The Gift

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  It was hard not to smile at her—both because of her looks, which were so cute, and her words, which were completely ridiculous.

  Her green eyes flashed in annoyance. “Of course I’m serious. Why would I ever joke about something like this?”

  He was thinking that maybe the question should be more along the lines of why would anyone assume they were being shot at. It was quite a stretch to imagine such a thing. “I’m sure no one was shooting at you, Susanna.”

  “No, you don’t understand. I heard gunshots.”

  “I’m sure you did,” he allowed. “But someone was probably hunting in the woods nearby. I don’t know how things were in Ohio, but here, a lot of men go out hunting the day after Thanksgiving. It’s tradition.”

  The muscles in her throat tightened as it became obvious that she was trying to hold her temper. “I know about hunting season, Neil. Actually, I thought it was just some hunters at first. But then the shots were fired closer.”

  He bet she just thought they sounded that way. “Sometimes, the wind can—”

  “Nee.” She shook her head. “Someone tried to shoot my buggy. They were aiming for me. On purpose.”

  She was getting worked up. She really believed it. Though he didn’t know her hardly at all, even he could sense that she wasn’t the type of girl who enjoyed lots of dramatics.

  Deciding to take another approach, he said, “I was right there after you wrecked. I didn’t see anyone lurking about.” He remembered something then. “I was even kind of surprised that no one came over to check on us. Those hunters had to have been nearby.”

  Susanna stared at him a moment, obviously searching his face to see if he was being honest or patronizing. Finally, she sighed. “It’s okay if you don’t believe me. I know what I heard. I know what happened.”

  “Did you ever talk to the sheriff about that?”

  For the first time, doubt filled her eyes. “Nee. I feared the officers would do what you are doing now.”

  “Which is?”

  “Trying not to laugh.”

  That sobered him right up. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to make you feel bad, but I do think you might have let your imagination run away with you.”

  “Neil, like I said before, this isn’t really any of your concern. I didn’t ask you to meet me here and I really didn’t ask you to help me. Why don’t you go on your way now.”

  He couldn’t believe how stubborn she was! “You are still going to do your bridge inspection?”

  “I came here to do that. Of course I am.” She gave him a little sarcastic wave with one gloved hand. “Thank you for your interest, but there’s no need to stay. Hope you have a nice day.”

  There was no way he was going to wander off while she walked and climbed around on a rickety bridge by herself. “I’ll help you. Stay here. I’ll get on the broken bridge and let you know what I see.”

  “There is no need, Neil. I can do this.” Her chin rose a fraction. “Besides, you may not even know what I am looking for.”

  His amusement about the situation was fast rolling into exasperation. “I promise that I’ll let you know if I see anything fishy.”

  “Fishy?” Her eyes narrowed. “Is that some kind of pun?”

  “Nee.” Unable to resist, he winked. “It was a good one, though. Jah?”

  It looked like it was taking everything she had to fight a reluctant smile. But in the end, the smile won. “Maybe,” she said at last.

  When their eyes met again, there was something new between them. Not friendship, not exactly. Yet. But it was a new type of connection. A bond. Maybe a new understanding of each other, perhaps?

  Or, maybe, just maybe, a hint of attraction lay between them now. With a start, he realized that was what he was feeling. “Susanna, I’m not going to let you get on that bridge.”

  “If Traci was your little sister, you would do the same thing.”

  “I agree . . . but I must warn you that you have probably let your imagination get the best of you. Traci likely stepped on a broken board. No one would come on the property to sabotage things. You are probably wrong.”

  Just like he’d set a match, her temper flared. “Don’t you understand, Neil? That is the point! I want to be wrong. I don’t want someone to hurt me or my sisters. All my family wanted to do when we moved out here was have what we’d always dreamed of having. A farm. Space. Rooms of our own. But everyone seems to think that was sinful of us.”

  “It wasn’t sinful.”

  She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “Now things are happening that feel deliberate. If someone is targeting us, wanting us to leave, I need to know.”

  “I understand.”

  “Do you? My little sister could have really been hurt. I can’t ignore that. I don’t want it to happen again. That is why I have to check.”

  Everything she said made sense. He wondered if she could be right. And, he wondered if his family’s attitude had encouraged others to go out of their way to hurt the Schwartz family. Had their selfishness and pity party encouraged others to deliberately hurt them?

  “You know what? I’m sorry for arguing with you. You are right. If I had a family member who said she thought there was something suspicious about the board breaking, I would have come out here, too. It’s also your right. It’s your bridge.”

  She exhaled. “All right, then.”

  “Let me go, though. You stand on the side. I promise I’ll look carefully.”

  At last she nodded.

  Feeling like he’d just won a battle he hadn’t planned on fighting, he got on the bridge.

  “Careful. It’s icy!” she warned, though she knew she sounded like a fool.

  He ignored her and decided to get on his knees so he could look at the boards from close up.

  He’d been on this bridge hundreds of times. When he’d been a little boy, he’d played pirate ship and all kinds of things on it. Later, he’d helped rebuild it. Then, of course, there were all the times he’d run over it full tilt, trying to get home in time for supper.

  As he slowly crawled his way toward the center, he heard unfamiliar creaking and groaning. The boards were giving under his weight. Protesting it.

  That had never happened before.

  He stopped when he was close to the broken board. Taking care to keep as much of his weight on the other boards, he leaned closer. Took hold of the board that was broken in half. One half had fallen into the creek. But this side?

  He had a clear view of how it had been broken.

  He ran a finger over the break. Firmly anticipating seeing that it would be all splintered. But instead, about half of it had been sawed through.

  Sawed.

  Susanna was right. Someone had intended for a member of the Schwartz family to fall. Maybe to get hurt.

  A knot formed in his stomach as he started imagining who could have done such a thing.

  CHAPTER 16

  Tuesday, December 19

  Neil Vance’s countenance was far different when he hopped off the bridge and faced her. Just minutes before, his expression had been filled with doubt and maybe even a little bit of humor. Now a new seriousness gleamed in his light-blue eyes.

  “You are right,” he said simply.

  Her spine prickled as dread filled her. “What did you see?”

  “There is an inch or two of broken board that is smooth. Only a saw could have made that cut. Worse, I think I saw some of the same marks on other boards across the middle of the bridge. Maybe, maybe we could explain away one board looking like that. Several?” He shook his head. “There’s no other explanation.”

  She felt sick. “I meant what I said. I didn’t want to be right about this.”

  “I know.” Turning to look back at the bridge, he said, “I don’t know what you want to do now. Do you want to go tell your parents?”

  Susanna knew that was probably the right thing to do. But they hadn’t even wanted her to take the shooting seriously. Finally, there was somet
hing about running home to tell her parents at her age. She wasn’t a child, she was a grown woman who was fully capable of helping her family without asking for permission.

  However, did she want to wander off to a sheriff’s office with Neil Vance and not let anyone in her family know? Absolutely not. “I need to first go home and tell Amanda what I’m doing so she doesn’t worry.”

  “And your parents?”

  “If they are around, I’ll let them know. But I’m going to tell them what I plan to do, not ask.” She paused, watching his reaction. His eyes widened, but he didn’t question her judgment.

  Feeling a little more at ease, she continued. “After I do that, I’m going to go into town and see Deputy Beck.”

  “You’re going to go right to the sheriff’s office?” He frowned. “Deputy Beck is a good man, Susanna. I know him and I think he’s fair and open-minded. But he might not believe you.”

  Just as he hadn’t. Well, not at first. “I’m pretty sure Deputy Beck won’t believe me at first. But I can’t pretend it didn’t happen.”

  “Of course you can’t.” Staring at the bridge again, he seemed to come to terms with something. “All right, then. We’ve got a plan. We’ll go to . . . your house. There, you can tell them what you’re doing, and then we’ll go to see the sheriff.”

  “What? We? Neil, you don’t have to do anything. Like I said, this ain’t your problem.”

  “Of course I’m going to go with you. There’s no way I would let you walk into the sheriff’s office by yourself.”

  “Because you think I can’t handle it?”

  “Because I’m invested now,” he said.

  There was a new gleam in his eyes. Maybe it was respect? Maybe he was amused by her gumption? She had no idea.

  As they stood there together in the morning cold, surrounded by a fresh blanket of new-fallen snow, Susanna reflected that she still didn’t entirely trust Neil Vance, even though he’d helped her yesterday with her purchase and they’d gotten to know each other better when she’d dropped him home. And she still didn’t completely understand him. She still felt that he had a lot of secrets that he was keeping from her.

  There had even been a moment in the middle of the night, as she was tossing and turning, when she had wondered if he had been the person shooting at her buggy. After all, if there had been a hunter nearby, wouldn’t he have come to her aid when he heard her crash?

  Standing across from her with his thick arms folded over his chest, Neil watched her debate his help. Finally, he spoke. “I’m not about to stand back while you go talk to Deputy Beck on your own.”

  Suddenly, she realized that if he was going to accompany her to the sheriff’s office, he was also going to be by her side when she went home to first talk to Amanda. “Are you going to be all right being at the house?”

  “I think I need to be, don’t you?”

  “All right, then. Oh! Before we go, what should we do about the bridge? Do we need evidence or something? Do we take the piece of wood and show him, or ask him to come here with us?”

  “I think . . . I think maybe we should take it with us. Just in case . . .” His voice drifted off.

  Though he didn’t finish his thought, he didn’t need to. She knew what Neil was getting at. They needed to be prepared for any eventuality, even that someone might be upset that they were inspecting the bridge on their own. Or in case someone came by and decided to take the evidence before they could convince the deputy to accompany them back.

  “I think that’s a gut idea,” she said.

  She held her breath as he went back on the bridge, positioned himself awkwardly along the side, and then pulled up their evidence.

  Then, without another word, she carefully crossed the creek where it was shallow, the rocks large, and the water frozen . . . and Neil walked by her side toward the house, which until very recently had always been called his.

  NEIL WAS GLAD Susanna seemed to be lost in thought as they walked through the snowy field, slowly but steadily approaching his old house. The home he’d been born in and had always assumed he’d be spending the rest of his days in as well.

  The house looked the same. White siding. Stone at the base of it, trailing up the side where the fireplace lay. The wide front porch with its dark-stained wood flooring. He’d stained it himself seven or eight months ago.

  The closer they got, the slower Susanna seemed to be walking. The pensive expression on her face told him everything he needed to know. She wasn’t looking forward to having him inside.

  “I can wait out here, you know.”

  “Of course not.”

  “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

  She grinned suddenly as she pointed at the board under his arm. “I’m already uncomfortable. This is a pretty scary situation, Neil.”

  They were at the front door now. Carefully, he set the wood down, then waited for her to open the door.

  When she did and he stepped across the threshold, he prepared himself to feel devastated. Hurt. Maybe even bitter and resentful.

  But he didn’t feel any of those things.

  Maybe it was their furniture, or lack of it. They just didn’t have much at all. While his family had had things on the walls and practically pouring out of cabinets and closets, now there was only empty space. It made the inside feel far bigger.

  And quiet and peaceful. It also smelled like lemon oil. They’d been polishing baseboards and the woodwork.

  In the main living room sat Susanna’s sisters. Amanda was reading next to a smaller blond version of her. They both stared up at him in alarm before getting to their feet.

  “What happened?” Amanda said as she strode forward.

  Maybe her tone alerted them, but next thing he knew, out came both of their parents. Once again, looks of surprise gave way to wariness and alarm.

  Obviously, they couldn’t imagine another reason for him to be there unless something very bad had happened. That knowledge shamed him. His behavior over the last few weeks wasn’t who he was. Once again, he vowed to do his best to make amends.

  “I went over to look at the bridge this morning,” Susanna said. “I saw Neil there.”

  When everyone’s gaze turned to him, Neil said, “When Susanna took me home yesterday, she mentioned her sister’s accident on the bridge. Since I don’t have to go into work until this afternoon, I went over to the Kaufmanns’ to talk to Dale about it. When I saw Susanna’s bright-blue scarf, I walked over to see what she was doing. The bridge can be really slick in the winter.”

  Susanna continued the story. “Neil didn’t want me to climb up there, so he did.”

  “You believed me, Sue?” Traci asked as she joined them.

  “I did. I’m glad I listened to you, too.” She took a breath. “Everyone, Neil found something.”

  “What did you find?” Mr. Schwartz asked.

  “I think someone cut the boards in the center of the bridge to make them weak.”

  Mrs. Schwartz shook her head. “Surely not.”

  “I wouldn’t lie about something like that.”

  Susanna moved closer to his side. “We came back to tell you that we were going to go talk to Deputy Beck about it.” Looking at her sister, she added, “I didn’t want you all to worry about where I was.”

  “I’m glad you want to go, because I want to go, too.”

  “If you want to join us, you’re gonna have to hurry to get ready,” Susanna said.

  “I can be ready in five minutes.” Amanda trotted up the stairs.

  Smiling shyly at Neil, Traci said, “Can I come, too?”

  “Absolutely not,” her father said. “And furthermore, I don’t know how I feel about any of you going to the authorities.”

  Neil noticed that he treated his girls much different than his father had ever treated him. He wasn’t forbidding them to do something.

  “Daed, first I was shot at, and now someone tried to hurt us by sabotaging the bridge. I need to tell someone.
”

  “But if that ain’t the case . . .”

  “Then it isn’t,” Neil said simply. “But I think we can all agree that we need to report this. To do nothing would be a mistake.”

  Mr. Schwartz studied him for a moment, then nodded. “I agree.” Pointing to the stack of papers that was lining half of their kitchen table, he said, “I am knee-deep in bills, correspondence, and other paperwork with the house. Neil, thank you for helping us so much. We are in your debt.”

  Staring at Susanna’s father, Neil was aware of two things. One was that the older man was trusting him. Even though he’d done little to deserve it, he was putting his daughters’ care into his hands.

  He was also realizing that he and his family had completely misjudged them. He and Roy and his parents had comforted their loss by painting a picture in their minds of the Schwartz family that was anything but true.

  He wasn’t sure why it had been so easy for them to do that. Maybe it had been easier to judge their faults instead of their own?

  “It is I who is in your debt, Mr. Schwartz,” he said. “I’ve been wearing my hurt about our family’s problems on my sleeve. Because I’ve been so self-centered, I’ve been terribly rude to your daughter. I’ve already apologized to her, but I am hoping in time that you will be able to accept my apology as well.”

  “There is nothing to apologize for. You were hurting and were honest about it. I reckon you had some reasons, too.”

  “I think it would be best if we all moved forward,” Mrs. Schwartz said. “After all, Christmas is just around the corner.”

  Susanna grinned at him. “My mother gets real excited about Christmas.”

  Her mother held up a hand. “Only a little bit.”

  When everyone chuckled again, he turned to Susanna. “Are you ready?”

  “I will be as soon as Amanda gets here.”

  “I’m here,” said Amanda.

  Traci looked crestfallen. “I still think I should go, too. I could be a lot of help. I bet the sheriff would even want to hear about my accident.”

  “I bet he would, but he can come here to talk to you,” Susanna said.