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The Mobile address belonged to a decaying trailer set back from a gravel road among maple and birch trees. The grass was nearly

a foot high, and weeds poked through what was left of the gravel. The whole look of the place gave off a bad vibe.

She leaned forward. “Does anyone live here? The grass shouldn’t be so high if Reynolds is driving on it.”

“One way to find out.” Blake turned the truck into the drive, and the tires thumped along the potholes to the trailer. “I’ll

take the lead on this one.”

She left her hand on the door after he parked and stared at the front door, which stood open a bit as if the latch didn’t

work. “I don’t think he’s here, Blake.” She opened her door and stepped into the high weeds in the drive.

Blake got out and approached the trailer. Paradise crowded close behind him. She could almost hear the dueling banjos from

Deliverance echoing on the wind. She shivered and pushed away the thought. It was an old abandoned trailer and nothing more.

The metal steps canted to one side amid the weeds, and several discarded beer bottles poked their necks up through the vegeta tion. Blake mounted the steps and rapped on the door, which opened a few more inches. “Clark? You in there?” He rapped again, and this time the door opened another foot.

Paradise peered past his shoulder into the gloom of the trailer’s interior. It wasn’t as disheveled as she expected from seeing

the exterior. A brown tweed sofa was in view, and the coffee table in front of it held only a single beer bottle. No debris

was scattered on the brown carpet either.

“Clark?” Blake called again.

“You looking for me?” A gruff voice came from behind them, and two German shepherds charged toward them.

Paradise stepped forward. “Good boys.” She kept her tone friendly and light. The dogs stopped their forward momentum and pricked

their ears in her direction. “Such a beauty,” she crooned. She held out her hand and prayed for a sniff or two and not a bite.

Clark was a big guy with hunched shoulders weighed down by life. His shaggy brown hair curled on his neck. He was clean-shaven

and his clothes were wrinkled. He eyed her. “Huh. How’d you do that? They don’t like anyone.” He glared at Blake. “You got

some nerve coming here, Lawson. Get off my property before I sic my dogs on you.”

Blake stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I wanted to see how you were doing, Clark.”

The man swept his hand over the property. “How do you think I’m doing? No family, no friends, no brother, thanks to you. My

mom killed herself after you murdered Kent.”

Blake’s jaw clenched, and he took his hands out of his pockets. “If I could take his place, I would. He was my best friend,

Clark.”

Clark balled his hands into fists. “You should be in jail. I’d like to see you strapped into the electric chair. I’d pull

the switch.”

“I can’t disagree with that.”

Paradise couldn’t hold her tongue a moment longer. “Clark, it was an accident. Have you never made a mistake? Failed to check

something? It was a terrible tragedy, but you have to know Blake loved your brother.”

Clark swept a glare over her and snorted. “You’re letting him off too easy. It’s not your brother who died.”

“No, it’s not, but we’re both sympathetic to your pain. Blake carries it too. How would you feel if a mistake you made harmed

someone you loved? How would you be able to make amends? If there was a way, Blake would do it. But Kent is dead and nothing

can bring him back. Instead, Blake has dedicated his life to helping other people. What more do you want him to do?”

Tears glimmered in Clark’s eyes. “I might find peace if he was as dead as Kent.”

A few weeks ago she was as tormented as Clark. Would this have been her fate if she’d kept on the same path of anger and revenge?

“You wouldn’t. Two wrongs don’t make a right. You’d still be angry and hate filled. The only thing that will help is for you

to forgive him.”

“Forgive him? Did you pick some weed out of my patch? I will never forgive him.”

“Then your life won’t change, Clark. You’ll die a lonely man with no friends because you’ve pushed everyone away. We can’t

control what happens to us, but we can choose how we respond.”

He sneered. “What do you know about my kind of pain?”

“My parents were murdered. Bludgeoned to death.” His eyes widened but he didn’t answer. Enough of this though. She couldn’t

make him see what was in front of his face, just like no one else could have gotten through to her. “Your driveway is all

overgrown. We nearly missed it.”

“My truck died a month ago, and I don’t have the money to fix it. Transmission. Not that anyone cares.”

Pay it forward . She had some savings, but the inner voice warred with her logic. The guy didn’t deserve anything from her. She pushed the

urge away for now until she could examine it later.

“So you’ve been stuck here for a month? How are you getting groceries and other necessities?”

He shrugged. “I got good legs, so I hoof it.” Her questions seemed to have drained his defiance. He brushed past them. “I’ve

said all I’m going to say.” His voice was tired and hopeless, and he didn’t look at either of them as he went up the steps

with his dogs into the trailer. The door slammed but then cracked open again as the latch didn’t hold.

Blake took her hand. “You are amazing. I think he could tell you cared, and somehow that defused his anger.”

She curled her fingers into his and leaned against him, the strength running out of her legs as her adrenaline crashed. “If

he’d sicced those dogs on us, we’d have been in trouble. But the bigger news is he can’t be behind what’s going on. He doesn’t

have transportation.”

So they were back to square one.

***

Paradise’s silence filled the truck cab, but Blake let her stare out the window with her thoughts. He had plenty of his own

as well. Like how completely he’d ruined Clark’s life. To have someone wish him dead was a new experience, and he wished he

could heal the man’s pain somehow. The worst thing was he deserved it.

Paradise pointed out an auto repair place on the outskirts of Mobile only a few miles from Clark’s trailer. “Can we stop there a minute?”

Blake glanced at the busy lot. “Sure.” He pulled in beside the tow truck. “You having car trouble? There’s a closer place

in Pelican Harbor.”

“Not me. I want to get Clark’s truck repaired.”

Jaw slack, he stared at her for a long minute. “Why? I mean, he just threw us off his property.”

“I’ve done worse. Didn’t you get a sense of how alone and desperate he felt? I’ve been in that spot so many times. How do

you think he will feel when that tow truck pulls up and tells him his truck will be repaired at no cost to him?”

“Paradise, it’s his transmission! That’s not a cheap fix.”

She opened her door. “We’ll find out how much.”

No wonder thoughts of her filled his every waking moment. She was still an enigma. He shook his head and followed her inside

to an aging space painted a dingy beige. Cracked vinyl tiles the same color covered the floor. A waiting room with two guys

watching TV was to the left through an open door.

A woman behind a long green counter glanced their way. “Can I help you folks?” Her dark eyes gave them a once-over in a curious

but friendly way.

Paradise approached her with a smile. “Do you know Clark Reynolds down the road?”

“Matter of fact, I do. He’s a regular, or he was until that old truck of his died on him.”

“How much would it cost to fix his transmission?”

The woman’s brows winged up, and she quoted a price that made Blake’s eyes widen too. It was much less than he’d expected. The woman must have noticed his surprise because she glanced his way. “Our owner, Glen, is Clark’s third cousin and they go bowling sometimes. He was trying to help, but Clark didn’t have the funds even for a discount rate.”

“I’d like to pay for it,” Paradise said.

“He your boyfriend or something?”

Paradise handed over her debit card. “No, but I think he needs a hand.”

“He’s going to ask how this happened.” The woman took the card and went to her computer. “What do I tell him?”

“Just tell him a friend wanted to help.”

Warmth flooded Blake’s chest, and he wanted to wrap Paradise up in his arms. Something deep had happened last night. He’d

loved the old Paradise, but this new one was more intriguing in a lot of ways. He had thought of offering to help with the

repair, but he saw her deep desire to do this herself.

The woman returned the card, and Paradise signed the receipt. “You’re a good person,” the woman said. “Thank you.”

“I’m not good at all, but other people have helped me. And God did too.” Paradise slid the pen back across the counter and

headed for the door.

“I wish we could be mice in the corner to see his reaction,” Blake said once they reached his truck. He stretched his arm

across the seat and touched her shoulder. “That was a terrific thing to do, Paradise.”

He could get lost in those amber eyes she turned his way. They’d always been full of mystery and secrets, but today they were

clear. And content, definitely content. He’d never seen contentment in her before.

She reached up and put her right hand on top of his. “I had a good teacher. You never gave up on me, Blake. Even when I showed

up here angry and distant, you were kind. Always. I caused a lot of upheaval in your life, and I’m sorry for that.”

“Most of us can use having a little shake-up in life. We get into a rut.” He didn’t move until she dropped her hand back onto her lap and turned her gaze away. Even then, it took a few seconds for him to start the truck and put his attention on driving back to The Sanctuary.

They might have struck out on their investigation, but their lives had taken a turn for the better. At least he hoped so.