“It’s open to the public.”

  He rolled his eyes.

  “I do have one question about the murder,” I said.

  “Just one.”

  I shook my finger at him. “Don’t you roll your eyes at me again, Aiden Brody,” I teased.

  He held up his hands as if in surrender.

  “Did you ever find Rosemary’s reading glasses?”

  He shook his head. “But based on the description, the coroner thinks that the chain you described was what was used to strangle Rosemary. Had you not told me that, I think we would still be wondering what the murder weapon was.”

  I put a hand to my throat at the very idea. “So it was a murder of convenience?”

  “Possibly.” He bent over to pet Puff. She sighed happily. The rabbit was really in love. I didn’t know what she would do if Aiden was gone for six months for BCI training. To be honest, I didn’t know what I would do either.

  “So what’s up? Not murder, but . . .”

  He licked his lips nervously, and then he cracked his knuckles. My eyes went wide. He wasn’t going to ask me to marry him, was he? After the talk we’d had the other night about his job offer, I thought a proposal was off the table if he took the BCI job. Was I wrong? Maybe he would throw caution to the wind, and we’d figure it all out after we were engaged. A long engagement wouldn’t be a horrible thing, would it?

  My pulse began to race as he bit his lower lip. I sat up a little straighter in my seat. I touched my hair. It was tidy in a knot on the top of my head. But I wasn’t ready.

  He leaned forward.

  Oh my God. He was going to reach into his pocket for a ring.

  “Bailey, you know this was a very hard decision.”

  My brow wrinkled. That wasn’t the best way to start. Maybe it would get better. He was nervous.

  “I . . .”

  Here it comes.

  “I—I took that job at BCI.”

  I blinked at him. “What?”

  He turned to me, confused. “What do you mean, what? I told you about the job offer I got.”

  I shook my head, trying to reset my brain. “Umm, yeah, of course I remember.” Disappointment flooded my body. This talk was about the job offer. Of course, it was about the job offer. How could I think it was anything else? My face felt hot.

  “What’s wrong? Did you not want me to take the job?”

  I swallowed. I couldn’t let him know why I was really upset. I couldn’t let him know that I was disappointed because I’d stupidly thought he was going to propose. “Yes, I want you to take the job.” I forced a smile. “That’s wonderful news. I’ll miss you when you’re away for training, but I want you to be happy. I know you aren’t happy working under the sheriff.”

  “Oh-kay,” he said. “You’re acting strange.”

  “I guess I’m tired. I’ve been really worried about Hannah. I hope the judge lets Emily have her.”

  “I do, too. It might take some time. Child services and custody are complicated, and there are many hoops that will have to be jumped through.”

  I frowned. I hoped child services would understand that Hannah was Amish and not English, so some things might be a little different. Vanessa, the social worker, had said they would change the rules a bit because Hannah was Amish.

  “Anyway,” Aiden said as he gently removed his foot from under Puff’s body. “I wanted to tell you. I’m turning in my resignation to the department tomorrow. I have to give them one month’s notice. Hopefully that will be enough time for them to find and train a new deputy. My hope is that Little is promoted in my place. He’s come a long way.”

  I nodded vaguely. I was still reeling from the proposal scare. Or was it from the proposal disappointment?

  He stood and kissed me on the top of my head. “You do look tired. We can talk about it more tomorrow. I just wanted you to know before word got around town.”

  “Thank you for that.” I got up and followed him to the door. Normally, I would have asked him to stay, but tonight, I just wanted to be alone.

  At the front door, I watched until his taillights disappeared down the street. When I closed the door, I leaned against it. It felt odd knowing that Aiden was going to leave the Sheriff’s Department. He had been a deputy for over a decade. From the outside, it appeared that he loved his job.

  But over the last year, I had seen how he’d become increasingly frustrated with the sheriff and his policies. He hated the fact that he had to do what the sheriff decreed, even when he didn’t agree with it.

  The problem was I wasn’t sure he’d be that much happier at BCI. There would be even more bureaucratic tape to cut through, but it would be different. Different might be just what he needed. Of all people, I should have understood. When I was working for Jean Pierre at JP Chocolates in New York, I had found myself in a rut, too. It wasn’t until I was forced to make a choice between New York and Ohio that I realized that leaving the grind of the city was what I needed the most. I shouldn’t have been surprised that Aiden was at a similar career crossroads.

  But that didn’t change the fact that I’d wanted him to propose tonight instead of telling me about his new job.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  The next afternoon, Margot was in fine form on the square.

  “Don’t put the music stands by the food vendors! Put them in the gazebo where the band will be,” she shouted into the bullhorn.

  Charlotte winced where she stood next to me in the booth we were setting up for Swissmen Sweets. “Why hasn’t anyone figured out a way to get that bullhorn away from her?”

  I set a tray of lemon drop bags on the table. We had made them in honor of Hannah and Emily. “I think she sleeps with it like a teddy bear, so they can’t pry it out of her clutches.”

  Charlotte barked a laugh, but then she suddenly stopped laughing.

  I glanced over at her to see what had caused the sudden change in mood, and then I noticed Deputy Little walking around the square chatting with villagers as he went. Ahhh.

  “You okay?” I asked as innocently as I could manage.

  She fumbled with the boxes of fudge in her hands. “I’m okay,” she squeaked. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?” She set the boxes on the table in a line. Appeared to be unhappy with the line and straightened it.

  “Because you look like you saw a ghost.”

  “I’m Amish,” she sniffed. “There are no such things as ghosts.”

  I looked away so that she couldn’t see my smile. I didn’t for a moment want Charlotte to think I was making fun of her. However, it was obvious what, or should I say who, had caused her nervousness all of sudden. “Because you saw your crush, then?”

  Her face flushed red. “What are you talking about?”

  I raised my brow as she set out a basket of individually wrapped pieces of caramel on the table. “Deputy Little.”

  “Luke—I mean Deputy Little is just my gut friend.”

  I eyed her. “Is that so?”

  Her pale cheek turned bright pink. “Don’t the Englisch believe that men and women can be friends?”

  “Yes,” I said. “They do. However, you just called Deputy Little Luke, and I think that was telling. I don’t think anyone calls him by his Christian name . . . maybe not even his parents.”

  “That’s silly.” She opened a package of napkins and put them in a holder on the table.

  “Is it? Because when Deputy Little talked to me about you, he was very serious. He said that you were more than friends.”

  The napkins fell from her hands onto the grass.

  “Oh no.” She gathered the napkins up again. She set them on the table and looked at me with her bright green eyes. “Did he really say that?”

  I nodded.

  She let out a breath. “Then it’s up to me. I know I have to make a choice between the Amish world and the Englisch one. It’s just so hard. I want to be in both places.”

  I nodded. “I’m sorry to tease you about it. It’s a very big and difficult decision, and the last thing I want to do is put more pressure on you. You need to be careful, Charlotte, and be sure this is what you really want. You will be giving up quite a lot to be with Little.”

  “I know that,” she said. “But my family already gave up on me. All I have for family now are you and Cousin Clara. You would not give up on me.”

  “Of course, we wouldn’t, but I mean your culture. Being part of the Amish community, being a member of an Amish district.”

  “I know this,” she said as she opened a new package of napkins to replace the ones that had fallen in the grass. “I have been thinking about all of this for so long now. It’s time to make a choice.”

  “And what do you choose?”

  “I know what I have to do.” She held the fresh napkins, crinkling them just as badly as the ones she had dropped on the ground.

  “What’s that?”

  She grinned at me. “I want to tell Luke first.”

  And I knew the choice she had made. I told myself not to worry about Charlotte’s decision. She had been struggling to make up her mind about being baptized into the Amish church for years, for longer than she’d known Deputy Little, longer even than she’d known me. Just the same, she was like a little sister to me, and I could not help but worry about her. I thought I always would.

  I pushed those thoughts aside as best I could and tried to focus on yet another event on the village square. As usual, Margot had been able to scare up a decent crowd. Over an hour before the concert was to begin, villagers and visitors alike sat on blankets all around the square. By the time the concert began, there was overflow seating on the church lawn. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the music. Swissmen Sweets’ booth was busy as people bought sweet treats for their families. About midway through the concert, the booth’s traffic began to slow down.

  “What are you doing here?” a woman asked me.

  I looked up from my task of setting more chocolate Jethro bars on the table. They had been a big seller that evening for us. Leslie Marin, the accountant, stood in front of me, next to the handsomest man I had ever seen. He had lush dark hair and striking, blue-green eyes. His jaw was strong, and he was tall and lean.

  Next to me, Charlotte let out a gasp. I guessed that she noted his good looks, too.

  “I asked you a question,” Leslie said. “What are you doing here?” She looked at the man. “Gideon, this is the woman I told you about who was looking for an accountant.” To me, she said, “This is your small business?”

  So this was Gideon Glick, Emily’s former suitor and Hannah’s biological father. Considering how handsome he was, I could see how Emily had been swept away by him when she was young.

  I cleared my throat. “Yes, I own Swissmen Sweets with my grandmother.” I picked up a plate of chocolate-covered caramels and held it out to her. “Care for a sample?”

  “No, I don’t want a sample. You said nothing about working at Swissmen Sweets when you came to our office,” Leslie snapped.

  I set the tray back down.

  “If you had told Leslie what your business was,” Gideon said, “I would have known it had to do with Emily. I heard she was working here when I first moved back to the county. Where is Emily?”

  I didn’t say anything, feeling grateful Emily had the evening off from the candy shop.

  “We came here to find Emily Esh,” Gideon said. “She has to answer to me.”

  “She’s not here,” I said.

  “Then where is she?” he demanded. “I need to talk to her.”

  There was no way I was answering that question.

  He leaned over the table. “Tell me where she is. Because of her, a sheriff’s deputy paid me a visit. He told me I have a child.”

  “Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to hear about Emily and this child?” Leslie asked. “Don’t you care how you are hurting people?”

  I cared about how Hannah could be hurt. Gideon and Leslie’s feelings were much lower on my list.

  Charlotte hopped back from the table. I wanted to do the same, but I held my ground. “I think you need to take a step back.”

  “Tell me!” Gideon demanded.

  “If you don’t back off, I will scream.” I glared at him.

  He rocked back on his heels.

  “She should have told me that I had a child,” Gideon hissed. “She will see me in court!” He and Leslie stomped away.

  I caught my breath. “I think Hannah’s future just got way more complicated.”

  “No kidding,” Charlotte said.

  The brass band played on.

  A half hour later, Maami brought Hannah over, and I handed the little girl a bag of lemon drops with a wink. I was so grateful that Hannah had not been in the booth when Gideon had stopped by.

  “Charlotte and Bailey, go enjoy the concert and walk around,” Maami said. “Hannah and I can take care of the booth.”

  She didn’t have to tell Charlotte twice. My cousin hurried away from the booth. I guessed it was to tell Deputy Little her decision.

  I thanked Maami and wandered around the square. On the other side, Esther worked in the pretzel booth all alone. I headed in that direction with the intent of giving Esther a hand, or trying to. There was a good chance that she would turn me away.

  Before I reached the booth, Abel walked up to her. I stopped a few feet away and pretended to be listening to the concert.

  “I need help tomorrow at the shop,” Esther said. “There are supplies that need to be picked up from our wholesaler. I have not had time to get them.”

  “Have them delivered,” Abel said.

  “I can’t afford delivery right now, especially because the shop was closed for so many days.”

  He leaned on the post holding up the tent over her table. “You are too tight with your wallet, Esther.”

  “Being tight with my wallet is how I have kept the business afloat all these years and kept our family together.”

  “You didn’t do such a gut job keeping it together when it came to Emily,” he scoffed.

  She gasped and then closed her eyes as if she was centering herself or, more likely, reminding herself she needed Abel’s help. “Please pick up the supplies tomorrow. It’s very important. We must have a gut weekend, or I am worried that we won’t be able to pay our bills.”

  “That’s your problem, schwescder,” he said to his sister.

  “It is our problem. If you would not squander what money I give you, we would not be in this position.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her. “I can’t pick up the supplies tomorrow. Pay an Amish driver to do it. I have plans at the racetrack all day. Saturday is a big race day.”

  “You can’t go to the track every Saturday. I need help. You are wasting money and time when you could be helping me.” She sounded desperate.

  “You’re going to have to find help somewhere else because I can and will go to the track as often as I like, just as I have always done.” He loomed over her. “I am your bruder, and because you have no husband or daed, I am in charge of our family.”

  “Bailey King suspects you, you know,” she hissed.

  I jumped when I heard my name. I clapped a hand over my mouth, afraid that I’d made a sound that would alert them to my presence. When they didn’t react, I lowered my hand and let out a breath.

  “Of what in particular?” Abel asked. “She seems to know quite a bit about everything that happens in this village. She suspects me of a great many things as well.”

  “Something about killing Rosemary. She thinks it’s related to the track, too.”

  I clapped two hands over my mouth this time. Was I about to hear Abel confess to the murder? I ducked behind a tree trunk so I could still hear them.

  “Do you think I had something to do with it?” He laughed.

  She didn’t answer.

  My eyes were wide. Could it be that Esther believed her brother was in fact the killer?

  “I do a lot of things. Killing is not one of them. I no longer care if people find out about Emily’s mistake and that deaf child. She is no longer a member of our family as far as I am concerned.”

  I dropped my hands from my face and balled them into fists at my sides.

  “Bailey said that Rosemary’s cousin works at the track, and she connected you to the track as well. She will put the blame on you. I’m telling you to be careful.”

  He stepped back, so that he was standing a few feet away from her now. The brass band continued to play in the background as brother and sister fought and I watched.

  “He does work at the racetrack,” Abel said. “His name is Mason. I know him, but just because I go to a place where a relative of Rosemary happens to work doesn’t mean I killed anyone.”

  “I’m telling you to be careful, bruder. You know if Bailey is watching you, Deputy Brody is, too. She is the bug in his ear.”

  I didn’t hear what he replied because someone grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the tree.

  I raised my hand to smack my would-be attacker away, but then I realized it was Charlotte. A very excited Charlotte, actually.

  “Bailey!” Charlotte squeezed my arm for all she was worth. “I told Luke that I have decided to leave the Amish way, not just for him, but for myself. There is so much more of this world I want to explore, and a lot of it I can’t reach and still be Amish. I’m at peace with my decision. I know it’s the right thing for me. I didn’t realize what a toll the uncertainty was taking on me. I feel free!”

  I hugged her. “I know that Maami will be surprised, but she will understand.”

  “I know she will. I think everyone in the community has believed I would jump the fence for a long time.”

  She held out her left hand to me. “And that’s not all. Luke and I are getting married. He proposed the moment after I told him I was leaving the Amish. He said that he just couldn’t wait any longer.”

  There was a small diamond on her ring finger, and it sparkled in the sunlight. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered.

  She jumped up and down. “I need to calm down, and I have to talk to the bishop about my choice before too many people find out. It’s the right thing to do. His wife, Ruth Yoder, is certainly going to have a lot to say about it, but I don’t care.” She hugged me again. “Bailey, I don’t know if I have ever been this excited before.”