up at him, Mark would wager the woman wouldn’t know how to get on a bus and travel to the next town without help.

Not that she was ignorant, just…helpless.

Exactly the type of woman Mark didn’t want. He didn’t want someone who would pin him down, nor did he want someone who would hem him in. He was free of his past life, of his father’s wishes that he be a police officer. Of his sister’s mothering. He wanted to do what he wanted to do—although he still wasn’t sure what that was.

But it would be what he wanted to do. And this job that the young woman had just mentioned certainly sounded right up his alley. A slight tug of conscience reminded him of his job as deputy but he evaded it, concentrating instead on his favorite hobby—photography and exploration of the surrounding area.

He wouldn’t mind helping her for a short time. Leah was certainly easy on the eyes. And she was a Christian, with Christian attitudes. She was also simply a gentle kind woman who needed help.

“So, how much are you paying?” he asked, smiling now at her.

She named an amount.

Eyebrows going up, he reached up and pulled the toothpick from his mouth. “Chérie, that is quite a bit of money. Are you sure you have your figures right?”

Leah gripped her hands together indecisively. “Actually, you see, that’s part of the money I was allotted in the proposal I worked up for the grant. I had to write out where the money would be used. I told them I would have someone mapping out a section of the safest handicapped-accessible routes and that her or his time would run that much.”

Surprised, Mark reevaluated the woman. “You have all of your facts pretty well laid out, I see,” he murmured.

The pale skin of her cheeks flushed a light pink. “I try to be prepared in everything and for any eventuality.”

Mark cocked his head studying her. “That sounds so ominous, chérie. Are you expecting a tornado or hailstorm while we’re out on the range?”

Leah laughed and shook her head before reaching up and pushing her hair back behind her ear. “No. No. I just meant, it’s good to be prepared. Especially where children are concerned. You can never be too careful.”

A soft pang of hurt echoed in her voice. He doubted she even realized she’d revealed that. Caught up in her vulnerability, he thought this is what always got him in trouble. Don’t worry about it, Mark, he warned himself. It’s your imagination.

“I’ll be glad to take the job,” he found himself saying.

However, it wasn’t for the job’s sake that he’d agreed, he realized, but to get to know this woman better.

Leah’s face brightened though a fleeting shadow of doubt touched her eyes. “Great! Then can we meet Monday to go over what I have planned for the camp-out?”

He should run now, not note how appealing the offer was. But it was too late. He’d been absorbed in her enthusiasm and fleeting hints of a deeper character within her. He wouldn’t back off now. No, he’d go for it.

How hard could it be after all? He’d simply hold her hand and walk her through what she wanted to know and then be done with it.

“Sounds good to me, chérie,” he murmured.

“Great!” Clapping her hands she smiled, a beautiful full smile of pleasure, and Mark suddenly wondered if he was setting himself up for something he was going to regret.

Chapter Two

It might be harder than he had thought, Mark mused, unnerved by the look on Sheriff Mitch McCade’s face as they stood in the middle of the main office.

“You’re doing what?”

Mitch McCade stared, slack-jawed at Mark.

“I said I’m going to need a leave of absence for a short time to map out the local areas…if that’s okay with you.” Mark shifted, cocking a hip as he waited for Mitch to answer.

Mitch slowly shook his head. “No, it’s not, Mark. You said you were taking Leah Thomas to map out the local areas.”

Every sound in the sheriff’s office died. Mark knew why. Every person had stopped to listen to the exchange between the two men. Mark scowled at his boss. “She needs someone to help her. And she’s paying me. It’s just a job.”

Mitch snorted. “It was the eyes, wasn’t it?”

“Mitch McCade!” Assistant Deputy Laura McCade, Mitch’s sister-in-law, yelled loud enough and with enough reproach to make Mitch flush and the entire office break into chuckles.

Glaring at his sister-in-law, Mitch said, “Stay out of it, Laura, or I’ll tell them all how you really ended up going into labor.”

Mark glanced over at Laura, who had turned the color of a rosy sunset. “Yeah, Sis, stay out of it.”

“Zach is going to hear about this,” she muttered good-naturedly.

“He’s my big brother but not my keeper,” Mitch said casually, smiling. Then he turned his attention back to the man in front of him. “Come with me, to my office.”

Mark nodded and followed his boss down the short, dark, narrow hallway. At twenty-nine, Mark was younger than Mitch McCade. The brawny man with the dark skin and hair spoke Spanish almost as well as a native speaker. After breaking a drug ring and discovering his former deputy sheriff had been the one running it in their area, Mitch hired his sister-in-law, Laura, the big-city detective, to assist him in the office.

Laura had finagled a job for her brother Mark.

Mark liked the job except for one small detail: it was what his father expected of him. After the way his father had raised them, Mark wanted nothing to do with that type of life. The memories were too harsh, too cold. His father had never been home and had been what was known as a hardnose both with work and with his family.

Still, Mark couldn’t help but hang around the Hill Creek County Sheriff’s Department since it seemed he had a natural knack for this sort of thing. Their boots echoed as they walked down the cracking linoleum floor.

Turning into Mitch’s office, Mark paused to close the door then dropped into a chair in front of the old wooden desk. It had been scratched up, used, abused, but still stood. Mark wouldn’t be surprised to find this was still the original desk from when this building had been built back in the late 1800s.

Mitch strode around his desk and sat down. Leaning back, he propped his feet up on the desk. Crossing his hands over his flat abdomen he said, “So, tell me what’s going on, Mark?”

Mark tossed his toothpick into the nearby dented metal receptacle and pulled out a small bottle from his pocket. Snagging a fresh toothpick, he slid it into his mouth before replacing the container within the confines of the material. “You know Leah, Mitch. Laura said with her baby duties and her stepdaughter, Angela, starting college she didn’t have the time to do a proper job of helping Leah out.”

When Mitch said nothing but continued to stare, Mark shifted in his chair and finally admitted, “You know how my sister is. She poured it on really thick how we just couldn’t let that poor fragile woman go out in the desert all alone, pointing out how many times I’d mentioned how helpless Leah Thomas looked.”

Mitch chuckled to Mark’s everlasting frustration. “She got to you, huh?”

“Just wait, Sheriff. My sister has been at me nearly thirty years. You, she only has been after a couple now.”

Mitch chuckled again.

“Besides, it was you she went with to the neighbor’s house.”

Mitch stopped laughing. “Yeah, well…your sister can certainly be sly when she wants to be. She was too far along to be running around like she did.”

Mark only smirked, not believing any of the story Mitch had. “You see why I want the leave?”

Mitch dropped his feet and leaned forward, resting his forearms on a stack of papers that lay haphazardly across his desk. “Partially. Let me ask you something else though, Walker.”

“Sure,” Mark agreed. “Shoot.”

Mitch studied him, his dark-brown eyes perusing every facet as if seeking a weakness or flaw. Mark didn’t like it when men did that. But with Mitch it was downright unnerving how well he could pick out the problems.

“You still running from God about some issues?”

Mark sighed. Dropping his gaze, he again admitted that Mitch had hit the head of the nail dead-on. “What does that matter?”

Leaning back in his chair, Mitch again crossed his arms over his abdomen though he didn’t prop up his booted feet this time. “If you’re still rebelling against your dad’s wishes out of pure stubbornness and using this as a way not to be around the job, yeah, it matters.”

“Would I have taken the job in the first place if I felt that way?” Mark demanded.

Mitch met his gaze never flinching as he replied, “Yeah, you would because you are one of the best natural detectives I’ve ever seen. You crave this work but at the same time detest it for what it did to your family. Now, if you’re going out to help Leah, that’s one thing. But if you’re simply vacillating again, then I’d suggest you not shortchange Leah that way.”

“Mais, non!” Mark said lapsing into Cajun French. Jerking the toothpick out of his mouth, he continued, “You are my brother-in-law, Mitch McCade, but you do not know what it was like and I will not have you trying to probe my mind.”

Mitch relaxed, a look of concern replacing his hardened flat gaze. “Listen, bro,” he said softly, using a shortened version of the Christian term brother, something he often did. “I wouldn’t ask if I weren’t worried. I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have on the team here. But your heart isn’t in it. That can be dangerous. I’m worried about you. Laura is worried about you….”

“Are you going to fire me?” Mark asked, calming down and slowly forcing himself to relax.

Mitch snorted. “Yeah, right. When you’re worth as much as you are—even part-time. The only way you’re getting off this force is by quitting.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Mark muttered. After slipping the toothpick back in his mouth, he folded his hands across his stomach. “I don’t know what I want, Mitch.” Rubbing his hand down his face, he admitted, “I don’t know if I want to stay with this job or leave it.”

“You know what, Mark?” Mitch grinned. “Maybe this is exactly what you need. Time with Leah, who is so leery of police officials and men in general, will either convince you that you’ve got the right job or chase you away from it.”

“So many people come out here not wanting to talk about their past. She’s one of them.” He then continued, “She can be defensive all she wants. At least she’s protecting herself that way.”

Mitch cocked his head curiously.

Mark remained passive, refusing to allow his brother-in-law to see just how much Leah had affected him. Still, when Mitch nodded, with that speculative look filling his features, Mark had to wonder if he’d blown his cover.

“I think you’re right, Walker” was all Mitch replied. “Remember though, while you’re considering if you want this job, some people can simply walk away from it, but others are called. I think you’re called to this job, Mark. It’s in your blood and I don’t think you can turn your back on it, regardless of what you think. However—” pushing back from his desk, he stood “—six weeks’ leave of absence is granted.”

Mark stared, stunned. He hadn’t thought he would get that much when he’d requested it. He’d honestly thought Mitch would badger him into working half weeks or every other day.

“Six weeks,” he repeated, echoing Mitch.

Mitch nodded. “Yeah. Six entire weeks. I hope this is what you want and you’ll take time to find your heart while you’re out there, Mark. We’ll all miss you, but I really think this is God in the working.”

A spine-tingling sensation spread down Mark’s back at those words.

God in the working.

Those words echoed eerily inside him and as much as he wanted to deny what Mitch had said, he knew God’s ways were greater than his own ways.

“Whatever,” he said instead. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to run by the hardware store and then go make sure Leah knows I’ll be available starting tomorrow.”

Mitch grinned. “You do that. And give her my regards, too.”

Relieved the interrogation was over, Mark stood and strode toward the door. “You give your own regards, Mitch. I’ve got a job to do and that’s all I plan to do.”

Mitch’s deep rich chuckle followed him out the room, taunting him to keep that pledge of “business only” as he faced the sweet, gentle soul named Leah Thomas.

Chapter Three

“I hear you might have found someone to help you out?” Tessa said.

Leah glanced up at her best friend after shoving a camera into her backpack. “I suppose so. How’d you hear about Laura’s brother, though?”

Curiously she paused in the preparation of her knapsack to study the diminutive woman lounging on the couch, one leg lazily swinging back and forth over the arm of the cloth-covered sofa.

“The neighbor told me when I pulled up that Deputy Walker had been here the other day. I would think that was the only reason he’d be here, knowing how you like to keep to yourself.”

Leah sighed, understanding when Tessa was simply pumping her for information and that her dear gossipy neighbor wanted her to talk. “Mrs. Mulching tells all, doesn’t she?” Leah returned to stuffing her bag full of beef jerky, a full canteen and sunblock. She also tried to figure out just what to inform her dear friend Tessa.

Continuing to swing her leg as she reclined on the sofa, Tessa nodded, drawing Leah’s attention back to her. “From what I’ve seen, she does tell all. So, if you have someone to go with you and help you, why don’t you just wait and let him take you out to study the area instead of going on your own today?”

That was Tessa. She was pretty much to the point with Leah. Leah had obviously waited too long to tell her what she wanted to hear so she’d simply asked. Leah always knew where she stood with this woman. And Tessa hadn’t mellowed one bit now that she was married. “Where is Drake?” she asked mildly, trying to change the subject.

Tessa chuckled, giving Leah a knowing look. Running her fingers through her short brown hair, she shifted on the sofa and crossed her legs. “With his therapist. His limp is almost gone. When he’s done I’ll pick him up and give him the books I borrowed from you. Then I get to bully him into reading some more for me.”

Leah chuckled. Tessa’s husband, Drake, had been through an awful ordeal only a few months before. Many thought he wouldn’t make it, but he’d proven the town wrong. Systematically, day by day, Drake had pulled himself from the brink of death to where he was now. He’d met Tessa who was reteaching him to read after the accident that had caused so much damage. It had been love at first sight. Rarely did Tessa make it over to chat anymore. Except when something new was obviously in the air. Tessa seemed to feel so responsible for Leah.

She wondered if this concern was just natural for Tessa or if it was because Leah tended to be thought of as fragile by most people. “I can’t believe he is up to poetry by Burns,” Leah murmured before zipping the bag up.

“He sure is. Now, why don’t you answer my question, dear, and tell me why you’re on your way out to the desert when you have a perfectly good helper you’re going to be paying to do the dirty work for you?”

Leah lifted the bag and moved over across from Tessa. Seating herself on the sofa, she dropped the bag on her khaki-covered legs. Smoothing the pink top, she paused to push a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “I am perfectly capable of handling things myself, Tessa, and I can’t believe you said that,” she said carefully.

Tessa dropped her feet to the floor and leaned forward. “You know that’s not what I meant at all. I know how capable you are.”

Leah didn’t believe that. Her face said otherwise.

“I meant, get your money’s worth. Mark is a photographer and has been all over the area out there. Why not leave it to him and concentrate on the rest of the planning you have back here?”

Leah sighed. How did she explain that allowing another person to get close to her was not something she could accept? She’d thought she could, but in the end…

She couldn’t say out loud that she was afraid, without revealing too much of herself.

“He doesn’t know where I want the pictures. I thought I’d go out there and mark two or three of the areas I wanted, take some snapshots to give him ideas of the types of places I want and need, and then let him do the rest.”

Tessa nodded slowly. “That does make sense…. But you do realize there are snakes out right now? They’re especially bad this year.”

Leah interlocked her fingers, clasping her hands firmly. “They are always especially bad, according to everyone around here. Please, Tessa, I’ll be fine.”

Tessa nibbled her lower lip. “You’re sure?”

“If we can teach grade school, we can handle anything nature throws at us. You should know that.”

Tessa chuckled. “I do love teaching. Okay. Don’t forget, Drake said if you need to test wheelchairs and such out there, he’d be available to help out.”

“I’m surprised he is willing to get back in one of those things,” Leah murmured softly, with feeling.

Tessa’s gaze darkened a bit. “He still has his bad days when he has to use one. I imagine he will for a while to come. But I think…well…I think offering to help makes him feel useful. You know, he feels that being in the wheelchair gave him an opportunity to help someone else in need down the road.”

Leah’s gaze softened, a warm feeling filling her. “Can you still believe how much God changed Drake’s life?”

Tessa’s gaze changed from dark to a sweet dreamy smile. “If he hadn’t found Him, I wouldn’t be with him now. And he’s so fresh. I’ll tell you, Leah, his freshness is what restored my faith in God. I think I had forgotten just how wonderful and loving our Father is. Seeing it from a new believer’s point of view made me realize how lucky I really am and how the past doesn’t matter near as much as I thought it would.”

Leah’s bright smile faded a bit at the words. In some cases, a past certainly did matter. Her past did matter. Her entire life had changed because of it. She would definitely end up having her entire life changed if it ever became public.

Deciding it best to change the subject, Leah stood. “I am on my way out to the camping area near the Culpepper Ranch. If you need anything else, call.”

Tessa stood and hugged her. “Will do.”

Tessa had parked on the street, so Leah let her out the front door and locked it behind her. She turned and headed toward the back door and down the steps to her gray compact. Getting in, she prayed that perhaps one day Tessa’s words would prove true, that maybe she would find a place somewhere where her past wouldn’t matter.

However, she feared, that would only happen with Dan’s death.

“She’s not here.”

Mark paused by the door of his beat-up old Jeep. After slamming it shut, he strolled forward to where Tessa stood. There she was, near her car parked just in front of him, her hand on the door, two books tucked under the other arm. “I had thought to catch her so we could speak of a business arrangement,” Mark said, then remembering his manners he asked, “How are you doing, Tessa?”

She smiled. “Fine. I’d be doing a lot better if Leah hadn’t just left to go out looking for a site to camp.”

Mark leaned on the door of Tessa’s car. “She what?”

“She told me she hired you.”

“Word travels fast,” Mark muttered. “But what was this about a camp?”

Tessa flipped a hand up in a general gesture of airy carelessness. “I was on my way over here but stopped by the station. Your sister, Laura, told me you were going to be working for Leah over the next few weeks. Okay, well she hinted at it,” Tessa added tossing her head. “Anyway, when I dropped in to pick up the books Leah had told me I could borrow, I asked her if she’d found someone to take those pictures for her and show her around. Leah’s neighbor delighted in telling me the news when I arrived.” She cocked her head toward the house next-door where a curtain quickly fell back into place.

Mark shook his head, not used to small towns like this.

“Sure enough,” Tessa continued without a pause, “she was glad to have hired you but decided to go ahead and do some legwork herself.”

Mark ran a hand down his face. When Tessa got to talking, she really could talk, he thought wryly. “You didn’t happen to mention, chérie, that the snakes are bad this time of year?”

“I did,” Tessa said, grinning.

“Did you tell her there still might be vagrants wandering around after the trouble we had out that way a few months ago?”

“Actually, I didn’t, Mark. I figured if snakes didn’t scare her, men wouldn’t.” Eyeing Mark speculatively she added, “Though perhaps that would have been the right excuse to use after all.”

“I can’t believe she went out there…. She hired me,” Mark replied, worried. “Which way did she go?”

“Mrs. Culpepper’s,” Tessa replied cheerfully.

Mark tilted his head, studying Tessa. “And just why do you tell me this with such a buoyant attitude?” he queried, that Cajun accent slipping back into his speech.

Her grin widened. “Because I am hoping, Mark, that you’ll go out there and make sure she’s okay.”

“Does this entire town worry about that woman?” Mark asked, hands going to his hips, exasperated.

“We sure do,” Tessa replied drawing a reluctant grin from Mark. “You didn’t think you were the only one, did you?”

“She does tend to bring out that protective instinct, doesn’t she?” Mark replied softly.

“She sure does.”

“Okay, Tessa. I’ll go check on her. After all, it is what I am being paid for,” he replied. “To help her out on this project. And when I find her, we’ll restate just what we each expect from the other in this job,” he added.

Tessa chuckled her deep rich chuckle and replied, “You do that. She’s only got about a five or ten-minute start on you. I’m sure you’ll find her easily.”

“Thanks, Tessa. Tell Drake hi,” he replied.

He turned and headed back toward his Jeep wondering just why Leah had headed out on her own without contacting him.

If he had his way, he was about to find out.

After hopping into the Jeep, he quickly left behind the city limits of Hill Creek and headed out toward the west side of town where Mrs. Culpepper lived. At the fourth mile road, as they called them since the roads were laid out so straight, he turned right.

A nice popular camping area located about five miles up was where she’d most likely gone, Mark thought. The Culpeppers owned part of the land. The rest they donated to the county for the people of Hill Creek County. It wasn’t to be developed, simply kept there so that there would always be a place for people to camp and wander. Ten thousand acres. When Mrs. Culpepper’s husband had passed on she’d said that with no children, she didn’t want the land going to the state when she died. She had donated it instead with a provision for a specific use.

She was a town icon, someone that everyone enjoyed and visited. A bit eccentric, but a good old woman. Mark had a notion that she would have made a good mother. He’d gotten to know her through Wil Whitefeather who had been acquainted with the Culpeppers for years.

Driving past Mrs. Culpepper’s house, he continued until he reached the small dirt road that led to a parking area. This part consisted of boulders placed in a semicircle on the ground. The area would hold two or three buses and a dozen cars.

He had no trouble spotting Leah’s car. Spotting Leah, however, was a different matter.

“Ten minutes. How far could the woman be?” he muttered and killed the engine of his Jeep. Pushing open the door he swung his long legs out and stood, scanning the rocky, hilly area. The summer sun beat down on his head, causing him to lean in, grab his hat and slip it on his head. A wind blew, giving relief to the hot dry air. All was quiet except for the rustling of tree branches as the wind made its music.

Mesquite trees, scrub oaks and sagebrush dotted the vicinity enough to easily block the view of someone within shouting distance. He pulled out the small cylindrical container in his pocket and fished for another toothpick. He continued to scan.

“Leah!”

So he’d shout, he thought, disgruntled. Shouting wasn’t his way. But she sure wasn’t anywhere in the area. Slipping the toothpick into his mouth he shifted impatiently. The nearby river that crossed the land was an ideal place for people to camp. Perhaps she’d gone out that way.

“Leah!” he called again and started out toward the river.

“Mark?”

He nearly jumped out of his skin when her voice came from behind him. Whirling, he opened his mouth to rail at her and stopped, surprised. “Wil,” he said nodding to the old man who stood with her.

“We were scouting the area,” Leah said. “I found Mr. Whitefeather out here hunting. He was showing me the bird’s nest he’d found.”

The aged Native American, his dark weathered skin creasing with a smile replied, “I thought Ms. Thomas might like it for her class.”

“I’m sure she would. Thank you for being with her, though.”

Leah frowned.

Wil chuckled. “That talk, young one, will get you into trouble.”

“That’s right,” Leah replied. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” Those words sounded so out of place with that soft-pitched voice.

Mark hadn’t planned to say anything in front of Wil, but Leah’s words were like waving a red flag in front of a bull. Throwing caution and concern to the wind, he asked, “Oh? Why did you hire me if you could take care of yourself, chérie?”

Leah sighed, amazingly still soft-spoken as she replied, “I thought to come out ahead and look over the area. I don’t need a bodyguard.” Some quick emotion passed across her face, one Mark couldn’t identify. It was gone so quickly Mark wasn’t sure if he had imagined it. Pausing, he considered her and thought he might have hit a nerve.

“Do you know there are snakes out here?” he prodded gently, thinking to drive home his point. This woman was just too helpless. She didn’t need to be out here like this. “And what about riffraff? Be glad it was Wil you ran into and not someone else.”

Leah bristled.

“I think, young one,” Wil said looking pointedly at Mark, “that you still have not learned patience and trust.”

Mark flushed. “Maybe not, Wil, but does she even know how to defend herself?”

“Please don’t talk over me like that,” Leah demanded firmly.

Guilt touched Mark at her words. “What would you do if a snake blocked your way?”

“Go around it,” Leah replied quietly.

With consternation, he realized she was right and because of that he hadn’t been able to make his point. So, he tried another track. “You can’t do that with people, or some animals. Just ask Drake, ma petite,” he said referring to the bull that had nearly killed Drake, Tessa’s husband.

“Sometimes you just have to put your trust in God,” Leah replied.

“Or know how to shoot a rifle, but I see you don’t have one with you. Just a backpack. Tell me, Leah, what would have happened if a coyote was out here, possibly with rabies?”

Leah finally flushed. She pushed a strand of blond hair back behind her ear then clasped her hands together. “I am trying to do what has to be done, Mr. Walker. I’m sorry if you don’t approve, but then, I’m not as helpless as I look.”

Hearing the distress and determination in her voice, he asked, “Is that so?”

“Yes.”

Women, he thought and would have rolled his eyes if she hadn’t been staring at him.

“Leah, I was nearly killed by a drug gang out in this area. I know you believe what you say, but with your small size, a man could easily overpower you.”

Slowly she shook her head.

Disbelieving at Leah’s stubborn insistence she could take care of herself out here in the wilds, he glanced at Wil. His face was perfectly blank as he stood there. “You aren’t going to comment?”

Wil shrugged. “If she says she can protect herself, I believe her.”

Mark sighed, exasperated. “You always were too trusting, Wil. You even took me in when you had no idea who I was.”

Wil grinned, his eyes crinkling up, that gray braid of his standing out in stark contrast against his dark skin. “I rely on God to lead me in some things, boy.”

There it was again. Wil had said that a lot to him while he’d been out there, telling Mark to let go of his distrust and anger, to trust God more, trust his fellow man.

“Well, let’s just see what you’d do if you were attacked, chérie,” Mark muttered and then, to prove a point, he ran straight at Leah intending to scare her when he grabbed her.

He hadn’t expected to go sailing through the air.

With a hard thud he connected with the ground. His head exploded with pain that ricocheted down his body to the tips of his toes.

He wasn’t sure how, except Leah held on to his arm, standing above him, still looking completely helpless.

Wil broke into cackles.

“I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t hurt you.” Leah flushed and released Mark’s hand. Stepping back she clasped her hands together in a purely nervous gesture.

When Mark recovered from his utter shock he realized he hurt—all over, not just from the initial pain that had flashed in him but from an ache. He wasn’t used to someone getting the better of him, especially not a woman—especially not a helpless- looking woman. Staring up at her from this angle, he thought she still looked utterly helpless. Except that he now lay on the ground feeling every crooked rock that poked him in the back. How had she done that? Wil moved into the picture cutting Mark’s view of Leah.

“Come on, young one, get up and take your medicine.” Wil reached down and with a strong hand helped pull him up until he was on his feet. Every movement reminded him he’d just been lying on the rocky ground.

Mark groaned realizing he was quite sore. “You knew, didn’t you Wil?” Mark asked grouchily when he realized Wil still grinned.

“It’s in the way she walks,” Wil acknowledged. “Always know your opponent,” Wil added.

Flushed and definitely put out over what had just happened, he turned toward Leah.

She stood, arms wrapped around her middle, one hand going up to push at her hair before clasping her other hand in front of her. “Are you okay?” She looked so innocent and serene standing there. It was the worry in her eyes that gave away her anxiety. She really was concerned about what she’d just done.

He laughed.

Wil chuckled, too.

Confused, Leah’s gaze went back and forth between the two. “I don’t understand,” she said carefully.

Mark smiled. “It’s time for me to eat crow, Leah.” Shaking his head he reached down, grabbed up his hat, and slipped it back on his head. “I owe you an apology.”

Relief wilted Leah’s shoulders and a soft gentle smile spread across her features. “I really am sorry. It’s just some classes I took…”

“Karate?” he speculated.

“Self-defense. The teacher was a black belt in judo.”

“Ah,” he replied and chuckled again.

“You aren’t angry?” Leah asked.

“The way I see it, chérie, I had that coming.”

“It was sorta reflex. That’s exactly how my teacher used to run at me to get me to defend myself. I apologize for not contacting you either, Mr. Walker. I just started thinking that maybe I should come out here on my own….”

He wasn’t buying it. The way her eyes slid away from meeting his told him she’d had another agenda. He wasn’t upset, though. Just being with her had a strange calming effect on him. But he had to make a point about how dangerous it could be out here, too. He didn’t like to think about a woman out here alone where she might get hurt. “Can you shoot a gun, Leah? Can you defend yourself against wild animals? Do you have a cell phone with you?”

“Well, no,” she finally admitted.

“No to one or all of them?” Mark gently prodded.

“No to all of them,” she confessed.

“Now that is not good, Ms. Thomas,” Wil chimed in.

“Please call me Leah, sir,” she said.

“And you can call me Wil. This young one over here does.” He grinned.

Mark shook his head. “Ignore him. He’s so ornery he wouldn’t let me call him anything else.”

Wil chuckled again.

“I’ll leave this to you two. Don’t forget Mary is having a potluck dinner for you young folks in a few days.”

“Mrs. Culpepper?” Mark asked, puzzled, having not heard of the latest get-together.

He nodded. “She and I are friends,” he said to Leah. “I knew her husband for years. He was one of the first settlers out this way.”

“I don’t want to intrude,” Leah protested worriedly.

Mark glanced at her, surprised, then remembered that as quiet and withdrawn as she was, she just might not know all the people around here. “I doubt it’ll be an intrusion. Mrs. Culpepper loves company. She hosts these things every so often. They build a big bonfire, and then sit around it and eat and sing and chat.”

“Something to think about,” Wil added.

“I’ll consider it,” she replied to both of them.

“Nice meeting you, Leah.” Wil waved, obviously having gotten the answer he wanted. He headed over toward the trees and only then did Mark see he had supplies resting over there.

“I like him,” Leah whispered softly as Wil headed off back through the trees.

“He’s a good old coot,” Mark replied.

“What did you mean he saved your life?” Leah asked.

Mark ran a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s a long story. I suggest we save it for dinner tonight.”

“Dinner?”

“I’m having dinner with Freckles and Julian. I’d like it if you came with me.” Mark paused, wondering how in the world he’d just asked her out to dinner like that when he’d only planned to help her in a purely businesslike manner.

“Will they mind? I mean if they don’t expect company…”

Mark grinned. “I have a cell phone with me. They’ll know you’re coming.”

As he stared down at the beauty before him he admitted what a jerk he’d been for thinking this woman helpless and fragile. Sometimes things just weren’t as they seemed. And he was finding that Leah Thomas certainly wasn’t what he’d thought—to his pleasant surprise.

He wondered just what Leah would think if she knew that he didn’t want to leave her side at all. “It’s the least I can do after the way I acted, chérie.”

Leah finally nodded. Dropping her hands to her sides she said, “Thank you very much…Mark. I’d love to see Freckles and Julian.”

And that was that, he thought. He’d just taken a step he had insisted he wouldn’t take here in Hill Creek. He’d just asked the teacher out on a date.

Chapter Four

What would he think if she told him she didn’t want to be away from him?

Leah couldn’t remember a time she’d enjoyed more than exploring the dusty rocky trails with Mark. They’d nearly been late for dinner and only realized it because the sun was dropping low in the sky. That and the fact both of their stomachs were growling.

Quickly they had headed back to their cars and just now had arrived at Freckles and Julian’s house.

“It’s about time you showed up!” Julian stood near the barn of the ranch where they had just parked, a chain saw in his hand, cut wood littering the ground around him. “I’m clearing out some chores,” he continued, and after laying the saw aside, he strolled over to where they stood.

“Hello, Dr. McCade,” Leah said formally.

Julian chuckled and shook his head. “Call me Hawk or Julian, but please, there are too many doctors with that last name in this house.”

Julian squeezed her fingers warmly and then stuck his hand out to Mark. “I was wondering if you were going to make it to dinner after all.”

“I don’t live here,” Mark replied good-naturedly.

Julian flipped a hand toward the barn and restored bunkhouse. “Close enough that Freckles worries over you. She’s certain you aren’t getting enough good meals.”

“She’s probably right. Café food grows old after a while.”

“Mark!” Freckles’s words drew their attention to the front porch where she pushed through the door, stepping out onto the wooden terrace. Along the long front planks, rockers sat, waiting to be filled for nighttime stargazing. The rails around the wraparound porch reminded Leah of the old-time hitching posts she’d read about in books. Made like many of the ranches out here, they were wooden, stripped of the bark and waterproofed. These posts were newer as Julian and Freckles had been doing renovations on the old ranch house.

“Leah and I made it, chérie. Don’t you start on me.”

Freckles chuckled and came down the path toward the cars, her long curly red hair bouncing as she came. Her stomach protruded with child, and behind her came a herd of kids. Leah heard them all chattering like geese and saw the way they piled out the door, tripping over one another in their haste.

“They’re excited to have company,” Freckles admitted as she stopped beside Julian and smiled at Leah. Julian rested a hand on his wife’s tummy before leaning down to kiss her cheek.

“Hello there, Jimmy,” Leah said grinning at the first and youngest child to arrive at their sides. “I suppose it’s not every day you have a teacher out here to dinner, is it?”

“Ms. Thomas,” Jimmy said excitedly. Grabbing Leah around the legs, he gave her a hug only a ten-year-old could give. “I told you I had sisters. That’s Sherri and Cathi. Rebecca and MaMaw are inside. You can meet her but she’ll probably go to bed early ’cause she had a big day today.”

“I’ll have a word with you, Mark,” Freckles said and moved toward him.

“Is that so?” Leah smiled down at the young boy and then glanced to the sisters who had come out with Freckles.

“You are going to waste away if you keep missing meals,” Freckles said, waving a finger at Mark, taking him to task for being late and not being home enough. The children didn’t seem the least bothered that their big sister was shaking her finger at Mark. Julian stood there and smiled bemusedly.

Freckles’s sisters were used to this, obviously. Cathi was a small child for her fifteen years, birdlike in her bones and movements. A long dark ponytail hung down her back and light-brown freckles dotted her nose. Were it not for the budding shape, Leah would have guessed her to be younger than her brother. Cathi stood next to her younger brother and rubbed a hand over his hair. He shoved her hand away. Typical interaction for a brother and sister, and both ignored Freckles.

Sherri looked much older than her seventeen years. Her hair was dark auburn, unlike Freckles’s own bright-red hair. She was shapely and beautiful and, Leah noticed, seeing where her gaze was, obviously interested in Mark. Still, Sherri didn’t interrupt her sister directly though her gaze begged to be noticed as she danced up and grabbed at Mark’s sleeve. “I got the results of my SATs today and I’m going to probably have a scholarship. I thought about going to Louisiana. Could you tell me about the universities there?”

Freckles broke off with her diatribe and turned toward her sister. “Let’s get our company inside first, Sherri, then maybe later Mark can talk to you about that.”

“You come with me, Ms. Thomas. I want you to meet MaMaw,” Jimmy said, tugging at Leah’s hand.

As if she had never met Phyllis before, Leah thought grinning at the young boy at her side. Smiling at Mark she shrugged and grasped the little boy’s hand.

“Jimmy, were you going to spend the night with Tad tonight?” Freckles asked.

“But I want her to meet MaMaw.”

“She will in a bit. You should get your things together and let Sherri drive you there.”

“Okay,” Jimmy said and raced off toward the house, forgetting company in the light of spending the night away from home.

“Can I drive?” Cathi asked excitedly.

“No, you cannot,” Julian said, his attention finally diverted from his wife to the girl who looked so expectantly toward him. “No, you may not. You’re only fifteen and you don’t have a driver’s license yet.”

“But I have a permit.” She smiled brightly as if that would change Julian’s mind. It didn’t work, however.

“And Sherri is only seventeen. She is not old enough to supervise your driving. No.” He reached out and ruffled the top of her hair, messing up her ponytail.

Cathi screwed her face up as if she were about to argue.

“Maybe next week I’ll take you out driving, Cathi,” Mark said.

“Really?” Cathi grinned, her gaze riveting on Mark. When she saw he was serious, her excitement eased and she replied, “Okay.”

“Go see if the spaghetti is ready, Cathi.” Freckles shooed her off.

“Do I have to drive Jimmy?” Sherri asked, casting a glance toward Mark.

Julian frowned though Leah doubted Sherri noticed it as she was so busy trying to look as if she wasn’t staring at Mark.

Freckles stepped forward and slipped an arm through Julian’s arm drawing his attention. “Yes, you do,” she said to her sister. “And I appreciate all the help you give us out here, Sherri.”

Sherri glanced at her sister then Julian, and with a sigh, she walked off toward the area where the family cars were parked. “I’ll be in the car,” she muttered.

“It’s almost like being in the classroom,” Leah said half-jokingly when all the children were gone.

“Except they’re all different ages?” Julian quipped.

Leah chuckled. “Something like that.”

Mark touched Leah on her back between the shoulder blades and motioned toward the door. “Shall we?”

That gentle touch warmed her, reminding her of just why she was out here and whose invitation she had accepted. “If Freckles and Julian are ready,” Leah mouthed softly, glancing pointedly at the two who had their heads together talking low.

As if sensing the attention Freckles glanced around and then promptly blushed. “I’m sure dinner’s almost done. Let’s go eat.”

Julian chuckled low, a satisfied smile on his face. “You’ll have to forgive Freckles. She has her mind on other things.”

“Hawk!” Freckles warned, her cheeks turning a shade darker.

With interest Leah’s gaze went from one to the other. The byplay was something that she had long forgotten. It seemed like another lifetime, another person, when she and her husband had done such things. The small touches, wicked grins, secretive smiles. How would her husband have acted if he’d been alive and she hadn’t lost her child?

Leah warmed thinking about it, and at the same time felt a distinct emptiness within her at the hollowness those secret smiles caused.

“It’s your announcement. I won’t ruin it.”

“Announcement?” Mark asked.

“After dinner,” Freckles admonished and hurried toward the front door.

“Shall we go?” Julian asked and without waiting for an answer headed off after his wife.

Mark grinned. “I haven’t quite figured them out. It seems they are always like this. Involved, that is.”

A slight sorrow touching her heart, Leah replied, “It’s called love.”

Without another word she followed Julian and Freckles, leaving Mark to follow behind.

The screen door creaked as Julian pulled it open, causing Freckles to wrinkle her nose in disgust. “That has got to be oiled, Hawk.”

“I will, honey,” Julian replied.

Mark rolled his eyes.

Leah grinned.

“Mom, you know Leah. She hired Mark and is joining us for dinner tonight. And this is Rebecca,” Freckles said, “as you well know.”

Leah, of course, knew Phyllis, otherwise known as MaMaw. Short in size, her mainly dark-brown pageboy hair was gray with age, curled slightly under as it framed her face. She had a tired smile as if she’d seen many hard years, though her eyes shone with an inner peace. Leah knew immediately that inner glow bespoke of her relationship with Jesus Christ. They’d had talks before when Phyllis had stopped by the school for one thing or another.

Then there was Rebecca, Phyllis’s middle child. She was a precious child at her age of twelve. Severely handicapped, she was strapped into a wheelchair a lot of the time, but Leah had seen Rebecca make her way around the room, often in her own world as she laughed and played. She was a blessing to all of them, hard to manage occasionally but special in her own way.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Leah said squatting down in front of Rebecca now.

Rebecca gurgled and waved a hand, then bounced in her chair.

“I thought Jimmy said she was tired?” Leah asked.

“She’s on her last legs,” Mark replied. “She always has a spurt of energy as she tries to fight sleep.”

Surprised, Leah glanced around at Mark.

“He’s right,” Phyllis said and stood, leaning down to lift her daughter into her arms. “He’s been a big help with Rebecca here. And she just loves him, don’t you, sweetie,” Phyllis cooed to her daughter, smiling tiredly.

The little girl laughed and wrapped her arms around her mama’s neck. As awkward as it was, the child managed to hold on.

Mark grinned. “She’s my darlin’,” he replied.

“Sorry to run just as you get here, Leah, but I have to put her to bed. Maybe I’ll be down later.”

“That’s fine, Phyllis. We can talk then.”

“Say bye-bye,” she told her daughter as she started through the house. “Bye-bye,” she repeated, talking to her child with all the love a mother had for her baby—even if the baby was twelve years old.

“It was a blessing that she managed to come out here,” Mark said.

She turned her gaze to Mark. “Oh?”

He nodded. “You know she was working herself to exhaustion back East. They lived in a tiny apartment and were on constant watch for gangs and trouble. Rebecca has flourished since they’ve moved here. Even Phyllis is finally looking better, not so exhausted. Julian said Freckles was really worried about her mom.”

“I didn’t realize you spent much time with them,” Leah voiced quietly.

Slipping the toothpick from his mouth he dropped it in a nearby trash can. “I help around the house some. It’s the least I can do since Julian has given me some space to live. But don’t forget, Julian, being Zach’s brother, is indirectly related to me so I’m around them more than just out here.”

His grin melted Leah’s reserves, making her want to stand there and stare at him all night. He looked so mischievous grinning down at her as he leaned there against the doorjamb leading into the dining room. She couldn’t help but smile back. “You’re brothers-in-law,” she agreed.

“Dinner’s ready!”

Drawn out of the feelings that had kept the two of them isolated from the others in the area, Leah turned to see Cathi just finishing her chore of setting the dining room table.

“Oh, dear. I didn’t even offer to help.” Leah clasped her hands together, worry creasing her brow.

Mark reached out and caught her fingers. She jumped, almost pulling back before catching herself. Staring down to where he’d grabbed her hands, his darker ones covering her pale skin, she realized how long it’d been since a man had actually held her hands.

“No reason to be nervous,” he said mildly. “That’s a bad habit of yours, clasping your hands whenever you’re worried.”

She swallowed, reminding herself that Mark worked for Mitch—the sheriff. As handsome and attractive as Mark was, she had to get a grip on herself. She couldn’t let down her guard so easily. He shouldn’t have been able to notice her anxiety. Had she actually fallen so much out of practice since living here in Hill Creek?

Forcing herself to relax, she smiled up at Mark. “I’ll remember that.”

He cocked his head curiously.

She turned and headed toward the table, where Julian and Freckles were just coming through the swinging door that led to the kitchen. Both had their hands filled with old-fashioned stoneware dishes filled with steaming entrées. Relief touched her as she was finally able to divert her attention elsewhere. However, Leah couldn’t help wondering just what Mark might be thinking right now, as quiet as he was behind her.

Mark watched her, wondering if she’d felt anything at all when he’d touched her a moment ago. He hadn’t been thinking when he’d reached out. He’d simply acted, and immediately reacted, noting how soft her skin was, how nervous she was around him, how much he’d startled her.

The look in her eyes, the surprise and shock, made him think that people didn’t touch her often. She was certainly a mystery, this woman. The more he was around her the more mysterious she became.

And the more attractive. As her eyes had opened so wide and watched him, he’d seen dark-blue flecks within the light blue of her eyes. He couldn’t remember seeing eyes quite that color before.

They were beautiful.

They fit her fragile beauty, as well.

He had to get a grip, and fast. He’d been hired to do a job, not suddenly go into some stage of puppy love. He was too old for this! He didn’t want to settle down but liked being a loner. That was why he rarely dated. Dating was for people who wanted to find a mate and marry, not for someone who enjoyed being alone and living their lives as they wanted.

Yet being near Leah made him want to spend more time with her, take her to a movie or out to dinner, somewhere private where he could probe her thoughts, find out her desires and just what and who she was.

Shaking his head, Mark followed Leah to the table, thinking if he didn’t keep his gaze off her it was going to be a long night indeed, not to mention a long six weeks helping her.

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