Something was in his barn. Something that shouldn’t be. He had to walk past it to exit. And he needed to do it now before anyone else in the family came into the structure.
Levi released the door latch and made his way to the front of the barn, instinctively stepping carefully and quietly as he’d been taught to do. The afternoon sun was no longer directly overhead but had started to shift to the west. It wouldn’t set for hours, but as it streamed in through the windows in the rear of the barn, it cast long shadows across the floor.
Shadows that revealed that it was no animal trapped inside with him. It was a human.
Briefly, his hand twitched, wishing for the gun he’d carried for so many years.
Immediately he chastised himself. He was no longer a soldier. He’d been baptized into the Amish church. The Amish didn’t believe in using guns against another person, not even to protect oneself. Guns were for hunting.
Clearing his mind, he focused on finding out who was hiding in his barn and why. He stepped closer.
A sniffle came from just beyond the first stall.
A sniffle?
Some of the tension drained from his shoulders. No longer bothering to mute his steps, he strode to the front and pulled the gate back from the stall. Crouching down inside, huge blue eyes staring up at him from a pale face, prayer kapp covered by a black bonnet, was a young woman in an unadorned black mourning dress.
A face he’d seen less than two hours ago.
He saw the scratches and scrapes on her face and hands, some of them smeared with blood. Those hadn’t been there when he’d talked with her. Nor had she had such fear in her eyes. Something had gone very wrong since he’d last seen Jacob’s little sister.
What had Jacob said his sister’s name was? Lucy? Nee. Lilah.
“It’s Lilah, jah?” She bobbed her head once, her gaze fearful. He softened his tone. “Why are you hiding in my barn?”
“I’m sorry,” she gulped out, so low he leaned forward to hear her better. “I had nowhere else to go.”
Levi scratched the back of his neck. Well, the sun was still up. It wouldn’t take much to hitch up his mare. “Can I help you? Drive you back to the Hostetler haus?”
“Nee!” She bounded to her feet at the suggestion.
Panicked. That was the word for the look on her face. He hadn’t seen anyone that distraught since his soldier days.
“Easy!” He lifted his hands. He was surprised that her gaze didn’t veer toward his hand. He’d seen her staring at it earlier. Instead, her blue gaze remained on his face. He put the reaction aside. There were more important things to deal with now. “I’m Levi. Levi Burkholder. I met you earlier, remember? Your brother was my farrier. Would you let me help you? You’re hurt.”
He motioned to her scratches. Her hands rose to her face as if she hadn’t even realized.
He continued to speak softly. “You don’t want me to take you home? Won’t your family be missing you?”
The terror in her blue eyes pierced the armor he’d built around his heart. He winced.
“I can’t go home. Someone is after me. They shot at me.”
His mouth dropped open. Now, that was unexpected. Hopefully she was mistaken. He took a step toward her. She cringed away from him.
“Look, I won’t hurt you. You’re hurt, and you’re in my barn. Why don’t we go up to my haus? My mamm is home. She can tend to you. Maybe get you something to eat?”
She eyed him for a moment longer before nodding.
“Do you have a husband or any other family that I should notify?”
To his surprise, she shook her head. Most women her age were married. Jacob hadn’t said she was married. He hadn’t said she wasn’t, either. All he’d said was his sister was the same age as his wife, Hannah. Levi kicked his curiosity aside. It was none of his business why she wasn’t married.
When she stepped out of the stall, he saw that she was almost as tall as he was. Maybe three or four inches less than his own five foot eleven. The haunted expression on her face was too familiar. He’d seen it on soldiers in battle. It hurt him to look at her.
Averting his eyes from her, he opened the door and gestured for her to precede him out of the barn.
She hesitated for a moment, her huge eyes roaming his face. His face warmed under her gaze. He wasn’t used to people watching him so closely.
He opened his mouth to try and convince her when the sound of a motor coming over the hill reached his ears. All the color drained from her face.
She ducked back down inside the barn. “I can’t let him see me!”
Levi poked his head out the door and watched a Jeep drive past. It was so covered in dirt and dust that he couldn’t honestly make out the color. It could have been blue, gray or even green for all he could tell.
“Okay, look. The car is past. Let’s go into the haus. I’ll help you figure it out. Jah?”
He held the door open and waited. Something had her scared. He remembered her saying that someone was after her. Levi had seen too many innocent people suffer from the hands of others. A little more than five years ago, Sophie Forster, the wife of his best friend and former military buddy from the Englisch world, Aiden Forster, had been on the run with her young sister. He had helped Aiden rescue the two women. To this day, he shook his head at the thought of anyone wanting to harm Sophie or her spunky little sister, Celine.
He would not sit by and watch another innocent suffer.
He trained his eyes on the shaking figure in front of him. She was terrified. And alone. He was honor bound to assist her. He might no longer be a soldier, but he would still honor the code ingrained in him.
Slowly, she stood up straight and said, “Jacob told me the fire that had killed him wasn’t an accident.”
Levi stared at her, the hair raised on the back of his neck. What had his friend gotten into?
Copyright © 2021 by Dana Roae
Love Harlequin romance?
DISCOVER.
Be the first to find out about promotions, news and exclusive content!
Facebook.com/HarlequinBooks
Twitter.com/HarlequinBooks
Instagram.com/HarlequinBooks
Pinterest.com/HarlequinBooks
ReaderService.com
EXPLORE.
Sign up for the Harlequin e-newsletter and download a free book from any series at
TryHarlequin.com
CONNECT.
Join our Harlequin community to share your thoughts and connect with other romance readers!
Facebook.com/groups/HarlequinConnection
ISBN-13: 9781488072406
Peril on the Ranch
Copyright © 2021 by Lynette Eason
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
For questions and comments about the quality of this book, please contact us at [email protected].
Love Inspired
22 Adelaide St. West, 40th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E3, Canada
www.Harlequin.com
ale(100%); -o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
Peril on the Ranch Page 20
