I felt a little awkward taking it, but I got out of my comfort zone and did just that.
“Thank you for everything that you have done for me, my family and the community. Aaron was right about you.”
“What did he say?” I ventured.
“That you were one hell of a woman.”
29
I was surprised to see Mariah and Brandy waiting in the hallway for me when I left Rowan’s room. They quickly walked over together and stopped in front of me while Daniel hung back at a discreet distance.
My gaze passed between the two girls, the most unlikely of friends. Mariah’s skin was still a little pale, but much of the youthful pink complexion had returned to her face, and although her eyes were bloodshot, they were bright and alert. She was wearing a fresh, sky blue dress that matched her eyes perfectly. The cap on her head was crisp and white and concealed all of her brown hair, except for a little bit right above her forehead. She looked tired, but the girl was definitely going to be okay.
Brandy was Mariah’s polar opposite. She wore a fitted jean jacket and tan suede boots. Her red hair hung wildly around her shoulders and her brown-eyed gaze sparked with energy. I briefly wondered how the two girls had become friends in the first place when Mariah began speaking.
“My parents are waiting for me in the van, but they allowed me to come looking for you.”
I raised a questioning brow at Brandy and she smiled. “I came in to see Mariah. She’s one of my buddies,” she said as she reached over and put her arm around Mariah’s shoulders and gave a squeeze.
“You’re lucky to have a friend like Brandy. If it wasn’t for her calling me, you might not have gotten to the hospital in time,” I told Mariah.
Mariah nodded vigorously. “I know. I’m so thankful for both of you.” She blinked, trying to hold back the tears. “I’ll never do anything like that again.”
I searched her eyes for a moment and decided that she was sincere. I still wondered what drove her to play around with drugs in the first place and said, “It’s not as easy as just having the desire to straighten out your life, Mariah. There’s always another reason for that kind of behavior. And I know with you being Amish and all, it’s even more complicated.”
Mariah’s face sobered and she swallowed. She understood me perfectly.
“Mother is going with me next week to a special home for Amish kids who have…issues…like me. She’s going to stay there with me until I’m all better.”
“And don’t forget, I’m going to visit you every weekend until you get out,” Brandy promised.
I looked between the girls, feeling comfortable with Abner and Joanna Fisher’s course of action for their daughter. I was sure that it would be difficult for the picture perfect Amish couple to accept that their child needed more help than they could give her, but they were doing the right thing. Mariah had the real opportunity of a happy future, especially with the support of a friend such as Brandy, unlike poor Naomi.
For the very first time since I had walked up to Naomi’s body lying in the cornfield, I was able to think about her without a pounding sense of regret that I wasn’t able to save her. Somehow, helping Mariah and little Cacey erased all the anxieties about my first Blood Rock Amish case. I smiled. It was nice to feel a little bit lighter for a change.
Mariah and Brandy said their goodbyes, but before they’d gone more than a few feet, Mariah raced back and threw her arms around me. The hug was very quick, but also very strong.
When she pulled back, I assured her, “I’ll get the information about that home you’re going to from your mom before I leave. Maybe I’ll pay you a visit myself.”
Mariah’s eyes rounded, “Oh that would be wonderful!” Mariah glanced at Daniel behind me and then with a quiet voice asked, “When are you leaving?”
I thought for a moment and answered, “I desperately need some sleep. I’m heading back to the Schwartz’s to take a nap and then we’ll be on our way, I believe.”
“I’ll see you soon then,” Mariah smiled deeply and then hurried away with Brandy.
I thought back to the first time I had met the Amish girl and how distant and cool she’d appeared. It turned out that she was a bubbly teenager, after all. Just proved how messed up drugs could make a person.
“That was nice,” Daniel said simply.
I grinned up at him and admitted, “Yeah, it was.”
The sun was shining brightly when we exited the hospital and I was thinking how grateful I was that the snow from the night before had been cleared out of the parking lot when I heard my name called out.
I turned to see Brody striding purposely towards me.
“Can I have a word with you?” Brody asked, looking straight at me.
“Sure,” I said, kind of wishing that we had left a few minutes earlier.
“You did some good police work,” Brody said, surprising me. He quickly added, “Of course you broke about every rule of investigative etiquette imaginable, but you kept a level head, and that’s saying a lot in this town.”
“Thanks...I think,” I replied.
“Asher’s violent death was bound to happen sometime, but I wish Jotham hadn’t died in the process.” He took a breath and paused for a moment, thinking, and went on to say, “I remember the day I responded to the Schwartz’s house explosion. If Jotham hadn’t of protected that little Amish girl with his own body, she would have died for sure, just like her momma.”
I stared at Brody for a second wondering if he’d still feel bad about Jotham’s death when Rowan told him the whole truth about the fire that took his grandson’s life, but I highly doubted it. Human nature kept even a decent man from taking pity in a situation like that. I was hoping that I was wrong though.
Deciding to leave the details to Rowan, I said, “Are you going in to talk to Rowan now?”
Brody’s mouth tightened, “Yeah, along with getting a statement from Julian West. He was too out of it to say anything coherent last night.”
“You might have to wait on your conversation with Rowan. He was with the nurse, the last I saw,” I offered.
Brody’s brows rose high. “Did you already speak to him?”
“Just to tell him that Anna King was taking care of his kids,” I lied easily.
“I take it you’ll be heading home soon,” Brody said it in a nice way, but it was more of a command than a question.
“If there isn’t anything else you need from me, we’re heading out later today,” I said casually.
Brody nodded, “If I think of something, I know where to find you.” He shook Daniel’s hand and then mine, and was about to walk away when he paused, and said, “When you see him, tell Tony, I said hello. He needs to come up for a visit and a poker game.”
I sighed with irritation, “Sure thing.”
This time we’d just about made it to the car when Brody called after me once again.
“I know that you have a pretty snug arrangement in Blood Rock, but if you’re ever in need of a change of scenery, I’d be honored to have you in my department.” Brody tipped his hat and turned, finally leaving us for good.
“Did he just offer me a job?” I asked Daniel incredulously.
Daniel laughed. “He sure did.”
Driving up to Rowan’s house felt kind of surreal. The day was very much like the first one I had spent at the farm. The sun was shining and all the snow that had fallen the night before was melting quickly in a frenzy of drips from the corral boards and sheds we passed by. The black cows were separated into groups of four or five munching on round bales of hay, and several calves were laid out in the snow, enjoying the sudden warm up.
But what really caught and held my gaze was the pile of barn rubble. It was pushed into a giant, yet neat pile, and where the barn originally stood was a stack of brand new boards. Several men were marking out the dimens
ions of the new structure with stakes and strings and a few others were unloading more boards from the bed of a trailer. Once again, I was amazed by the Amish generosity and work ethic.
“That was quick,” I commented to Daniel as I slowly drove by the workers to park in front of the guest house.
“You’ve got to take advantage of good weather in the winter.” Daniel grinned.
I wondered why he was so damn happy. Had he secretly won the lottery or something?
“I’m going check in on Anna and the kids and say goodbye. I only need about five hours of sleep. We can head out just after dark if it works for you,” I told Daniel.
He was wearing a brown and black flannel shirt beneath his unzipped, stockman coat. The stubble on his jaw was almost a short beard and his eyes were tired, but otherwise he looked amazingly good for someone who had been shot and bitten by a dog the day before. Almost too good, I thought as I experienced the usual butterflies in my belly when I gazed at him.
“I’d like to catch a little more shut eye myself, but I think I’ll go see what the new barn plan is first,” Daniel said in a silky tone that was completely different than his usual tough-guy voice.
Our eyes stayed locked. I couldn’t turn away, yet. I could almost smell the primitive scent of mutual desire in the air. My heart actually began racing. It was so uncomfortable that I broke contact and stepped out of the car. My knees were a little weak, which irritated me even more.
Not looking back, I went to the house. After knocking lightly, I heard Anna call for me to come in. When I opened the door, the delicious aroma of cinnamon, spices and baking dough assaulted my senses. I took a deep breath as I closed the door behind me, holding it in and savoring it fully before finally exhaling again.
I was surprised that Anna was alone with the girls. I had expected there to be a woman helping in the kitchen for every man working in the barnyard. But I had to admit, I was happy to have a few moments alone with them.
Cacey was covered in flour, but she dropped her ball of dough and jumped off the chair. She crashed into me with a hug. The flour that was all over her was transferred to me, but I didn’t care. I squeezed her back and patted her on the head.
“You’re a hero, Ms. Serenity!” Lucinda cried.
Lucinda had her fair share of flour on her too, but it was mostly concentrated on her apron. She was busily cutting up apples when she paused from her work to make her declaration.
“Not really. It’s just my job,” I tried to convince her.
“Oh, don’t you dare make light of what you did for Cacey and Mariah and the boys,” Anna scolded me.
I shrugged.
Mareena left the stove and put her arms around my middle and murmured, “Thank you for bringing Cacey back to us.” She was only a few inches shorter than me, but she still had to lift her chin to look me in the eye. “I know Mamma would have been happy to hold her again, but we weren’t ready to let her go yet.”
Wetness threatened to fill my eyes at Mareena’s words. I sniffed and stepped out of her embrace. I was way too sleep deprived for that kind of emotional sentiment.
“Are you going home today?” Lucinda asked with a disappointed frown.
“Yeah, I’m afraid so.” I turned to Anna and added, “I’m going to try to get a few hours of sleep before I leave.”
Anna nodded tightly and then turned to the girls. “Let’s bring these mini apple pies out to the men to fill their bellies while they’re working.” When Mareena began to protest, Anna raised her voice and said, “Say your goodbyes, girls, and get going.”
Cacey was the first one to move. She picked up several of the hand-sized pastries and placed them in a basket. She stopped in front of me and handed me one.
“Bye, Ms. Serenity,” she said. Showing what a resilient spirit she had, she smiled up at me and then went out the door with a marching stride of determination to do what Anna had told her to.
Mareena and Lucinda filled their baskets more sluggishly and I caught a glimpse of Anna rolling her eyes. She had adapted to the role of their mother easily.
“Will you ever come back to visit us?” Lucinda asked after she hugged me for a long time.
I didn’t hesitate. “Sure I will, maybe even this summer.”
“That would be lovely,” Mareena said. Her eyes were wet, too, and she hurriedly turned away and left with Lucinda.
When the door was shut and we were alone, I glanced at Anna before sitting at the kitchen table and taking a bite of the pie. It tasted as good as it smelled.
After I swallowed, I said, “I take it you want to speak to me alone?”
Anna took the seat across from me and let out a nervous sigh. “Did you see Rowan in the hospital?”
“I did. He’s doing all right, all things considered,” I told her.
Anna breathed and smiled a little with a nod of her head. The poor thing had been strong for the kids, but inside she was a mess. I reached over and touched her hand.
The physical contact caused her emotions to rush out. “Is it true what everyone is saying—that Rowan took responsibility for burning the Gentry barn all those years ago?”
I didn’t want to get into the whole Jotham part of the equation with her. It was too confusing and ultimately, I trusted Rowan to tell his story to the authorities and then to his people. It wasn’t my place to bring it up.
I nodded. “That’s what he said.” When I saw her face drop, I hurriedly added, “but it’s not the end of the world, Anna. Even if it somehow goes to trial and he’s convicted, he won’t have to serve too long, maybe a few years, tops.”
Her eyes widened and then she sighed heavily. “Rowan was always distracted. I thought that it was losing his wife, but maybe it was the barn fire all along.” She stopped and stared into my eyes with her own sharp ones. “Do you think he is a bad man?”
I had already asked myself the same question a dozen times, so I was prepared to answer her quickly. “No. Rowan is a good man who did something very wrong and reckless when he was a stupid teenager. We’ve all done things when we were young that could have turned out badly, but we were lucky. Rowan wasn’t.”
My statement seemed to be just what Anna needed to hear. She stood up and came around the table. When she reached me, she picked up my hands and squeezed. “That’s what I thought. I just needed to hear it from someone else.”
I rose and said, “Rowen is in for a rough time, both healing physically and dealing with the fallout from his confession. The kids are going to need you.”
Anna smiled. “I know and I’m here for them, don’t you worry about that.”
By the time I stepped out of the warm kitchen and into the crisp air, I was wearier than ever. Saying goodbye was never my strong suit, and here I’d been forced to say it a half dozen times in less than an hour.
I lifted my face to the breeze and closed my eyes for a moment. In the short time that I had been in the house, clouds had moved in, blocking the sunshine and dropping the temperature several degrees. But it still felt nice. The cold wind was like a gentle shake to my shoulders, bringing me out of the moody depression that had fallen over me while I had listened to Rowan tell his story.
I stopped at the shed and patted both Dakota and Midnight before heading to the guest house. It was hard to believe that it had only been a few days since I’d shot the mamma cow. The really disturbing thing was accepting the fact that it had been more traumatic for me to put a cow of her misery than to kill Asher Schwartz. When it had happened, I almost took perverse pleasure in ending his wretched life. The only thing that had sobered me was Jotham bleeding out at the same time. Once again, I couldn’t help but wonder if God really had a plan for everyone or if we were all just flying by the seat of our pants.
It was all so depressing, really. Several Amish kids buying illegal narcotics, revenge burnings, overdoses, secrets, lies, ki
dnapping…and several shootings—and all in one northern touristy Amish community. Who would have thought this trip would be so mind blowing. And the really crazy thing was that I still had a week left of vacation.
“Serenity, wait up.”
I stopped and turned around. It was Gabe. Seth waved and went to the house, but Gabe walked up and met me at the door of the cabin. Looking into his blue eyes, a shiver crawled up the skin on my arms. It was as if I was seeing Jotham’s good eye right before he died. There was no mistaking this boy’s identity, but maybe now that Jotham was gone, everyone would forget his exact features. The Amish didn’t keep portraits of themselves, so people had only their memories to guide them. In this case, that was probably a good thing.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Daniel said you’re leaving tonight. Do you have to go so soon? I mean, you didn’t really get to have any fun while you were here.”
His words touched me deeper than any of the goodbyes or even shooting the cow. I quickly wiped the stray tear away and cleared my throat. “I would love to stay, but I have my own town to take care of. I came here to do a job…and that job is finished.”
Gabe nodded slowly. “I understand, but I hope you’ll come back someday.” He hesitated and I knitted my brow together waiting curiously. “You didn’t get to see our community in its best light. It’s not always so…exciting around here.”
I laughed and patted Gabe on the shoulder. “I know that. And I already told your sisters I’m coming back for a proper touristy vacation this summer.”
Gabe grinned and was beginning to leave when I remembered something.
“Wait. There’s something else,” I took a breath, “Jotham wanted me to tell you that he loves you.”
The words hung on the winter air as if they were shirts on a clothes line. I watched confusion play across his face for a moment, and then came understanding. He took a cautious breath and nodded. When he walked away, he stood straight and tall and his stride was long and relaxed.
He was going to be all right.