Rising Darkness (24 page)

A week later, Jonathon and I sat at a table in The Oil Lamp, having breakfast. The authorities had recovered Terrance Chase's body from the mine. They'd searched as much as they could for the money, but it wasn't found. There were smaller tunnels that had already caved in. It was highly likely the money was in one of them. But trying to recover it was just too dangerous.

There weren't many people in the restaurant this morning. Most of them were out near the site of the old mine, moved back to a safe distance, while they waited for the mine to be blown up. I was certain Sarah Miller and Paul were there. Esther had told me about Sarah almost losing her life inside that mine. Seeing it destroyed would be cathartic for both of them. But I just wanted to move on. The mine didn't mean anything to me. Frankly, I was grateful for the quiet this morning. I'd said good-bye to almost everyone and planned to slip out of town unnoticed. Leaving Esther had been really difficult. Her prediction had been right. I believed with all my
heart that God had sent me to Sanctuary. I was leaving with much more than I'd planned on. My article had been written and turned in. It didn't work out quite the way I thought it would, but in the end, I had found Terrance Chase. My story was on the front page, and my editor had told me when I got back, we needed to talk. I was pretty sure an offer would come. One that would give me everything I'd wanted. Oddly, in the end, that thought didn't make me as happy as I'd once believed it would.

My editor agreed to contact the authorities in Kansas to see what could be done to help Tom. I couldn't be sure it would do any good, but at least I was able to keep my promise to him. I'd talked to him on the phone. He was fine, although finding out his friend Donnie had arranged for him to be beaten up was hard on him. The sharp-faced guard who'd helped Donnie carry out his plan had been fired. Of course, Donnie had lost his job, as well, but other than that, he would probably get off lightly due to the circumstances. I really hoped so.

M
ost importantly, I was happy that Donnie and his family could get some satisfaction knowing that the man who killed their brother and son was going to prison. And I prayed that finding out that, at the end, their loved one had tried to do the right thing would give them some comfort, too. Of course, the family of the other guard would have closure now, as well. Those outcomes made everything worth it.

I'd just taken a sip of coffee when the ground shook slightly.

“There it goes,” Jonathon said. “That ends it, I hope.”

“Unless the story gets out that there might be six million dollars buried underground.”

“I think we'll keep that to ourselves. I'm glad you didn't say anything about it in your story.”

“I think Sanctuary has had enough attention lately. Having a bunch of people digging holes around the mine isn't something you need. Besides, I'm still not sure the money was in there. Chase could have done anything with it. We may never know.”

“You're right about that.”

Another small shaking signaled the second blast. There were supposed to be three. I downed the rest of my coffee. I wanted to be gone before everyone headed back.

“I'm going to miss you.” Jonathon fastened his incredible blue eyes on me.

“I'm going to miss you, too, but I'll be back soon. My editor is giving me an extra two weeks of vacation since I worked during this one. I'll be here in May. We'll have lots of time together. We can sort out everything then.”

He leaned toward me. “Unless you get so enamored with your new job you decide you're too important to spend any time in a small hick town.”

“Sanctuary isn't a hick town,” I shot back. “I love it here. This place—and you—changed me.”

He smiled. “I'd rather think that we helped you to become the person you were always meant to be.”

I stared down at my coffee cup. Was he right? More than anything, I'd wanted to become an important person. Someone people looked up to. I'd worked hard to get rid of the dirty, ignorant girl from Kingdom. But instead of banishing her, I'd begun to care about her. To have compassion for her. As ashamed as I'd been about my past, I was beginning to
embrace it. That girl was part of me. Someone Jonathon had cared about. Someone God had loved. Although I still had a lot of healing to do, I knew God and I would get through it together.

“I should get going. They'll all be back soon.”

He reached over and took my hand. “I'll miss you.”

I smiled. “You already said that.”

“I know.”

As prepared as I was to leave, I realized it would be harder than I'd anticipated. “Everything will work out. You'll see.”

“If you say so.”

“You really think I'm going to fall in love with my new job and forget about you?”

He didn't say anything, just looked at me.

“I won't. You'll just have to trust me.”

“Okay.”

I pulled my hand away. “Walk me to my car?”

“Sure.”

He picked up our ticket, and we went up to the cash register by the door. Maxie met us there. She took the ticket and stuck it on a metal spike sitting on the counter.

“It's on us. Randi said not to charge you. It's our going-away present.”

“But I'm not going,” Jonathon said. “Let me pay for mine.”

Maxie shook her head. “Nope. Randi would chew me out royally if you paid a penny. What Randi says goes around here.”

Jonathon chuckled. “I can believe that.”

“Thank you, Maxie,” I said. “I'm going to miss the good food here—and the good company. Would you say good-bye to Mary and Rosey when you see them?”

She nodded. “They closed up so they could see the mine blow up. Randi considered it, but she and I didn't care about it much. Figured we'd stay here and serve the customers who don't like explosions.”

“I'm glad you did. Great breakfast.”

“I'm happy you liked it. You take care, honey. And come back soon, okay? I know this man will miss you a great deal.”

I waved and walked out the door into a clear, crisp March morning. Had it really only been two weeks since I'd driven into this town? In that short amount of time, everything in my life had been turned upside down.

I opened the car door and swung around to gaze up at Jonathon. The look on his face made my chest hurt. I reached up and stroked his cheek.

“I want to kiss you, but I won't,” he said, his voice breaking. “Someday, I hope you'll ask me to.”

I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him softly. This time there was no fear. All I felt was love. The ground shook one more time. “Either that was one great kiss, or they just set off the last blast,” I said with a smile.

Jonathon laughed. “Both, I think.”

“Who knew that one day Jonathon Wiese and Sophie Wittenbauer from Kingdom, Kansas, would fall in love?”

The corners of Jonathon's lips curved upward. “God knew.”

People would be heading back to town any minute. I turned away and got into my car, closing the door. “I'll call you when I get home,” I said through the open window.

“I'll be waiting.”

It took almost everything inside me to put the car in gear
and drive away. When I reached the main road outside of town, I could see cars coming from the other direction. I turned and drove down the road leading to St. Louis, glad I wouldn't have to say good-bye to anyone else.

Wanting some music, I turned on the stereo. Immediately, my positive affirmations began to play. I hit the button to eject the CD. The system made a whirring noise, and the CD popped out. I picked it up and flung it out the window. I didn't have any further use for it.

I turned on the radio, and a song I knew came on. John Denver. He began to sing about country roads taking him home. When he reached the part about the radio reminding him of a home he should have reached yesterday, I pulled over and stopped the car.

Then with a smile, I turned around and headed home.

My thanks to my Inner Circle for their support and encouragement: Mary Gessner, Tammy Pendergast-Lagoski, Lynne Young, Zac Weikel, Michelle Durben, Michell Prince Morgan, Karla Hanns, Shirley Blanchard, Elizabeth “Liz” Dent, Tara Jo Banks, Bonnie Traher, Mary Shipman, Rhonda Nash-Hall, Cheryl Baranski, and JoJo Sutis. God bless you all for your support and prayers.

As always, thank you to my friends and editors at Bethany House. Working with you is a privilege.

Nancy Mehl
is the author of twenty-one books, including the R
OAD
TO
K
INGDOM
and F
INDING
S
ANCTUARY
series. She received the ACFW Mystery Book of the Year Award in 2009. She has a background in social work and is a member of ACFW and RWA. Nancy writes from her home in Missouri, where she lives with her husband, Norman, and their Puggle, Watson. Visit
www.nancymehl.com
to learn more.

From Bethany House Publishers

R
OAD
TO
K
INGDOM

Inescapable

Unbreakable

Unforeseeable

F
INDING
S
ANCTUARY

Gathering Shadows

Deadly Echoes

Rising Darkness

Resources:
bethanyhouse.com/AnOpenBook

Website:
www.bethanyhouse.com

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