Kitabı oku: «Little Cowgirl Needs a Mum / Once Upon a Proposal», sayfa 6

CHAPTER SEVEN

AWEEK had passed since the sleepover and Jenny had tried to stay focused on other things besides the man who’d been keeping her up nights. Not only Evan had been disturbing her sleep, but worry over his daughter’s feelings had, as well.

Classes had been going well for everyone except Gracie. She struggled with the intricate work needed to complete her mother’s quilt. Jenny herself even needed Allison’s help. The pattern was far too complicated for an eight year old, and the child’s frustration was growing.

She’d realized she had to convince the girl to go in another direction. That was when she’d asked for advice from Allison and her new friend, school principal Lily Perry.

The three of them had discussed her concerns and had come up with something that might convince Gracie to put her mother’s quilt aside for another few years and work on something simpler.

It was nearly the end of the day’s class when Jenny took Gracie aside. They walked to the round table in the corner of the room that had quickly become a popular spot with the regulars. Only on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons was the area vacant.

Jenny motioned to a chair and Gracie took it. “Am I in trouble?” she asked.

“Of course not.” Jenny looked at Allison who’d followed them over. “We just have an idea we want to talk to you about.”

The child still looked worried as Jenny took a seat next to her. “I’m concerned about you, Gracie. I think the quilt you’re working on is harder than you thought it would be, huh?”

The girl looked sad. “It’s not too bad.”

Jenny exchanged a glance with Allison. “But still, it’s pretty hard to sew for someone your age.”

“Maybe.”

Jenny was relieved. “Allison and I came up with an idea that might help. We want you to listen to it first, before you decide if it’s good or bad.”

“Okay.”

“We were wondering if you’d consider putting your quilt aside for a few years until you’re older and a more experienced quilter.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “But I promised Mommy.”

“We know you did, sweetie,” Jenny said soothingly. “But, as I said before, I don’t think your mother expected you to finish it right away. Since she chose the DoubleWedding-Ring pattern, don’t you think she planned to have it ready for when you got married?” Jenny smiled. “Are you getting married anytime soon?”

Gracie actually smiled too. “No!”

“Then you have plenty of time to get it done.”

“I guess so,” she hesitated. “But will you still help me?”

Jenny wasn’t sure how to answer her. She’d always planned to go back to San Antonio to teach. “I’ll promise you this, Gracie, I’ll do my best.”

The girl wasn’t excited by her answer. “You said you’d help me finish it.”

“And if possible, I will. Besides, if you keep practicing, just think how good you’ll get and you can do it yourself.”

The child looked sad. “Does this mean I can’t be in the class any more?”

“Oh, no. We want you to stay in the class. Would you be willing to work on another project, something simpler?”

Gracie nodded eagerly.

“Good. We’ve come up with an idea and all you girls can work together. Even Mrs. Perry is going to participate in this project.” Jenny stood. “Come on, I’ll announce to everyone what’s going to happen.”

Gracie hurried back to her seat as Jenny turned to Allison. “She took it better than I thought.”

“She seemed relieved.”

But Jenny wasn’t sure she was out of the woods yet. Hadn’t she been the one who had fought to get Gracie into class, assuring Evan she could handle it?

Why should she care what he thought? The man had run hot and cold, kissing her, making her want more. But she hadn’t seen or heard from him since. Apparently he’d wanted to put some distance between them.

She could deal with rejection. If only he would stay away, stop making her long for more, making her want what she couldn’t have—a man who would never be hers.

Jenny walked back to the group. “Girls, it’s about quitting time and I’d like to talk to you all.”

They stopped and looked at her.

“First of all, I want to tell you how pleased I am with the work you’ve all accomplished in just a few short weeks.” She looked around. “Is everyone having fun?”

The group cheered and Jenny’s chest swelled. She glanced at Lily. “Well, if you like what you’re doing, we’d like to go a step further. When the class began, we talked about everyone making their own quilt, but that’s a big project, and it can take a long time, especially with school-work and chores at home. How about we each work on a section of blocks, then everyone combines them to make one quilt?” She rushed on to say, “It’ll still be about your family, but we’ll put everyone’s together.”

There was silence.

She continued, “Why not make a quilt that tells a story about the town, about past generations? You are the future of Kerry Springs, but we should know where we came from, too. I know a lot of you are already using fabric from your relatives. That’s perfect. Now with the assistance of mothers and the helpers, you can embroider those people’s names and dates on the blocks so we’ll know who they are.” Jenny moved aside so Lily could join her. “And now Mrs. Perry is going to tell you more about this project.”

“Hello, girls.”

“Hello, Mrs. Perry,” they said in unison.

“I’m also impressed with the work you’re doing here. And I’m taking a personal interest in this project, since both my daughter and my mother are working on it, too.

“When I first heard of Jenny’s idea, I thought, what a great idea, to preserve our town’s history in a quilt. And then I thought, as well as a quilt, how about an essay contest? We have Founders’ Day coming up in July. So what better way to celebrate it than to write about the families that make our town great?”

Jenny watched as the girls took in the idea.

“This isn’t a school requirement. It’s strictly for this class and for your own curiosity. But the girls who turn in stories will have them published in the town paper. Even better, Jenny and Allison will display the finished quilt in the shop window so everyone in town will see your hard work.” Lily smiled. “How do you feel about that?”

The girls cheered. “We should do it,” Cherry said. It was seconded by girl after girl.

“Okay, that gives us three months to finish. So you’ll keep working in class, but you’ll need to interview your parents and grandparents, learn their stories. Good luck to all of you.”

The room buzzed with excitement as the girls put away their sewing while discussing what they were going to do. Jenny glanced toward the back of the room and saw Evan.

Now it was her job to get him to go along with the sudden change of plans.

Evan watched as Jenny moved around the room talking to each student. It was obvious the girls adored her. She had an ease around kids, around everyone.

Not him. Outside of family, he’d always had trouble talking to people. He’d rather be alone than in a group. Megan hadn’t been eager to bring him out. She’d had her own social groups; besides quilting, there was her work at the church. Yet now, he could see his daughter needed more.

Although he’d once loved the solitude of working the vineyard, he’d found of late he was lonely. More so when he thought about Jenny Collins. Whenever he got close to her, he could feel the pull. Then there was the memory of the sweetest kiss and the stirring in his body that told him he wanted more, needed more as well.

His daughter came running toward him. “Daddy, guess what?”

“What?”

“We’re all going to make a big quilt together and have a writing contest. I need to get some old clothes from Grandpa for my blocks ‘cause I’m gonna write about him being from Ireland, and you and Uncle Matt, too.”

He looked at Jenny, who had arrived next to his daughter. “So you’re working on a new project already?”

“We’re taking a little detour,” Jenny answered.

Allison and Cherry walked up. “How about us girls go for some ice cream, Gracie? Then your dad and Jenny can talk.”

“Can I go, Daddy?”

Evan dug into his pocket for a few dollars and handed them to her. “Sure, but only get one scoop and don’t take too long.”

He watched as they left the shop, then turned back to Jenny. “What’s going on?”

“First of all, I was planning to tell to you about it when you got here.”

“Well, I’m here.” He glanced at Millie, who was with a customer. Both ladies were watching them with interest. “Is there somewhere private we can talk?” he asked.

“I can’t leave Millie.”

“I’ll be fine,” the saleswoman assured her. “You two go talk.” She smiled at Evan. “Good to see you again, Evan. Say hello to your father for me.”

He nodded. “I’ll do that.” He followed Jenny toward the back of the shop. She went to the office, then bypassed it. “The bookkeeper is working in there.”

Evan was surprised when Jenny opened another door that led to a staircase and started up. He followed her, and they ended up in her apartment.

He looked around, and then walked to the narrow window. “You can see Main Street.”

“Yeah, the view sold me on the place.”

He turned his attention to her. She looked tempting in fitted jeans and a tapered green blouse. Her sunny hair hung around her face and thin bangs brushed her forehead, highlighting her big brown eyes. She didn’t wear much makeup, giving her a fresh-scrubbed look. His gaze went to her full mouth and her perfect lips.

He shook away the direction of his thoughts. “Okay, what’s this change of plans?”

She blew out a breath. “You were right.”

He didn’t expect her to say that. “About what?”

“Gracie is too young to handle the complicated quilt pattern.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “Isn’t that what I tried to tell you from the beginning?”

“You did,” she conceded. “But what you didn’t realize about your daughter was she needed some independence. And she had to attempt to do the quilt before anyone could convince her otherwise. It seems stubbornness runs in your family.”

“You think I’m stubborn? You’re the one who wouldn’t let go of this.”

“But it helped. Can’t you see the difference in her?”

He nodded. “All right. She has been happier these last few weeks. But she has to be disappointed that she can’t finish the quilt.”

Jenny shook her head. “Oh, she’ll finish it, but she’s willing to wait.” She smiled. “And she got the one thing she truly wanted.”

“What was that?”

“Your attention.”

“She’s always had my attention,” he said.

“On your terms. The only outlet she had was school.”

“We live in the country.”

“But your daughter is growing up, she needs to socialize. And this class has helped her.”

Had he been that selfish? “Don’t forget I let her have a sleepover. But I’ll always want to protect her no matter how old she gets.”

“Of course, and she’ll always need that from you, along with your love.”

“She’s always had that, from the day she was born.” Evan felt the familiar sadness. “I never want her to ever doubt that.” He walked away then turned back to Jenny. “There were days when that little girl was the only reason I got out of bed. She kept me going.”

Jenny nodded, trying not to reach out and offer comfort to this man. She was already too involved. “And you helped your daughter get through losing her mother. She wants to help you, too. She knows how sad you’ve been.”

His blue eyes met hers. “You seem to know a lot about her.”

Jenny shrugged. “I was a stranger when she first talked to me. That made it easier for her.”

“You are easy to talk to. Thank you for spending time with Gracie, especially for last weekend’s sleepover.”

That was her, the person everyone wanted to share things with, to be friends with. Last weekend, when Evan had nearly kissed her again, she’d known it was a bad idea. She’d already gotten a taste of his loving family, something she’d always longed for, giving her ideas of having a piece of it.

“That might have created more problems.” She held his gaze as it did crazy things to her stomach, but she continued. “It changes things now, Rafferty, we might never be able to go back. You aren’t ready.”

“For what? To kiss you again? Hell, yes, I’m ready.” He was more than ready for her. He moved closer, stopping directly in front of her. He caught her scent. It was intoxicating. Feelings for her whirled in his head. “If you’re honest, Jenny, you’d admit you want it too.”

“That doesn’t make it the right thing to do.”

“No, it doesn’t.” He leaned toward her. “All my energy needs to go into keeping the ranch afloat and being a father to my daughter.” He released a breath. “But you’re the one I’ve been thinking about in the middle of the night. You’re the one I want to hold in my arms, want to kiss—”

She looked up at the ceiling. “Oh, Rafferty, why are you doing this to me? We’re headed in different directions. Starting anything would be foolish.”

Hell, he didn’t want to get involved, but it had already happened. “Yeah, you’re right about that. It would be the craziest thing ever.”

“For once we agree.” Her voice was breathy. “We’ve only shared a kiss. No harm done.”

Damn. There’d been plenty of damage. To his sleep, to his peace of mind. Lately, to his sanity.

There was a knock on the door at the bottom of the stairs and Millie called up to her. “Jenny, there’s a phone call for you.”

“Can you take a name and a message?”

“He says it’s important, a Todd Newsome.”

Evan watched the blood drain from Jenny’s face. “I’ve got to go.”

He stopped her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said, pulling away, then she went down the steps.

He followed, but she wasn’t going to tell him anything. So, she had a past.

She looked back at him. “It would be better if you concentrate on your daughter, Evan. I’ll be leaving in a few months. I’ll be going back to my job. This has to be the end of it.”

Before he could say anything, she took off down the stairs. By the time he reached her, she’d taken the cordless phone from Millie and gone to a quiet corner. Her rejection should drive him away, but he wasn’t ready to give up; something wouldn’t let him let go of her.

Jenny had prayed she’d never hear from Todd ever again. Her stepbrother had caused her enough trouble to last a lifetime. But over the years he kept showing up like a bad penny.

She punched in the hold button. “What do you want, Todd?”

“Is that any way to greet your big brother, sis?”

“You’re not my brother. And I thought you were in jail.”

“I got out early for good behavior.”

“Fine. Have a good life and stop bothering me.”

“Whoa, sis. It wouldn’t be a good idea to hang up on me. What would Mom say?”

Jenny stiffened. Her mother had been Todd’s only supporter after his last drug offence.

“Go call her and ask.” She turned around and saw that Evan was still there. “Look, Todd, I need to go back to work.”

“I’d like to do the same, but I don’t have a job. Maybe you can set me up in a job with your fancy friends?”

How did he know? Her mother. She’d probably mentioned her job with the Casalis in letters. “I wouldn’t ask any of my friends to hire you. You’re unreliable. Shouldn’t your parole officer help you find something?”

“I don’t particularly want to be a dishwasher or a janitor.”

“Why not? It’s honest work.”

“I think you can do better for me.”

“No. I told you years ago, I want you to leave me alone.” She felt the familiar panic as she recalled high school and Todd and his creepy friends. That had been the main reason she’d told the police on him. It had gotten him his stay in juvenile hall.

“That’s too bad, sis,” he told her in a voice that made her shiver. “You owe me, and you’re my best bet these days. What’s the big deal about helping out a family member?”

“You’re not my family. So stay away from me, Todd. I won’t help you.” Her hands were shaking as she ended the call. No, she wouldn’t let him get to her again. The three Newsome brothers had been trouble since day one, but Todd was the worst. She hadn’t been surprised that he’d gone to prison.

She turned around and saw Evan watching her. She put on a smile as he walked to her.

“Is everything okay?”

“Of course,” she said just as the bell over the shop door chimed and Gracie and Cherry returned, followed by Allison.

“Daddy.” Gracie ran to her father. “We need to go home because I have to find some material for the class.”

“You have a week before the next class.”

The girls didn’t like to wait for anything.

“But all the other girls have their moms to help them pick out their material. And grandpa’s fixing spaghetti and he said we need to bring Jenny and some bread home. Please, Daddy.”

He turned to Jenny. “Looks as if we’re outnumbered. Would you like to come to dinner at the Rafferty house?”

It wasn’t a good idea. She looked at Gracie and began to lose her resolve. The little girl would be disappointed if she didn’t go. “Sure, I’d love to.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

AN hour later Jenny was seated beside Evan in his truck and on the way to the Rafferty home. How had she got herself into this? Okay, she was a coward. She wanted to be away from any more calls from Todd. No more abuse from her evil stepbrother.

Those days were over.

Thanks to her mother she now had to deal with him again. No doubt Marsha thought Todd had turned over a new leaf, but Jenny doubted he could do anything good, ever.

Time served or not, Todd Newsome was a convicted felon. The last thing she wanted him to do was cause any trouble for her or her friends. She only hoped she’d convinced Todd that she didn’t want any more to do with him. Good luck with that. He hadn’t cared about her wishes, ever. She couldn’t have been happier when he was sent away.

“Jenny,” Gracie called.

She turned to the girl in the back seat. “What, sweetie?”

“All the other girls think I’m lucky because I get to take you to my house.”

She was touched. “Well, you need help with the project, too. And remember, you have to sew new blocks together.”

Gracie nodded. “Daddy, can I have one of your shirts? The one Mommy liked.”

Evan frowned. Meg had liked one of his shirts? She’d never said anything to him. “Sure. You’ll have to remind me which one that is.”

He stole a sideways glance at Jenny, seeing her curious look.

“It’s the one you wore when we all went to church on Easter that last time,” his daughter said. “I want to use something that Mommy liked.”

“Okay, we’ll find it then,” he said hearing the sadness in his child’s voice.

He glanced at Jenny. “Once an altar boy, but I’m not much on church these days.”

“Grandpa Sean is Catholic and Mommy and me are Lutherans,” the tiny voice came from the back. “What are you, Jenny?”

She smiled. “Oh, I’d say I’m a mixture of a little Catholic with some Presbyterian thrown in. All religions work if you pray.”

“At my church they say you have to repent if you do bad things. What does repent mean?”

Gracie was too young to hear those kinds of words. “It means to make up for what you did wrong,” Evan said. “If you were bad, you should say you’re sorry, and then take your punishment.”

“Oh. What if that person was really, really mean to me? Do I still have to say I’m sorry?”

Evan stepped in. “If you said something bad to that person, you should.”

“But Aaron Jacobs is mean to everybody. He made Sara Hartley cry.”

Evan didn’t like to hear of someone bullying his child. “Did you tell the teacher?”

He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw her nod.

“But he won’t stop being mean to us girls.”

“Then I need to have a talk with his parents.”

“You will?”

He drove under the ranch archway. “Of course, Gracie. You should have told me sooner.”

He pulled up in front of the house. He climbed out and opened the back door as his daughter unfastened her seat-belt and climbed down. Evan squatted down to her level. “Gracie, you can always come to me if you have trouble with anything. I’ll always be there for you.”

She glanced away.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mommy always said not to bother you if you’re busy ‘cause you have a lot on your mind.”

He worked to keep his anger under control. “Remember this, Gracie Anne Rafferty. I’m never too busy for you.”

A bright smile appeared on her face. “Okay, Daddy.”

“Now, go take the bread to Grandpa.”

His daughter took the long sticks of sourdough and headed up the steps. Sadness washed over him. Had he been that distant from his own family? Or had Meg deliberately kept him from having a relationship with his daughter? He knew they hadn’t had the best marriage, but why had she prevented him from being Gracie’s father? If she had, he’d let her.

“Evan, are you okay?” Jenny asked.

“No. My own daughter is afraid to come to me.”

“A lot of children go to their mother first.”

“Did you?” Suddenly, he remembered Jenny saying her mother was too busy for her. “Or did you have to fight your own battles? How did you handle bullies?”

She shrugged. “I guess I did a lot of my own fighting.”

“What about your dad?”

She glanced away. “He was never in my life.”

His gut tightened as she tried to seem nonchalant, but he knew it mattered to her. “Well, I’m not going to let Aaron the bully get any more out of control. He has no right picking on little girls.” His fists clenched. “I plan to have a talk with this kid.”

“Whoa, Rafferty. As a teacher myself, I can tell you it isn’t wise to go running off half-cocked. Talk to Gracie’s teacher first. Better yet, to Lily Perry. She’ll look into the situation, then, if that doesn’t help, set up a meeting with the boy’s parents.”

Evan realized how new this was to him. Had Meg handled this before? Now it was his chance. “Thanks, Jenny.”

She nodded. “It’s not easy to be a single parent.”

“Meg probably would have handled this on her own, too, and never said a word to me.” His gaze locked on hers. “Now you know just how perfect my marriage was.”

“I’m sorry, Evan.” She gave him a sad smile. “But now’s your chance to play hero for Gracie.”

He frowned. “Whoa, I’m nobody’s hero.”

“You’re going to bat for your daughter. Any girl would love it.”

He studied her for a moment. “Who was your hero Jenny?”

“Not all girls are lucky enough to have one.”

Evan couldn’t take his eyes off her. He was getting in deeper and deeper as he watched Jenny. She got along with everyone. Not that Sean and Matt Rafferty weren’t pushovers for a pretty woman, but he could see they truly liked her. And Gracie was excited just to have her here. He couldn’t remember this much joy during a meal with Meg. In fact, they hadn’t had many family dinners. Why hadn’t he seen it before? Was he so busy that he didn’t take the time to notice? Or had Meg wanted it that way?

Throughout their marriage, it had been that way with most things. Even though he’d put his blood and sweat into this land, for a long time he’d felt more like the Kercher family’s hired hand than their son-in-law. Not that he wanted a free pass, but acceptance would have been nice. After their deaths, he and Meg had worked doubly hard to keep striving toward their dream. For the life of him, he couldn’t remember now what that was.

Suddenly, laughter broke out, bringing him back to the present as he caught the girls with their heads together, sharing secrets. Gracie looked at him. “Do you know any jokes, Daddy?”

He stole a glance at his dad, then back at his daughter. “I haven’t heard a good one in a long time. You tell me one first.”

She looked unsure at first, then asked, “Where do snowmen keep their money?”

“I don’t know. Where?”

“In a snow bank.”

A cute blush covered Gracie’s cheeks.

Evan laughed. “Okay, I got one. How do you make a hot dog stand? Steal its chair.”

Gracie groaned along with Jenny.

“I know another one. What is a tree’s favorite drink? Root beer.”

Gracie’s eyes widened. “Okay, I have one. Why did the tomato turn red? It saw the salad dressing. Get it? The salad was getting dressed.”

Evan loved her responding to him. “What has a lot of keys but can’t open any doors?”

“A piano,” everyone answered in unison.

“Okay, I guess that one’s been around a while.”

“It’s still funny, Daddy,” Gracie assured him. “That was fun. Maybe we can play more games.”

Another shock to him. “Okay.” Evan stood and began to stack the plates. “Why don’t we do the dishes first?”

Jenny got up too. “I’ll help.”

“Me, too.” Gracie picked up her plate and followed everyone to the kitchen.

Jenny enjoyed watching the interaction between Evan and Gracie. She wanted to leave the twosome alone, but it might be too obvious. She returned to the table to clear the rest of the dishes. Sean was there.

“Hey, the cook doesn’t clean up,” she told him.

“I’ll stop after I take these in.”

Jenny glanced into the kitchen and saw Evan tie an apron around Gracie’s small frame.

“It does my heart good to see those two together.” Sean looked at her. “You brought this on, Jenny girl. Sometimes my son has trouble seeing what’s right in front of him.”

“It would have happened sooner or later,” she assured him. “Just the fact that he wants to play an active role in her life means a lot.”

Sean sighed. “It should have happened a long time ago. It’s sad that Megan and Evan didn’t have a better marriage. It was never a perfect match.” He beamed. “Except they made the perfect little angel.”

Jenny had suspected that things between husband and wife hadn’t been as perfect as people believed. “Gracie’s precious, and she loves her daddy.”

“And my son loves her right back, though he may have trouble showing it.” Sean sighed. “Years ago, when his mother left, Evan took it hard. Probably the reason he holds back his feelings.”

“We’re all afraid of getting hurt,” Jenny said, not realizing she’d said it out loud. “I’d say Evan’s pretty lucky to have you and Gracie.”

Those big burly arms went around her. “You have us, too, lass. And any father would be blessed to call you his daughter.”

She felt tears welling and pulled back. “Thank you. Well, we’d better get these dishes finished so we can play a game before Gracie goes to bed. And I need to get home.”

And away from what she’d always wanted. The perfect family.

Two hours later, Jenny closed her eyes in the passenger seat. She was enjoying the quiet music playing on the radio and Evan’s company as he drove her back to town.

Talking would only interrupt the intimacy created in the darkness of the truck cab. She was surprised when he reached across the seat and took her hand.

“I have to say, I haven’t had such a nice evening in a long time. And Gracie.” He shook his head. “Let’s say I haven’t seen her this happy since … well, in a long time.”

“She’s happy because she has your attention.”

He pulled into the alley and parked behind the store. There was a soft light overhead, leaving shadows in the cab. He shut off the engine and turned toward her.

“What about you, Jenny? Could you use some attention?” Time slowed as he tugged her gently toward him. He slid his hand around the back of her neck. “I know I’d want some of yours.”

She weakly tried to pulled back. “I thought we weren’t going to do this?”

“I can’t seem to help myself.”

Jenny couldn’t seem to fight it any longer as Evan leaned down and covered her mouth with his. She was unable to resist his taste and the feel of him. Then she opened her mouth, their tongues touched and there wasn’t any denying the desire.

He slipped his fingers into her hair and held her as he explored her mouth. Jenny’s hands found his shirt, holding on tight, trying to resist, but she was losing the battle quickly.

This was not a good idea. There were too many reasons to stop, but she couldn’t deny what they both wanted. And darn if he wasn’t a great kisser.

With the last of her common sense urging her, she pulled back. “Rafferty, we need to stop. This isn’t a good idea.”

“That’s the last thing I want right now. I want you, Jenny Collins.”

She pressed her forehead against his. “Don’t say that. You need to go home, be with Gracie.”

Working to steady his breathing, Evan concentrated on slowing down. He’d never ached for a woman like this, and the last thing he wanted was to leave Jenny tonight.

“My daughter’s asleep. This is adult time.” He took teasing bites along her jaw, then finally closed his mouth over hers again. It wasn’t enough as he tried to pull her closer, moving his hands over her.

Jenny gasped as he worked his hand under her shirt and finally touched her breasts. He wanted more.

He groaned. “You’re killing me, woman.”

“You started this, Rafferty.”

Evan pulled away, looked down at her. He started to speak when something distracted him, and he glanced over her shoulder.

“Someone’s in the shop,” he whispered and waited. “I see a light moving past the window. And the back door is partly open.” He climbed out of the truck and whispered through the open window. “Call the sheriff.”

“No!” She grabbed at him. “Evan, you can’t go in there.”

“Call them.” He disappeared through the back door.

Jenny grabbed her cell phone from her purse and punched in the numbers as Evan went inside.

“Emergency, 911.”

“Someone broke into the Blind Stitch quilt shop on Main Street,” Jenny told the dispatcher. “Please, send someone quick.”

“Are you inside, ma’am?”

“No, in the alley behind the store, but my friend went inside.”

“Then you stay where you are. A patrol car has been dispatched to the location, so wait for the officer, ma’am.”

Jenny was about to hang up when she saw the door open and a shadow appeared. Someone dressed in black took off down the alley. “A man came out of the shop,” she said over the phone. “He’s running down the alley toward Maple Avenue.”