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The memory of Paradise’s revelation haunted Blake all the way back to the house. The noisy tussling of the boys on the living

room floor was only a minor distraction from his self-recrimination. Why hadn’t he considered the consequences of what he’d

done? But he was just a kid himself, and he’d had no power in the circumstances. Once Paradise was in the foster-care machine,

they were all helpless.

The aroma of frying catfish wafted from the kitchen, and his mother called his name. He went that direction and found her

flipping the fish he’d caught last month and had frozen. Her face was red from the heat.

He grabbed a knife out of the block. “I’ll do the salad. Smells like corn casserole in the oven too.”

“You have a great nose. Is Paradise okay? That was a scary thing to happen on her first day of work. I hope it doesn’t send

her packing.”

“She’s doing okay with it. I’m not sure why she came. I mean, how easy can it be to return here when she hates me? I blew it, Mom. She landed in a worse place when she left here.” He told her what Paradise had said. He’d failed the girl he loved just like he’d failed Kent. Would he ever be able to forgive himself for the wrongs he’d done?

His mother’s eyes clouded. “I carry that blame too. We reported it together. We’ll do what we can to help her now. God can

heal those hurting places.”

“It’s made her hate God even more.” He’d prayed for her occasionally over the years and had never really forgotten her.

“Then we just pray harder. He’s the only one who can help her.”

Blake nodded and opened the drawer with the cutting boards. They were a jumble inside. “The boys been playing in here?”

His mom glanced over to see what he was talking about, and she shook her head. “Not to my knowledge.”

Given the weirdness of everything that was going on, Blake opened the junk drawer. His mother always kept it organized in

a tray. The tray was in backward and nothing was in its usual place. He exchanged a long glance with her. “I’m going to check

the office.”

He strode past the boys, who had quit wrestling and were playing with Legos. The door to the office stood open, and he frowned.

They usually kept it closed. His pulse quickened. When he flipped on the light, everything appeared in order. He pulled open

the middle drawer and found papers askew, pens and pencils rolled to the other side. The alphabetized files in the side drawers

were out of place.

From the doorway his mother’s anxious eyes locked with his. “Someone’s searched the house?”

“No doubt about it.”

“But why? What could they have been searching for?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Much as I hate to, I’d better report it.”

She wrinkled her nose. “We’d better see if there’s anything missing first.”

“Good idea. I’ll check the safe while you go through your bedroom. Make sure your jewelry is all there.”

“On it. Oh, and dinner is ready,” she called on her way to the bedroom.

He grunted and moved to the safe in his closet. The door stood open, and he curled his hands into fists. The loss of their

backup funds would be huge, but when he stooped to peer inside, he let out a relieved exhale. The stacks of hundred-dollar

bills were still inside.

So why open the safe and not take the money? Who had been in the house and why? He checked the papers inside too. Their passports

and birth certificates were there. None of this made any sense.

His mother reappeared. “Everything is there. Did they take the money?”

“Nope, not a dollar. The safe was open, but everything seems to still be there.”

“What on earth?”

He shrugged. “I’m going to report it anyway, but I doubt they’ll even send out a deputy. We don’t know who was here or why.

Knowing Greene, he’s likely to say the kids were into things.”

“They wouldn’t know how to get into the safe.” She stared at the space in the closet. “How did the intruder manage to break

into it?”

“The key was in it. I’m guessing they searched the kitchen and found the key, then checked the office before searching the

closets.”

“They had something specific they were searching for.”

“I think so.” He followed her out of the office and scooped up a brother in each arm. The boys squealed and slung an arm around

him as he carried them into the kitchen.

He loved his life here, but his thoughts went to the little cottage on the other side of the complex. Could Paradise’s return

to town have anything to do with the events here? She had mentioned going to get food. Maybe they should invite her over for

dinner. He deposited his brothers in their chairs at the table and glanced at the heaping plate of fish.

“You’ve cooked enough for an army,” he told his mother.

“Well, I wasn’t sure if we’d have company.”

The glint in her eye told him she’d read his mind. “I doubt she’d come over.”

“It can’t hurt to ask. She’s alone in a strange place, and she used to love fish.”

He wasn’t sure how much Paradise had changed over the past fifteen years, but he wanted to find out. “You text her. Maybe

she won’t take it as out of line coming from you. I’ll call McShea.”

“Coward.” A smile tugged his mom’s lips, but she reached for her phone on the counter and tapped out a message.

***

What on earth was she doing? Paradise walked along the brick pathway past the fields between her cottage and the main house.

When Jenna’s text came through, Paradise’s stomach had rumbled with a reminder of how hungry it was and she’d agreed without

thinking about the fact Blake would be there.

The truth was, she was lonely. She’d been okay with that for years, but being back here where things had once been so lively and fun had reminded her of what friendship and camaraderie felt like. Oh, she’d had a couple of good friends here, but their letters had ceased when she moved away. Then she had no one she’d opened up to and told about her previous life.

Jenna and Blake knew what she’d gone through. They had front-row seats to the fast demolition of the family she’d once had and the life she’d

struggled to remake. They’d been part of the explosion that brought all of it down again.

Was the third time a charm and she’d find a place to call home permanently? She wasn’t that lucky.

The main house was not familiar to Paradise. She’d only ever been to the business end of the place in its previous incarnation

as the Steerforth Ranch with a roadside zoo. It was a cute shotgun-style house, yellow with white trim and an inviting porch.

Painted gray stairs led to the red door on the east side of the porch. There were additional quarters over a garage that made

the entire structure appear a bit lopsided but in an interesting, welcoming way. She liked it the minute she laid eyes on

it. She suspected Blake had the quarters over the garage.

The door opened before she had a chance to knock on the red door, and Blake stepped out of the way. “Glad you could join us.

Mom made catfish and there’s way too much for us to eat.”

Was he making excuses for Jenna’s text? She lifted a brow and stepped inside. “It was kind of your mom to invite me.”

He shut the door and leaned against it. “Everything okay at your cottage? Nothing out of place?”

She examined his tense expression. “That’s an odd question. I haven’t found anything out of place.”

“Our place has been searched. Not sure what they were after, but I don’t see anything missing.”

She held her hand to her throat. “Did you call McShea?”

“I got routed to Greene. He wasn’t much interested since nothing was taken.”

“What’s going on here, Blake?”

He took her arm, and she jerked it away. They would never be friends, and he needed to remember that.

He dropped his hand back to his side. “Sorry. I’m worried, Paradise. Did Mom mention we don’t think Hank’s death was an accident?”

She absently rubbed her arm where his touch had seared her skin. “No, she didn’t talk about anything personal. She told me

about the opening here and asked if I was interested. How did he die?”

“He fell out of the hayloft in the barn and broke his neck.”

“That sounds accidental.”

He nodded. “And I would agree if strange things hadn’t been happening before that. This isn’t our first break-in, and someone

tried to run him off the road the week before his death.”

“Could it have been the activists?”

“That’s what we think. My cousin Hez is an attorney, and he poked around some, but without any real help from the police,

he hasn’t turned up any evidence. At least Mom got Hank’s life insurance, which helped. It will give us a few months’ breathing

room to keep things going.” He grimaced. “If we can get the activists out of our way long enough to draw people in here to

see what we’re offering. I’m going to try to catch McShea out of the office at lunch tomorrow.”

Her heart stirred at the quandary his family was in. She’d taken a low salary because she had to come back here, and this

job didn’t ask much of her. Her affection for his mom had played a role in that decision too, but she hadn’t realized the

situation was so dire.

“So you think maybe someone tossed Hank over the edge of the loft?”

“Or broke his neck and staged it to make it seem like an accident.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Shy of a confession

from some unknown person, I don’t know how we prove it though. We all have to be on guard here. Every one of us.”

“Did anyone else want to buy this place before Hank and your mom purchased it?”

“Sure. It’s 120 acres of prime land. Lots of hay grown here, good pastures for horses and cattle. Several farmers wanted it

as well as a developer.”

“I’m surprised the developer didn’t buy it.”

“It got snarled in red tape, and Hank managed to swoop in and snag it. Once the funding for the developer came through, they

sent a guy to offer to buy it for much more than Mom paid, but we said no, of course. It’s perfect for our needs.”

He reached behind him and pushed open the screen door. The aroma of catfish and cornbread wafted out, and her mouth watered.

She followed him through the small living room into the tiny kitchen with its round table for five. The boys smiled shyly

in her direction.

“There you are.” Jenna carried a platter of catfish to the table. “You’re just in time.”

Paradise took a seat beside the older boy. “Can I do anything to help?”

“I’ve got it. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s filling.”

Had she made a mistake tonight? She hadn’t thought about how she’d be looking across the dinner table at Blake, but it was

too late to back out now.