“Oh … I didn’t know you were in here.”

Jimmy secured his towel as she remained standing in the doorway. Her nightgown clung to her curves like a second skin.

“Sheri.” His voice sounded half-strangled as a wave of immense want roared through him. “You need to back away and close the door.”

And still she remained in place, as if waiting. But waiting for what?

“Sheri, if you don’t leave now I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

“I don’t think I want you to be responsible for your actions right now. I don’t even think I want to be responsible for my own actions right now.”

She took his hand and placed it on her racing heart.

“What are we doing, Sheri?” he asked.

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to stop.”

Dear Reader,

I’ve enjoyed my time in Wolf Creek, Pennsylvania, and I hope you’ve enjoyed it, too. However, I couldn’t leave the area without Sheri Marcoli finally finding her prince. Unfortunately, with her aunt Liz still missing and danger closing in, the last thing on Sheri’s mind is romance.

Detective Jimmy Carmani is no prince, but he’s determined that no harm will come to the gentle Sheri. Even though both of his partners have found love with Sheri’s two sisters, he’s not looking for a trifecta.

I found my prince years ago. He was shorter than I’d expected, but just the right height for us to fit together perfectly when we danced. He has a perfect falsetto for old fifties songs and makes me laugh more than anyone else in my life. He’s my rock when I’m weak and I can’t imagine my life without him by my side.

I couldn’t do less for Sheri. I hope you enjoy reading about how she found the special man who would be her prince for the rest of her life.

Happy reading!

Carla Cassidy

Lone Wolf Standing

Carla Cassidy

www.millsandboon.co.uk

CARLA CASSIDY is an award-winning author who has written more than one hundred books for Mills & Boon. In 1995 she won Best Silhouette Romance from RT Book Reviews for Anything for Danny. In 1998 she won a Career Achievement Award for Best Innovative Series from RT Book Reviews.

Carla believes the only thing better than curling up with a good book to read is sitting down at the computer with a good story to write. She’s looking forward to writing many more books and bringing hours of pleasure to readers.

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To Frank, My New York Italian prince. Thank you for loving me.

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Dear Reader

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

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

Epilogue

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

The Prince of Philly

Jimmy Carmani was halfway from the police station to his apartment when his radio crackled and dispatcher Erin Taylor’s melodic voice filled his car. “Jimmy, where are you?” she asked.

“Just about home. Why? What’s up?”

“I just got a call from Travis Brooks and he says he’s being held at gunpoint by Sheri Marcoli at her place. You want to check it out?”

“On my way,” Jimmy replied, wondering if his voice held the utter shock that swept through him. The idea of Sheri Marcoli holding Travis at gunpoint was stunning. The idea of Sheri holding anyone at gunpoint was ludicrous. It had to be a mistake.

He remembered a year ago when somebody had called into the station to say that Sarah Fisher, one of the women from the nearby Amish community, was beating a man to death with a hoe.

Jimmy and his partners Frank Delaney and Steve Kincaid had sped to the scene where they found Sarah using a hoe to beat a rug hanging on a clothesline.

This had to be something similar. There was no way that Jimmy would believe that sweet, caring, petite Sheri Marcoli even owned a gun.

His apartment was just off the main drag of the small town of Wolf Creek, Pennsylvania, but he headed in the opposite direction, turning onto a road that would take him up into the mountains where Sheri’s small house was located on five acres of thick woods.

Jimmy had only been there once about two months ago and that had been because of the ongoing investigation into the disappearance of Sheri’s aunt. It had been a little over three months since Liz Marcoli had disappeared from her home. She’d just vanished and while the case was being investigated as a criminal one, there had been no real clues and it was on its way to becoming a very cold case.

Liz Marcoli was the last thing on Jimmy’s mind as he veered onto a narrow gravel road. It was far more likely that Travis Brooks, the owner of the Wolf’s Head Tavern, had gotten himself liquored up and was holding a gun on Sheri for some unknown reason.

This thought forced his foot down harder on the gas pedal, making rocks ping against the underside of his car. Of the three Marcoli sisters, Sheri was the youngest and the smallest and although Travis rarely got a snoutful of his own products, it wasn’t unheard of.

Jimmy gripped the steering wheel tighter, his Italian blood heating as he thought of Sheri defenseless against a drunk with a gun. He turned right onto a lane that he knew would carry him directly to the front of Sheri’s cabin.

Sheri’s bright yellow pickup was parked in front of the charming cabin, but there weren’t any other vehicles in sight. Jimmy parked and got out of his car, his hand on the butt of his gun as he approached the front door.

He knocked and when there was no answer he called out. “Sheri Marcoli? It’s Detective Carmani.”

“Around back, Jimmy,” her voice came faintly from behind the house. He didn’t hear any stress in her tone, but he didn’t remove his hand from his gun as he went around the side of the house and toward her backyard.

When he stepped around the corner he froze, stunned at the sight of Sheri with a shotgun to her shoulder and pointed toward the wooded area where in the distance Travis Brooks stood with his hands over his head and a panicked look on his face.

“Thank God you’re finally here,” Travis exclaimed. “She’s gone plumb crazy. She’s had that shotgun aimed at me for the last twenty minutes and told me if I moved an inch she’d shoot me.”

Although Jimmy gave a faint nod in Travis’s direction, his entire focus was on the miniature Annie Oakley. Tight jeans hugged her slender legs and she wore a black T-shirt with Roadside Stop, the name of the store she owned, in gold lettering across her small breasts.

She held the gun with a familiar ease that was both intriguing and appalling, for it was so far out of line with who he’d believed her to be. At her side was a dog, a black mix of breeds that was the size of a small Shetland pony.

“He’s got a crossbow at his feet,” Sheri said, as if that explained everything. “I warned him the last time he was hunting on my property that the next time I caught him I’d shoot him.”

“I was on the trail of a feral pig, the biggest damn piece of pork I’ve ever seen,” Travis replied. “That swine has been tearing up crops and some of the locals want it killed. I didn’t realize I’d crossed onto your property, Sheri.”

She kept holding the gun steady. “I’ve got No Hunting signs posted everywhere. How can you see a big pig and not see one of my big signs?”

“Sheri, you need to put the gun down,” Jimmy said softly. “You know you aren’t going to shoot Travis.”

“Why shouldn’t I? He’s trespassing and he knows how I feel about hunting. My land is a sanctuary for animals.”

“Sheri, I was on my way home from the station when I caught this call. If you shoot him then I’m going to have to arrest you and there will be tons of paperwork and I won’t get home until after midnight and I do need my beauty sleep,” Jimmy replied.

A hint of a smile curved her lips. The late evening sun sparkled in her chestnut-brown hair and when she looked at him her amber eyes held a hint of amusement that let him know she’d never intended to use the weapon.

She turned her gaze back to Travis and her eyes narrowed. “This is your last warning, Travis Brooks. Stay off my property with that crossbow of yours.”

“I promise I’ll be more careful in the future and the next time you come into the tavern your tab is on me,” Travis answered.

Sheri lowered the shotgun so it pointed to the ground. “I wouldn’t want to mess up your beauty sleep,” she said to Jimmy.

“I appreciate that.” Jimmy waved at Travis. “Get your crossbow and get out of here fast in case the lady changes her mind.”

Before the words were completely out of Jimmy’s mouth Travis had grabbed his crossbow and vanished from his shadowed spot in the woods. Jimmy turned back to Sheri, this time the smile gone from his face.

“Are you crazy?” he asked. “Do you have any idea how dangerous a gun can be? It might have accidentally gone off. You could have killed Travis or yourself.”

“No, I couldn’t have.” Sheri stepped back toward the concrete patio and leaned the shotgun next to the back door. “It isn’t loaded.”

She moved to one of the patio chairs, the dog following at her side and sitting next to her as she sat. She motioned Jimmy to a chair as he continued to stare at her in surprise.

He walked to the chair next to hers and sank down. She pointed to the small patch of mowed lawn before them and the woods that surrounded it.

“These five acres are not just my sanctuary, but a safe home to any wild creatures that come here,” she said.

He’d never been in her backyard and now he found himself studying it with interest. It was common knowledge that Sheri loved animals, but knowing it and seeing it were two different things.

Bird and squirrel feeders hung from trees limbs; a blooming flower garden surrounded a big birdbath. A salt lick was mounted on a post to attract deer and a tin tub at the very edge of the yard he assumed was used to put food scraps to feed bear, raccoon and any other scavenger in the vicinity. It was definitely an animal’s paradise.

There was also a brightly striped hammock and a wrought-iron table next to it...a perfect place to spend a lazy afternoon or lounge for a while before bedtime.

“No hunters allowed,” she said firmly.

“Sheri, it’s a dangerous practice to threaten a man with an unloaded gun,” he said, and tried not to notice the heady floral scent that wafted from her and rode the light breeze to tease his nose.

“Would it be better to threaten a man with a loaded gun?” she asked.

“It would be better if you got rid of that gun altogether,” he replied. He eyed the dog who sat like a statue next to her. “He’s a big guy and very well behaved.”

“His name is Highway and he’s very well trained,” she said as she stroked the top of the dog’s head. “Highway, make nice,” she said.

Jimmy tensed as the behemoth dog got up and approached where he sat. Highway opened his mouth, appearing to grin when he sat down and offered his paw.

A surprised laugh escaped Jimmy as he shook the dog’s paw, and then Highway returned to sit at Sheri’s side. “Did Jed train him?”

Sheri nodded. “I found him on the side of the highway between Wolf Creek and Hershey a little over a year ago. There were two of them, puppies about four weeks old, tossed out and abandoned. I picked them up, brought them home and tried to keep them alive. I lost one, but Highway was a fighter. Once he was old enough I took him to Jed for some special training. Highway would kill somebody if they threatened me. All I’d have to do was give the right command.”

Jed Wilson was a talented dog trainer who lived in Wolf Creek and worked with search and rescue and cadaver dogs. He also trained tiny poodles not to piddle on the rug and apparently big dogs to protect and defend.

“I’d prefer you not give that command right now,” Jimmy said drily.

Sheri smiled. “Don’t worry. You’re no threat to me. Highway is the main man in my life until my prince comes along.”

“Prince?” Jimmy raised an eyebrow.

She nodded, her shoulder-length thick hair swaying with her head motion. “You know, my golden-haired, blue-eyed prince who will share this enchanted cottage in the woods with me for the rest of my life.”

“And when, exactly, are you expecting this prince to show up?” Jimmy asked, his mind working to keep up with the conversation that had gone from guns, to killer dogs and now to a prince with blond hair who would provide her with her happy-ever-after ending.

She shrugged her slender shoulders. “Could be tomorrow, could be in a year. Who knows, but I’m a patient woman and I’m only twenty-six. I have time. I’m willing to wait until fate blows him in my direction. Forgive me, I’m being a bad hostess. Would you like something to drink? Maybe some iced tea or a cold beer?”

What he’d like to do was to sit here and talk to her forever, to get to know the woman who had captured his attention from the moment she and her two sisters had walked into the police station three months ago to file a missing-persons report for their aunt.

Instead he stood and shook his head. “Thanks, but I should probably head on home.” He had a feeling if he spent too much time with Sheri he might like her even more than he already did, and one of the few things Jimmy was certain of was that he wasn’t any kind of a golden-haired prince.

Sheri stood, the dog rising to all fours, as well. “Thanks for coming so quickly, Jimmy. I really just wanted to scare Travis. This is my property, not his personal hunting grounds and he needed to be reminded of that fact.”

“I’ll remind him again the next time I’m in the tavern,” he replied. On impulse he reached into his pocket and took out a pad and pen. He scribbled down his personal cell phone number and handed it to her. “Just in case you get the urge to hold somebody at gunpoint again. Call me first and I’ll see if I can talk you down.”

She smiled at him, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “Night, Jimmy.”

She headed inside the house as he walked around the side and back to his car. Minutes later as he made the drive to his apartment, he thought of what Sheri hadn’t asked. She hadn’t asked for any updates on her aunt Liz’s case.

That indicated to Jimmy that she’d already given up hope of the woman ever being found and that was a tragedy. Jimmy couldn’t imagine what it must be like to have a missing loved one.

Of course, Jimmy had no loved ones in his life. Despite the fact that she’d just held a man at gunpoint, Sheri Marcoli was a caring and gentle woman who deserved a prince and a happy ever after.

No matter how attracted he was to Sheri, he knew he was the antithesis of that prince. Black-haired and dark-eyed, Jimmy also sported two tattoos, had literally fought his way through life and had only known love for a brief period of time when he’d been eight years old.

As he pulled into the parking space in front of the small apartment he rented, he dismissed thoughts of Sheri Marcoli. He was a man apparently built to be alone, as he had been through most of his life.

What he needed to concentrate on was the mystery of Liz’s continued disappearance and the most recent case of an armed robbery at a local convenience store.

Work. That’s what Jimmy did best. Solving crimes was his talent, his passion. He was good at it and he had a feeling he’d be very bad at loving and being loved.

* * *

“Okay, Highway, you be a good boy while I’m gone today,” Sheri said as she opened the oversize doggie door that had been cut into a side wall of the kitchen. The door led into a large fenced area where Highway could enjoy coming and going from the inside to the outside, without having the full run of the backyard and the woods.

When she was home all day she allowed him the freedom of the yard, but when she was gone, he spent his time using the doggie door and was confined to the large pen or inside the house.

As he ambled out into the mid-June sunshine, Sheri grabbed her purse from the kitchen counter and headed toward the front door.

Minutes later she was in her pickup headed for the roadside store she ran along with her sister Marlene. Unfortunately, she had a feeling the days of her sister working there were limited.

Marlene was in the process of realizing her own dream of owning a bakery on Main Street. She’d already found the perfect storefront and with Detective Frank Delaney’s love and support, her dream was slowly becoming a reality.

Sheri couldn’t be happier for both of her sisters, who had found the men of their dreams and were working to build a future filled with love and commitment.

Sheri’s one foray into a relationship with a man had been a disaster. Her hands tightened around the steering wheel as she thought of Eric Richards. They’d dated for three months before he’d shown his true colors.

She hadn’t realized at the time they were dating that Eric was just like the kids who used to bully her at school. He’d only shown that side of himself to her when he’d gotten angry and once had been enough.

A sudden vision of Jimmy Carmani filled her head. He was definitely a hot piece of work with his thick black hair and dark chocolate-colored eyes. Nobody in the entire town of Wolf Creek wore a pair of black slacks and a tailored white shirt quite as well as Jimmy.

She didn’t know much about him except that he was one of three detectives that served the small town of Wolf Creek. She also knew he had a reputation for being brilliant and devoted to the job and she had to admit feeling a small tug of attraction toward him.

She dismissed thoughts of Jimmy as she pulled in front of the store where signs advertised Amish cheese and furniture, fresh produce and nuts, and a variety of other items that would appeal to the tourists that came through the area on their way to the bigger, more popular tourist city of Hershey.

This was the kind of place Sheri had always envisioned working. She loved doing business with the nearby Amish community and visiting with travelers who passed through the store on their way to new adventures and family fun.

She was always the first to arrive and open the doors for the day. She’d work alone until ten at which time Jennifer Fletcher would come in to help out. Marlene would arrive between noon and one along with Sheri’s other part-time help, Abe Winslow.

Sheri wasn’t planning on replacing Marlene when she stopped working at the store and instead devoted all her time to her bakery. Sheri, Jennifer and Abe were a good team and would hopefully be able to manage the store during the hours it was open.

They were like a little family and since Aunt Liz had gone missing and her sisters had become romantically involved with their men, a sense of family had been missing for Sheri.

Her evenings were quiet with just Highway and her woodland creatures for company, and yet she knew there was somebody special fate had in store for her...her prince who would banish her loneliness and love her as nobody ever had before.

Once inside the store all thoughts of princes and loneliness vanished as she got to work stocking shelves, checking the produce to make sure it was still fresh and attending to all the duties to be ready for a day of business.

She hadn’t been open long when seventeen-year-old Jason King walked in carrying one of his mother’s handmade quilts. “Good morning, Jason,” she greeted him with a gentle smile. She had a special soft spot for the young Amish man. His mother, Mary, had died six months ago, leaving Jason and his father, William, the burden of caretaking for five little Kings ranging between the ages of seven and two.

Jason cast her a tired smile as he set the quilt on the counter. “Good morning to you, too.”

“I see you’ve brought me another of your mother’s treasures.” Sheri placed a hand on the lovely, close-stitched patchwork quilt. “We sold the wedding ring quilt almost the same day you brought it in. What design is on this one?”

“Mom always called it her field of flowers.” Jason’s gaze lingered on the quilt, as if remembering special moments with his mother.

Sheri’s heart squeezed tight. She wished she had any memories of her own mother, but her mother had dropped her off for her aunt Liz to raise when she’d been a couple months old.

“Same price as we put on the other one?”

Jason lifted his gaze back on her. “Yes, that would be good.” He leaned against the counter as if reluctant to leave. He was a good-looking kid with dark hair beneath his requisite straw hat. But his eyes held concern and dark circles rode beneath, making him appear much older than his age.

“Everything all right?” Sheri asked softly.

Jason shrugged slender shoulders. “Okay, I guess, although I’m worried a bit about my da.”

“Worried about what?” It wasn’t right for a child to worry about his father, she thought.

Once again Jason shrugged, a faint pink stain coloring his cheeks. “He’s just not been himself the last couple of months. He leaves the fieldwork and disappears and I don’t know where he goes. He’s distant and isn’t part of the family like he used to be.” Jason flushed again. “I shouldn’t be talking about this.”

Sheri reached out and covered his hand with hers. “Don’t worry, Jason. You know I’m not a gossiper. Maybe your father is still grieving and he’s dealing with it by isolating himself.” She pulled her hand from his.

“I know he misses my mother a lot, and dealing with the younger ones is difficult. Thankfully, Sarah Fisher is watching them for me this morning for a couple of hours.” He gave her a small smile. “I love my family but sometimes a little break away from them all is not a bad thing.”

“You have a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, Jason. Just try to find some time for a little fun, too,” Sheri replied.

At that moment Jennifer arrived and the private conversation between Sheri and Jason halted. With a wave of his hand he left the store as Jennifer came around the counter to stand next to Sheri.

“Everything okay?” she asked.

Sheri nodded. “Jason brought in another of his mother’s quilts to sell. I feel so sorry for him. Since Mary died he’s had so much to deal with.”

“You know the old saying, ‘What doesn’t break you makes you strong,’” Jennifer replied.

Sheri eyed her wryly. “Ah, words of wisdom from a twenty-two-year-old who still lives at home with her parents who treat her like a princess.”

Jennifer laughed. “I’m the first to admit that I’m hopelessly spoiled.”

“Now that we agree on that, take thy spoiled bottom into the storage room and unpack the boxes of Wolf Creek souvenirs that came in yesterday,” Sheri said.

Jennifer gave her a saucy salute and then disappeared into the big back room that provided storage space and a picnic table for lunch breaks.

The morning seemed to fly by, with more business than usual for a Wednesday. She hoped it was a portent of a busy tourist season. Spring and summer business was great, but when the snow flew she shortened her hours and lived mostly on what she’d made during the busy season.

There were only three places where Sheri was happy—here at the store, at her cottage with the surrounding woods, and at her aunt’s home that had always smelled of cinnamon and apples or rich chocolate and dough.

Liz Marcoli was a talent in the kitchen when it came to baking sweets and desserts. Marlene had inherited her natural talent for baking. Roxy also had a genuine talent in the kitchen, but Sheri was hopeless when it came to cooking anything but the simplest of dishes.

A blur of tears misted her eyes as she thought of her missing aunt. She knew the law enforcement in Wolf Creek had done everything in their power in an attempt to find Liz, but there had been no leads to follow, no breadcrumbs of clues.

Three and a half months had passed and the hole in the fabric of their little family had been ripped right from the center. Aunt Liz had been their mother-figure, their support system, their snuggle buddy on dark stormy nights when they’d been children.

And now she was gone...vanished from her home, seemingly vanished from the entire world.

The tears that had been about to fall as grief attempted to take hold of her vanished when a car pulled up to the front door and a family of five tumbled from the doors.

It was one o’clock when Sheri’s cell phone rang and she saw Marlene’s number light up. “Hey, sis, what’s up?”

“I feel really, really bad calling at the last minute like this, but can you get by without me today? I’ve got an appointment at three to meet an electrician at the store and I have a feeling it’s going to be a long meeting.”

“It’s not a problem,” Sheri assured her sister. “In fact, if it’s time for you to stop working here to focus solely on the bakery, it’s all right. Jenny, Abe and I can handle things here and if I find myself shorthanded, I can always hire a new part-timer.”

There was a long silence from Marlene. “Are you sure?” she finally asked. “I really am excited to get the bakery up and running as soon as possible.”

Sheri smiled into the phone. She knew between the work on the bakery and her relationship with Detective Frank Delaney, Marlene had finally found all the pieces she needed for her happiness. Working in the store had never really been part of Marlene’s dreams.

“I’m positive,” Sheri replied. “I don’t want to see you here unless you’re shopping for something you need to create culinary magic.”

“Sheri, you’re the best,” Marlene said, her relief evident in her tone.

Sheri laughed. “Just build that bakery and invite me as a special guest on opening day.”

“You know that goes without saying.”

The two spoke for another few minutes, talking about their eldest sister, Roxy, who had moved in with Detective Steve Kincaid and his seven-year-old son. Roxy ran a successful restaurant called the Dollhouse and specialized in hearty breakfasts and delightfully fresh and original lunch fare.

Neither of them mentioned Aunt Liz or the stalled case that had all three sisters barely clinging to any hope that she would be found alive.

When the call finally ended, the rest of the day remained busy. Thankfully when it was time for Jennifer to leave, Abe Winslow had arrived to take up the slack.

The two of them stayed busy with customers until seven. By eight Sheri decided it was time to close up shop. She locked up the front door and then together she and Abe left through the back.

“Busy day,” he said as they stepped outside into the warm night.

“Hopefully we’re just going to get busier.”

“I could work more hours if you needed me to,” Abe said.

Sheri smiled at the older man. He’d taken the job of working here in the late afternoon and evenings after his wife had died. He’d told Sheri that the silence of their cabin had been overwhelming after she was gone.

“I might need you to work more hours. Marlene isn’t going to be working here anymore. We’ll see how things go. Good night, Abe.”

“See you tomorrow,” he said and headed toward his old Chevy parked in the lot next to her pickup.

As she pulled out of the lot, she thought about Abe. He’d initially been a suspect in Liz’s disappearance when he’d told Sheri and Marlene that he’d asked Liz out and she’d turned him down.

But he’d quickly been cleared of any wrongdoing. At the time Liz had disappeared Abe had been spending the night at his brother’s home in Hershey. The brother and several other family members had confirmed his alibi.

Thoughts of Abe halted as Sheri noticed car lights behind hers. She slowed to allow the car to pass, but the car slowed, as well. She sped up and the vehicle behind her mirrored the action.

No reason to believe anyone is following me, she thought. And yet when she turned off the highway and onto the narrow gravel road that would eventually lead to the lane that was her driveway into her cottage, the car made the turn right behind her.

An edge of apprehension crept up her spine. There were few people who used this road and she couldn’t remember the last time any vehicle had shadowed her from the shop to her home.

Stop being silly, she told herself. There were other people who lived in this area. She didn’t own the road that continued past her driveway and on up the mountain. It was probably just the thought of somebody kidnapping Aunt Liz that had her unusually on edge.

She couldn’t tell the make or color of the car that was behind her. Darkness had fallen and all she could discern was the brilliance of the headlights.

As she turned into the lane that led to her cottage, she could have sworn that the car behind her came to a near halt, and then zoomed on and disappeared from sight.

Sheri hadn’t realized she’d been holding her breath until it expelled out of her in a deep whoosh. She parked her truck and when she stepped out, a sense of uneasiness settled over her again as she heard the sounds of Highway barking raucously from his pen.

Nerves jittering, she quickly unlocked her front door, stepped inside and then locked the door behind her. She went to the kitchen and looked out the window where Highway was at the back of his fenced pen facing the forest and barking the kind of sound that indicated danger.

The dog was well trained not to bark at four-legged creatures or any of the wildlife that populated the area. Highway only acted this way when there was a two-legged predator in the woods.

Sheri opened the window above her kitchen sink, her heart beating an abnormally rapid rhythm. “Highway...inside!”

The dog turned in her direction, looked back toward the forest and gave a sharp bark, and then headed to the doggie door.

As he entered the kitchen, Sheri flipped the latches on the door that would keep anything else from crawling inside. She hurried back to the window and peered outside, wondering who or what had set Highway off.

The darkness betrayed no movement, no discernible figure, but that didn’t slow the frantic beat of Sheri’s heart. She tried to tell herself she was overreacting.

Still, she went from room to room, turning on lights and checking windows for any sign of an intruder. Her blood chilled as she found an unlocked window open an inch in the spare bedroom.

Had she unlocked the window last week when the weather had been so nice? Had she opened the window to let in some fresh air? She couldn’t remember. All she knew for certain was that she didn’t want to be here alone.

She wasn’t even aware that she had memorized Jimmy Carmani’s phone number until she punched it into her phone. He answered on the first ring. “Jimmy, can you come to my house?”

“On my way,” he replied, and hung up.

Chapter 2

Jimmy had been at home when he’d gotten the call from Sheri. He hadn’t bothered to run a comb through his thick, unruly hair. He hadn’t taken the time to change from his jeans and polo shirt. He simply grabbed his gun and car keys, jumped in his car and headed out.

As he tore out of his driveway, all he could think of was the faint simmer of stress he’d heard in Sheri’s voice. She hadn’t specified anything wrong, but the phone call directly to him was definitely an anomaly.

He hoped he didn’t find her holding a shotgun on somebody again. She was obviously territorial about her property, but her going up against a hunter’s loaded gun with her useless shotgun was not just foolish, it was suicidal.

If that was what this call was about he intended to leave her home tonight with that shotgun of hers safely locked away in his trunk.

He thought about calling her back to find out what was going on, but figured by the time he pulled over and made the call he could be at her place. He couldn’t imagine why she’d called him, but as he rolled to a stop in front of her cottage every light in the house radiated outward and she opened the front door.

He breathed a sigh of relief, just now realizing how tense he’d been on the drive here. “Are you okay?” he asked as he got out of his car. He’d pulled his gun, but kept it by his side, ready for any situation.

“I’m fine, just a little freaked out.” The smile she offered him was slightly shaky as she opened the door wider to allow him inside.

Jimmy had never been inside her house before and he was instantly embraced by the warmth of the earth-tone furniture, the pop of vibrant colors of scattered throw pillows and the various scents of candles here and there. A variety of healthy-looking plants added greenery, as if it was her attempt to bring the outside in. It was exactly how he’d imagined her living space would be.

What he didn’t see in the room was anything to give him pause. He turned back to look at her as she closed the door and locked it, and then faced him once again. The sight of her slightly pale face made his stomach clench.

“What’s going on?”

She motioned him to the sofa and she curled up in a chair nearby. “I think maybe I overreacted,” she said.

“About what?”

It was obvious she was still not herself as she clasped her shaking fingers in her lap. “First I thought I was followed home from the store. A car followed me off the main highway onto Timberline Drive and then when I pulled into my driveway, it appeared to stop for a moment and then sped off.”

Jimmy frowned. “Did you get a make or color?”

She shook her head. “No, it was too dark. All I could see were the headlights. I slowed down to allow them to pass, but they didn’t and when I sped up, they did the same. It just felt...slightly sinister.”

Jimmy’s concern grew as she continued to tell him about Highway’s frantic barks and the unlocked window in the spare room. “Where is Highway now?” he asked when she’d finished telling him everything.

“He’s in my bedroom. I didn’t figure you’d want to mess with him.”

“As long as he doesn’t eat me I’m fine with him.” Jimmy was rewarded with the first genuine smile from her.

“I already told you he wouldn’t hurt you unless you were hurting me or I gave the command.” Her smile fell and she worried a strand of her long shiny hair between her slender fingers.

“He was just acting so out of character when I got home, like he knew somebody was in the woods.”

“Maybe Travis?”

“Possibly,” she conceded. “But when I noticed the unlocked window in the spare room I just got totally creeped out. That’s when I called you, because I was afraid to be here alone. Now I’m just feeling rather foolish.”

Jimmy got up from the sofa. “Better safe than sorry. Let’s check out that window.” As always whenever he was around her he experienced a hyperawareness of not just her, but himself. He suddenly wished he’d taken the time to run a comb through his hair and maybe pulled on a different shirt. He frowned at the inappropriate thought.

She led him down the hallway and he tried not to notice the tempting sway of her slender hips in her tight jeans. He followed her into a small bedroom that held a double bed neatly made up with a purple flowered spread, and a dresser that sported a purple vase filled with an arrangement of white flowers.

He caught the pleasant scent of lilac and wondered if it was coming in through the partially opened window or wafted from her.

“The screen appears to be solidly in place. Are you sure you didn’t crack the window open at some point or another and have simply forgotten it?”

She hesitated for a long moment and then nodded. “I suppose that’s possible. I’m sorry, Jimmy, that I called you out here on a wild-goose chase.”

He smiled. “It wasn’t a goose chase. You were scared and that’s when you’re supposed to call the law.”

“How about I make a short pot of coffee for us to share before you head out?” Her amber eyes simmered with emotion and Jimmy realized she was still slightly freaked out and not quite ready to be left alone.

“Sure, some coffee sounds great.”

He followed her back down the hallway and into a kitchen that was pristine clean, cheerful and bright in sunshine-yellow and yet had the appearance that it was rarely used.

The only thing that sat on the countertop was a coffeemaker. The table was a small two-top that would make it difficult for her to be the entertaining type.

“Cook much?” he asked once the coffee had begun to drip into the glass carafe.

“Almost never.” She reached up into the cabinet to grab two mugs. “Cream and sugar?”

“Black is fine.”

“Marlene and Roxy got the cooking genes in the family. At any given time there’s usually more animal food in this house than people food.”

“So, what do you do for food?” Jimmy realized he was enjoying this time with her, learning a little bit more about her as a woman and not as the worried relative of a victim.

“There’s a lot of produce at the store. Sometimes I bring things home for a salad or occasionally Roxy will show up with a doggie bag of whatever the special of the day is at the Dollhouse. To be honest, food just isn’t that important to me. I eat to stay strong, but I don’t eat because I love any specific food.”

“Food is definitely high on my priority list,” Jimmy replied as she poured the coffee and joined him at the table. He didn’t mention that for much of his life he never knew if he’d get a meal or not. There had been far too many nights he’d gone to bed hungry.

“I suppose you’re a steak and potato man.”

“And pizza and burritos and pancakes... Just a food man, that’s me.”

She leaned back in the chair, looking relaxed for the first time since he’d arrived. “They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. I’m hoping when my prince arrives he’s also a professional chef and can cook the meals.”

He grinned at her. “You have lots of ideas about this prince of yours.”

“I’ve spent most of my life forming his image in my head.” She took a sip of her coffee and then set the cup back down. “At first I thought I was fantasizing about my father, but as I grew older I realized it was the man I wanted to love me as a woman, not as a child.”

“You don’t know your father?”

“None of us does, although I’d say it’s obvious by how different Marlene and Roxy and I look from each other that our fathers were three different men. I doubt that our mother knows who our fathers are.”

“And we still haven’t found a trace of your mother.” Jimmy knew that the three Marcoli sisters had been dropped off at different times at their aunt’s house by their mother who was strung out on drugs and apparently incapable of raising her children.

He took a sip of his coffee. “At least you know who your mother is. When I was two weeks old I was found in a cardboard box in front of a Philly police station and I immediately went into the foster care system.”

Sheri’s eyes widened and he noticed for the first time the sinfully long length of her brown eyelashes. “And nobody ever found out who your parents were?” He shook his head and she continued, “Then how did you get the last name of Carmani?”

“The police station was located in a heavily populated Italian neighborhood and the cop who found me said I looked like an Italian. His name was Jim Carmani, so he named me Jimmy Carmani and that’s been my name since.”

She stared at him thoughtfully. “I’ve heard the foster care system can be brutal.”

He took another sip of coffee before answering. “I had some great experiences and I had some bad ones, but that was then and this is now. So how is business at the store?”

The last thing he wanted to do was journey back into his past where pain resided and faint memories of love lost stirred. He’d survived and ultimately made the right decisions that had led him to a job he loved in a town that finally felt like home.

As Sheri talked about the store, he enjoyed the emotions that played across her face. It was obvious she loved interacting with the people who visited there and shared a close relationship with the Amish from the settlement.

He liked looking at her and he’d discovered that the lilac scent came from her, not from the open window in the bedroom. When was the last time he’d enjoyed the scent of a woman? The pleasure of sitting and listening to a woman talk about what she liked?

Certainly the last time had been long before he’d come to Wolf Creek three years ago. Since coming to the small town he’d focused solely on work, knowing that as a twenty-eight-year-old detective he had a lot to prove to everyone, not just his co-workers, but the people of the small town, as well.

Now he felt solid in his position as the youngest detective of three and suddenly realized his desire to be more sociable, but he knew this was not the time and Sheri was not the woman.

As she poured him a second cup of coffee he told himself he was just doing her a favor. It was obvious she wasn’t yet ready for him to leave and if he looked deep within himself, prince or not, he definitely wasn’t ready to call it a night.

* * *

“So, you spent your whole childhood in Philly?” Sheri asked. She’d never noticed before that Jimmy’s eyes weren’t just a plain chocolate-brown but rather like caramel swirled chocolates that might have pulled her into places she’d never been if she allowed them.

“What brought you to Wolf Creek?” She sat back in her chair as if unconsciously needing some distance from him. He smelled like clean male and a woodsy cologne that appealed to her senses.

“The job. I saw an advertisement for a deputy for Wolf Creek and decided to apply. I was tired of the city and ready for a different experience.” He grinned at her and the warmth of his smile filled her stomach.

“I never dreamed that my different experiences would include checking out reports of wolves eating small children, hunting down a woman throwing knives at your sister and disarming an unarmed woman holding a shotgun on a clueless man chasing a pig.”

She felt the warmth that swept into her cheeks. “You aren’t going to let me forget that, are you?”

“Probably not,” he replied easily.

“So, you like it here?”

“I feel like I’ve finally found home. Eventually I’d like to build a house in the woods, maybe get a dog for company and spend my days crime-fighting and my nights relaxing in a big recliner.” He nodded, his black hair shining in the overhead light. “Yeah, I definitely like it here.”

She cupped her hands around her half-empty mug, knowing that the two cups of coffee would probably have her awake half the night. “It’s funny, I’ve never been anywhere else but here and Hershey, but I’ve never had any desire to go anywhere else. The minute I saw this cottage and the surrounding forest, I knew I was home.”

“And from the looks of your backyard you have a lot of creatures depending on you.”

“The store is my job, but this place and those creatures are my passion.” Her eyes sparkled brightly with that passion. “There’s nothing more peaceful than seeing a deer walk without fear across the backyard. The raccoons and squirrels can be as entertaining as any movie playing on television and the birds add the music to my life.”

“It sounds nice, but a little bit lonely.”

“It is,” she agreed. “Especially since Steve and Roxy and Marlene and Frank have hooked up. With them so busy with their own lives and Aunt Liz still missing, there are definitely moments when I feel a touch of loneliness.”

She fought back the grief that always threatened to grab her by the throat when she thought of her missing aunt. Besides, the last thing she wanted to do was get upset because then she might start to stutter, an affliction she’d had since she’d been a young girl but had almost mastered now.

She couldn’t get emotional and start stuttering in front of Jimmy. She’d be mortified. She’d spent a lifetime of torture being bullied by peers and most recently by the man she’d thought she loved, who had obviously not been the prince of her dreams.

Jimmy finished the last of his coffee and stared down into his empty cup. “You know, I was just thinking about that song by Air Supply, the one where there are two less lonely people in the world.”

He looked up at her, his eyes dark and soulful and once again beckoning her to fall into their depths. “Since I’ve been in town I really don’t hang out much with people other than other cops. I haven’t made a lot of friends and I was just thinking maybe you and I could hang out...just while you wait for your prince...you know as friends.”

He gave her an awkward smile. “Or maybe it’s just a dumb idea.”

She studied him intently, noting the faint hint of color that filled his lean cheeks, the insane length of his dark lashes as he cast his gaze back down into his empty cup.

She wasn’t sure if it was her own loneliness she felt or his, but a hollowness welled up inside her. “I think that would be nice...as friends,” she quickly added.

She wanted to make certain that he understood that she wasn’t agreeing to actually date him. Heck, she wasn’t even sure that’s what he intended anyway.

“Great, then maybe some night we could get a drink at the tavern or see a movie or something.”

“I’d like that, and now I know I’ve kept you here too long.” She rose from the table as he did the same.

“Are you sure you feel all right about being here alone now?” he asked as she walked him to the front door.

“I’m fine. Maybe with Aunt Liz’s situation I just overreacted to normal circumstances.” She frowned thoughtfully as she thought of Highway’s frantic barks in the backyard. “Still, there’s no question in my mind that somebody was in the woods. That’s the only thing that would have set off Highway.”

“I’ll talk to Travis first thing tomorrow morning and see if maybe he was still on the trail of that feral pig.”

“Knowing it was him would definitely make me feel better.” She opened the door, surprised to find she was still reluctant to tell him good-night, but it was getting late and this hadn’t been a social call. “Thank you, Jimmy, for coming at a moment’s notice.”

He stepped past her and out the door. “Anytime, Sheri. Anytime you feel uncertain or afraid, don’t hesitate to call me.”

By the time Sheri closed the door behind him a warm glow infused her. There was no question that she liked Jimmy. She would even confess that she was physically drawn to him, but certainly the attraction had nothing to do with anything other than friendship.

She could use a friend, she thought as she locked the door and then began to turn out all the lights in the kitchen and living room.

There were plenty of people who were regulars at her shop, acquaintances but not real friends. With Marlene and Roxy and Aunt Liz, Sheri had never really missed having friendships with other people. Family had filled her up, but now that family had been fractured.

She entered her bedroom, where Highway lay on a rug at the foot of her bed. He raised his head, his tail beating a happy rhythm against the floor at the sight of her.

She sank down beside him and wrapped her arms around his thick, muscled neck. It was like holding a living, breathing teddy bear.

“You’re a good boy, Highway,” she said. He turned his head and gazed at her with adoring eyes. She released her hold on him and stood to change out of her clothes and into her nightgown. “I just wish I knew who you were barking at when I got home tonight.”

As she went into the adjoining bathroom to finish getting ready for bed, she hoped Jimmy found out that it had been Travis in her backyard.

She reminded herself that there was no reason to feel uneasy. Throughout the years there had been times when hunters or hikers had accidentally come onto her property.

She left the bedroom and got into bed and shut off the light on the nightstand. Within minutes she heard the soft sound of Highway snoring.

Jimmy. She had a feeling he’d be a good friend and it would be nice to fill some of the empty evening hours with human conversation instead of the one-sided monologues she shared with Highway.

She closed her eyes and tried to bring a vision of Jimmy into her head, but instead her thoughts drifted to her missing aunt, the sound of Highway’s frantic barking and the window she didn’t remember opening. Had somebody followed her home or had she simply been freaked out by a car that was coincidentally going in the same direction she’d been traveling?

Despite the lingering warmth of Jimmy’s visit, it took her a very long time to finally allow the uneasiness that plagued her to dissipate enough that she could fall asleep.

* * *

Something had to be done about the damned dog. The man stood in the deep cover of the woods, the only illumination a faint beam of moonlight that managed to find its way through the leafy trees that surrounded him.

The dog was like a hound from hell and had to be neutralized before he could get to Sheri. He leaned his back against a tree trunk as he stared at the now-darkened cottage.

And what had the detective been doing out here?

He’d been watching the cottage for weeks now, pleased to realize that Sheri was definitely a creature of habit. She returned home from the store about the same time each day, spent her spare time alone and often in the backyard.

She would have been an easy target, but the appearance of the detective tonight had confused him. Had the dog barking at him made Sheri afraid enough to call the law?

Surely the dog barked all the time when he was outside. That’s what dogs did, they chased squirrels and barked at the wind and chased their own tails.

Maybe Detective Jimmy Carmani and Sheri were starting some sort of a relationship? If that was the case, then he’d have to move fast to take Sheri to his underground bunker where hopefully she would be a far better candidate for his intentions than her aunt and the woman before Liz.

Liz. He frowned and clenched his fists at his sides. He’d been so sure that she was the right one, so certain that she would break and become the woman he needed her to be.

But she’d proven to be too strong, too bullheaded. After three and a half months of captivity she still showed no fear, no hint of weakness. She would have to be disposed of, as Agnes Wilson had been eliminated before her.

He focused his attention back on the small, moonlit cottage. There was his future. Sheri was the right one. He knew it in his heart, felt it in his very soul.

She was sweet and soft and he had a feeling it wouldn’t take her long to understand that her true destiny was to be his wife, to care take for him as she did all the wild animals in the forest.

She was the right one to take the place of his dutiful, submissive wife he’d lost. A man could only be alone for so long.

Now all he had to figure out was how to get past the dog and take what he knew belonged to him.

Chapter 3

Jimmy caught up with Travis at ten the next morning at the Wolf’s Head Tavern. The place wouldn’t open officially for business until noon, but Jimmy knew the owner was usually in about this time of the morning to start prepping for the day.

Jimmy knocked on the back door and Travis opened up to allow him inside the kitchen that served up mostly fried appetizers.

“I hope you’ve come by to tell me you’ve taken that shotgun away from Sheri,” Travis said as he led Jimmy into the main area where mounted wolf heads glared from the walls next to booths and tables. Jimmy opted for a stool at the bar and Travis moved behind the long polished wood.

“I’ve got to tell you, she scared the living hell out of me the other night. There’s nothing more terrifying than a woman with a gun.”

Jimmy grinned. “Your chauvinism is showing, Travis.”

“Yeah, well, I’m just saying women are emotional and unpredictable. I could have been killed if she’d flinched the wrong way.”

“Yeah, you could have been,” Jimmy agreed, not spilling to Travis that Sheri’s shotgun had been unloaded. “I stopped by to see if you might have been hunting that feral pig again last night on Sheri’s property?”

“No way,” Travis replied, his green eyes emitting earnest truth. “You couldn’t pay me enough to go out there again. Seriously man, I really thought she was going to shoot me.”

“So, you weren’t in her woods last night,” Jimmy said to confirm the matter.

“Nope.” He shook his head. “If somebody was out there it definitely wasn’t me.”

Jimmy believed him. He and Travis had always had a good relationship and he knew that if Travis had been in Sheri’s backyard the night before he would have confessed to it. “That’s what I needed to know.” Jimmy slid off the stool.

“Is Sheri having some sort of problems?” Travis asked, genuine concern in his expression.

“She just thought somebody was skulking around her place last night and naturally we thought of you.”

Travis frowned and shook his head once again. “As if that family hasn’t been through enough already. First Liz’s kidnapping and then Steve’s ex-girlfriend trying to kill Roxy. Then his ex’s boyfriend trying to kill Marlene... You’d think enough was enough for that family.”

“Hopefully enough is enough and there’s no danger in Sheri’s future. At least something good has come out of all this. Both of my partners have found the loves of their lives and are happier than I’ve ever seen them.”

Travis snorted. “Women don’t do anything but complicate your life. I’d rather hunt a feral pig than deal with a woman’s drama.”

Jimmy laughed. “I guess we’re all built differently when it comes to dealing with the opposite sex. Thanks for your time, Travis.”

Together the two men returned to the kitchen where Jimmy went out the back door. He got into his car and sat, oddly upset to discover that Travis hadn’t been the person in the woods Sheri had been convinced was there. It would have not only eased Sheri’s concern to discover it had been Travis, but it would have also eased some of his own.

Travis was right, the Marcoli family had been through more crime and drama in the past three and a half months than any family should ever experience in an entire lifetime. Although the threats to Marlene and Roxy had been deemed not connected to Liz’s disappearance, the last thing Jimmy wanted was for anything else to happen to any of the Marcolis.

Especially Sheri. A tiny thrill shot through him as he thought of spending more time with her. She’d surprised him by agreeing to hang out with him. Oh, she’d made it clear that it was a temporary thing just until she found her prince.

But he’d enjoy whatever time she was willing to give him. It definitely beat his usual evenings after work, having a few beers with other cops and talking shop, or flopping on his sofa to watch a couple of hours of mindless television shows.

Jimmy had spent most of his life with a loneliness deep inside him, but lately the feeling seemed to gnaw a bigger hole in his gut.

He thought often about a desire to have what his partners had found: love and commitment with women who would stand by their sides for the rest of their lives. But at his very core he didn’t believe he’d ever have it, and he knew with certainty that the woman, if she really existed, wouldn’t be Sheri.

At least he was finally dipping his toe into social waters rather than being an all-work, no-play kind of guy. Even if he wasn’t a forever kind of man, that didn’t mean he couldn’t date.

He headed to the police station located on Main Street. Stores were opening their doors and a variety of people had taken to the sidewalks. It was easy to spot the unfamiliar faces of tourists who were visiting for the day and it was mostly the tourist industry that kept the small town of Wolf Creek alive.

The town boasted a long history that was highlighted in many of the quaint restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts. Specialty shops lined Main Street, like The Treasure Trove, an antique junk store where Marlene Marcoli had lived in the upstairs apartment, a taxidermy shop that displayed a variety of stuffed animals that were indigenous to the area, and it wouldn’t be long before Marlene’s Magic Bites would add confectionery delights for both tourists and locals.

He parked and headed into the station, where he greeted Officer Wade Peterson who stood duty in the common area. “Morning, Wade,” Jimmy said.

“A little late this morning, aren’t you?” Wade teased as he buzzed open the door that led to the large area where police desks and officers were the decor. “Hot date last night?”

“Yeah right, because I do that so often,” Jimmy replied drily. He pushed open the door that led to the inner office and immediately spied his two partners at their desks.

Steve Kincaid shot him a lazy grin. “Ah, look what the cat finally dragged in.”

“Nice of you to join us this morning,” Frank Delaney added.

Jimmy sat at his desk between the two. “I’ve been working already, interviewing a potential suspect.”

Frank frowned. “A suspect for what?”

Jimmy quickly explained first his call to Sheri’s house and finding her holding Travis at gunpoint and then his subsequent visit the night before. “Travis swears it wasn’t him on her property last night.”

“It could have been anyone or it might have been nothing more than her imagination,” Steve said. “Maybe with everything that has happened with all the other members of her family she’s feeling particularly vulnerable right now.”

“Maybe,” Jimmy agreed reluctantly. “But she was pretty sure somebody was out in those woods by the way Highway was reacting when she got home from the store.”

“Maybe Highway was just acting like a normal dog and barking just to bark,” Frank said.

“According to Sheri, Highway isn’t a normal dog. He’s been highly trained by Jed.”

“Then maybe Sheri just wanted to see you,” Steve said with a sly look in his blue eyes. “After all, two of the three detectives in town have found love with her sisters. Maybe she’s looking for a trifecta.”

Jimmy laughed and shook his head. “No way. I’m the antithesis of what she’s looking for in a man.”

“What does that mean?” Steve asked.

“Sheri is waiting for a blond-haired, blue-eyed prince to ride into her life, and if he’s a prince you know he’ll be tall. She’s definitely not looking for a short meatball like me.”

His partners laughed. “You aren’t round enough to be a meatball,” Frank protested.

“And you aren’t short, you just aren’t overly tall,” Steve added.

“I’m average,” Jimmy said. “And if Sheri is looking for a prince, she’s definitely not interested in an average kind of guy like me.”

“You definitely aren’t an average guy, Jimmy,” Frank said. “Average guys don’t have black belts in martial arts training and they don’t have a brain like a computer that stores even the most minute detail of a crime.”

“This is a stupid conversation,” Jimmy said. “What’s going on with our armed robbery case?” He was more than ready to change the topic of conversation.

It didn’t matter what Sheri thought about him. Jimmy wasn’t made for any kind of a long-term love and Sheri definitely wasn’t the type of woman to be a “friend with benefits” or a drive-by, hit-and-run kind of woman.

As the three men began to discuss the details of the armed robbery, Jimmy shoved thoughts of Sheri out of his head. He was a detective and that was all he would ever be. He’d never be a husband or a father and he’d made peace with that fact a long time ago.

* * *

“Go home,” Abe said to Sheri at three in the afternoon. “I’ve got you covered for the rest of the night and I know that you usually like to spend some time in the later afternoons and evenings with your critters.”

“Thanks, Abe, but I think I’ll go ahead and hang out until closing,” Sheri replied.

“With Marlene not working here anymore you should probably hire on somebody. You can’t keep showing up early in the mornings and working until closing. You have to have a life outside of the store.”

“You’re right,” Sheri conceded. “I’ll put a sign in the window tomorrow and see who shows up.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Maybe I should give Michael Arello another chance.”

Marlene had fired the young man when she’d caught him stealing food, but it was later learned that Michael was trying to feed three young orphans who were holed up all alone in a mountain cabin. Their grandmother had died of a heart attack in town and nobody had known that she was raising her three grandchildren.

Abe grunted. “His heart was in the right place but he made some bad choices. He’s not a bad kid, he’s just young.”

“He’s old enough to need a job. I think I’ll give him a call.” Sheri went into the small office in the back room and pulled up her employee records, both past and current. It took her only a minute to find Michael’s contact information. She called and left a message on his voice mail.

That finished, she returned to the front of the store and with Abe standing behind the counter she wandered over to the four quilt racks that displayed beautiful handmade quilts, including the one Jason King had brought in two days ago.

“I hope this one sells quickly,” she said as she touched the colorful patchwork. “I have a feeling the King family is in crisis. Jason was in the other day and said his father isn’t doing much work in the fields, that he disappears from the family for long periods of time and Jason doesn’t know where he goes or what he does.”

“That poor kid has more on his shoulders than most men twice his age,” Abe replied. “But at least they won’t go hungry. The community will always help their own.”

Sheri nodded. That’s what she admired about the Amish, their sense of community, of family. Like she’d had with her aunt Liz and Marlene and Roxy before the rug had been pulled out from beneath them with Aunt Liz’s disappearance.

It frightened her just a little bit that the grief that had been with her for the past three months each time she thought of her missing aunt had begun to dissipate, as if the last vestiges of hope had left her and resignation had moved in to reign.

She felt as if she was moving on with the unspoken knowledge that she’d never see her aunt again. There was no rational reason for Liz’s absence other than foul play that had ended in her death.

It would be nice at this point to have some closure, to have remains to bury, to know the reason everything had happened. She would never, ever be able to guess why anyone would want to harm somebody as kind and as loving as Liz Marcoli.

Part of the reason she was reluctant to call it a day and head home was that she was still a little nervous about the events of the night before.

She knew she was probably being silly, but danger had come too close too often to everyone in the Marcoli family except her. Last night before Jimmy had arrived she’d instinctively felt threatened, sensed danger lurking nearby. A case of the heebie-jeebies or some sort of primal feminine survival instinct?

All thoughts of danger and family disappeared as the door to the shop swung open to admit two adults and three small children who instantly began to run wild among the aisles.

“Jerry, Richard and Susan, come back here right now,” the harried mother exclaimed, and then shot an apologetic smile at Sheri. “Sorry, cooped up in the car too long.”

“We’re going to Hershey Park!” A little boy about six raced up to stand next to his mother, his slender body vibrating with excitement.

“And we’re going to see how they make chocolate.” The little girl joined the discussion.

“That will be such fun. Where are you coming from?” Sheri asked. She noticed that the man had taken the other little boy to the restroom.

“Indiana. It’s been a long drive,” the mother replied.

Sheri smiled. “The good news is you’re almost there. Hershey is less than thirty miles from here.”

“That’s great. We just couldn’t drive by this place without stopping in to see some of the Amish things you have for sale.”

Sheri led the woman to the area where Abraham Zooker’s beautiful furniture was displayed and then to the special cheeses that Isaaic, Abraham’s brother, provided. There were fresh herbs provided by Sarah Fisher, who had the best herb garden in the county, and the quilts and embroidered sacks and bags that several of the women in the Amish community brought in to sell.

They finally left with bags of chips and sodas and all three children sporting Wolf Creek hats complete with stuffed little wolves on the top.

“I’ve just been reminded why I never had kids,” Abe said. “I don’t think I ever had the energy for them.”

“I can’t wait to have children,” Sheri said, her heart warming at the very thought. Her head filled with a little boy with dark curly hair and she frowned. No, that wasn’t right. Her children would all be blond, like their father.

“You might want to find a man before you think about having any children,” Abe observed.

“I don’t have to find him. He’ll find me when the time is right.”

Abe eyed her in bemusement. “He’s not going to find you as long as you’re holed up in the store ten hours a day.”

“You never know who might walk through that door,” Sheri replied. “One of these days it will be the man of my dreams.”

At that moment Michael Arello walked in. Sheri grinned at Abe. “Definitely not the man I was looking for.”

“I got your message that you wanted to talk to me.” At twenty-one years old Michael Arello was a handsome young man when a sullen cast to his lips wasn’t present. At the moment there was no sign of the sullenness, just a wary glint in his brown eyes.

“Come on back to the office and let’s have a talk,” Sheri said.

It only took fifteen minutes of speaking with Michael to pin down the hours he’d work, talk about what had happened when he’d worked before and been fired, and elicit a promise from him that he’d be a good employee.

“You sure you know what you’re doing with him?” Abe asked when Michael left the store.

“Probably not, but I believe everyone deserves a second chance and I think at heart he is a good kid.”

“You’re a good woman, Sheri. You’ve got a heart just like your aunt Liz. Of the three of you girls I see her in you more than in Roxy and Marlene.”

Sheri smiled, touched by his words. “Thanks, Abe.”

“That Roxy, she’s got firecracker in her and Marlene has always seemed kind of cool and distant. But you have all the qualities Liz had.” He flushed, as if realizing he’d spoken of her in the past tense.

“You have to remember that Roxy lived with our real mother, Ramona, for the first seven years of her life, and the experience was the stuff of nightmares. Even Marlene spent four years in Ramona’s care before she showed up at Aunt Liz’s and left her there.”

“And you?” Abe asked.

“I was just a couple of months old. I have no memories of anyone else as a mother other than Aunt L...L...Liz.” She bit her tongue and swallowed against the sudden emotion that threatened to prompt the stuttering.

“I’m sorry, Sheri. Damn, I’m sorry,” Abe said, his blue eyes growing darker in hue.

She shook her head. “It’s fine. I’m fine.” She stiffened her shoulders and pasted a smile on her face as the door opened and an older woman walked in. “Welcome to the Roadside Stop. Just let me know if I can help you with anything.”

The woman nodded, a long salt-and-pepper ponytail swaying across her lower back. “Thanks, I’m just browsing.”

Sheri moved behind the register as Abe went to the storage room to take care of cleaning shelves and checking stock. Sheri watched the skinny, older woman checking out the items for sale and her thoughts suddenly filled with a vision of Jimmy Carmani.

Yes, it would be nice to have a friend to hang out with, to spend a few hours a week chatting with him and enjoying his company. He appeared to have a fairly laid-back personality, as did she, and neither of them were in the market for anything romantic, so it could be an ideal friendship.

The older woman carried a cold canned drink to the register and pulled several dollar bills from a purse that looked worn. “This should do it,” she said, her chocolate-brown eyes intent on Sheri.

“Just traveling through town?” Sheri asked as she rang up the drink.

“I haven’t decided yet. The town seems quite charming. I may decide to hang around.” She smiled.

“It’s a wonderful place to live with terrific people,” Sheri said as she handed her the change.

“Thanks, maybe I’ll see you around.” Without a backward glance the woman went out the door with her cold drink in hand.

By eight that evening Sheri felt a dread creeping over her and was stunned to realize it was the anxiety of going home. It was an emotion she’d never known before. Normally she was eager to head back to her cottage and snuggle with Highway.

On impulse she pulled out her phone and punched in Jimmy’s number. He answered immediately. “Hey, Jimmy, it’s Sheri. Are you still at work?”

“Actually I am,” he replied. “But not for too much longer. What’s up?”

“I was just wondering if maybe you’d like to meet me at the tavern for a cold beer in about a half an hour or so.” Her stomach clenched. She’d never initiated a date with a man before. No, she corrected herself. It wasn’t a date, it was just two people getting together for a little conversation and a beer.

“Sounds perfect to me. I might even indulge in some of Travis’s hot wings with that beer. Shall we make it around eight-thirty?”

He sounded ridiculously pleased that she had called and a sweet wave of answering pleasure swept through her. “I’ll see you at eight-thirty,” she agreed.

The store had been quiet for the past hour, so she sent Abe home, locked the front door and then went into the bathroom with her purse in hand.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror and then dug a brush from her purse and quickly pulled it through her shoulder-length hair. There had been a time when she’d been jealous of Roxy’s rich black curls, of Marlene’s cool blond strands, but as she’d gotten older she’d made peace with her chestnut-brown hair. At least it was thick and required little more than a daily brushing.

She thought about lipstick, but never wore it. She also considered mascara but again, makeup had never been her thing and she wondered why she was even thinking about it now. It wasn’t like she was going to meet the man of her dreams. She was just going to hang out with Jimmy. She settled for a quick spritz of her purse-size bottle of her favorite perfume and then left the bathroom.

It was almost eight-twenty by the time she got into her truck to head to the Wolf’s Head Tavern. Twilight had fallen, painting the landscape in deep purple shadows as she pulled out of the parking lot.

Almost immediately she saw the car that pulled out of a wooded area near the road and fell in behind her. Every nerve in her body tensed. With the sun low in the sky it was impossible to tell if the car was black or blue, but it was definitely pacing her.

When she slowed, it slowed. When she sped up, it also sped up, keeping enough distance that Sheri couldn’t tell anything about the driver. She didn’t know if the driver was male or female, but she knew for certain that just like the night before, somebody was following her.

What was going on? Why would anyone be interested in her movements? With everything that had happened with her aunt and her sisters over the past three and a half months, Sheri was definitely feeling freaked out even though the driver of the vehicle did nothing to present imminent danger.

She was grateful she wasn’t going home alone to her little cottage where she only had a well-trained dog and an empty shotgun if she needed protection.

At least she was headed to a public area where a detective was waiting for her and there would be other people around. Her fingers were tight on the steering wheel, her back stiffened as if bracing for a blow.

Even though she hadn’t seen the color of the car the night before, the headlights looked the same and she was certain the car behind her now was the same one from the day before.

A sigh of relief shuddered through her when she turned into the Wolf’s Head Tavern and the car continued on, disappearing into the gloom of the coming night.

She pulled into a parking space, cut her engine and dropped her forehead to the steering wheel as she waited for her heartbeat to slow to a more normal pace.

Was she looking for a bogeyman who didn’t exist? Had the car really been following her or was she taking innocent coincidences and making them into something nefarious?

Was she looking for trouble when there was none?

She supposed it was possible that the events of the past few months were finally catching up with her, making her paranoid when she shouldn’t be.

She raised her head, checked her reflection in her rearview mirror and then headed inside the tavern, trying to ignore the faint simmer of fear that still remained deep inside her.

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