Youre going to be safe here, Alexandra.
John resisted the urge to reach out and brush away the lines of worry from her brow with the pad of his thumb. He knew what it was like to be afraid. To hurt. To want peace. Im going to make sure of it.
I cant ask that of you. Im not even sure I should be here. Youre not my keeper.
Someone has to be. John offered her the cookie bowl. Just think of me and my family as your temporary guardian angels. Well watch over you.
A girl cant have too many angels looking out for her. Alexandra bit into an iced cookie and let the sweetness melt on her tongue. She thought of her self-esteem, still tender, and tried to put aside the bad memories. She was strong enough to make a new life. With the Lord watching over her and a few extra guardian angels, she couldnt go wrong.
Johns gaze met hers, full of promise, as unyielding as the strongest steel. Youre safe with me. You can count on it.
JILLIAN HART
makes her home in Washington State, where she has lived most of her life. When Jillian is not hard at work on her next story, she loves to read, go to lunch with her friends and spend quiet evenings with her family.
Heaven Knows
Jillian Hart
MILLS & BOON
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Dear friends, since God so loved us,
we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:11
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Epilogue
Letter to Reader
Chapter One
The warmth of the early-spring sun felt like a promise. Alexandra Sims shut the door of her ancient VW, careful of the loose window, and stared at the little town. She could see all of it from where she stood, with shops on one side of the road. On the other, railroad tracks paralleled the town, and beyond, new green fields shimmered.
Shed grown up in a town like this one along the coast of Washington State. So small, her high school graduating class had been thirty-eight. Maybe because of bad memories, she didnt like small towns much. Theyd never brought her luck.
But today she felt luck was in the air, and that made her step lighter as she strolled along the cement sidewalk. Shed pulled off the interstate to fill her gas tank and, since she was here, maybe shed stop to eat lunch and do a little shopping. This was as good of a place as any.
This little town of Manhattan was truly no different from the other small Montana towns shed passed through since recently shed thrown what little she needed into her car and fled in the dark of the night.
Few of the buildings were new, many dating from the fifties or earlier when agriculture belonged to the family farmer and not huge corporations. The people who lived here took pride in their townthe streets were clean, the sidewalks swept and not a speck of litter could be found anywhere.
Sparkling store windows tossed her reflection back at her as she halted beneath a blue-striped awning. Coreys Hardware, the sign proclaimed in bright blue paint.
She pushed her sunglasses onto the crown of her head and stepped through the doorway. A bell jangled overhead.
Hello, there, called a polite male voice the instant her sneakers hit the tile floor. What can I do for you?
Whoever belonged to that molasses-rich voice wasnt in sight. Head-high shelves of merchandise blocked the way.
Where are your ropes? she called out.
To your right, all the way against the wall. A handsome athlete of a man came into view behind the long, old-fashioned wooden counter.
She caught a glimpse of dark black hair tumbling over a high intelligent forehead. Brooding hazel eyes, a sharp straight blade of a nose and a strong jaw that looked about as soft as granite. Definitely a remote, unreachable type.
She retreated to the far wall, where everything from braided hemp to thin nylon rope could be found. Lucky thing, because she found exactly what she needed. What she didnt find was something to cut it with.
How much do you need? he asked in that voice that could melt chocolate.
Three yards.
He was at her side, taller than shed first thought. He was well over six feet, and while he wasnt lean, he wasnt heavily muscled, either. He didnt have much to say, which was fine with her. Really nice and handsome men made her nervous and tongue-tied. Probably because she wasnt used to themand great guys had always seemed out of her reach.
As gallant as a knight of old, he measured the thin nylon cord for her, giving her an extra foot, before cutting the end neatly and looping it into a tidy coil for her. Anything else?
That should do it.
He was very efficientshe had to give him that.
Ill ring you up front. All business, he hardly glanced at her as he tucked away the small pocketknife hed used to cut the rope. Let me guess. Youre going camping?
Something like that, she hedged. I had a tent disaster last night, so I need to repair the main nylon cord.
Been there. He led the way down the aisle of kitchen cabinet handles in every size and color, his stride long and powerful. Figured you for a tourist. This valleys small enough that sooner or later, you meet everyone in it.
Shed grown up in a town like that, but she kept the information to herself. Her past was behind her and she intended to keep it that way. This part of the country is beautiful.
Have you been down to Yellowstone? He was only making polite conversation as he punched buttons on the cash register.
Not yet.
The campsites arent booked up this time of year, so you dont need reservations. He slipped the rope into a small blue plastic bag. That will be two seventy-one. If you have your tent in your car, you can bring it in and Ill repair it for you. Free of charge. Company policy.
His offer surprised her. She stopped digging through her purse for exact change to stare at him. A familiar panic clamped around her chest. Patrick was hundreds of miles away and he had no idea where she was, but this is how hed affected her. Even a store clerks courtesy frightened her, when there was no reason for it.
The phone rang, and the clerk answered it. Coreys Hardware. John, here. He spoke in the same friendly voice to whomever was on the other end of the phone.
John, huh? He looked like a John. Dependable, practical, rock solid.
There was no danger here. She had to remember that not every man was like Patrick. She knew itnow, if only her heart would remember it, shed be fine.
Alexandra relaxed and bent to dig a penny from the bottom of her coin purse.
Well, now, washers are tricky things, Mrs. Fletcher, John drawled, tucking the receiver against his shoulder. Maybe I ought to come by this afternoon and put in the right size for you, free of charge, except for the washer, of course. Thatd be the best way to get the job done right.
See what a nice man this John was? He helped all sorts of people. There was no reason at all to feel uneasy. She watched as he swept her coins into his palm as he listened to Mrs. Fletcher.
Nodding, he dropped the money into the cash register till. Sure thing. Ill give you a call before long.
He tore off the receipt and slipped it into the bag. I appreciate your business, he told her. Bring in your tent if you want.
Thanks. She could do it herself. She zipped her purse closed and reached for the little blue plastic sack. The last thing she wanted to do was to rely on anyone else ever again. Shed learned that lesson the hard way.
A note pinned to the back wall behind the counter caught her attention. Help Wanted. Full-Time Position.
The rest of the printing was too small to read as she swept past. A full-time position, right there, posted for her to see. Shed been praying for just this sort of an opportunity.
Maybe she should ask about it. Surely it wouldnt hurt.
She took a look around at the neat shelving, the tidy merchandise and the polished old wood floor. This wasnt what she had in mind. Shed been a cashier long ago, and she wouldnt mind being one again, but working alongside a manno, no matter how nice he seemed. Not after what shed been through.
Do you need anything else? John asked from behind the counter, polite, clearly a good salesman.
No, thanks. She grabbed the doorknob, the bell jangled overhead and she tumbled onto the sidewalk. A cool push of wind breezed along her bare arms.
The advertisement troubled her. Was it coincidence that shed spotted it, or more?
Unsure, Alexandra unlocked her car door, stowed the rope on the back floor behind the drivers seat and grabbed her hand-knit cardigan from the back. The soft wool comforted her as it always did. Pocketing her keys, she continued down the cracked sidewalk toward the grocery at the end of the block.
The store bustled with activity as weekend shoppers chatted in the aisles and in the checkout lines at the front. Feeling like a visitor in a foreign land, Alexandra headed to the dairy section. The refrigeration cases were the old-fashioned kind, heavy glass doors with handles, reminding her of the small-town store where she used to shop as a girl.
This was not the kind of place where she wanted to live, she told herself as she selected a small brick of sharp cheddar that was marked as the weekly special. Shed left small-town life forever three days after graduating from high school and had never looked back.
Then again, living in a bigger city hadnt exactly worked out well, either.
She wove around two women who looked to be about her age, chatting in the aisle, with their toddlers belted into brimming grocery carts, and felt a pang deep in her chest. What would it be like to live those womens lives? Alexandra found a bag of day-old rolls that still felt as soft as fresh.
The Help Wanted sign in the hardware store kept troubling her. It was frightening not knowing what was ahead of her. Worse, not knowing if she would be able to build a new life. She had to trust that if the job at the hardware store was what God wanted for her, then He would find a way to tell her for certain.