"You shouldn't have done that," Crystal said in a voice that lacked conviction.

"What exactly?"

"Spoken for me."

91Sabrina leveled her with her eyes and said, "You need to want better for yourself."

Crystal didn't reply, and Sabrina was too upset to say more. She told the other woman she had to get to work and went on her way.

What was I thinking?Sabrina railed at herself and G.o.d all the way to Jeanette's.I take this apartment because it's cheap, and now my neighbor is a prost.i.tute. She looks just like we all did, desperate and hungry. I can't handle this, Lord. I didn't even think ahead. I just heard the price of the rent and took it.

And she didn't want to hear what I had to say! She's probably trapped with nowhere to turn. I don't have the money to help her, and I certainly can't promise her that she can find other work! Token Creek is so much smaller than Denver. She might never escape that life in this little town.

By the time Sabrina reached Jeanette's shop, her color was high. At any other time, Jeanette would have noticed immediately, but the sewing machine was giving Jeanette trouble, and she had an errand for Sabrina.

"Please find Rylan. He should be at the livery today. Ask him to come when he can and check this for me. If you should happen to see Ca.s.sidy, Brad, or Trace, they also know what to do. I doubt if any of them are in town, but you never know."

Sabrina went back out the door, telling herself she had to put Crystal and the conversation with that man behind her. She had a job and a specific task to do at the moment.Noteven remembering to pray for Crystal, she simply tried to put the whole morning out of her mind.

"I think that will do it," Rylan spoke to Mr. Falcone from the bank. He had brought his horse in to be shod, and Rylan had just finished the job.

92"Thank you, Rylan. I paid a pretty penny for this girl, and I don't want her going lame."

"Well, she's certainly beautiful," Rylan said, stroking the mare's shoulder. He looked up in time to see Sabrina slip inside the wide doorway and stand out of the way. He would have headed that way, but Mr. Falcone was not done.

"Her left front fetlock seems a bit swollen to me. Did you notice anything?"

"I didn't. Is she favoring that leg?"

"I don't think so, but if you could check it."

Rylan easily lifted the hoof in his hands, and checked the area, but he found no swelling.

"I'm not seeing it, Mr. Falcone, but the Marling brothers would be the folks to ask. They're the experts in town when it comes to horses."

"Yes, I'll do that. Thank you, Rylan."

Rylan moved toward Sabrina as soon as Mr. Falcone left, but that woman had her back to him. She seemed to be studying something on the wall, and Rylan ended up standing with her, watching a spider at work.

Sabrina still hadn't realized that Mr. Falcone had left when she spotted iron hooks on the wall below the spider's web. Some were larger than others, and Sabrina took a small one from the nail it was hanging on and turned to find Rylan a few feet behind her.

"Do you sell these?"

"Yes. The large ones are six cents, and the one in your hand is three."

"How do you hang them?"

Rylan took it from her hand and showed her the top.

"You can loop this over a nail, or put the nail in first and then drive it in tight."

"Do you sell nails?"

"Well, I think if you buy a hook and need the nail, we just give you that."

93 Sabrina nodded thoughtfully, thinking about the spot in her kitchen where she could hang her pot. She had no place for it but the stove.

"Is that why you came in?" Rylan asked, fairly certain of the answer.

"Oh! No, it's not." Sabrina looked as surprised as she felt. "Jeanette's sewing machine isn't working, and she asked me to tell you." Rylan nodded. "Tell Jeanette that Pete probably won't be in before dinnertime, but as soon as he arrives, I'll head that way." "Thank you," Sabrina said. She started toward the door.

"Did you want the hook?" Rylan asked, something in him wanting to talk to her a little more.

"Not this week," Sabrina said. "Maybe next."

"What happens next week?" Rylan was too curious not to ask. "I'll have a little more money and maybe a hammer."

"You can always borrow a hammer from me," Rylan said, won dering why the first thing he wanted to say was that he would put the hook up for her.

"Oh, thank you. I'll remember that."

"I'll see you later," Rylan said, making himself turn away. The temptation to keep talking to Sabrina Matthews was arrestingly strong.

This one goes to Mrs. Potts. She's on Bond Street in the blue house. And this one goes to Mrs. Gornik, two doors down.

Because the machine was broken, Jeanette was doing handwork and Sabrina was making deliveries. This was not normal for Jeanette's shop-or so she told Sabrina-but she thought it might be best until the machine was working again.

And the day was nice-not a cloud in the sky and warm. Sabrina loved the feel of it on her face and the way it seemed to soak into her black hair. She was enjoying the sensation so much she suddenly realized she was lost. She thought she had found the right street, but 94 there was no blue house. She looked across the way, spotted Patience Dorn pegging out laundry in her backyard, and went that way. "Good morning," Sabrina greeted.

"Well, Bri, how nice to see you."

"Do you know where Mrs. Potts lives? I'm to make a delivery." "Go two streets over, and you'll find her in the blue house." "Thank you."

"Before you go, Bri, are you free for supper tonight?" "I am, thank you. What time?"

"Just come after work. We eat about five-thirty, or whenever Jeb gets in the door."

"I'll plan on it."

"We'll see you this evening."

Sabrina made the deliveries without mishap and was almost back to the shop when she spotted Bret Toben. He tipped his hat to her but kept moving. Sabrina was nothing but relieved. Bret would have been disappointed to learn that his act of indifference hadn't worked at all.

"Here you go, Rylan." Miranda Vick pa.s.sed him the potatoes as soon as she'd served Heidi, and her older brother, Franklin. Parker, younger than Heidi by almost two years, already had his food, and the baby, Nellie, would eat from Miranda's plate.

"Thank you, Miranda. I've been looking forward to this all day." "As have we. Parker has something to tell you."

Rylan looked at the little boy sitting next to his father, and smiled in antic.i.p.ation.

"I know Jesus," Parker said, the smile in his eyes matching the one on his mouth.

"Well, Parker," Rylan said, not mentioning that Chas had told him all about this the day before. "That is very fine news. Can you tell me about it?"

95"Mama talked to me, and I believe Jesus died for my sins."

Rylan had to clear his throat. This family was very special to him, and this news was very near and dear to his heart. It didn't help that Miranda had tears in her eyes, and if the clearing of Chas' throat was any indication, it also seemed to be suddenly full.

"We have a great, saving G.o.d, Parker, who loves you very much," Rylan said with quiet conviction. "I know your parents are going to teach you all about Him. Are you excited to learn?"

The little boy nodded, and everyone turned to their food. The emotions were still there, but for the moment it was best to ignore them. Rather than having Parker see him cry, Rylan was glad to have Miranda's delicious meal to turn to. It was yet another thing that G.o.d provided and a reason to give Him thanks.

"So Meg spent her summer here, and that's how she and Brad fell in love?" Sabrina clarified, having enjoyed the story Patience shared.

"That's right. She'd been coming to spend her summers with us for years, but Brad never noticed her before the summer of '77." "And they were married that fall," Jeb added.

"And now they have a baby," Sabrina put in.

"Isn't she adorable?" Patience asked, not afraid of anyone disagreeing.

"Yes, she is. I noticed that she smiles all the time."

"Have you seen her with Brad or Trace?" Jeb asked. "She adores her father and uncle."

The whole evening went this way. Jeb and Patience shared their lives with Sabrina and put in gently asked questions of their own. Sabrina was as open with them as she had been with everyone else, but for some reason, talking about Denver this night made her ache. She missed Danny and Callie and wondered for the first time in a long while what might have happened to her sister.

96 For this reason, she walked back to her apartment very slowly. There was plenty of light in the sky when she left the Dorns, and she a.s.sured Jeb she would be fine, but she dawdled and before she knew it, the air was cooling and the sky was growing dim. She was on Willow Street, her building just ahead, when she heard a commotion, a man yelling, a woman crying, and the pathetic, tinny cry of an infant.

97.

SABRINA DIDN'T THINK, AND she didn't hesitate but went to the door of the house in front of her and opened it. A man was standing over a woman, his arm raised to strike her, and strike her he did.

"Stop that!" Sabrina ordered and started toward him, but the man only reached back long enough to slap her away.

Sabrina was thrown back, her face hurting, but she was made of sterner stuff. As soon as she scrambled to her feet, she attacked the man from the back, raking his face with her nails. He turned from hitting the woman and bellowed, throwing Sabrina off in the process before running for the door.

Sabrina went to the woman, who had fallen into one corner. She was unconscious, her face a ma.s.s of bruises. She heard noise behind her and turned for another attack, but it was a woman.

"What happened?"

The light was too dim, but Sabrina knew that voice.

"Crystal, is that you?"

"Yeah."

"Go for the doctor and the sheriff. Hurry!"

It was no small task, but Sabrina lifted the small woman and took 98 her to the bedroom. She laid her across the rumple of bedclothes and covered her as best she could. Not until all this was done did she go back to the living room and pick up the tiny creature in the basket. Her heart caught in her throat when she realized how small it was.

Oh, G.o.d, please, Sabrina's heart prayed. It's so tiny. Please G.o.d-please help it.

Sabrina suddenly felt the warmth and the wet all at the same time. The baby's skin was very warm, but the thin blanket was soaked through. The lantern was dim, but she rummaged near the basket and found a dry cloth. Stripping off everything, the baby in a crying frenzy, Sabrina rewrapped the infant and snuggled her close. A girl, a small baby girl, so new her umbilical cord was still long.

She had only just quieted her when a man came in the door. He identified himself as Sheriff Kaderly and asked what had happened.

"A woman's been beaten. I put her on the bed."

Nate said nothing else but went toward the bedroom. Sabrina sat in the room's only available chair, held the baby close, and begged G.o.d for some kind of miracle.

Rylan had not been home ten minutes when oneof Nate's deputies, Lewis Varner, came for him. Not for a shooting this time but for a woman who'd been beaten. There was a newborn in the house, and the woman was in a bad way.

Rylan came into the small home, little more than one room and a bedroom, and found Sabrina sitting in one corner, the baby in her arms. The emotions that rushed through him at that point were a surprise, but he didn't take time to question her. Nate had come to the bedroom door, expecting him, and Rylan went that way.

Doctor Ertz was present, and the woman was talking a little. Rylan came in and waited while the doctor saw to her needs. He then pulled a chair close the bed.

"I'm Pastor Rylan Jarvik. Can you tell me your name?"

99 "Eliza," the woman whispered. "My baby..."

"Your baby is in the other room. A friend of mine, a woman, is holding her. Would you like to see her?"

Rylan saw the sheriff leave to get Sabrina. Rylan kept his eyes on Eliza and saw the relief when she spotted her infant, now quiet in Sabrina's arms.

"How old is the baby?" Rylan asked.

"Two days."

"What's the baby's name?" Rylan asked next.

"Mirabel."

"You need to feed her," the doctor ordered, having checked the baby before Sabrina went in. "She needs milk."

"I'll help her," Sabrina said, and waited only for the men to clear out. It took a little doing-she learned this was Eliza's first baby-but eventually the baby was settled at her breast.

"You're the new one," Eliza said when the baby had latched on. She looked up at Sabrina through swollen eyes.

"The new what?"

"The pretty one who's in the wrong neighborhood."

"Don't believe everything you hear," Sabrina said, watching the baby eat.