Hope White - Hidden in Shadows

“Hang on,” she said. She went back inside, dug into the white china cabinet and found the shears. As she opened the door to go back out, she nearly ran into him.

She didn’t expect him to be so close. Nor did she expect her heart to skip a few beats. And not out of fear.

She handed him the shears. “Thanks.”

“It’s the least I can do considering I scared the—” he paused “—you know.”

“Have you been out there all afternoon?”

“Pretty much.”

“Did you get lunch?”

“Not yet.”

“I’ll make you a sandwich.” She motioned him into the shop, but he hesitated.

“Come on, it’s safe,” she joked.

He followed her inside and washed his hands.

“Turkey okay?” she asked, putting on gloves.

“You even guessed my favorite sandwich? How do you do that?” He settled at a table in the back.

“Everyone likes turkey.” She pulled out bread, lettuce and tomatoes.

Tori came into the back with a tray of plates. She slid them by the sink and turned to Krista. “Who’s the guy?”

“A friend of Chief Cunningham,” Luke said.

Krista kept working on the sandwich. She couldn’t blame Luke for acting the way he did this morning. It was his job to suspect danger around every corner.

And that suspicion might keep her safe.

Tatum joined her sister in the kitchen.

“Chief Cunningham’s friend,” Tori explained to her sister.

Tatum walked over to the Luke and shook his hand. “I’m Tatum and this is Tori.”

“Tori, can you start on the dishes?” Krista asked. “I’m not sure I’ve got the energy.”

“Sure.”

Krista finished making Luke’s sandwich, garnished the plate with a pickle and a few olives and put a mini scoop of fruit salad in a dish. She placed it in front of him.

“How much?” he said.

“On the house.”

He glanced into her eyes. “I can’t do that.”

“Why not?” Krista asked.

“It’s freeloading. Let me at least do the dishes after I eat.”

“Great idea!” Tori said, drying her hands and rushing off into the dining room.

“No, really I couldn’t—”

“Sure she could,” Tatum said, putting her arm around Krista’s shoulder. “In case you haven’t noticed, she has a hard time accepting help from people.”

“Wise guy,” Krista said.

“It’s true.” Tatum smiled and breezed out of the kitchen.

“Nice kids,” Luke said.

“They consider me their auntie.”

“Well, Auntie, I’d really like to do your dishes in exchange for lunch. And anything else I can do to help, just say the word. Okay?”

“Sure.”

Krista went to clean up the stainless steel prep counter. Her insides warmed at the thought of how nice it was to have a man care about her.

Then she reminded herself he was here for work, and part of his job required him to stick close and catch whoever was working in tandem with the drug cartel.

She rinsed off the prep table with bleach water and started on the dishes.

“Hey, hey, that’s my job,” Luke said.

“I’ll leave some for you, no worries.”

The back door opened and Alan stepped into the kitchen. He glared at Luke. “You’re still here?”

“I work here.”

“Yeah, right.” He turned his back to Luke and went to Krista. “Hey, I wanted to make sure you were doing okay.”

He touched her arm and she tried not to recoil. Alan wasn’t a bad guy, just not a guy she wanted touching her. She knew he wanted more than she had to give him, and she didn’t want to encourage the affection.

“I’m fine, thanks.”

“Really? Because I was worried this morning.”

“Thanks, just tired.” She stepped away from him and rearranged the tea jars. Maybe if she kept her distance he’d get the message.

She didn’t want to be rude, but she wasn’t sure how to handle this situation. She’d been clear with him months ago that she wasn’t interested, that she wasn’t ready to get serious. With anybody.

Which wasn’t exactly true. If she found the right man, a Christian man as devoted to God as he was to Krista, well, she’d definitely consider. Only there weren’t a lot of single guys of her generation left in Wentworth. Most of her classmates had gone off to college, landed important jobs in the city and didn’t return home.

“Business run smoothly this morning?” Alan asked, eyeing the tables out front.

“Sure, why?” she asked.

“It’s your first day back and you’ve got to be exhausted. I mean with your long travel day and early morning…”

God give me patience.

If he kept reminding her how tired she was, she was going to pass out right here on the hardwood floor.

She turned to him. “I’m fine, Alan, really. And I appreciate your concern. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to finish up these dishes, so I can close early this afternoon.”

She smiled brightly and hoped she’d been nice about her obvious attempt to kick him out of her space.

“I’ll check on you tonight.” He reached out to touch her shoulder.

“Great, thanks.”

The phone rang, saving her from having to rudely pull away.

She sidestepped Alan to answer the phone. “Grace’s Tea Shop.”

“Yes, this is Thunder Travel Tour. We’re bringing a bus through Wentworth and would like to book your restaurant for a high tea.”

“Great, what’s the date?”

As she took the order, she spied Alan hovering over Luke as he ate his sandwich. What was Alan’s problem? One, she and Alan weren’t dating, and two, Luke wasn’t interested in Krista that way.

As if he heard her, Luke glanced at Krista.

She snapped her attention to her reservation book. “That date looks good. How many?”

“Twenty-six.”

“We offer a set menu for that number. Would you like me to e-mail it to you?”

“That would be great.”

Krista spied Alan hovering by the doorway as if he wasn’t leaving without saying a proper goodbye. As she finished the call with the travel agency, she wondered if she needed to be more direct with Alan so he could move on and find another woman to date.

“I look forward to working with you,” Krista said and hung up.

Alan took a step toward her just as Tatum rushed into the kitchen. “A group of eight just walked in for high tea.”

“Now?” Krista checked her watch. “We didn’t have a reservation.” It was nearing three, which meant Krista wouldn’t be closing up anytime soon.

“No reservation, but they hoped we’d have an opening.”

Krista nibbled at her lower lip. She was exhausted.

“Tell them you’re booked,” Alan offered.

Krista looked at Tatum. “Tell them we’ll have a table ready in fifteen minutes.”

Tatum nodded and went into the dining room.

“Krista, you’re obviously exhausted,” Alan said.

“It’s all part of running my own business.” She opened the refrigerator and pulled out spreads to get working on the tea sandwiches. “Thanks for stopping by, Alan.”

He must have heard the dismissal in her tone. She’d been pleasant enough, and hoped he’d take his cue to leave.

“I’ll call you later,” he said.

With a nod, she focused on the sandwiches. A minute later she heard the door close and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Luke walked behind her to the sink. “Eight is a big order. Sure you’re up to it?”

She eyed him. “What is with everybody today? I’m a big girl and I know my limitations,” she said a little more firmly than she’d intended.

Luke put up his hands. “Didn’t mean to offend.”

“You’ve got a sink full of dishes.”

“So I do.” He turned and got to work.

Krista was exhausted by the end of the day and looking forward to a nice, quiet evening.

Instead, she came home to a crowded house full of friends who’d orchestrated an official welcome-home party.

As she stood in her living room surrounded by friends she felt so full, so at peace. Yet a part of her had hoped for quiet time to upload more photos to her blog, and maybe even sneak in that long bath she’d been fantasizing about.

She should have known something was up when the Sass girls offered to close the shop. They always had friends to catch up with after work, and church activities to attend, yet today they practically forced Krista out the back door so they could clean up.

They’d all been in on the plan: the Sass twins, Natalie and friends from church. Their goal was to show her how much she’d been missed.

“Krista?” Luke said.

She turned to him. He seemed completely out of place and more than a little uncomfortable surrounded by these down-to-earth folks.

“Looks like you’re okay here so I’m going to meet up with the chief for an hour,” he said.

“Oh, okay, sure.”

“Hang in there.” He smiled.

She realized he was the only person in the room who saw through her smile and knew how tired she really was.

“Thanks. And thanks for being my busboy today.”

“Maybe you’ll promote me to handyman?”

“We’ll see.”

“Enjoy yourself.” He made his way through the crowded living room and practically ran out the front door. She wondered what made him so uneasy about the group. Was it simply that the suspect could be among them? No, she wouldn’t accept that possibility.

Natalie weaved her way through the crowd. “Did we surprise you?”

“Totally.”

Natalie put her arm around Krista and gave her a squeeze. “I know you’re tired, but they insisted.”

Krista glanced around the room and spotted Tori and Tatum’s mom, Julie Sass, chatting with the youth minister.

“I should have known something was up when the Sass girls offered to close.”

“Yeah, why’s that?” Natalie asked.

“They’ve always been nervous about locking up and setting the alarm.”

Natalie scanned the room. “Where’s Alan?”

“He doesn’t like to share me.”

Natalie snapped her attention to Krista.

“Sorry, that was mean,” Krista said.

“No, it was accurate. I didn’t think you noticed.”

“I notice a lot. I just keep it to myself.”

Like she noticed how Luke bolted from the party as soon as possible. He acted as if being around friendships and laughter physically pained him. Maybe even terrified him.

Her cell vibrated on her hip. It was a text message alerting her that something tripped the alarm at the tea shop.

“Drat. The girls must be having trouble setting the alarm. I’ve gotta buzz over there for a minute.”

“You can’t go,” Natalie said. “It’s your party.”

“It will take five minutes.”

“Then I’ll go with you. You look too tired to drive, anyway.”

“Gosh, thanks.” With a smile, Krista led Natalie out the front door. Within minutes they were at the shop.

“Stay here,” Krista said, grabbed her keys from her purse and went to reset the alarm. The back door was open.

Why would they set the alarm before they locked up?

Panic gripped her stomach. “Tori? Tatum?” Krista called as she stepped into the shop.

No one answered. “Girls!”

She started for the stairs to the office and spotted broken glass and loose-leaf teas sprinkled on the hardwood floor. Backing up, she grabbed her cell phone from her belt and called 9-1-1.

“9-1-1 emergency.”

“This is Krista—”

Someone grabbed her from behind, yanking the phone out of her hand and tossing it across the room. He had his arm around her neck and waist.

“Where is it?” he growled into her ear.