Evil in My Town

by Karen Ann Hopkins

  “I thought they weren’t coming,” I whispered.

  “Me too,” Daniel replied. He was beaming.

  The last through the doorway were Joshua Miller, his three children, and his elderly grandmother, Nana. I leaned forward to see CJ. The color had drained from her face.

  Joshua’s gaze found CJ immediately and my heart stuttered at the intensity of his stare in her direction. CJ might try to move on and forget about the Amish man, but something in the way he looked at her made me think that he wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

  Once the newcomers had taken their seats or found a space along the wall to stand, the room finally quieted.

  “You may carry on,” the bishop said loudly from the back of the room.

  The crowd erupted in laughter as Daniel and I turned back to the preacher.

  Our ceremony was not very long. The pastor said a Bible verse and a prayer. He spoke for a few minutes about marriage and love. When it came time to exchange our vows, everything that the preacher had just said was a blur. Daniel had explained to me that Amish weddings were three-hour long affairs, sitting on hard benches, and remaining silent except for a few stoic hymns. The main event was the dinner that was usually roasted chicken, with all the trimmings. He had told me that the bride didn’t wear a white dress and the couple didn’t exchange rings. I wondered what the Amish people thought about our wedding, and how Daniel really felt about it. Did a part of him miss being Amish? It was a question that had haunted our relationship from the beginning, and still gave me pause today.

  Daniel tugged on my hand and I turned to him. Will stepped forward and handed Daniel the rings. He offered me an encouraging nod before stepping back to his place with Taylor.

  The cool metal of the ring slipping onto my finger woke me from the cloudy haze.

  “I promise to love you in good times and in bad—completely and forever,” Daniel said.

  I swallowed the knot down in my throat. My heart beat wildly and I felt a little dizzy. But Daniel’s gaze was steady and reassuring. He looked confident, and that confidence gave me the strength to put the ring onto his hand and repeat the vows.

  “I now pronounce you man and wife”—the pastor paused for effect—“you may kiss your bride.”

  “Ah, the best part,” Daniel said.

  He bent down and my lips parted. Whoops and hollers followed, and a thundering applause. Our kiss deepened and the music began. For a moment I was lost in the kiss. Daniel’s arms were around me and his tongue was in my mouth. Everyone else disappeared, and so did the melancholy and bad memories of the past. It was a new beginning. I would embrace it with everything I had. After all, I knew more than most people how fleeting life was. Happiness was a miracle I wouldn’t take for granted.

  Daniel’s mouth pulled away. “I love you, Serenity.”

  “I love you, too.”

  40

  Serenity

  It took a while to work my way around to the Amish contingent. The caterers handed out champagne glasses and Swedish meatballs on tiny plates. There was a cacophony of sounds, from the DJ’s playlist to the guests mingling. Todd was one of the louder voices in the crowd. He was showing off his baby girl and joking around with Nancy about how he was going to ward off any possible suitors for the girl’s attention when she was a teenager.

  Daniel had finally separated from me and was enjoying a slap on the back from his best childhood friend, Lester. Joseph and his dad, Moses, were offering him sage advice on being a good husband. Most of which, they admitted, probably went out the window when you’re married to the sheriff.

  Rebecca and Laura were striking up a conversation while their daughters huddled in the corner, whispering to each other. Seeing the two very different women laughing together raised my spirits even more. Maybe there was hope for Taylor and Sarah after all.

  Daniel’s mother was a petite woman, but the strength of her hug surprised me. “I pray your household will be blessed with children,” she said. Anna wasn’t shy about her desire for even more grandkids.

  I forced a tight smile. “We’re discussing it.” I leaned in. “Trust me, you’ll be one of the first to know when it happens.”

  My choice of words seemed to please her immensely. She smiled from ear to ear.

  “How did you pull this off?” I motioned to the other Amish around the room.

  “There are rules we live by and abide, but sometimes things come up that don’t fit into the mold. This was one of those times. Katherine, Rebecca, and I went before the elders and argued the case for us to come and honor your wedding to Daniel. In years past, nothing we said would have changed the men’s minds, but the events of the last year have changed us all. Without your help and guidance, who knows where we would be. Your actions have saved our children on several occasions. We convinced the bishop and ministers that the respect we hold for you outweighs the act of shunning Daniel.” She tilted her head and leaned in closer, lowering her voice. “It wasn’t very hard to convince the bishop. He wanted to attend.”

  “Thank you for going to bat for us. It means a lot to Daniel—and to me.”

  “I know, dear. You must stop by next week. I have a quilt I made for the two of you. It’s nearly finished, and there’s several quarts of canned soup for your cupboards.”

  Anna was now officially my mother-in-law. My heart fluttered at the thought. But the idea of her homemade soup made my stomach rumble. For all of our cultural differences and their annoying restrictions, one thing I never had a problem with was Amish food.

  Anna left me to join a cluster of women that included CJ, Katherine, Heather, Esther, and Nana. I wondered what they would talk about when my gaze settled on Joshua. He stood close enough to the group conversing with Daniel to be included with them, but his eyes kept drifting back to CJ. I caught her glancing up, meeting his gaze, and looking away.

  A sense of foreboding raced through me, making me clench my hands.

  “Nothing good will come from that, I can tell you.”

  The bishop had snuck up on me. He was looking in the same direction as I, and I had no doubt he was talking about CJ and Joshua.

  “Perhaps I’m wrong. She’s different than Erin Swarey. The young woman might make a fine Amish woman,” the bishop said. His brow rose when he looked at me.

  “That isn’t going to happen,” I said confidently, but my gaze drifted back to CJ. Was love really that blind?

  “Stranger things have happened. You know that better than most.” He raised his head and surveyed the room. “It’s good to see our people mingling and at peace. A celebration is just what was needed to lighten everyone’s hearts.”

  I sighed. “It’s been a rough year. I hope we get a long run of boredom around here. I think we’re due, don’t you?”

  When I looked back at the bishop, he was staring at me. His features were rigid and his eyes shadowed. Goosebumps rose on my arms.

  “We are forever tested in this world of evil.” His attention sharpened. “We are God’s soldiers, you and I. It is our duty to always be ready for the onslaught. I fear another battle is just around the corner.”

  Dammit. It was my wedding day. The crusty old Amish leader was not going to freak me out and ruin my day.

  I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “Do you remember our friends in the Poplar Springs settlement?”

  My mind whirled. Was this conversation really happening? I remembered when the bishop showed up at my office with Rowan Schwartz last winter. There had been a rash of barn burnings in the northern community. They were looking for someone who understood the rules and laws of the outside world, but also respected the Amish culture and its differences. I had been intrigued and reluctantly headed north to investigate. Daniel had helped on the case and it was there, at Rowan’s farm, that we’d finally succumbed to our
attraction for each other. What I had discovered there, turned out to be seedy underground crime world, connected to the Amish that had nearly gotten me killed.

  I drew in a deep breath, forcing my voice to remain steady. “Of course I remember. It would be impossible to forget something like that.”

  He nodded slowly. “Rowan may be in need of our help again. If I call on you in the future, will you be available? Discretion is important in this matter.”

  I felt as if I was in a mafia movie, and the bishop was the head don, pulling the puppet strings and asking for favors. A shiver swept through me, but I liked Rowan and his children. Anna was a good woman. If I had the opportunity to help them, could I possibly turn the bishop down?

  Daniel caught my eye from across the room. He mouthed, I love you. A deep sense of regret filled me. I would forever bring chaos into his life. It would never end.

  As much as I detested it starting all over again, I couldn’t deny the intense curiosity that had suddenly sharpened my senses.

  No, it wouldn’t end—and I couldn’t stop being me. Daniel knew what he was getting himself into when he stuck that ring on my finger.

  I finally met the bishop’s intense gaze. “That’s why you came to the wedding, huh?”

  He shrugged. “It made the women happy, and I was hoping you’d appreciate the gesture.”

  “Cut the bullshit. You don’t have to manipulate me to get your way. I’ll do whatever I can to help Rowan and his family, and you know it.”

  “I’m not a betting man, Sheriff. It’s always best to have a backup plan, don’t you think?”

  I reached out and snatched a glass of champagne off the waiter’s tray and took a large gulp. “Oh, yeah, I know all about backup plans.”

  Look for Forbidden Ways, the romantic companion novel to Serenity’s Plain Secrets, to come out in 2019, and the next chapter in Serenity’s story to hit the shelves in 2020

  Thank you for reading!

  You can find Karen Ann Hopkins and all her books at https://www.karenannhopkins.com