“Hey,” he said.
“Hey. So, um, I think I’m going to take the rest of the day off,” she said.
Blake glanced at his watch. “It’s nine forty-five.”
“Yeah.”
How could she explain?
The way Blake’s mouth twitched made her think she wouldn’t have to.
“Go,” he said. “Have fun.”
She ran around his desk and hugged him. “Thanks,” she said.
“Love you,” he called to her as she ran out of the room.
When she got to her car, Jason was waiting. “I wasn’t sure you’d come,” he said as he handed her a large iced coffee. “But I checked your calendar last night and it looked clear, so I thought I’d take a chance.”
“You like checking people’s calendars, don’t you?”
“Do you mind?”
“Not at all. What are we doing?”
“Whatever you’d like to do,” he said.
She climbed into his car. What would she like to do? It was not like she could go home. For now, she and Henry had moved back in with her parents. They’d finally cleared away the last of the debris from the remains of her house and declared the area ready to build on, again, but Caroline had been frozen in indecision about the next step.
Mainly because of the guy sitting next to her.
He winked at her. “Trust me?”
“Of course.”
He pulled the car out of the HPI parking lot, and then a half mile later, he pulled into her driveway. They wound up to the top. To where her house had stood.
He got out and came around to open her door. He took her hand as she exited the car, and he kept it as they walked.
Caroline had a feeling she might know what was going on. Could he feel her trembling?
They got to their spot.
The one they’d shared their first kiss on, fourteen years ago. Her mouth went dry when she realized it was fourteen years ago. To. The. Day.
He pulled her into his arms. “I want to talk to you,” he said.
“Okay.”
He smiled. The smile that had always been for her and her alone. The one that said “I know you and I like what I know about you.”
“Fourteen years ago, I ran away. I ran from you. I ran from my birth father. I ran from anything that might have required me to face up to my fears and my shortcomings.”
“Jason—”
He placed a finger over her lips. “I’m never going to do that again. I love you, Caroline Harrison. I’ve loved you since we were seven years old. I’ve loved you every day and I’ve wondered about you every day and I’ve regretted leaving every day. So, today, I’m asking you for another chance. A do-over. A fresh start.” He looked at the cleared land. “We could rebuild our lives. Right here. Together.”
He kissed her forehead. “This mountain—” he looked around them “—it’s my home, too. I can’t imagine a better place to raise a family. So close to both the grandparents and cousins for Henry, and any other children we have together. I’m in love with you. I adore you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He dropped to one knee and pulled a ring from his pocket. “Caroline Harrison, will you marry me?”
Caroline stared into his eyes and saw everything she’d ever longed to find there. Maturity, commitment, love.
“Yes.” She tried to say it calmly, but the joy bubbled up and she couldn’t stop the laughter that came with it. “Yes, yes, yes!”
He grinned and rose to his feet. “So, when do you think we might be able to do this?”
He kissed her before she had a chance to reply. A kiss that didn’t change her answer but only served to confirm it.
“Soon.”
*
Don’t forget to check out Lynn Huggins Blackburn’s first heart-stopping story
COVERT JUSTICE
Find this and other great reads at www.LoveInspired.com
Keep reading for an excerpt from HIGH DESERT HIDEAWAY by Jenna Night.
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Dear Reader,
I’ve been looking forward to sharing Caroline’s story since she appeared in my first book, Covert Justice. I hope you enjoyed Caroline and Jason’s journey to forgiveness and love.
Caroline’s life hasn’t turned out the way she thought it would, and she’s had to wrestle with whether or not she can trust a God who would allow some of the things that have come into her life.
Jason’s childhood was marred with difficult relationships that have affected the choices he’s made as an adult. He’s had to find a way to get past them and begin the process of forgiveness.
I think most of us have had similar experiences. Ultimately, we know God is in control, but we still struggle when difficulties come our way. Sometimes we blame Him or turn away from Him. When we do, I’m so thankful that He understands when we doubt His goodness. He’s a wonderful Father and is eager to receive us when we turn back to Him.
I’d love to hear your story of God’s faithfulness to you. You can connect with me on social media or via my website at www.lynnhugginsblackburn.com.
Grace and peace,
Lynn
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High Desert Hideaway
by Jenna Night
ONE
The cold steel tip of a gun barrel bit into the side of Lily Doyle’s neck just below her right ear. The man holding the gun angled it slightly upward, so a single round would have maximum effect.
At least if the worst happened, it would be quick.
Please, Lord, Lily prayed, but she was unable to think of any further words after that. Her knees shook and her breaths came in short, shallow gasps.
“Relax!” the gunman yelled and Lily jumped.
A truck rumbled by on the highway outside the Starlight Mart. “Everybody, just relax!” the gunman yelled again. He’d pulled his dusty gray trucker’s hat down low and flipped up the collar of his jean jacket to try and hide his face. Lily didn’t know his name, but she did know he’d taken over the convenience store because he wanted to capture her.
The gunman’s accomplice, wearing sunglasses and a rust-colored hoodie drawn tight around his face, grabbed an energy drink from a display case. He flung it at the security camera near the cash register where Lily was being held, breaking the camera and sending purplish fizz splattering in every direction. Two wide-eyed store clerks, both looking as if they were barely out of their teens, stood behind the front counter, not far from Lily. They had their hands held up. Hoodie grabbed a second energy drink, threw it and knocked out the camera by the front door.
One of the shoppers screamed.
Lily heard a whimpering sound. It came from the trio of high school kids over by the soda cooler.
This wasn’t a robbery. Well, not primarily a robbery. Lily had no idea what these two creeps were capable of, but she did know it was her fault the people in this store were in danger. She’d overheard part of a conversation at her new job that she clearly wasn’t meant to hear. And the two strangers she’d accidentally heard talking had seen her and come after her.
Now she had to do something. Nobody’s going to ride in on a white horse and save the day, Tiger Lily. She’d heard her mother say it a thousand times. It had always been true before. It was true now.
Fear squeezed her rib cage, making it hard to breathe. She took the deepest breath she could, forcing her attention away from the crawling sensation of a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her face. She needed to look around. Figure out her options. There must be something she could do.
Directly in front of her, a scaled-down baker’s rack displayed factory-made muffins, cupcakes and single-serving fruit pies. Through the thick white wires, she could see a wide-eyed woman with her arms wrapped around a boy and girl, maybe five and eight years old, clutching them close to her body.
To the right, midway down the length of cooler doors that covered one wall, stood the trio of teenagers. Slack-jawed and wearing stunned expressions, each one loosely held a neon-colored sports drink as if they’d forgotten they had anything in their hands.
“What are you looking at?” the gunman shouted at Lily as he pulled his arm tighter across the front of her shoulders, forcing her body closer to his. He jammed the tip of his gun harder into her neck, forcing her head to tilt to the side. “You get any smart ideas, you force me to shoot anybody, and their blood will be on your hands.” His lips were close to her ear and his hot, damp breath clung sickeningly to the surface of her skin.
Lily’s racing heart pounded even harder. The interior of the store started to spin a little and she was afraid she might faint. Oh, dear Lord. Help!
She looked through the tall glass windows to the gas pumps outside. Beyond the pumps, a black ribbon of highway wound past the small old store. On the other side of the road, northern Arizona high desert stretched toward jagged mountains. The Starlight Mart sat at a crossroads nearly twenty miles from the nearest town.
A semi rumbled by on the highway but there was no other traffic behind it.
“We’re just gonna get everybody together nice and cozy and locked up in some office or storeroom, and then we’ll be on our way,” the gunman’s accomplice called out.
Lily’s thoughts turned to news stories of people found murdered in the back rooms of businesses that had been robbed. A chill passed through her body, raising goose bumps on the surface of her skin.
The accomplice pulled a gun out of his hoodie pocket and aimed it at the teenagers, motioning for them to move toward the front of the store. One of the kids tripped over her own feet and fell to her knees, hard. The accomplice laughed.
Lily glanced out the windows again. Her car was pulled up to the front door at a crazy angle, the driver’s door still hanging open.
Hoping someone would pull into the parking lot and end this nightmare wasn’t much of a plan, but fear and disbelief made it hard to think of anything better.
Lily’s entire universe had been upended in less than an hour.
Thirty minutes ago she’d been at work and everything was perfectly normal. Then, twenty-five minutes ago she’d stumbled across a conversation she wasn’t meant to hear. Working a little later than usual at her new job as a part-time clerical assistant, she’d walked through an empty office that was adjoined to the break room. Nearly everyone else had already gone home and the building was quiet. She’d heard indistinct voices, but hadn’t thought much about it. Then, she was able to make out snippets of conversation and her mind had begun to understand a strange collection of words. Cops. Cargo. Lay low for a while. Ditch the guns.
Scared, she’d tried to backtrack through the office, away from the break room and the voices. But she’d bumped into a squeaky rolling office chair, and a man she’d never seen before had yanked open a door and spotted her. He’d demanded to know what she’d heard.
He’d shoved aside the door and started toward her, cursing while trying to grab her. Startled and scared, she’d run from him. Her phone and purse were still at her desk, but her keys were in her pocket. Afraid there would be no one in the office to help her, she’d raced to her car.
Outside she’d looked around frantically for help as she ran, but she was on her own. She’d flung herself into her car, locked the doors and fired up the engine. Without looking back she’d sped out of the parking lot and shot down the short private road leading to the highway, anxious to get to her home in Copper Mesa.
Shaking and numb with fear, she’d barely caught her breath when she realized her car’s low-fuel light was blinking. She’d never make it to Copper Mesa. It was too far. She’d have to head in the opposite direction, toward the crossroads, and hope she had enough fuel to make it to the gas station there.
A couple of minutes later she was pulling off the highway at the Starlight Mart, throwing gravel in a rooster tail behind her. She skidded to a stop right at the front door, jumped out of the car and ran inside, yelling at the startled clerks to call for help. They’d stared at her like her hair was on fire.
She’d forced herself to calm down a little, lower the volume of her voice and try to sound reasonable. But then she’d heard the door behind her being shoved open and the sound of quick footsteps. She’d turned just as the man she’d seen in the office grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. That’s when he’d shoved the gun into her neck.
Her brain knew it had only been a few minutes, but it felt as if that gun had been digging into her skin for hours.
Lily looked again at the people in the store, her gaze settling on the woman with the young children. Their lives were in danger as long as Lily was here.
“I’ll go with you,” Lily said to the gunman, her voice a shaky whisper. “No trouble.” When they got outside, she could break away and run to the highway. Someone driving by might see her and stop. That might be enough to make the gunman and Hoodie let her go while they tried to get away.
The front door of the store opened.
A man walked in. A big guy with shaggy dark blond hair sporting a few sun-bleached streaks. Scruffy beard. Heavy boots. Worn jeans with torn knees, a red T-shirt and a beat-up black leather jacket. He looked like a biker. He wore mirrored sunglasses even though it was now dark outside. He probably wanted to hide his eyes because he was drunk. Or high. After a slight pause, he headed straight for the coolers, toward the section in the back where they kept the soda and beer.
Not the kind of person Lily had had in mind when she’d hoped someone would show up. She turned her head slightly to watch him.
“Don’t even think about saying or doing anything.” The gunman slid his pistol down so it was hidden, but now it was pointed at the base of Lily’s spine. “Make a move and you’ll never walk again.”
Lily swallowed thickly.
His accomplice moved closer to the teenagers and lowered his gun out of sight.
The biker reached the coolers and peered through the glass as if he was trying to decide what he wanted to buy.
Hurry up! Lily thought. Get something and get out of here! He would obviously be more trouble than help. His sudden appearance had ramped up the tension in the store tenfold. The gunman was now holding Lily’s arm in a death grip, his fingers digging deeply into her flesh. His breathing was speeding up, as if he might be getting ready to make a move. The store clerks were getting fidgety, and Lily was worried they might try to do something that would get them killed.
Biker man
finally opened a cooler door and grabbed a six-pack of cola-filled cans. Heading toward the cash register, he strode up the aisle toward the man in the hoodie and the group of teenagers. He was tall and broad-shouldered and the cluster of teens moved out of his way.
As he walked past the man in the hoodie, he swung the six-pack and clocked him in the side of the head. In a flash of movement he grabbed the gun from Hoodie’s hand just before Hoodie tumbled into a candy rack and knocked it over. Chocolate bars, mints and packs of gum skittered across the floor as the biker reached beneath his jacket. He pulled out his own pistol and pointed it at the gunman who held Lily. “Drop your weapon!”
The gunman loosened his hold on Lily as he raised his gun to fire at the biker.
It was the chance Lily had been hoping for. She jabbed her right elbow straight back, connecting with the gunman’s ribs. At the same time she raised her left foot and stomped on his instep. Any second she expected to feel the gun blast into the base of her spine or the back of her head, but the gunman shoved her aside as he fired at the biker.
Two cooler doors exploded and glass fell like jagged rain.
The biker disappeared.
*
Deputy Nate Bedford crouched on the floor behind an ice-cream cooler. He peered around the edge of the coffin-shaped container and through some wire display racking, watching the gunman at the counter and the woman he’d held by the arm. The man’s unnaturally tight hold on the woman had been the first thing that had caught Nate’s attention when he’d walked into the store. Then he’d noticed the odd way everyone was standing still. And the uneasy quiet.
The car parked at the front of the store with the driver’s side door hanging open had hinted something might be wrong, too. Or the driver could just be incredibly impatient. Nate had seen it all.
The reflection in the cooler doors as he’d searched for his favorite cola had given him a quick sense of who was where in the store. Who looked terrified, and who looked dangerous and ready to snap. By the time he’d found the drinks he wanted, it was clear he’d have to do something.
Nate was on his way home after spending three months working undercover assisting the Phoenix police department’s narcotics unit. The deep undercover assignment had sharpened his observational skills and fine-tuned his ability to read any environment, though the peculiar situation in the Starlight Mart would have been obvious to anybody who was paying attention to their surroundings.
Hidden Legacy Page 19
