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K atherine swallowed. Her throat was dry as dust, a sure sign of an oncoming attack. Taking a deep breath while trying to be quiet wasn’t easy, but she managed. Tyler turned to face her. “You okay?” he mouthed.

She nodded. As she anticipated what she knew came next, her cell phone buzzed in her pocket. Grappling with the device, she hit the end button. She’d put the phone on silent mode but forgot to dim the screen. If this idiot intruder was here, she would shove this phone down his damn throat. She visualized it, and it had a strangely calming effect on her. Was she a sociopath? No better than the person who broke into her home?

Tyler placed his hands on her shoulders, physically moving her away from the sliding doors. “Stay here,” he whispered, and then disappeared without giving her a chance to ask where he was going or what he was doing. Fearing they would get caught, she removed her phone from her pocket now that she was away from the sliding doors.

Lisa had called and left a message, but Katherine didn’t dare listen now. She felt like a sitting duck at the county fair, just waiting for some punk to blow her feathers off. Why was she having all of these insane thoughts?

Unsure how long she should wait, Katherine surveyed her surroundings. Shadows moved by the fence at the edge of the back lawn. She kept to the side of the house as she inched closer, hoping to see who was there. Not Tyler. He was too tall. Reaching the corner of the house, Katherine knew she had to find Tyler.

Katherine feared this Jameson might’ve overpowered Tyler—stabbed him, choked him, or some other method of killing a person. If the worst had happened, then Katherine would confront him directly. Brave thoughts, but could she really act on them? As she decided she had no choice, Tyler emerged from the shadows.

He tapped her shoulder, scaring the life out of her. “What are you doing? I’ve been visualizing a chop shop inside, with you being the chop-ee,” Katherine hissed.

“There’s an open window on the other side of the house. I saw it when we were heading over.”

“Did you see or hear anything useful?” she whispered, her voice hoarse. She needed a drink of water.

“Let’s get back to the car.”

“Okay, but why now?”

“Follow me,” he instructed.

Katherine stayed close to Tyler. When they reached the Bronco, he opened her door, then hurried around to the driver’s side. “Look what I found,” he said, pulling a square piece of paper from his back pocket and handing it to her.

“We need to take this to the police,” Katherine said when she realized what she held in her hand.

“I know, and we will,” Tyler replied, as he pulled onto the main road. “Not Detective Davidson. Ilene trusts him, but I don’t like the guy.”

“Where did you find this?”

“On the front porch, stuck under the screen door. Look at the date.”

She used the flashlight on her cell phone to read the date on the boarding pass. Three weeks ago. “I haven’t said this to anyone, but I will now. For years, starting right after my parents died, I have always felt a presence, like someone’s been watching me.” Saying it out loud made it real. She put the pass in her back pocket.

Did he believe her? Or was this paranoia? She had never left her home for over seven years, and yet she’d always felt someone was watching her. It was one of the reasons she never walked around without at least a robe on. For all of the deliveries she received, she was always fully dressed. No lying around in a sleep shirt all day. She didn’t go braless; she behaved like she was being watched. “I know it sounds crazy.”

“It doesn’t, because whomever this person is”—Tyler nodded at the slip of paper in her hand—“has been planning this for a very long time.”

“But why? What are they planning, other than claiming they wrote the GWUP books? My editor and publisher know me. We Zoom often.”

“You said you had a car at one time, right?” Tyler asked.

She had no clue where he was going with this but answered, “Yes. I still have the old thing in the garage. It’s been there since the first day I arrived.”

“I’ll have Doc check to see if it’s worth keeping. Do you remember the make and model?” he asked.

“Of course I do. A 2005 Nissan Altima. Before you ask, I still have the keys along with the title. Where are we going?”

“To your place. I want to see your car and look around. Make sure Ilene’s men are still in place.”

When they reached the end of Red Oak Road, Tyler turned into the long driveway. Katherine could still see her house in the distance, even though it was dark. She hadn’t seen her home from this perspective since she’d first moved in. “Can you stop for a minute?”

“Sure.”

Katherine got out of the car, focusing her attention on her house. If the lights were on, anyone could see inside. Especially her office, the former dining room with its floor-to-ceiling windows. She had no window coverings, because she had been sure no one could see her. Not that it mattered, but something Tyler said had triggered something in her mind. Back in the car, she asked Tyler, “You said you always wondered about this place, that when you drove by, you could see the house all lit up or something like that. Do you remember?”

The SUV bounced up the long winding drive. “Yes, I remember telling you. When the other folks lived here, they never shut their lights off. From the main road, anyone could see . . .”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Katherine asked him. She needed to know he didn’t think she was as loony as those people on the community events website.

“Let’s get you home. I’ll call Doc and see if he can bring Sam and Sophie home. If not, I’ll pick them up. I need to check on Carson’s horses before I call it a night.”

Tyler parked in the same place as before. Katherine felt very uneasy returning home in total darkness without Sam and Sophie by her side to warn her. Not that she’d knowingly ever put herself or her dogs in danger, but they could hear things she couldn’t.

“Ask Doc if he wants to bring Steph and Bethany,” said Katherine. “There’s plenty of apple pie left if they want. I’ll make coffee, espresso, whatever, while you and Doc take care of the horses.” She knew she was babbling, something she did when she was nervous.

Katherine hadn’t been this kind of nervous in a long time. It was much different than a panic attack. She could handle it, but she didn’t want to do it on her own. She needed people around her. She wanted to fill this monstrosity of a house with noise—laughter, cries, barking, meowing, sounds of the living. That was the answer to her panic attacks. She knew it. When Doc was around, she was usually fine, and then she met Tyler. They clicked instantly. She had told Miss Lucy Anne where to go without being afraid. Sort of. Detective Davidson definitely knew she wasn’t a fan of his.

Those events had happened because she was making them happen. Being with people mattered to her. It came as a shock, because she’d never been around people much. Alone as a child, then sent away to boarding school, then college. Her work at the newspaper exposed her to all sorts of people. She’d loved her job. Loved Adam, who would always hold a special place in her heart. Then the bombings. And she ran away when her life as an adult woman with a promising career was just beginning.

She needed to be with people. She ran up the stairs to the deck when she remembered she had left her wallet in the Bronco. “Tyler, can you bring my wallet? It’s on the floorboard. My keys are inside.”

She waited for him to answer. “Tyler?” She called his name again, and this time, she heard the worry and fear in her own voice.

Taking her cell phone out of her pocket, she used the flashlight to search the area below. “Tyler, are you there?” She walked to the edge of the steps, preparing to search for him, when she felt her jeans rip. “Damn!” Apparently, she’d caught her leg on an S-type hook that the previous owners had left.

In the dark and alone, fearing something bad had happened to Tyler, she hit the number one on her cell. Her safety person. Doc. He didn’t answer, so she left a message. It wasn’t like Doc to avoid her phone calls. Then again, he was with family, so he’d probably given up his phone for the evening. But what about her dogs? She hadn’t planned on leaving them with Doc all night. He knew that. He also knew she would be sick with worry if she couldn’t get in touch with him when her dogs were in his care. “Darn jerk!”

“Hey, that’s just plain rude,” Tyler said. “I’m not perfect, but . . .”

“Tyler! Are you all right?” She raced to the bottom of the steps. “I thought something had happened to you. I promise I wasn’t calling you a jerk! I was just saying it because, well, I tried calling Doc, but he isn’t answering, and I didn’t know where you were.”

“Hey, calm down.” Tyler reached for her, wrapping his arms around her. “I was in the garage. Didn’t you hear me tell you where I was going?”

Had she? No. Did he really tell her or was he just saying that to protect himself? He was a professional, and he knew how to do that type of thing.

“Though to be honest, I was halfway there when I thought I’d better let you know where I was. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“Are you sure you’re not playing head games with me? If you are, please leave.” She stepped away from his embrace. “I’m scared and confused, Tyler. I don’t know who to trust, or who not to. This entire world is new to me. I know I sound nuts, and I sometimes think I am. My thoughts are all over the place. I’m not agoraphobic. I need to be with people. I need to hear life, see life, and most of all, I really, really want to start living my life. If I can’t trust you now, then just go.”

Tears streamed down her face, but she didn’t care who saw her. If this was what a nervous breakdown felt like, she was in the throes of one right now. Her thoughts were like shooting stars. One went off in one direction just as another shot off in the opposite direction.

“Katherine, listen, I am going to call my mother. She’ll come and sit with you. She can reassure you that I’m not a stalker or a serial killer or anything else that you think I might be. Is that okay with you?”

Katherine didn’t answer him. Instead, she walked upstairs and, using her fist, she punched the laminate Tyler had used to cover the windowpane. She reached inside and unlocked the door. Once she was inside the house, she started turning on every light. Upstairs and downstairs. When she returned, Tyler was in the kitchen, making a pot of coffee. “Doc is on his way with the dogs. He said he was bringing Steph and Bethany over.”

Jolted back into reality, Katherine sat down on a barstool. “Did I just whack out or what?” she asked Tyler, confused.

“Not really. You’ve just had a dose of life, I think. I’m taking responsibility for my part in this, because I shouldn’t have left you alone in the dark. I did shout out to you, but I was too far away for you to hear. I’m so sorry.”

“Can we forget this ever happened?” she asked, as a fresh round of tears gushed down her face. Tyler stuck a tea towel in his belt loop and went over to her.

“It’s okay, Katherine. You’re gonna be all right. I’m never going to let anything happen to you. I’m so sorry I screwed up. It’s my fault.” He used the tea towel to wipe her tears.

She laughed and felt snot on her upper lip. “Good grief, turn your head.” She took the towel from him, wiped her nose, then tossed the towel aside. “I never cry, and now I can’t seem to stop.”

“Listen, this is all new to you. You went from day to night at the speed of light. You’re going to cry, be confused, pissed, happy, sad, and glad.”

“Good thing you went to medical school, because you aren’t much of a poet,” Katherine said. “Me, either. I can write novels, but poetry, no.”

They sat in silence while the coffee brewed. Katherine had humiliated herself, but she didn’t feel judged by Tyler. She needed him. More than he knew. She’d flipped out, as she’d taken too many hits today. But she wasn’t going to continue down that pity road. She was done.

“So, how bad was the garage? I haven’t been in there since I parked the Nissan all those years ago,” she said.

Tyler nodded. “I see.”

“What?”

“There is no other way to say this other than to tell you straight out—there is no vehicle of any kind in your garage.”

She laughed. “That bad, huh?”

He got up and poured them each a cup of coffee. “I’m not joking, Katherine. I’m serious. There isn’t a car in your garage. It’s clean as a whistle. No tire tracks, gas smells, or oil stains. Any normal things that would have been there if a car was stored there this long.”

“I have the title and a set of keys.” She hurried across the room to her desk. Opening the drawer where she kept important papers, she searched until she found the title to her car. She’d kept the keys in the drawer under her desk as a reminder that someday she would drive again and see the world. Now that day had arrived, and she apparently didn’t have a car. And she couldn’t find the keys.

“Someone has been in my house. More than once,” she said when she returned to the kitchen. “Look.” She handed Tyler the title paperwork. “The keys are missing. I put them in a drawer, and I’ve never moved them.”

How could Katherine have gone about her day-to-day life and be oblivious to a person violating her space, stealing her car? Maybe it would be wise to allow Tyler to place her in an institution, where she could be treated around the clock. She’d been so engrossed in her self-imposed exile, focusing on her dogs, work, and the Friendlink group, she’d unknowingly allowed her home, her safe place, to be violated.

Tyler glanced at the title. “I see this is your vehicle, registered in the state of Illinois. Somebody knows your routine. They know where you are in the house. When you take a shower or when you sleep or whatever, they must come inside and take what they want. Do you have any idea who might be behind this?” Tyler’s tone was deadly serious.

“No, I swear. I don’t know anyone here. Just Doc, you, and Carson.”

“What about the delivery people? Do any of them know you had a car? Where you kept your keys? Did they come inside any time?”

“I don’t think so, but I’m not one hundred percent sure. They’d have to be pretty sneaky to get past Sam and Sophie.”

“Or they are well-acquainted with the dogs. Do Sam or Sophie seem overly eager when you have a delivery?”

“Not really. They bark at everyone, though the kid from the Apple Blossom Market brings them treats when he delivers, but not every time.”

“Think back to the last time he was here, if you can remember,” Tyler coached. “When you made dinner, did you order any groceries that day?”

“Yes, I ordered a couple of things. I never normally go out to get the bags until he leaves, but yesterday—or the day before? —he had treats for the dogs. I’d been brave that day, because you were coming for dinner, so I stepped outside as he was giving the dogs a treat. Royce, that’s his name. He saw me and said it was nice to finally put a face to the name. I agreed, grabbed the bags, and came inside, feeling like I’d just conquered Mount Everest. That was it. He seems like a nice kid.”

“I know who he is. He is a good kid. I doubt he’s been breaking into your house.”

“There is no one else. I really don’t have any idea who would do this. Maybe someone local who is down on their luck?”

“Could be. Something to check into. When we were at Kyle’s, the Airbnb house, I saw a garage in the back, an unattached one. There was a vehicle inside. It looked either gray or silver. It was hard to tell, since it was so dark out.” Tyler looked at her title again. “Your Nissan is silver?”

She nodded. “Yes, it was a great car, with good gas mileage. It had the works. Sirius Radio. The first car I bought with my own money.”

“Someone is going to pay for this, Katherine. I’m going to make damn sure of it. Now, what about your attorney? Have you heard back from her yet?”

She’d forgotten all about Lisa. “Yes, she left a voicemail, but I haven’t listened to it yet. With all the excitement going on, I didn’t play it back. Let’s listen now.” She took her phone out of her pocket and clicked into her voicemail. Lisa’s voice was clear and succinct: “Call me, kid. I think I know who’s screwing with you.”

“That doesn’t tell me anything,” said Katherine. “Lisa knows I don’t have any close friends. She is aware of my living situation. If she has a name in mind, maybe it’s simply a stranger from here, and she was able to find them faster than that jerk detective. No— defective ,” she couldn’t help adding.

“You trust her?” Tyler asked.

“With my life.” And she did. Lisa’s references had been top-of-the-line. Clean as a whistle.

“How did you meet this woman?”

“She came highly recommended to me after my parents died. Their attorney was an old bastard. I remember him trying to touch my breasts when I was eleven. As soon as their last will and testament was read, I fired him immediately.”

“Would he resort to this type of behavior?”

“Unless he crawled out of his grave, no. He died not long after Lisa took over. He had a massive stroke,” she told him. “Lisa said he lingered for days.”

“I guess we can definitely count him out then.”

“I can’t imagine anyone wanting to do this. Do they truly believe they’re going to get credit for my work? It’s insane. Plagiarism happens, sure, but nothing on a scale like this. I’m calling Lisa. I need to know who she suspects, a name, or anything I can give to investigators.”

Tyler refilled their coffee mugs. “I wouldn’t call in your investigators just yet. You don’t want to alienate the local authorities.”

“I really don’t care. If Detective Davidson is representative of the police force, then I’ll have Lisa fly my people in.” More and more, Katherine sounded like her father, a powerhouse. There were times such as now that she understood why he’d had to be so forceful.

Katherine hit speed dial, and Lisa picked up immediately. “Hey, Lisa. I got your message, but it was so cryptic. Were you able to find out who this Jameson Thurman is?”

Listening to what Lisa had discovered was mind-blowing. Never in a million years would Katherine have even thought of it. She ended their call and just sat there, staring at her phone. She had no words. Lisa had to be mistaken.

“K, what’s going on?” Tyler asked, sitting down next to her. “You’re white as a ghost.”

She didn’t answer. Memories of that day came back in full force. While they weren’t as clear as she’d have liked, she realized that she had known what she saw was wrong, but had no one to explain it to her. So she hadn’t said anything. Ever. Not a word.

And now, knowing what she’d just learned, would she have reacted differently?

“You’re scaring me, and I don’t scare easily,” Tyler said nervously.

Katherine took a deep breath, blowing it out so forcefully that strands of her hair landed in her mug. “This is so frigging out of this world, I’m not sure I want to repeat it. I’m going to have one of the company investigators look into it before I go any further.”

She wanted to tell Tyler, but her gut told her to keep this bit of information to herself until she was one hundred percent sure. Sighing, she removed part of her hair from her mug. “I’m sorry. I can’t repeat what Lisa told me until I . . .” She couldn’t even say the words out loud. “Research.”

“Okay, I get it. You don’t trust me completely yet. If this Lisa has information on someone who might try and hurt you, I would carefully consider keeping it to yourself.”

“Tyler, I’m not even sure I believe what she just told me, but there is a way to find out if it’s true.” Wouldn’t Tyler know? As a doctor, he probably had all kinds of resources available to him. He had helped her regain control of her life; the least she could do was trust him. “Okay, but this stays between us. Do you know anyone who could do a DNA comparison quickly? Like ASAP,” she added for emphasis.

Katherine took the boarding pass they had found at the rental house from her pocket. She handled it carefully so as not to smudge any prints or DNA. “Can you get DNA from this? I realize we’ve handled it, and maybe someone at the airport did, as well, but I need to know.”

“Maybe. It depends. But even if we can, it’s useless if you don’t have a comparison. We know Jameson Thurman is staying at Kyle’s, and it’s possible that the car in the garage belongs to you. I’m not sure how DNA evidence would help, unless we could get his print from inside the house or the garage, just to prove he’s been here.”

She nodded. “Right.” Katherine thought about Karrie, about losing her mother. If what she thought were true, this kid was in danger.

Jameson Thurman. His name bothered her. There were no Thurmans in her past that she could remember. It could be an alias. People changed their names all the time for a variety of reasons. It was his first name that really bothered her.

“Does the name Jameson mean anything?” she asked Tyler.

“It does. It’s a brand of Irish whiskey brewed in a distillery for the last couple hundred years. Very popular in Ireland.”

“Is it expensive?”

“It’s been a while since I’ve imbibed, but I think it’s just average price. Good whiskey, but not top-of-the-line,” Tyler said. “You want Doc to stop at The Pony Keg? I’m sure they stock it there.”

“No, I don’t want to drink it. I’m not a whiskey drinker.”

“Where is this leading, K?”

“You asked me if there was someone in my past that might want to . . . I don’t know, get even, hurt me in some way. There is someone. I just need a DNA test to prove it.”

Before Tyler could reply, Katherine heard Doc’s old beater truck coming up the driveway. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Katherine stepped inside the pantry, found a brown paper bag, and placed the boarding pass inside. She didn’t want to lose what little evidence she had to prove what she was ninety-nine percent sure of.

Sam and Sophie came barreling through the French doors. When they saw Katherine in the kitchen, they jumped on her, licking her face, whining as if they hadn’t seen her in twenty years. That was the thing about animals. Their love was always unconditional.

“Hey, pups, I missed you two,” Katherine said as she calmed them. “I bet neither of you has had a treat today.” Sam and Sophie immediately sat while she took a treat from their special jar.

Doc grinned at her when the dogs were settled. “I wanted to ask before bringing them inside. Stephanie and Bethany want to meet you. Before you ask, no, I didn’t reveal your secret.”

Wishing she’d had time to clean up, Katherine figured they might as well see her looking as crappy as she felt. Doc had been like a father to her, and she wouldn’t do anything to disappoint him. “I would love to meet them. I’ll heat up the apple pie I made yesterday.”

“Sounds good to me,” Doc said.

“What can I do to help?” Tyler asked.

“Find someone who can do a DNA test. Fast,” Katherine said.

“Done,” Tyler replied. “I’ll take care of this tonight.”

“Okay. We’ll discuss details later,” said Katherine.

Doc looked puzzled and intrigued, but he didn’t question anything. “I’ll just go and get the girls,” he said.

Katherine took the pie from the refrigerator, making sure there was enough to go around. She placed it in the microwave to warm. She then took out the dessert plates she’d purchased online, yet never used. The plates were light green with mountains etched in the glass. They reminded her of the view she had while sitting at her desk when she was working. “Tyler, in the drawer to your left, please grab the forks.” He did as instructed.

Katherine used the kitchen island as a table. No way would she allow the girls in the horrendous dining room. In due time, they could see the atrocity. She set the plates out, and Tyler placed the forks beside them. “Napkins,” Katherine said, opening the pantry where she kept them. She took a stack from its wrapping, placing them in the empty holder she usually kept stocked on the island. It was where she ate most of her meals, drank her morning cup of coffee, and wished for a life that she didn’t have.

Although now, she had a life and, so far, she wasn’t off to a great start. Except for Tyler , she mentally reminded herself. If not for his patience and kindness, she wouldn’t be serving pie at nine o’clock on a very eventful Friday night.

Doc returned with his daughter and granddaughter. “Katherine, this is my daughter Steph, and this little stinker is my granddaughter.”

Steph was not anything like Katherine had imagined. She’d assumed she would fit her image of a schoolteacher: perfect hair, glasses perched on the tip of her nose, a stiff white blouse tucked in a navy pleated skirt. But she had long blond hair, deep blue eyes, and she wore a pair of jeans with a T-shirt that read, B AKER’S B EST .

“It’s so nice to finally meet you, Katherine,” Steph said, leaning in to give her a hug. She had a soft voice, but her accent wasn’t quite as pronounced as Lulu’s. “This is Bethany, my daughter.” Katherine initiated a hug with Bethany, because right there on the spot, she had decided she would reveal who she was.

Bethany was a replica of her mother, though she wore black leggings and a long pink hoodie with pink Converse sneakers.

“I’m glad I finally got to meet you both. Doc said we had a lot in common,” Katherine told her new guests. “I’ve made an apple pie, if you want a slice. We’re eating in the kitchen.”

“Who in their right mind would turn down apple pie?” Steph asked, following her to the kitchen. “Hey, Tyler, what are you doing here?”

Obviously, Doc hadn’t mentioned that Tyler would be there. “I’m about to dig into a slice of the best apple pie you’ll ever eat,” Tyler said by way of answer.

“He had dinner with K yesterday,” Doc explained to his daughter.

“Oh, I am so happy for you. Tyler never has a date; he’s always working, picking folks’ brains apart,” Steph said.

Tyler laughed along with Doc. “Spot on, Steph.”

As soon as they were all seated around the kitchen island, with slices of apple pie, coffee, and a glass of milk for Bethany, Katherine decided it was the perfect time to surprise Stephanie and Bethany.

“There’s an elephant in the room, and I need to send it on its way.” Katherine smiled at Tyler, and he winked back. “Bethany, your grandfather tells me you like reading. Is that true?”

Doc shot Katherine a look she hadn’t seen before. Fear, maybe?

“I do like books, more than most of my friends,” Bethany said, her accent more pronounced than her mother’s.

“I hear you’re a big fan of K.C. Winston’s books.”

Doc grinned, giving Katherine the thumbs-up sign.

“Yes, I love those books. Those girls are awesome. I’ve read them all twice. I have to, because when they come out, I read them in one day, then I get mad at myself for reading them so fast, so I just start over,” Bethany gushed.

Bethany was Katherine’s first in-person fan. “What would you say if I told you I know the author?” She was dragging this out just to see the excitement on the young girl’s face.

“OMG, I would ask if she would sign all my books. Do you really know her?”

“I do.”

Stephanie spoke up. “Exciting, right, Beth? You can tell your father when he calls. He’s deployed with the Reserves right now,” she explained to Katherine, “but when he’s home, he’s a teacher. We all love books. Except Dad. He and all those expensive cars he likes to make the drag in.”

Katherine didn’t have a clue what “make the drag in” meant, but it didn’t matter right now. “Okay.” She took a deep breath. She felt nervous herself, but in a good way. “I’m K.C. Winston.”

No one said a word.

Then Bethany’s eyes filled with tears. “Really?”

“Doc?” Katherine looked at him so he could confirm what she’d said.

“It’s been one of the hardest secrets I’ve had to keep from you, sweetie. I’ve known this lady for a long time. She’s smart and loves animals, and she’s a heck of a cook,” said Doc.

“Y’all aren’t joking?” Bethany asked, looking at Doc, then Tyler. People she knew and trusted.

“She’s the real deal,” Doc said.

“There’s so much mystery surrounding you,” Stephanie told her. “Our public library always orders several copies of your books. They get snapped up like grapes off the vine. I take Beth to Asheville so we can purchase the books at our favorite bookstore. Why do they always put the books out on a Tuesday?”

“Actually, most books are released on a Tuesday. It gives some of the important newspapers time to compile their charts and, usually on weekends, the sales are noted by how they place on the list. I think distribution factors in there, too.” Katherine knew more, but it was boring, and she didn’t want to get into that technical aspect of her work. She had nothing to do with that end of publishing.

“Do you have any copies of your books?” Bethany asked.

Katherine smiled at her. “It’s silly, but no. Once I finish one story, I move on to the next. I do see the artwork and approve the covers.” She would have Gayle overnight copies of all the books so she could sign them for Bethany.

They all discussed Katherine’s books for another hour until Doc said it was time to leave because his old bones were tired. He had arranged for Katherine’s window panels to be replaced first thing the next day.

“Thanks, Doc. You’re the best,” said Katherine.

“So say the shirts.” He nodded at Stephanie’s shirt.

“I get it now,” Katherine said. It was their last name. “Do you have them at the clinic?”

“No, just these two. If you’re good, I might let you wear one. Girls, this old guy is tired, and I still have the animals to take care of. Tyler, K, I’ll see you two later. Call me if Dewayne doesn’t show up on time.” He was the best window man in town, according to Doc.

After goodbye hugs and promises to Bethany, Katherine was exhausted. Tyler insisted on staying on the couch again, and with Jameson Thurman still out there, Katherine was glad to say yes. She would have preferred him in her bedroom, but so much had happened already tonight, and she hoped there would be plenty of time in the future for that. This certainly was turning out to be the busiest, strangest day she’d had since moving to North Carolina.