by Lori Wick
“I didn’t. Is she favoring that leg?”
“I don’t think so, but if you could check it.”
Rylan easily lifted the hoof in his hands, and checked the area, but he found no swelling.
“I’m not seeing it, Mr. Falcone, but the Marling brothers would be the folks to ask. They’re the experts in town when it comes to horses.”
“Yes, I’ll do that. Thank you, Rylan.”
Rylan moved toward Sabrina as soon as Mr. Falcone left, but that woman had her back to him. She seemed to be studying something on the wall, and Rylan ended up standing with her, watching a spider at work.
Sabrina still hadn’t realized that Mr. Falcone had left when she spotted iron hooks on the wall below the spider’s web. Some were larger than others, and Sabrina took a small one from the nail it was hanging on and turned to find Rylan a few feet behind her.
“Do you sell these?”
“Yes. The large ones are six cents, and the one in your hand is three.”
“How do you hang them?”
Rylan took it from her hand and showed her the top.
“You can loop this over a nail, or put the nail in first and then drive it in tight.”
“Do you sell nails?”
“Well, I think if you buy a hook and need the nail, we just give you that.”
93 Sabrina nodded thoughtfully, thinking about the spot in her kitchen where she could hang her pot. She had no place for it but the stove.
“Is that why you came in?” Rylan asked, fairly certain of the answer.
“Oh! No, it’s not.” Sabrina looked as surprised as she felt. “Jeanette’s
sewing machine isn’t working, and she asked me to tell you.” Rylan nodded. “Tell Jeanette that Pete probably won’t be in before
dinnertime, but as soon as he arrives, I’ll head that way.” “Thank you,” Sabrina said. She started toward the door.
“Did you want the hook?” Rylan asked, something in him wanting
to talk to her a little more.
“Not this week,” Sabrina said. “Maybe next.”
“What happens next week?” Rylan was too curious not to ask. “I’ll have a little more money and maybe a hammer.”
“You can always borrow a hammer from me,” Rylan said, won dering
why the first thing he wanted to say was that he would put
the hook up for her.
“Oh, thank you. I’ll remember that.”
“I’ll see you later,” Rylan said, making himself turn away. The temptation to keep talking to Sabrina Matthews was arrestingly strong.
This one goes to Mrs. Potts. She’s on Bond Street in the blue house. And this one goes to Mrs. Gornik, two doors down.
Because the machine was broken, Jeanette was doing handwork and Sabrina was making deliveries. This was not normal for Jeanette’s shop-or so she told Sabrina-but she thought it might be best until the machine was working again.
And the day was nice-not a cloud in the sky and warm. Sabrina loved the feel of it on her face and the way it seemed to soak into her black hair. She was enjoying the sensation so much she suddenly realized she was lost. She thought she had found the right street, but
94 there was no blue house. She looked across the way, spotted Patience Dorn pegging out laundry in her backyard, and went that way. “Good morning,” Sabrina greeted.
“Well, Bri, how nice to see you.”
“Do you know where Mrs. Potts lives? I’m to make a delivery.” “Go two streets over, and you’ll find her in the blue house.” “Thank you.”
“Before you go, Bri, are you free for supper tonight?” “I am, thank you. What time?”
“Just come after work. We eat about five-thirty, or whenever Jeb gets in the door.”
“I’ll plan on it.”
“We’ll see you this evening.”
Sabrina made the deliveries without mishap and was almost back to the shop when she spotted Bret Toben. He tipped his hat to her but kept moving. Sabrina was nothing but relieved. Bret would have been disappointed to learn that his act of indifference hadn’t worked at all.
“Here you go, Rylan.” Miranda Vick passed him the potatoes as soon as she’d served Heidi, and her older brother, Franklin. Parker, younger than Heidi by almost two years, already had his food, and the baby, Nellie, would eat from Miranda’s plate.
“Thank you, Miranda. I’ve been looking forward to this all day.” “As have we. Parker has something to tell you.”
Rylan looked at the little boy sitting next to his father, and smiled in anticipation.
“I know Jesus,” Parker said, the smile in his eyes matching the one on his mouth.
“Well, Parker,” Rylan said, not mentioning that Chas had told him all about this the day before. “That is very fine news. Can you tell me about it?”
95”Mama talked to me, and I believe Jesus died for my sins.”
Rylan had to clear his throat. This family was very special to him, and this news was very near and dear to his heart. It didn’t help that Miranda had tears in her eyes, and if the clearing of Chas’ throat was any indication, it also seemed to be suddenly full.
“We have a great, saving God, Parker, who loves you very much,” Rylan said with quiet conviction. “I know your parents are going to teach you all about Him. Are you excited to learn?”
The little boy nodded, and everyone turned to their food. The emotions were still there, but for the moment it was best to ignore them. Rather than having Parker see him cry, Rylan was glad to have Miranda’s delicious meal to turn to. It was yet another thing that God provided and a reason to give Him thanks.
“So Meg spent her summer here, and that’s how she and Brad fell in love?” Sabrina clarified, having enjoyed the story Patience shared.
“That’s right. She’d been coming to spend her summers with us for years, but Brad never noticed her before the summer of ‘77.” “And they were married that fall,” Jeb added.
“And now they have a baby,” Sabrina put in.
“Isn’t she adorable?” Patience asked, not afraid of anyone disagreeing.
“Yes, she is. I noticed that she smiles all the time.”
“Have you seen her with Brad or Trace?” Jeb asked. “She adores her father and uncle.”
The whole evening went this way. Jeb and Patience shared their lives with Sabrina and put in gently asked questions of their own. Sabrina was as open with them as she had been with everyone else, but for some reason, talking about Denver this night made her ache. She missed Danny and Callie and wondered for the first time in a long while what might have happened to her sister.
96 For this reason, she walked back to her apartment very slowly. There was plenty of light in the sky when she left the Dorns, and she assured Jeb she would be fine, but she dawdled and before she knew it, the air was cooling and the sky was growing dim. She was on Willow Street, her building just ahead, when she heard a commotion, a man yelling, a woman crying, and the pathetic, tinny cry of an infant.
97
SABRINA DIDN’T THINK, AND she didn’t hesitate but went to the door
of the house in front of her and opened it. A man was standing over a woman, his arm raised to strike her, and strike her he did.
“Stop that!” Sabrina ordered and started toward him, but the man only reached back long enough to slap her away.
Sabrina was thrown back, her face hurting, but she was made of sterner stuff. As soon as she scrambled to her feet, she attacked the man from the back, raking his face with her nails. He turned from hitting the woman and bellowed, throwing Sabrina off in the process before running for the door.
Sabrina went to the woman, who had fallen into one corner. She was unconscious, her face a mass of bruises. She heard noise behind her and turned for another attack, but it was a woman.
“What happened?”
The light was too dim, but Sabrina knew that voice.
“Crystal, is that you?”
“Yeah.”
>
“Go for the doctor and the sheriff. Hurry!”
It was no small task, but Sabrina lifted the small woman and took
98 her to the bedroom. She laid her across the rumple of bedclothes and covered her as best she could. Not until all this was done did she go back to the living room and pick up the tiny creature in the basket. Her heart caught in her throat when she realized how small it was.
Oh, God, please, Sabrina’s heart prayed. It’s so tiny. Please God-please help it.
Sabrina suddenly felt the warmth and the wet all at the same time. The baby’s skin was very warm, but the thin blanket was soaked through. The lantern was dim, but she rummaged near the basket and found a dry cloth. Stripping off everything, the baby in a crying frenzy, Sabrina rewrapped the infant and snuggled her close. A girl, a small baby girl, so new her umbilical cord was still long.
She had only just quieted her when a man came in the door. He identified himself as Sheriff Kaderly and asked what had happened.
“A woman’s been beaten. I put her on the bed.”
Nate said nothing else but went toward the bedroom. Sabrina sat in the room’s only available chair, held the baby close, and begged God for some kind of miracle.
Rylan had not been home ten minutes when oneof Nate’s deputies, Lewis Varner, came for him. Not for a shooting this time but for a woman who’d been beaten. There was a newborn in the house, and the woman was in a bad way.
Rylan came into the small home, little more than one room and a bedroom, and found Sabrina sitting in one corner, the baby in her arms. The emotions that rushed through him at that point were a surprise, but he didn’t take time to question her. Nate had come to the bedroom door, expecting him, and Rylan went that way.
Doctor Ertz was present, and the woman was talking a little. Rylan came in and waited while the doctor saw to her needs. He then pulled a chair close the bed.
“I’m Pastor Rylan Jarvik. Can you tell me your name?”
99 “Eliza,” the woman whispered. “My baby…”
“Your baby is in the other room. A friend of mine, a woman, is holding her. Would you like to see her?”
Rylan saw the sheriff leave to get Sabrina. Rylan kept his eyes on Eliza and saw the relief when she spotted her infant, now quiet in Sabrina’s arms.
“How old is the baby?” Rylan asked.
“Two days.”
“What’s the baby’s name?” Rylan asked next.
“Mirabel.”
“You need to feed her,” the doctor ordered, having checked the baby before Sabrina went in. “She needs milk.”
“I’ll help her,” Sabrina said, and waited only for the men to clear out. It took a little doing-she learned this was Eliza’s first baby-but eventually the baby was settled at her breast.
“You’re the new one,” Eliza said when the baby had latched on. She looked up at Sabrina through swollen eyes.
“The new what?”
“The pretty one who’s in the wrong neighborhood.”
“Don’t believe everything you hear,” Sabrina said, watching the baby eat.
Eliza gave a small sigh and closed her eyes. Sabrina stayed for just a moment more and then slipped from the room.
Not until she came from the bedroom did the men see the marks on her face. Nate, who had been joined by another deputy, Thorn Koeller, wasted no time asking Sabrina what had happened.
“I can’t remember all of it. He was hitting her, and I grabbed him.”
“And he hit you,” the sheriff supplied.
“I fell back, so he must have. I scratched his face. I remember that.”
Rylan watched her intently during all of this, thinking he didn’t know another woman in town who would be as calm as she was in the midst of this situation. The sheriff was starting to say something
100 more, but Sabrina quickly excused herself. Nate did nothing to stop her, but Rylan followed her outside.
“Crystal,” Sabrina called to the woman who had walked past. She
came back. Very little light spilled out of the house, but it was enough
to show Rylan the type of dress the other woman was wearing. “Who was that man?” Sabrina asked.
“He takes care of Eliza sometimes,” she said, not willing to give his name. “I don’t think he knew about the baby.”
“Will he be back?”
“Sure.” Her voice was matter-of-fact. “He lives there when he’s in town.”
“She needs someone to sit with her.”
“I’m working.”
“Take the night oft” Sabrina ordered, her tone flat.
“I’ll go in,” Crystal said after a longsuffering sigh, “but not with the sheriff there.”
“I don’t think he’ll be much longer. Stay close.”
“Yes, Mother,” Crystal said in angry sarcasm, but Sabrina ignored
it.
“I’ll check on her tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“Haven’t you heard?” Sabrina’s own sarcasm came to the fore. “I’m the pretty one who’s in the wrong neighborhood.”
Crystal couldn’t help herself. She laughed.
“Who’s that?” she asked when she had her breath, and Sabrina turned to find a huge shape behind her.
“Hello,” Rylan said calmly. “I’m Rylan Jarvik, Sabrina’s pastor.” “I’ve heard of you,” Crystal said. “You helped Maggie last year.” “How is she?”
“I think better.”
“Tell her I said hello,” Rylan said and then spoke to Sabrina. “I’m going to go back in to see if Eliza wants me to pray with her. Then I’ll walk you home.”
“It’s not that far,” Sabrina began, but Rylan took her hand and
101led her back inside. He didn’t relinquish that hand until he was back in the bedroom. The chair was still close to the bed but vacant, and Rylan sat back down.
“Your baby seems happy to be back with you,” Rylan said, his voice kind as he gazed down at the sleeping infant.
“She’s a good baby.”
Rylan nodded. “Sheriff Kaderly sends for me when someone’s been hurt or grieving, but I don’t have to stay. I can pray for you if you like, but it’s your choice.”
“I haven’t talked to God in a long time. I never make it to church.”
“Since God is everywhere, we don’t have to be in a church building to pray. We can call out to Him wherever we are.”
“I don’t want God here,” Eliza said. “It’s not a nice place.”
“He’s here, Eliza, all the time, but I won’t force you to talk about
it.”
Eliza’s head shifted uncomfortably on the pillow, and Rylan rose.
“Hey, Pretty,” Eliza said, but Sabrina didn’t turn.
“Sabrina.” Rylan had caught it and called her name. “Eliza wants to speak with you.”
Sabrina turned to the woman in the bed and went a little closer.
“Thanks for taking care of my baby.”
“You’re welcome. Crystal’s going to come tonight. I’ll check on you tomorrow.”
Eliza stared at her but didn’t comment. Sabrina didn’t either. She turned and walked from the room and found Rylan waiting for her. Without a word, he led the way outside, clearly planning to walk her the short distance home as he’d said.
“How did you come to be in that house?” Rylan asked when
102 they both stood at the bottom of Sabrina’s stairs. There was a bit of a moon, but they were basically talking in the dark.
“I heard a woman cry out and went in.”
“From your apartment?”
“No, I was walking by.”
More retorts than Rylan could keep track of sprang to his lips, but he didn’t utter any of them.
“Does Sheriff Kaderly always send for you?” Sabrina asked, finding this rather interesting.
“Yes. He has for so many years that it seems normal to me.” “And what do you do?”
“Just what I did tonight. I come a
nd I pray with folks if they want it.”
“Do they ever?”
“Some have. In fact some folks in the church family are people I met with during times like this.”
Sabrina wanted to ask if any were former prostitutes, but she kept the question to herself.
“Are you all right?” Rylan asked.
“Yes, are you?”
“I didn’t get hit tonight,” Rylan explained. “And unless I misunderstood what happened, you haven’t even had time to put a cool cloth on your face.”
“You’re not like I thought,” Sabrina said thoughtfully, feeling safe to admit it in the dark.
“How’s that?”
“I don’t know. I just didn’t picture you being so kind.” “It’s easy to be kind when you care about people.”
“I can see that you do.”
“I think I would have to say the same about you. After tonight, I don’t know how I could think anything else.”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” Sabrina asked, suddenly feeling uncertain.
“I think it is,” Rylan said, even as he wanted to tell her that she
103 couldn’t keep breaking up fights, that tonight she might have gotten off easy.
“Thank you for walking me home, Pastor Rylan.”
“You’re welcome. I hope you sleep well.”
“Thank you. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Sabrina.”
Before he could move away, she told him she would see him Sunday. Rylan didn’t correct her, but he planned on seeing her before then. He would be at Jeanette’s tomorrow, as soon as he could manage it, to check on her face.
Rylan was at Chas’ door first thing in the morning. Chas was the elder he was closest to, the one who tended to ask him the toughest questions and hold him most accountable. Rylan was feeling things about a woman he barely knew, and he needed prayer. He started by explaining his evening to Chas and then waited.
“She went in and stopped this man’s attack?”
“Yes. I haven’t seen her today, but he hit her and there was some bruising.”
Chas stared at him, and Rylan’s heart spilled over.
“There’s something special about her, Chas. I’ve never been drawn to anyone like this.”
“And your heart wants to gallop.”
“It does,” Rylan agreed, laughing at the very words he’d used in the pulpit many times. mostly stopped today to talk to you because I need your prayers. I need to think clearly and not be blinded by emotion.”
