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  Fawn already knew the answer to that, because she knew Edith and Cecil. She shook her head.

  “Well then, you think they’d want their good friend Fawn to hide resentment in her heart the way Mary did for so many years, until it made her a bitter woman, old before her time?”

  Fawn sighed. “No, Blaze. Just give me some time, okay?”

  “Okay, fine, but I’m going to nag you the way you nagged me about forgiving Austin.”

  She glared at him, but she knew he was right. If she wasn’t so angry with Sheena right now, her heart would be breaking for that family.

  Time, though. It was going to take some time.

  Light conquered the darkness at last, and the heaviness eased from Jill’s eyelids enough for her to raise them.

  The echo of a heartbeat actually turned out to be the respirator, and the cold, bitter heaviness on her tongue and throat was a breathing tube.

  Afraid to turn her head, she glanced to the side as far as she could. Rex stood staring out the window into the hospital corridor.

  The connection was still there. He turned to look at her, then when he saw her watching him, he rushed to her side and took her free hand. How wonderful to feel that touch again.

  “Hi, sweetheart. You’re at Cox South in Springfield. For a while there, I thought we’d lost you.”

  She blinked twice, knowing he could read her mind. I’m still alive.

  “Yes, you’re alive and well.” His gentle smile made her feel more alive yet. “I’ll tell you all about what happened later. You’re battling the effects of cyanide poisoning.”

  She blinked in surprise. Poison?

  He bent down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “You’re safe now,” he murmured, barely louder than the noisy respirator. “Those lab tests you ran on Edith helped us clear up a lot of questions, once we knew to look for cyanide. The normal tests wouldn’t pick that up, but when we knew what to look for, we found it.”

  Jill closed her eyes. Edith died from cyanide poisoning? Oh, Edith.

  “Everything’s going to be okay,” Rex assured her. “I’m not leaving your side.”

  Epilogue

  The statuesque bride stood facing the handsome groom beneath the shade of the rose arbor. Tears of joy sparkled on the bride’s cheeks, and Fawn had never seen so much love in a man’s eyes.

  The dress fitted perfectly, of course. Bertie had helped Fawn with it at the last minute, when it became obvious that the bride had, after all Fawn’s nagging, gained a few pounds. She still looked beautiful.

  Thanks to Karah Lee’s adamant refusal to have bridesmaids or groomsmen, it hadn’t been necessary to worry about any other dresses. She’d just wanted a simple, heartfelt exchange of vows in the presence of close friends and family.

  Of course, practically the whole town of Hideaway considered themselves close friends. Taylor didn’t have much family. Karah Lee’s sister and brother-in-law sat on the other side of Blaze. Her brother and uncles, aunts and cousins filled several rows.

  The couple had written their own ring ceremony, and Karah Lee had agonized over it for the past week. The words were beautiful.

  Fawn refused to cry. She couldn’t take a chance on messing up her perfect makeup. She hated waterproof mascara, so even though she’d used it on Karah Lee this morning, she hadn’t used it herself. Why bother? She seldom cried.

  So why did she suddenly have trouble seeing?

  Blaze, sitting to her right, cleared his throat. She glanced at him to find him grinning at her. He winked.

  She felt a nudge to her left, and looked down to find Bertie holding an old-fashioned, lacy cloth handkerchief out for her.

  Mortified, she took it and dabbed at her eyes. If Blaze laughed, she’d smash wedding cake in his face. Later.

  As the preacher spoke to the bride and groom about loving and honoring and all that stuff, Blaze cleared his throat again. Fawn looked up to find him nodding across the aisle, where Rex and Jill, the latest matchmaking triumph, sat a few rows back.

  Rex was watching Jill with an expression of such adoration, Fawn couldn’t help smiling. Of course, Jill sat watching the service, totally unaware of Rex’s attention.

  Or was she?

  To Rex’s other side sat his two stepsons, whom he would now have with him two weekends out of every month. Nobody knew how long that would last, but since Rex had recently signed a contract to become the new administrator for Hideaway Hospital, the community had gone out of its way to make the boys feel welcome here.

  Noelle and Nathan sat at the end of that row, and Fawn felt a stab of pain. Neither Mary nor Sheena worked at Noelle’s spa now.

  Later, there would be time to grieve about that tragedy. Today, they would celebrate.

  Behind Rex and Jill sat Austin Barlow, looking healthier than he had since Fawn met him. Tests showed that the big dummy didn’t even have that histo-X disease after all, but some other hard-to-pronounce problem that had apparently gone into remission once Cheyenne found the proper medication for it. Polyarteritis nodosa. Why couldn’t these people come up with simple names for their dumb diseases?

  Anyway, Austin would probably be around Hideaway for a while. Blaze was okay with that now.

  When the minister turned to introduce the bride and groom to the congregation as Taylor and Karah Lee Jackson, Fawn applauded with tears streaming down her face. Who cared about makeup?

  Jill stood in the far corner of the multipurpose room in the new community building, observing practically the whole town of Hideaway. This morning, pig races. This afternoon, a wedding.

  Taylor and Karah Lee posed for pictures in front of a cake that was big enough to serve the whole community and half of Branson.

  An arm came around Jill’s shoulders, and she turned to smile at Rex.

  His beard was neatly trimmed, he wore a three-piece suit. He looked almost as happy as she felt. “How about a walk around the grounds while they work on the cake? I have a feeling it’s going to be a few minutes before the line forms.”

  She went.

  “Jill, it hasn’t even been three weeks, and I already feel as if we’re reading each others’ minds again,” he said as they stopped beneath that same rose arbor of wedding vows. “Think you can tell me what’s on mine?”

  “That it’ll be awkward for us to keep seeing each other now that you’re going to be the new hospital’s administrator, and I’m just a lowly nurse?”

  He chuckled and took her hand. “You know better.”

  “That the pig races should at least be held after the wedding, to cut down on the smell?”

  “Not even that.”

  “Then I’m out of guesses.”

  He turned to her then, and took both her hands in his. The laughter in his eyes faded, and he grew serious. “I’m thinking that some things do change, and all the changes I see in you are good ones.”

  “I still have you fooled, then.”

  “Be quiet, I’m not finished.”

  “Sorry.”

  “I’m also thinking that those qualities in you that haven’t changed are the qualities I’ve spent half my life longing for.”

  Jill felt herself blushing. What was it about this man that could make a forty-five-year-old woman blush like a teenager again?

  He took her in his arms, looking down into her face. “I’ve found a way to stay here, Jill, and I don’t plan to leave. You can have all the time you need to decide, but I already know what I want. It’s what I’ve always wanted. This time, I won’t be chased off so easily.”

  He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

  The darkness was gone. She had nothing more to fight. This day, this man, this abundant joy, had all been well worth the wait.

  DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  When Jill and Rex meet again after so many years apart, it seems as if they were always meant to be together. Do you believe that there should be one soul mate for every person, or do you think God can make a soul mate out of any mate? Wh
at has been your own experience?

  Before Edith Potts died, if she had known who wanted to kill her, what do you think she might have done differently?

  Had you been in Edith’s position many years ago, when she thought she knew the killer, what would you have done? Are there any examples from the Bible?

  Jill has struggled most of her life with the knowledge that her obsessive-compulsive disorder made her different from others, but how much different do you really think she was? Do you know people who struggle with emotional problems? How can you help them feel more comfortable in your presence?

  Mary Marshall’s life is ruined as a result of her actions many years ago. What could she have done to prevent this, both in the past and in her present life?

  Cecil Martin doesn’t want Fawn to grieve his death or to attend his funeral. How do you think he would have planned his funeral, had he known he was going to die?

  Jill’s sister, Noelle, continues to struggle with the special gift of knowledge she has been given from God. How would you handle this gift if it were yours? Do you think others would consider you to be strange?

  Rex’s oldest stepson leaves home because his mother won’t allow him to see Rex. How would you deal with this situation, if you were in the stepson’s shoes? In Rex’s? In the mother’s?

  Rex tells Jill he wants to pick up where they left off in their relationship. After all these years, do you think that’s possible? Can you think of an example?

  Edith’s nephew, Jonathan, leaves several boxes of private records on Jill’s doorstep. Should she have destroyed them without looking at them? What would you have done?

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-4727-1

  GRAVE RISK

  Copyright © 2007 by Hannah Alexander

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