Silas gave her a rueful little smile. “What color did you use?”

  “Purple. With yellow flowers. Ms. Josie helped me make the leaves. She makes really, really nice leaves.”

  “We all have our talents,” Josie said, with a light laugh. “Can I take your plate?”

  “How long have you been doing this program?” Silas asked, glancing up at her as he handed her his dinner plate. Josie felt the faintest flutter as their gazes met.

  She pulled her attention back to his question. “For the past six years. I took some childhood-development courses through a community college in Manhattan.”

  “And what made you decide to move back to High Plains?”

  “Ms. Josie is a really good teacher,” Lily said, not giving Josie a chance to answer, “I learned a lot today.”

  “That’s good,” Silas murmured.

  Lily leaned forward, her hands folded in front of her on the table. “Can I please go again tomorrow? And tomorrow and all the time?”

  Josie wanted to interrupt. Lily was really putting her father on the spot and she was sure he didn’t appreciate it. But before she could say anything Alyssa cut in.

  “My aunt Josie is very careful. All the time, she’s very, very careful. And she would never let Lily run away like I made her do that day of the tornado.” Alyssa’s expression was so earnest it made Josie smile.

  She glanced at the recipient of all this eagerness and caught a flicker of humor feathering across Silas’s lips, as well.

  And then his smile transformed his face. Laugh lines fanned around his eyes and a certain tension around his mouth faded away.

  And Josie felt a tingle of awareness slip up her spine.

  “I’ll have to think about it.”

  “I would be really good,” Lily put in. “And you wouldn’t have to stop your work to pick me up.”

  Still smiling, Silas glanced at Josie. “It seems I’m getting ambushed.”

  “I would love to have her. It would be no trouble to add her to the roster.”

  “Okay. She can go.”

  “I’m done,” Betty said, wiping her mouth with her paper napkin. “I can’t swallow this dry rice.”

  “Would you like some more water?” Josie asked, reaching for the pitcher.

  “No. I want to get out. I’ve been cooped up in here all day while you’ve been gallivanting around.”

  “We’re having dessert right now,” Josie said, struggling to keep a patient tone in her voice as she cleared away her grandmother’s plate.

  “I don’t want any. When you’re done with supper, you can take me out.”

  “Can Lily and I take you for a walk, Gramma?” Alyssa put in, her face smeared with icing from her cupcake.

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Josie said as she sat down.

  She tried as much as possible to be the buffer between Alyssa and her grandmother’s caustic comments. For the most part Josie was the direct target of Betty’s ire, but lately Betty had been turning on Alyssa, as well.

  Josie couldn’t understand this. Alyssa was the daughter of Betty’s favorite grandchild. Maybe it was because Josie was taking care of her. And not doing the job Betty thought she should. Maybe Betty thought Josie’s younger behavior was rubbing off on Alyssa.

  “We’ll be real careful and we’ll go slow.” Alyssa popped the last bite of her cupcake in her mouth and wiped her fingers on her napkin.

  “You’ve got icing on your face, missy” was Betty’s frowning reply.

  Alyssa obediently wiped it off, then glanced at Lily. “So do you.” She giggled.

  Lily wrinkled her nose, but ignored it as she took another bite.

  “Hurry up, Lily,” Alyssa said, wiping her mouth again. “We have to take my Gramma for a walk after Auntie Josie does devotions.”

  Lily gave Josie a puzzled frown as she licked her lips. “What’s devotions?”

  “We read the Bible and pray, dummy.” Alyssa bopped Lily on the shoulder.

  “Don’t call her dummy,” Betty snapped before Josie had a chance to reprimand her niece.

  Josie bit back a comment, then walked to her bedroom for her Bible. When she picked up the brown, leather-bound book from her bedside table, she paused and smiled. This Bible was one of the few things she’d salvaged from her house. She had received it from Reverend Garrison after her sister’s death. He had told her it would give her comfort.

  And it had.

  Reading the Bible had also given her the strength she needed to deal with her grandmother’s anger when she found out Josie had been named Alyssa’s guardian instead of her. The Bible was well thumbed and worn and one of the most precious things she owned.

  Josie hurried back to the table and as she slipped into her chair, Silas frowned at the book she laid on the table.

  Josie slid her fingers in the pages marked by the bookmark Alyssa had made for her. “We’ve been reading through the Psalms the past few weeks. Today we’re reading Psalm 16,” Josie explained as she opened the book.

  She chanced another look at Silas who sat back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes narrowed. Sheer defensive posture, she thought.

  Josie lowered her gaze as her mind cast back to Lily’s innocent comment about God taking their mother away from them. Did Silas really believe that?

  She hesitated, wondering if reading the Bible would bother him. But then she reminded herself of the comfort she had received from God’s word. She began reading.

  “‘Keep me safe, O God, for in You I take refuge. I said to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.’’”

  She didn’t have to look up to sense Silas’s antagonism pushing at her. But she read on, seeking God in the words. “‘Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure.’” As she read, she saw her grandmother fidgeting beside her, and Lily whispering to Alyssa who was looking down and grinning.

  Was she the only one at this table who understood that they were reading God’s holy word? She paused a moment, letting the words she was reading register both with her and the people sitting at her table. Then, she finished, “‘…You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.’”

  She smoothed her hand over the page, then carefully closed the Bible. “I know for me, those words give me great comfort. I know everyone here has faced some deep sorrow, but it is such a comfort to know we will see those we love again.”

  “Do you mean in Heaven?” Lily asked.

  Josie shot her a smile, thankful she had heard what Josie had read. “Yes. I mean in Heaven.”

  Lily looked pensive, and Josie wanted to scurry to her side and sweep her into her arms. Alyssa was only two when her parents died. She barely remembered them but Lily obviously had memories of her mother. And she obviously missed her.

  Then she caught Silas watching her, his mouth set in a harsh line of disapproval, a disconcerting contrast to the smile she had seen only a few moments ago.

  “I can talk about her there, then,” Lily said with a note of finality in her voice, her eyes fixed on Josie. “In Heaven.”

  Josie felt as if Silas was watching her, waiting for some slipup on her part. She assumed anything she might say to his daughter would be the wrong thing.

  All she could do was smile at the lonely, hurting girl and hope that somehow, over time, she could show Lily how God could comfort her.

  Then she lowered her head. “Let’s pray,” she mumbled.

  But as she prayed, her mouth seemed to form one set of words and her mind another.

  When the prayer was over, she looked up to catch Silas frowning at her, a peculiar expression on his face. She was about to ask him what was wrong when the ringing of the phone broke into the moment.

  It was Reverend Garrison asking for her help.

  “Sure. I don’t mind,” she said, picking up a pen. “I can start next week.”

  Josie chatted a bit more, getting some details and then hung up.

  “What do you have to do now?” Alyssa asked as she started clearing the table.

  “Reverend Garrison asked me to help make lunches for the volunteers working at the Old Town Hall,” Josie said, scribbling a note on her already full calendar.

  “I’m excited to see it finished,” Alyssa said.

  “I think it’s cool,” Lily said, her expression brightening. “My mom and dad got married in it. My mommy always said that was a happy day.”

  Silas was frowning. “That’ll do, Lily.”

  “Sorry, Daddy. I forgot. What’s past is past.”

  Her obvious parroting of a phrase she must have heard from her father created a deep melancholy in Josie. Why was he suppressing this? Surely this wasn’t healthy?

  Silas got to his feet, making a show of glancing at his watch, then he looked over at Josie. “Thanks for a delicious dinner. And thanks for the cupcakes.”

  “You should take the leftover cupcakes home,” Josie said, holding up her hand to forestall him. “I’ll put them in a container.”

  “That’s fine,” he said waving his hand. “We gotta go.”

  Lily shot an anguished glance at Alyssa. “But…but me and Alyssa are supposed to take Alyssa’s Gramma for a walk. And you and Ms. Josie were supposed to—”

  She got cut off when Alyssa grabbed her by the arm and shot her a warning glance.

  Obviously something else was supposed to happen here.

  “I’m sorry, Lily, but I have a lot to do at home.” Silas’s deep voice brooked no argument. “As I’m sure Ms. Cane does. Say goodbye and thanks, and then we’ll be going. You’ll see her tomorrow.”

  Lily gave Alyssa an apologetic glance, then slid out of her chair, gave her father her hand. “Thanks for supper, Ms. Josie. I had fun.”

  “Thanks for your hospitality,” Silas said, giving Josie a tight smile.

  “I’m glad you could join us.” Josie got to her feet, still clutching her Bible.

  “See you tomorrow,” Lily said, waving goodbye to Alyssa, then she turned and trudged out the door behind her father.

  “Are you sure you didn’t get the paperwork? I know I sent in everything on your list.” Josie pushed her hand through her hair as her eyes flitted over the letter she had just received in the mail from the insurance adjuster.

  “I’m sorry, Ms. Cane, but we need the inspection certificate before we can proceed to the next step.”

  “I sent you the original.”

  “You didn’t make a photocopy?”

  On what, Josie wanted to ask. Her computer and the copier she used to own had long been relegated to a recycling depot. She hadn’t had the funds to replace them yet because she needed the money from the insurance company, which she couldn’t get until her paperwork was in order.

  “Can you please check again?”

  “I’ll see what I can do, but you must understand this will delay your claim.”

  Of course.

  “I understand.” Josie forced a smile, hoping it balanced the frustration creeping into her voice. She hung up, sighed once more and then the phone rang again.

  Her grandmother’s doctor. He wanted to set up a consultation with the orthopedic surgeon who had initially done the surgery on her femur.

  “I’m glad to hear it,” Josie said, pulling out her Day-Timer to schedule the appointment. “She still isn’t walking and complains regularly about her collarbone.” Complaining wasn’t new for Betty, but the intensity of it had increased in the past few weeks.

  “I agree that she should be further along in her healing process than she is,” the doctor explained. “The plates look to be holding up well and other than the infection she fought, things have been proceeding the way they should.”

  “What is going on over there,” Betty called out from her bedroom. “That minibus will be here soon and I don’t want to keep him waiting like we always do.”

  Josie covered the mouthpiece of the phone with her hand. “Be right with you, Gramma.” She turned her attention back to the doctor, flipping through her Day-Timer to find a day that worked for her.

  Because of the extra work she had volunteered to do, most of her days were full, but she managed to squeeze out an afternoon to bring her grandmother to Manhattan.

  “I bring my grandmother every day to the physiotherapist, I could possibly cancel one appointment to see this specialist.”

  They made firm plans for two weeks from tomorrow.

  By the time she hung up the headache hovering at the back of her head had taken over with a vengeance.

  She was just about to go to her grandmother when the phone ran again.

  “Hello.” She couldn’t stop the curt tone of her voice.

  “Sorry to bother you, Ms. Cane. This is Silas Marstow.”

  His deep voice created a tingle that eased away her curtness, but also invaded her insides in a most peculiar way.

  “What can I do for you?”

  “This is kind of awkward….” He paused, and Josie braced herself, wondering where he was going. “It’s about Lily. If she’s attending your after-school class, there’s something you need to know. It’s about her mother.”

  Here was her opportunity. It had been two days since Lily and Silas had dinner with her and she had been hoping to catch him alone, when he came to pick up his daughter, to talk to him about Lily’s mother. But he always came and went so quickly, she never had the opportunity.

  Until now. She took a deep breath, praying for the right words.

  “What about Kelly?” Josie asked.

  “I would appreciate it if you could avoid mentioning her mother at all.”

  “Do you think that’s a good idea?” Josie asked, struggling to ignore the ringing of her grandmother’s bell.

  “That little girl cried for a month after her mother died. She didn’t eat, she didn’t sleep. Every time someone asked about…her mother…she grew hysterical. So, yes. I think it’s best.”

  The ringing of her grandmother’s bell grew even more insistent.

  “I’m not sure it’s wise, Mr. Marstow,” she said, covering her one ear to drown out her grandmother’s summons.

  “It’s the way it is, Miss Cane. And if you want Lily to stay in your program, then you’ll respect my wishes.”

  The hard tone of his voice seemed to tell her there was no discussion. This was simply a statement of how he wanted things to be.

  Though she wanted to dispute his stance, for now she had to respect it. Or run the risk of Lily not coming to the program anymore. Maybe once they got to know each other better, she could bring it up.

  “I’ll do that, Mr. Marstow,” she said, struggling to keep her tone neutral. “Thank you for calling.”

  She heard a faint intake of his breath, as if he wanted to say more. Then she heard a click in her ear and the call was over.

  Josie pulled a face at the handset. Wasn’t he the hospitable one?

  “Who was that on the phone?” Betty asked as Josie wheeled her out of the room. “You were yakking a long time.”

  “I was talking to the insurance adjuster about the house and Silas Marstow about his daughter.”

  “He’s a good man, that Silas.” Betty half turned, her eyes narrowing. “You seemed to be paying him a lot of attention when he was here the other day.”

  And why did that simple sentence make her feel suddenly self-conscious?

  “He’s the father of my student” was the only explanation she gave.

  “He’s a looker, that one. And his wife, nothing like you, my girl.”

  “The doctor called, as well,” Josie said, hoping to sideline her grandmother’s train of thought. “He was surprised you are still so immobile. He said according to the X-rays, you are healing quite nicely.”

  “Much he knows. Pain doesn’t show up on X-rays, now, does it?” Betty spun around, her hands grasping the armrests of her wheelchair with a white-knuckled grip. “We just better not be late for that bus.”

  Five minutes later, Betty Carter was on her way to the hospital, and Josie was walking toward the animal shelter where she was helping Lexi whenever she had a spare minute. When she came back, she had to make some lunch for the men working on the Old Town Hall.

  Thankfully that wasn’t far away from the cottages, so she could leave her grandmother alone for a while so she could deliver the lunch. Betty would complain, but Josie wasn’t going to let her grandmother’s temperament keep her from helping the people who were rebuilding the town she loved so much.

  Then why do you want to leave?

  Josie pushed the annoying voice back into the nether regions of her mind. She didn’t want to leave High Plains.

  She had to. If she wanted to make sure Alyssa didn’t grow up with the same disapproval Josie did, if she wanted to make sure Alyssa didn’t walk the same path Josie had and live with the same, eternal regrets, they had to leave.

  Chapter Five

  “But I want to go to the clinic first.” Lily sat back in the truck, her arms folded mutinously over her chest as the countryside flew by the window beside her.

  “I told you, honey, we’re not getting a puppy,” Silas said as he eased his foot off the truck’s accelerator. No need to speed and put both their lives at risk.

  “But I still want to look at them.”

  “I have a bunch of other things to pick up before I get the medicine I need, Lily.” Silas glanced at the list lying on the dusty seat between them. The vet clinic was the last stop on his list.

  He had managed to finagle a lift of lumber from Garrison and he needed to make sure no one got it before he did so he needed to go there first.

  “Do we have to go to that boring tool place again?”

  Lily knew his routine well. It seemed every trip to town necessitated a quick trip to the hardware store for nails, screws or the odd tool he still needed to finish the cabins. “Unfortunately, yes.”

  Lily turned to him, her eyes bright. “If we go to the vet place first, you can leave me there while you do your other stuff then you can come back and pick up your medicine.”