Danger in Plain Sight (21 page)

Rebecca’s gaze was troubled. “But what about your job? And your mamm. She probably wants to have you home with her after being away so much.”

“I’ve left my job, so my time is my own for now. And you know that my mother would be the first one to want to help out.” She paused. “It would mean so much to me to be able to help Esther.”

And to protect her. Even if the only weapon she had was a cell phone, at least she’d be a link with the outside world.

“Ja, I know.” Rebecca smiled and patted her cheek. “Esther would like that fine, and so would I.”

“Will it be all right with Isaac?” She hadn’t forgotten how eager he’d been to have her leave the hospital at first, although he seemed resigned to her presence now.

“Don’t you worry about Isaac. He is still my boy, after all. Who I have to stay at the daadi haus is my own business, ain’t so? It is settled, so long as your mamm agrees.”

Maybe it was best not to point out that she was a grown woman who didn’t ask her mother’s permission any longer. “I’ll talk with her tonight. I know she’ll feel just as I do about it.”

Of course there was one person who would disagree, and she suspected that he’d do so firmly and at length. But Adam didn’t control where she went and what she did.

* * *

LIBBY HAD JUST stepped out of Esther’s room when she spotted Adam getting off the elevator. Judging by the look on his face, he was on a mission, and probably didn’t want to be interrupted.

She’d like to use that as an excuse to avoid another argument, but she certainly didn’t want him hearing about her plan to stay at the Zook farm from anyone else. In fact, she didn’t even want anyone within earshot when he heard about it.

“Adam, do you have a minute?”

The frowning glance he sent her way wasn’t particularly encouraging. “Can it wait? I need to talk to Esther’s family.”

“I think it’s better if you hear what I have to say first.” She glanced down the hallway, but the door to the chapel was propped open and the whir of a vacuum cleaner could be heard from within. She turned the other way. “There’s a patient lounge down this way.”

She walked off quickly, trusting that he’d follow her. And trying to shape in her mind the argument she suspected they were about to have.

The patient lounge was a sunroom, bright even in winter with its array of windows. The furnishings, white wicker and colorful chintzes, were the polar opposite of the usual hospital fare of plastic and vinyl.

“This will do. No one’s in here.” Unfortunately there wasn’t a door she could close, but she walked across to the farthest window, which overlooked the distant ridge. “Nice room, isn’t it?”

Adam looked at her with something like surprise in his face. “It should be, since your mother decorated it.”

“Mom?” She blinked. How had she not known that?

For an answer, he pointed to a small bronze plaque on the wall. She stepped closer to read it.

“Dedicated to the beloved memory of Blake Winston II, from his family.” Her throat seemed to close on the words.

“You didn’t know?” Adam moved so that he stood next to her, his body shielding her from anyone glancing in the doorway.

“My mother never mentioned it.” She touched the plaque lightly. “Now I know why the room seems so familiar.”

“Yes.” Adam was quiet for a moment, but she could feel his controlled impatience. “You wanted to talk to me.”

She forced herself to look away from the plaque. “I had some disturbing news from Rebecca when I came in today. It looks as if they’ll be taking Esther home, maybe as early as this week.”

“That’s why I came by. I heard something of that from Bishop Amos.” His face looked as if it was carved from stone. “We have to change their minds.”

Adam was reacting the same way she had, and she didn’t want him upsetting Rebecca.

“I know, but I don’t think that’s possible. I’ve already tried. Rebecca is convinced that Esther will do better at home, and she’s sure Esther will be safe with all of the family around them.”

“A family that embraces nonviolence, that won’t turn to the police for help, that couldn’t call for help even if they wanted to? How is that safe?” He turned. “I’ll talk to her.”

Libby put her hand on his arm. It was like grasping a metal railing. “Please, Adam, stop and think before you barge in there. If I couldn’t persuade Rebecca, what makes you think she’ll listen to you?”

He stood where he was, clenching his jaw so tightly that a tiny muscle twitched. “There has to be a way. If they take her to that farm— You know the danger as well as I do.”

“I know. Do you think I didn’t try? I suggested moving Esther to a rehab facility, thinking that would be easier to protect. Rebecca won’t consider it. I know her. She might seem like a quiet, submissive woman, but she has a will of iron where her family is concerned. But she did agree to one concession.”

“What?” He glowered, obviously not liking the feeling that he couldn’t control events.

“She’ll let me stay at the farm with Esther.”

For a long moment he stared at her. Then—“No.” And he turned away.

“I’m not asking for your permission, Adam. Rebecca will take Esther home as soon as the hospital will let her go. You know perfectly well they won’t allow us to place a guard at the farm. If I’m there, I can call for help at a moment’s notice.”

“Esther shouldn’t be moved from the hospital, and if her family won’t listen to reason, then I’ll find someone who will.” He stalked across the room, frustration in every line of his body.

“What are you going to do?” She was almost afraid of the answer.

“Talk to the doctors, the hospital administrator, maybe the district attorney. There has to be someone who can stop this.”

“Adam…” But he was already gone.

CHAPTER TWELVE

BY EVENING, Libby was ready to fall asleep where she stood, but she couldn’t. She’d used every excuse she could come up with to avoid telling her mother about her job. Now she also had to tell her about the move to the Zook farmhouse. It was time to clear the air entirely.

She drifted into the family room, her mother’s favorite relaxing spot in the house. Looking around the comfortable room, Libby realized why the patient lounge had seemed so familiar.

Mom was curled in a corner of the couch, frowning at the knitting pattern she was following. Never just relaxing, of course. She always had to be doing something.

Libby sat down next to her. “I was in the patient lounge at the hospital today. I didn’t realize you had donated it in Daddy’s honor.”

Mom let the knitting fall to her lap. With her blue jeans and oversize man’s sweater, she looked like a child playing dress-up.

“Oh, it wasn’t anything. But you should have seen what it looked like before. Institutional green walls and motel modern furniture.” She wrinkled up her nose. “I think it’s a bit less depressing now.”

“It’s lovely. Very welcoming,” Libby assured her. “It reminds me of this room.”

Her mother nodded, glancing around at overstuffed chintz and aged wood. “I hope so. This was your father’s favorite room in the house. I think he’d be pleased.”

Libby tried to speak around the lump in her throat. “Why didn’t you tell us about it?”

Her mother shrugged. “You know how your father felt about charity. Never let the right hand know what the left hand is doing. But in this case, the hospital board insisted on the sign.”

“Dad would have loved it, even with the plaque,” she said. She cleared her throat. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you since I got home.”

“You mean about quitting your job?” Mom said.

“Who blabbed? Did Adam tell you—” She stopped. She was giving too much away, revealing that she’d confided in Adam.

Her mother’s eyes brightened, as if she’d heard good news. “Well, what else could it be? You’ve stayed here much longer than you intended already, and you haven’t said anything about asking your boss for more time off. You haven’t mentioned the paper once. Just because you always picked your father to confide in doesn’t mean that I’ve lost my mother’s intuition where you’re concerned.”

Libby blinked. “I didn’t…I didn’t intend to make you feel left out.”

Mom patted her hand. “I admit, I felt that sometimes. But Blake was such a good father. How could I wish to change that?”

“He was, wasn’t he?” Tears filled her eyes.

“Good husband, good father, good man.” Her mother wiped away a tear of her own. “How he’d laugh at us for sitting here crying over that!”

For a moment Libby could almost hear that hearty laugh, and it seemed to pierce her heart.

“I know. We won’t stop missing him,” her mother said softly.

“Yes, well.” Libby mopped her eyes. “About the job…maybe it had been coming on for a long time. Too many pictures of car wrecks and fires and shooting victims.”

Her mother clasped her hand. “That must have been especially hard for you. You’ve always been so sensitive to other people’s feelings.”

You’re like your mother
, Rebecca had said. Maybe she was right.

“It all came to a head when the paper published a photo of a grieving mother. I’d asked them not to use that one. It was too intrusive. The editor told me I’d have to toughen up if I wanted to succeed. I decided that price was too steep.” She took a breath, realizing that a weight had lifted from her shoulders. “So here I am, ready to start over if I can just figure out what I’m meant to do.”

“Darling, you don’t have to decide right away, do you? I’d love to have you here forever.”

“I’ll stay for a good long visit,” she said, evading the question of her future. “But first, I have to move over to the Zook farm for a while, to help take care of Esther.”

Mom drew back, blue eyes troubled. “They’re sending her home already? But isn’t that dangerous? If there is someone after her—”

“I know. I tried to change Rebecca’s mind, but she wouldn’t hear of moving Esther to a rehab facility. She’s convinced Esther will do better at home.”

“That might be true,” her mother admitted. “She’s used to being surrounded by her family’s love and support. But she has to be kept safe.”

“Yes. They wouldn’t agree to have someone on guard at the farm. But Rebecca did say that I could stay. You understand, don’t you? Adam thought you would try to stop me, but I knew it was what you’d do in my place.”

Her mother pressed her lips together, as if holding back her first impulse. “You think you’ve outsmarted me, don’t you?”

Libby couldn’t help but smile. Mom always could see right through the three of them. “Did it work?”

Mom sighed. “I have to admit, it’s easier to do something yourself than to let someone you love go into danger. But I understand why you have to do this.”

“Good.” It was a relief not to have to argue about it.

“I’ll come over and spell you anytime you want,” her mother said. “The crucial thing is that someone be there with Esther all the time, right? And to have a cell phone, of course.”

Libby squeezed her mother’s hand. “I knew you’d jump right in.”

“And that’s what you told Adam, I suppose.” Mom said the words with such studied casualness that Libby went instantly on the alert.

“More or less,” she said cautiously. “He was… Well, naturally he wanted them to keep Esther where he could guard her.”

“You’ve been seeing a lot of Adam, haven’t you? He’s a good man.”

“He is.” That quiet comment broke through her reserve. “Everyone knows that. But he’s got it in his head that just because of his background, he’s not good enough for…well, for…” She let that trail off, because it wasn’t going anywhere.

“Oh, honey.” Geneva’s voice filled with pain. “I had no idea that was still bothering him. He’s proved himself a hundred times over. Doesn’t he know that?”