A Home for Hannah. Patricia Davids
all.”
Miriam’s abrupt switch triggered his cop radar. She was hiding something. By her own admission few people knew she was a nurse. Fewer still would know that she aided Amish youth looking to leave their faith and go out into the world. Was accepting an unwanted baby part of her plan to help an unwed Amish girl escape into the Englisch life?
He didn’t want to believe she would lie to him, but did he really know her? They hadn’t spoken in years. People changed.
Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that Hannah had been left on Miriam’s doorstep. If the mother knew Miriam, would she be able to stay away? He figured she would need to know how her little girl was doing. The sight of Miriam with the child just might draw that woman out if she were still in the Hope Springs area. He wanted to be around when that happened. It would mean spending time, lots of time, in Miriam’s company.
Could he keep his mind on his job when she was near? At the moment, all he wanted to do was run his fingers through her gorgeous hair. The early morning sun brought fiery highlights to life in her red-gold, shoulder-length mane as it moved like a dense curtain around her face and neck. It was the first time he’d seen her without the white bonnet the Amish called a prayer kapp. In his youth, he’d fantasized about what her hair would look like down. His imaginings paled in comparison to the beauty he beheld at the moment.
He realized he was staring when she scowled at him. Forcing his mind back to the task at hand, he asked, “Are you sure you can’t think of anyone who might be Hannah’s mother? Maybe you gave a ride to her or to her family recently and mentioned you were a nurse.”
“No one stands out. Believe me, I’ve been racking my brain trying to think who she might be.”
“I need to get back to the office and have our note and the hamper run for prints. Why don’t you make up a list of the families who might know you’re a nurse? We can go over them later. Something may click in the meantime. If it does, give me a call.”
They returned to the house, covering the quarter mile in silence. When they reached his SUV, Miriam whistled for the dog. As Bella ambled up, she stopped to give Nick a parting lick on the hand. He patted her side. “She’s a nice dog.”
“Thank you.”
“When did you rescue her from the pound?”
Miriam paused. “How did you know that?”
“It seems to be your MO.”
“My what?”
“Your modus operandi, your mode of operation. Runaway teens, sick people, foundling babies—it just makes sense that your dog would be a rescue, too.”
Her frown turned to a fierce scowl. “Don’t think you know me, Nick Bradley, because you don’t. You don’t know me at all.”
She turned on her heels and marched toward the house.
At the porch, she stopped and looked back. “My mother was right. This is Amish business. We will handle it ourselves. Have a great vacation.”
Chapter Four
Miriam stopped short of slamming the door when she entered the house. Nick infuriated her. How dare that man presume to know anything about her? She didn’t want him to know anything about her. She didn’t want him to read her so easily.
She was scared of the way it made her feel. Like she could depend on him.
She balled her fingers into fists. She couldn’t decide if she was angrier with him, or with herself. For a few minutes, she had forgotten what lay between. Somehow, after everything that happened, Nick still had the power to turn her inside out, as he’d done when she was eighteen and a naive country girl.
Well, she wasn’t a teenager anymore. She wouldn’t fall under his spell again. She had too much sense for that. There was too much that stood between them.
How could she have forgotten that even for a second? She had gone months without running into him. Why now? How much more complicated could her life get? Perhaps in the back of her mind she knew this would happen. That Nick would use his charm to make her forget her anger and forgive him.
If she forgave Nick, she would have only herself left to blame for Mark’s death. She was the one who had sent her brother on his panicked flight that night. The guilt still ate at her soul. If only she’d had the chance to beg Mark’s forgiveness, perhaps she could learn to live with what she’d done.
When Mark’s Englisch girlfriend, Natalie Perry, had come begging for a word with him, Miriam had been only too happy to inform her Mark wasn’t home. When the tearful girl explained that her parents were making her leave town the following evening, Miriam had been relieved. It was God’s will. Without this woman’s influence, her brother would give up worldly things and be baptized into the faith. Miriam had given up Nick’s love for her faith. She had passed that test. Mark would, too.
Natalie had scrawled a note and pressed it into
Miriam’s hand, pleading with her to give it to Mark as soon as possible. At the time, Miriam had no idea what the note contained, but she didn’t give it to Mark until late the next day. Only afterward did she understand what harm she had caused.
Mark had flown out of the house, stolen a car and tried to reach his love before it was too late. Nick had stopped him, and Miriam never had the chance to beg her brother’s forgiveness.
The front door opened, and Nick came in looking as if he expected a frying pan to come sailing at his head. The idea of doing something so outrageous made her feel better. Slightly.
When he saw that he didn’t need to defend himself, he said, “Ada, is there anything you need me to do before I leave? I can chop some kindling if you need it.”
“Nee, I reckon we’ll be fine.”
He nodded. “You let me know if you hear anything from the baby’s family.”
Ada nodded toward the baby sleeping in the newly washed bassinet. “Do not worry, Nicolas. The mother, she will come for her babe.”
“I pray you are right. Miriam, I’d appreciate knowing what the doctor has to say about Hannah.”
He waited, as if he expected Miriam to say something. When she didn’t, he nodded in her direction. “Okay, I’ve got to get back to town.”
When the door closed behind him, Miriam took the first deep breath she managed to draw all morning. “I thought he would never leave.”
“It was goot to see him again. I remember him as such a nice boy.”
“It’s too bad he turned out to be a murderer.”
“Do not say such a thing, Miriam!” Her mother rounded on her with such intensity that Miriam was left speechless.
Ada shook her finger at her daughter. “You are not the only one who has suffered, but you are the only one who has not forgiven. The more you pick at a wound, the longer it takes to heal. I don’t know why you refuse to see that. I’m tired of your selfish attitude. Maybe it is best that you go back to your Englisch home.”
Dumbfounded, Miriam stared at her mother in shock. Not once in her life had her mother raised her voice in such a manner.
Miriam struggled to muster her indignation. “That man caused the death of your only son. Have you
really forgiven him for that?”
“It was Gottes wille that Mark died. I can’t pretend to understand why such a thing had to happen, or why your father was taken before me, too. I can only try to live a good life and know that I will be with them when it is my time.” Ada turned her back on her daughter and began to wash the coffee cups in the sink.
Miriam’s anger slipped away. She wanted to punish Nick, but she’d wound up hurting her mother instead. “Do you really want me to leave?”
Her