A Treasure Worth Keeping (9 page)

Dan hated him for it.

And Sam hated himself.

E
vie lifted her head and saw Sam standing in the doorway. The raw pain in his eyes burned its way through her before the shutters slammed back into place.

“I can’t get through to them until next week,” he said flatly. “Bruce Mullins took them to one of the more isolated camps.”

Evie felt a flash of hope. “So they did go fishing?”

“I doubt it.” Sam stalked into the room. “Maybe you should stay with Sophie tonight.”

He still thought she was in danger.

Evie wavered, remembering the way Seth Lansky’s massive paw had circled her wrist. Had he given up or was there a chance he might come back?

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

The verse from Isaiah that Sophie had quoted while they’d prayed cycled back through Evie’s mind. Peace followed trust. That’s what she had to remember. “I need to go home. Dad might call again and he’ll want to know I’m all right.”

“If we can’t contact them, they won’t be able to contact us,” Sam pointed out.

“I have plenty of room,” Sophie added, concern for Evie evident in the slight furrow between her eyebrows. “Tyson reclaimed his old room upstairs, but the sofa in the living room pulls out into a bed.”

Evie had forgotten about Tyson. Even though he was Sophie’s son, something about the guy creeped her out. “I appreciate the invitation, Sophie, but I still have to open Beach Glass in the morning. I’ll be fine. I think Sam spooked Seth Lansky enough that he won’t be coming back.”

The thought occurred to her that maybe that was why Seth had boldly talked his way into the house. With Patrick gone, he’d assumed she was alone. Vulnerable.

“Can you take me home, Sam?” Evie ignored the hollow pit in her stomach at the thought of going back to the isolated house again. “I know you and Faith are going out on the boat tomorrow morning. She needs a good night’s sleep.”

I’ll keep my mind on You, Lord, and trust You to provide the peace.

“Let me know the second you hear from Patrick and Jacob.” Sophie’s eyes clouded over. “I wish now that I’d never gotten them involved in this.”

“It’s not your fault,” Evie murmured, unable to resist a pointed look at Sam.

“Once Patrick found out what I was doing, he begged me to let him help,” Sophie continued. “That man does love a challenge.”

“You mean Jacob,” Evie corrected her gently.

“No. Patrick.” A smile played at the corners of Sophie’s lips. “I think he would have bought a wet suit and gone diving for the
Noble
himself if Jacob hadn’t convinced him to contact Bruce Mullins first.”

“Good old Dad. The voice of reason.” Sam arched an eyebrow at Evie.

They
couldn’t
be talking about Patrick McBride. The most challenging thing her dad tackled was the expert-level crossword puzzle book she bought him for his birthday every year!

The car’s headlights barely made a dent in the darkness as Sam drove her home. Sophie had insisted he allow Faith to spend the night, and as Evie stared out the window at the thick stands of trees hemming the edge of the road, she wished she’d taken advantage of the offer now, too.

“Do you think Dad is in trouble?” Evie finally voiced the question churning in her mind since they’d left Sophie’s.

“They’re with an experienced guide,” Sam said. “I’m sure they’re fine.”

Was it her imagination, or had he put the slightest emphasis on the word
they’re?

“I still can’t believe Dad is involved in this,” Evie murmured. “Helping Sophie is one thing but traipsing around, looking for a ship that may not even exist is totally out of character for him. And we have no idea who this Seth Lansky is. Or what he was trying to find.”

“That’s why you should go home.”

Evie’s mouth dropped open as the quiet force of the words vibrated in the silence. “Go home?”

“There’s a real possibility you aren’t safe here. Someone else is interested in the
Noble,
and they knew exactly who to go to for information. Patrick said you might be in danger. He would expect you to leave. Close up Beach Glass until I can make contact with them again and sort out this mess.”

It was so tempting to grab hold of the suggestion. To put miles between her and whatever threat lurked around the corner. Would her dad want her to turn tail and run away?

You don’t have to be here to talk to Dad,
a logical voice in her head reminded her.
You can be at home just as easily.

“The tourist season is just getting started,” Sam continued in that calm, reasonable tone. “Even if you closed up the antique shop for a week, you wouldn’t lose much business.”

“I’m staying.”

The announcement stunned Evie almost as much as Sam.

“There’s no guarantee that you’re safe,” he said flatly.

Funny how those simple words shook her to the core. All her life, Evie had chosen
safe.
She’d built her life around it. Hadn’t she learned that people who deliberately put themselves in dangerous situations eventually paid too high of a price? And so did the people they loved.

But what if her dad returned unexpectedly? Shouldn’t she be waiting for him? And what about Faith? If God had brought them together, Evie had to trust she was under His protection and He’d give her the strength she needed.

“God brought me here for a reason,” Evie said through dry lips. “I’m not leaving.”

Sam didn’t try to change her mind, but Evie had the feeling he wasn’t happy she was staying. Or with the reason why.

“Hi, Evie.”

At the unexpected greeting, Evie almost dropped the Depression-glass sugar bowl cradled in her hands.

“Faith.” Evie looked at her in surprise before glancing at the row of whimsical cuckoo clocks mounted on the wall. Three o’clock. “Did you and Sam come in early today?”

Faith’s face closed, reminding her of Sam’s expression when he’d caught her and Sophie praying the night before. “Sam didn’t want to take the boat out. It’s supposed to storm later this afternoon.”

The robin’s-egg-blue sky, decorated with brushstrokes of wispy clouds, didn’t look the least bit threatening at the moment, but Evie was glad Sam had chosen to believe the weather forecast over the clear sky.

“Is Sam with you?”

“Uh-uh.” Suddenly, Faith became fascinated with the canning jar next to the old-fashioned cash register on the counter.

Warning bells went off in Evie’s head. “Faith, does he know you’re here?”

“What’s this?” Faith avoided the question, studying the contents of the jar on the counter as if she’d never seen anything like it before.

“It’s beach glass.” Evie gave the girl an exasperated smile. Science lesson or lecture? She decided there was time for both. “The waves and the sand work together like a rock tumbler until the glass is smooth and polished.”

“Cool.”

Evie smiled. One word that equaled high praise. “Go ahead and take one. Dad won’t mind. Banks give out Tootsie Rolls, and Dad gives out pieces of beach glass. He says they last longer.”

As soon as her thoughts returned to her dad, worry scurried back, chewing at Evie’s peace of mind like a nest of field mice. She’d managed to keep her fear under control throughout the long night and most of the morning, but there were times it snuck up on her. Like right now.

“Look at this one. It looks like a piece of bubblegum.” Faith held up a piece of glass in a shade of deep pink and for the first time, Evie noticed the girl’s red-rimmed eyes and the faint pleats at the corners of her lips. “Pink is Mom’s favorite color. Every Christmas, Dad buys her something pink even though he says it’s a girlie color. He bought me a pink baseball mitt as a joke for my birthday once.”

Faith bravely cracked open the door to her heart to see if Evie really cared about what was inside. She did. But now she had to convince her.

God, please give me the right words to say.

“Have you talked to your Dad lately?”

“When I called this morning, Mom said he was asleep.”

The uncertainty in Faith’s voice told Evie she didn’t know if she should believe her.

“You must miss him a lot.”

“I do.” Faith dropped the piece of glass back into the jar. “But I heard Mom tell Sam that Dad isn’t the same person anymore. Maybe…he doesn’t miss me.”

Evie drew in a careful breath, but it still felt like a knife sliding between her ribs. Obviously Faith had listened in on a conversation not meant for her ears. No one had been honest with Faith about her father’s situation, and while Evie understood that her family thought they were protecting her, it had forced Faith to try to make sense of it on her own. And without wisdom and experience to temper her thoughts, Faith had come to the wrong conclusion.

“I’m sure your dad misses you very much,” she contradicted softly. “But he has to accept some major changes in his life and that isn’t easy. It isn’t easy for anyone.”

“I want things to be the way they were,” Faith admitted in a small voice.

“They won’t be the same.” Evie knew she had to be honest. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t be better.” She retrieved the piece of glass and held it on her open palm. “Look at this. It’s still a piece of glass, right? But it’s changed. At one point in time, it would have been sharp enough to cut you. But the waves and the sand gradually rounded the edges. Softened it. I’m praying for your dad, Faith. That he’ll open his heart and trust that God is big enough to bring something good out of this situation.”

She wrapped her arm around Faith’s shoulders and felt them stiffen. And then Faith melted against her.

“I’ll pray, too.”

“Good girl,” Evie murmured. “Now, how about I call your uncle, who’s probably tearing apart the forest looking for you, and tell him we’re going to have school earlier today?”

“Field trip?” Faith smiled hopefully.

“English first. Then maybe we can fit in a short field trip.”

“Look at this.” Faith squatted down and pulled a chunk of rock out of the ground.

“It’s quartz.” Evie stooped down to admire her find and smiled when she saw Faith’s bulging pockets. The girl already had a good start on a rock collection. Evie’s own pockets were full, a testimony to the fact she had a difficult time passing up interesting rocks, too.

“I’ll give it to Sam for his desk. Then he’ll see it every day.”

“He spends a lot of time in an office?” The words rolled out before Evie could stop them, and she winced. Talk about blatant curiosity! Faith, thank goodness, didn’t think there was anything unusual about the question.

“Dad always teases him about being a paper pusher or something.” Faith rubbed the rock against the hem of her T-shirt and left a trail of grime on the fabric.

Evie wasn’t surprised at Faith’s affirmation that Sam worked in some kind of corporate setting. And she couldn’t help feeling a little relieved, although she didn’t want to examine
that
too closely.

When he’d left the night before, he hadn’t been happy with her decision to stay in Cooper’s Landing, and he’d made it clear he thought she was making a huge mistake.

It isn’t as if you’ve shown a lot of backbone up to this point,
Evie admitted to herself. She’d shaken like an aspen leaf when she’d seen that diving equipment in the back of Seth’s van. No wonder Sam worried about her being alone. Some witness for God she was turning out to be. If Sam looked at her as an example of a believer, he’d think they were a bunch of wimps!

A raindrop splashed on the back of Evie’s wrist. When she looked up, the blue sky had all but disappeared, filled with a slow-moving armada of dark cumulus clouds.

“Faith, let’s get going. It looks like the storm that kept you off the lake is finally moving in.”

A shard of lightning and a low growl of thunder in the distance underscored the point. Evie silently chided herself for being so focused on the ground that she hadn’t paid attention to what was over their heads!

“We’re going to get wet,” Faith predicted.

Probably an understatement, Evie thought.
Soaked
was more like it. They had at least a two-mile hike back to the house. The beauty of the woods had enchanted them, luring them farther down the trail than Evie had originally planned.

She dug in her purse and pulled out her compact umbrella, popping it open and holding it over Faith’s head. “Let’s try this.”

Faith grinned up at her. “You remind me of Mary Poppins. Remember, she had that great big carpetbag with a mirror in it? And a lamp?”

“I remember,” Evie muttered as a gust of wind caught the umbrella and turned it inside out. “If I were Mary Poppins, my umbrella would behave.”

They dashed down the trail as the light sprinkles, which must have been the opening preshow, became a pelting rain.

At one point, Faith slipped and fell. Rocks tumbled out of her pockets and she scrambled to gather them up again.

Evie quickly doubled back. “Don’t worry, Faith. We can find more.”

“I can’t find the one I was going to give Sam.” Faith had to raise her voice above the sudden screech of the wind.

Evie scooped a handful of soggy hair out of her eyes so she could aid in the search. “Look. Here it is.” Rivulets of muddy water coasted down her arm when she picked it up. Soaked
and
dirty. With a new story to tell her students in the fall.

Faith cocked her head, reminding Evie of Sophie’s puppies. “I hear a car. Maybe Sam is looking for us.”

Evie heard it, too. For a brief moment, hope burst inside her. Until she remembered. “The gate was locked. It has to be a government vehicle of some kind.”

“Maybe they can give us a ride!” Faith whooped and sprinted into the woods separating the service road from the trail.

Through the trees, Evie caught a glimpse of a white van creeping along the road.

It couldn’t be.