LITMIR.BIZ

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intruder was outside in the darkness.

      He exited the greenhouse as casually as he could, listening for sounds of running footsteps just in case the intruder had seen him leave through the glass of the greenhouse windows and was now escaping. No sounds except a soft rustle of tree leaves in a stray night breeze.

      It took too long for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He moved away from the greenhouse door by feel and smell more than sight, his shoes padding against wet leaves and grass.

      The crickets from the pond were loud. He hunkered down near a tree, still and tense.

      Suddenly he saw a shadow move.

      He circled around, avoiding patches of dry leaves that could give him away, keeping the shadow in sight.

      Then the man stopped moving.

      Had the figure heard him? Edward froze, trying to pick the intruder out from the darkness. It was almost impossible—he had to wait until the figure moved again.

      Nothing stirred in the darkness for what seemed like hours. His hands started to numb from the cold night air, so he eased them into his pockets to warm them, never taking his eyes from where he’d last seen the intruder. This was private property, and he resented this invasion.

      Edward saw a slight movement. The man was short and stocky, or maybe he was hunched down. He almost didn’t seem to be trying to stay out of sight. He had stopped under an orange tree, and the overhanging branches partially hid him from sight and protected him—Edward couldn’t grab him while the arms of the tree circled him.

      Then the man moved.

      The stranger eased closer to the greenhouse and seemed to be trying to peer inside. He had to be up to no good. He moved slowly, as stealthy as a coyote.

      When the intruder had fully cleared the branches of the orange tree, Edward leaped at him.

      They went down in a whirlwind of dead leaves and the stranger’s thick jacket. The man was smaller than he had anticipated, but wiry and quick. Edward got a glancing blow to the jaw from a flailing fist that made him jerk back slightly.

      The stranger took advantage of the pause to scramble away, or maybe to grab a branch as a weapon. Edward didn’t want to find out—he dived for the figure, using all his weight to pin the man to the ground, reaching to capture scrabbling arms and twist them behind the man’s back.

      “Eep!”

      He stilled. Male trespassers didn’t eep.

      He loosened his hold, and the person flipped over.

      “Rachel!”

      She stilled the moment their eyes met. The light from the greenhouse windows gave her face a pearl-like glow, and he caught a whiff of her perfume—lavender and citrus. She was beautiful, ethereal. The first time she’d come to his greenhouses to hire him, over a year ago, the sight of her had sucked the air out of his lungs. Like now.

      No, this was dangerous territory. Edward stood and gave her a hand up.

      She busied herself dusting the leaves from her jeans, but at the same time, she seemed to be trying to shrink inside her bulky winter jacket.

      “What are you doing, Rachel? Detective Carter said you didn’t need to be here.”

      “Yes, I did.” Her eyes, wide, determined, but fighting tears at the same time, met his. “I did. I couldn’t stay home and just…” She bit back a sob.

      He could understand her need to see for herself the damage done to the plants and how that sight would somehow make her feel more in control of the whole situation. She had been working long hours to develop her scar-reduction cream, and this kind of setback would have thrown her for a loop.

      He wanted to hold her, comfort her, tell her it would be all right.

      No, he had to keep his distance from her. He and his family had already lived through the broken promises and hurt from a workaholic father. He had vowed he would never neglect his own children for his work, he would never make them feel like a secondary priority in his life, he would never make them feel as if their graduations and work successes were not important enough to attend, as Papa had done to Edward. Therefore, he wouldn’t even consider getting involved with a woman who would cause the same sort of pain in her children.

      So he’d withdrawn from Rachel. He had to remember why he’d done that.

      She shivered, despite her jacket.

      “Come inside the greenhouse.” He led her into the warm, moist air. The sight was going to upset her, so he watched her closely.

      She surprised him. She went completely still as she surveyed the mess. Her bottom lip trembled once. Her hands pressed to her stomach as if to keep herself from falling apart.

      Her silence filled the greenhouse, so he spoke tentatively, reiterating what he’d told Detective Carter. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

      No answer. Her unfocused gaze told him that he’d lost her to her own thoughts.

      “Rachel?”

      She started, then darted a sideways glance at him. She took a deep breath and adopted a more businesslike demeanor. “What do you want me to do?”

      “You’ve had a tough night. Are you sure you want to help clean up? Why not come back tomorrow—”

      “No, if I go home, I’ll just lie awake worrying about it all.” She gave him a small smile. “I’m fine, really. The black eye looks worse than it feels.”

      Actually, it hadn’t colored much yet. It only looked like a trick of the shadows. “Did Monica look at it?”

      “She sighed in exasperation and said something like, ‘If you insist on gallivanting around Sonoma County with a black eye, don’t come crying to me if you faint or get blurry vision. Go to some other nurse, because you won’t get sympathy from me.’”

      Edward laughed. “Which means, in Monica-speak, that you’re okay but she doesn’t want to say so.” He handed Rachel a broom. “I’ll clean up the broken shards. You sweep the dirt into the bin. And look for any plants I might have missed.”

      They worked in silence for a moment. Then Rachel asked, “Did Detective Carter already leave?”

      “No, he’s in greenhouse seven. He needed to talk to Alex.”

      Rachel hesitated a moment before asking, “Is your brother in trouble?”

      Edward blinked at her. “No, why?”

      “Why would Detective Carter need to talk to him?”

      “Oh. Horatio and Alex are friends. Horatio is the officer who arrested Alex for the robbery.”

      “The robbery? The one that sent Alex to prison? That makes no sense.”

      Edward laughed. “After Alex received Christ in prison, he went straight to Horatio once he got out on parole and thanked him for arresting him. And apologized for giving him so much grief for so many years.” He’d have given anything to have witnessed his tall, 220-pound brother apologizing to Detective Carter, who, while steely-eyed and intimidating in his own way, was still five inches shorter than Alex.

      “Wow.”

      “They’ve become friends in the years since. I think Alex occasionally helps Detective Carter on some of his cases, because of his past experiences and connections he still has.”

      “Not illegal connections?”

      “No, he gave those up. But he still visits several of his old friends asking them to come to church with him.”

      “Oh.” Her eyes skittered away as she renewed her sweeping.

      There was only silence for a moment, then Edward said, “Alex said to tell you he was praying for you—”

      “Tell

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