A Treasure Worth Keeping (17 page)

All the signs had pointed to his profession, and she’d been totally blind.

A police chief.

Up until that moment, Evie hadn’t known how deeply her feelings for Sam had taken root. Until Faith’s innocent disclosure about what he did for a living had ripped them out.

E
vie wasn’t sure what was more frightening: spending the night on the
Natalie
or spending another minute in Sam’s company now that she knew what he did for a living.

No, not for a living, she amended. Dentists worked for a living. Lawyers worked for a living. Some people defined their lives by their careers, and some people’s careers defined their lives.

Police officers, firefighters, soldiers…all of them fell into the second category. And Evie didn’t miss the irony that every one of them put their personal safety at risk.

I guess that’s it, God. You closed the door on a relationship with Sam.

At least Evie could be grateful she’d be going home in a week and life would return to normal. No more crazy stories about sunken ships. No more bad guys lurking around the corner. No more water.
No more Sam.

So why didn’t the thought of going back to her routine lift her spirits?

“Evie? Faith is ready for bed. She asked me to send you down to say good-night.” Sam materialized beside her, wearing a navy-blue hooded sweatshirt. The department logo printed on the front slapped her with a reminder of what he was.

“Sure.” Evie turned from the railing and averted her gaze. She’d managed to make it through supper and the trip back to the
Natalie
without talking directly to him. She could make it one more night. All she had to do was keep her distance….

“Evie? After you say good-night to Faith, can we talk?”

No, no, no.

She didn’t want to talk to him. She didn’t want to think about him. She didn’t want to remember the look in his eyes when he’d told her she was amazing. Right before he’d kissed her.

“Please?”

She gave in. But only because she’d been raised to show good manners. And because there was nowhere on the
Natalie
she could hide. “All right.”

Faith scooted over when Evie poked her head in the cabin, an invitation for her to join her on the bunk.

“Is the boat still gone?”

The worry in Faith’s eyes told Evie she hadn’t gotten over the scare of being caught in the
Fury
’s wake.

“Long gone.”
Please, Lord, let them be long gone.

Just when Evie had started to think they were going to be sleeping on the beach instead of the
Natalie,
Seth must have decided he’d toyed with them long enough. The
Fury
circled the
Natalie
several times and then roared away, disappearing around the rock peninsula.

Without a word, they’d taken advantage of the window of opportunity and immediately packed up the supplies so they could return to the boat. As quickly as possible. Sam had kept one eye on the peninsula and Evie knew he was wondering, too, if the
Fury
had temporarily anchored there, waiting for them to venture back out onto the lake.

“Why was Tyson with them?”

The question tugged at a loose corner of Evie’s frayed emotions. She had no idea what to tell Sophie about her son and his involvement with Seth.

“They must be friends of his.”

“I guess so.” Faith didn’t look convinced. “He’s always nice to me when I visit Sophie. Sometimes we watch basketball and he makes hot-fudge sundaes.”

That would have surprised Evie if she hadn’t witnessed Tyson’s reaction to the break-in that morning. And the panic in his eyes when he’d asked Sophie if she’d been hurt. His concern for his mother had seemed genuine but it would still break Sophie’s heart to find out Tyson had been the one who had told Seth about the
Noble.

“Will you pray, Evie?”

Evie answered the unexpected question by taking Faith’s hand. For the second time, Faith had unknowingly reminded her how to deal with her turbulent thoughts!

“Dear Lord, thank You for watching over us today. Thank You for calming my fear of the water so I could spend the day with Sam and Faith on the boat. Take care of Patrick and Jacob while they’re…away. And Faith’s mom and dad. It’s hard to be apart from the people we love, Lord, but we trust they’re in Your hands. And so are we.”

She was about to close the prayer with an “Amen,” but Faith took a deep breath and attached her own request.

“And I want to go home, God. Can you do something about that? Thanks.”

Evie reached out and pulled the blanket up, tucking it around Faith’s shoulders as she asked God to answer Faith’s heartfelt, innocent prayer.

“Are you coming back soon?” Faith murmured drowsily.

They’d fashioned a mattress for Evie on the floor next to Faith’s bunk from the extra blankets on board. Sam had folded one of his sweatshirts to make a pillow.

Practical. And thoughtful. Sam had proven himself to be both on so many levels since she’d gotten to know him.

“In a few minutes.” She wouldn’t spend any more time in Sam’s company than absolutely necessary. “Sweet dreams.”

“You, too.”

The fragrant night breeze flowed over Evie as she made her way to the upper deck. Sam stood at the railing, his face tipped toward the sky. Pensive and…vulnerable.

The powerful rush of emotions that rolled through her reminded her of their hair-raising afternoon boat ride. She found it easier to guard her heart when Sam bossed her around, but it wasn’t as easy when she caught glimpses of the sensitive man beneath the surface.

“It makes you feel pretty insignificant, doesn’t it?” Sam asked without looking at her.

Even as a voice in her head warned her to keep her distance, Evie’s feet moved on their own to join him at the railing. “No. Just the opposite. It makes me feel valued. And very…grateful.”

“Grateful?” Sam slanted a look at her.

She didn’t want to be near Sam, but she couldn’t walk away from him when he was obviously searching. And just like Patrick’s treasure map, she knew exactly where Sam could find the truth. She couldn’t keep that to herself. If Sam was willing to listen, she had to be brave enough to talk.

“Because He not only created me, He loves me. When I look at those stars, I don’t think about how small I am, I think about how
big
God is. And how much I mean to Him.”

Sam didn’t respond, and Evie was torn between wanting to say more and letting God fill the silence.

“Good night, Sam.” She decided to let God take over.

Or maybe, Evie thought as she turned away, she was simply too much of a coward to stay any longer.

Sam watched Evie walk away, and it took every ounce of strength not to ask her to come back.

It was a good thing his officers weren’t around to witness their chief totally losing his nerve.

He’d wanted to tell Evie he’d overheard her conversation with Faith. He wanted to talk to her about her mother and tell her he understood she fussed over Patrick because she didn’t want to lose another parent.

He wanted to tell her he worked in a sleepy town not much bigger than Cooper’s Landing. He’d leave out the part about living in a turn-of-the-century lighthouse only a stone’s throw from Lake Michigan, but he could honestly tell her the most notorious crime his officers had solved was who’d put Jed Carson’s VW Bug on the sidewalk on New Year’s Eve.

But deep down, Sam knew none of that would matter to Evie. Whether he lived in a small town or a large city, police work always courted danger. The child of a cop, especially someone with firsthand experience of what the cost could be, knew it was the nature of the job.

Even if he told Evie what his life was like, there was no way he could convince her to embrace it. Or even to accept it.

And he had to face to truth. He
wanted
her to accept it.

Evie was a remarkable woman. Funny. Giving. Insightful. Patient. Beautiful. The kind of woman a man could imagine spending his life with. He’d started out thinking he had to protect her but somehow she’d become his
partner.
Watching out for Faith. Encouraging him to look outside of himself for strength. Facing her fears instead of running away from them. Finding humor in stressful situations.

Sam shook a blanket out and laid it on the deck. He wasn’t going to sleep in his cabin and give Lansky another shot at them during the night. He stretched out on his back and folded his arms behind his head, staring up at the stars. The ones that made him feel insignificant and Evie, valued.

He didn’t want to accept that the feelings stirring between him and Evie weren’t as strong as their differences.

The engine wouldn’t start.

Sam had planned to leave for shore right after breakfast, but the
Natalie
had a different agenda.

“Why did you decide right now to go temperamental on me?” Sam muttered, digging in the toolbox for a wrench.

Evie appeared in the doorway, looking annoyingly fresh in the wrinkle-proof khakis she’d worn the day before and Faith’s favorite basketball jersey. “What’s going on?”

“Something’s wrong with the engine.”

Evie moved closer to the engine compartment and watched him check the fluids. For the third time. Not that he was a slouch when it came to engines, but the
Natalie
had been around a lot longer than he had.

“It looks like the tube near the bottom is cracked,” Evie said.

Sam couldn’t believe he’d missed it. “That does pose a problem.”

“You must have a backup motor on a boat like this.”

“The key words are
on a boat like this.
”

“No backup motor?” Evie frowned.

Sam searched for the roll of duct tape every man stashed in his toolbox. Apparently every man
except
his dad. “Do I smell sausage?”

“Faith is making breakfast. Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“Not if you have something to fix this.”

“I’ll be right back.”

Sam sat back on his heels and waited for her to return. When she did, it was with a roll of duct tape.

“You carry that around in your purse?” Sam saw her expression and rephrased the question. “Thank you for carrying that around in your purse.”

Evie gifted him with a small smile and some of the tension between them dissolved. “Why don’t you let me try. My fingers are smaller.”

“Be my guest.” He regretted the decision as soon as she knelt beside him and the pleasing scent of maple syrup combined with Evie’s favorite brand of perfume played havoc with his senses.

“There. That should hold. I’ll stay here while you give it a try.”

He took advantage of the escape route she’d offered and went on deck. A few seconds later, the engine came to life and Evie clamored up the steps. “It’s working!”

“We make a good team,” he said without thinking.

Shadows skimmed through Evie’s eyes and she backed away. “I’m going to help Faith with breakfast. It’s almost ready.”

Regret pierced him.

Or not.

Within an hour, Evie’s feet touched dry land again. And she wished she was back on the
Natalie
with Sam.

You are out of your mind, Evangeline Elizabeth. You don’t like the water. And you can’t like Sam.

But she did. That was the problem. In fact, she had nothing to compare her feelings to, but she wondered uneasily if they’d moved past “like.”

“Evie?” Sam caught up to her as she hiked through the sand toward her car. “I’m going to stop by and talk to Sophie. Will you come with me?”

Was he asking because he needed her help or because he wanted to keep an eye on her?

“Yes.” No matter how anxious Evie was to put some distance between her and Sam, she wanted to be there for Sophie.

“Do you know where her pastor lives?” Sam’s expression closed, reminding her of the man who’d come to her door the night she’d met him and told her Faith needed a tutor. A man whose career forced him to ignore his emotions while he helped people deal with theirs during difficult circumstances.

“In a house right behind the church.”

“Good.” Sam nodded curtly. “Let’s go.”

Pastor Wallis met them at the front door of the parsonage, dressed casually in twill shorts and a white polo. Only in his midthirties, his approachable manner and compassionate eyes seemed to have a way of immediately putting people at ease. Evie had liked him from the moment her father had introduced them when she’d attended Sunday-morning worship services the summer before.

“Hello, Evie.” Pastor Wallis’s lively brown eyes lit with a smile that encompassed both of them. “It’s good to see you again. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to chat with you yesterday after the service.”

“That’s all right.” Evie had noticed he was in deep conversation with several teenagers and hadn’t wanted to interrupt. “Pastor Wallis, this is Sam Cutter.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” Pastor Wallis extended his hand and gave Sam’s a vigorous shake. “Would you like to come in? Barbara took an angel food cake out of the oven a few minutes ago.”

“Actually, we’re here to see Sophie.”

Pastor Wallis frowned. “She’s not here. Her son and his friend picked her up early this morning.”

“But I thought she planned to stay for a few days.” Evie’s heart picked up speed.

“She did.” The minister frowned. “But after she talked to Tyson, she packed up her things and told us she had to leave. To tell you the truth, Barbara and I both thought Sophie seemed upset. I was planning to call her this evening.”

“Did you recognize Tyson’s friend?” Sam asked tersely.

Pastor Wallis shook his head. “He didn’t get out of the car. I only saw him from the window, and he was looking the other way. Sophie told us about her house getting broken into. Do you think something else happened?”

Evie and Sam exchanged a glance. “We’ll stop by her house and make sure she’s all right.”

“I’d appreciate that.”