“I’m so sorry, Noah,” she burst out. “I hate what I did to you. I hope you can forgive me.”
His warm eyes studied her. “I have a gut life, Hannah. You did me no lasting harm. I forgave you long ago.”
And she knew he had. The Amish way wasn’t to wait to offer forgiveness until asked. It was freely extended regardless. She fingered the picture in the pocket of her skirt, then slowly drew it out and reached across the aisle to show it to him. “Do you recognize this child?” A line crouched between his eyes, and she could tell he wanted to ask more questions, but he took the picture and gazed down at it.
“Nein,” he said finally. “But she has the look of you. Who is she?”
“I don’t know for sure, but since she looks like me, I thought . . . she might be related.”
He studied her face, then nodded. “Your cousin Mary, she lives here in town. Might the child be hers?”
Hannah’s memory went back to the day of Moe’s funeral. When Hannah had asked Mary about a husband or children, sadness had tugged at her mouth when she said she was single and childless. Could it be she’d given one up for adoption? Mary and Hannah looked enough alike to be sisters. But how would Mary’s child have gotten the quilt?
MATT SAW HANNAH sitting with Angie near an Amish guy as soon as he entered the coffee bar. What did he have to be jealous about? He’d never even kissed her. But all the rationalization in the world didn’t make the hot squeeze in his gut go away. Especially when he caught the intent expression on her face.
She was tucking that dratted picture back into her purse. His first lie had started him on a slippery slope to perdition. If he’d been honest the first time he saw the picture of Caitlin, what would have happened?
The barista handed over his coffee. Hannah still hadn’t seen him, so he walked over to be introduced. As he approached, he recognized the man’s face under the straw hat as one of the guys who worked the counter at the lumberyard. Matt struggled to remember if he’d ever taken Caitlin in with him.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked.
Hannah finally noticed he was on the planet. Her smile seemed strained, and he wondered if she’d felt anything when he’d held her. Maybe the attraction between them was all on his side. But he didn’t think he imagined her response.
He slid into the seat beside her. Once he set his coffee on the table, he reached across to offer his hand to the guy. “Matt Beitler, sheriff’s detective.”
“Noah Whetstone. I’ve seen you in the lumberyard.”
“Yeah, I put a deck on the house last year.”
The conversation fizzled as Matt tried to think of what to say without mentioning his daughter. Before he could think of a safe topic, Noah rose. “I must get back to work. Say hello to your cousin, Hannah.” He nodded to Angie and Matt, picked up his coffee cup, and left.
“I didn’t mean to run him off,” Matt said. Liar, liar. That was exactly what he’d hoped for. He’d have liked to put a hedge around Hannah and keep every other guy at arm’s length. Maybe that was why Reece acted so possessive.
“You didn’t.”
“It looked like you were deep in conversation.” He nearly winced when he saw Angie grin. Even if Hannah was too innocent to recognize his interest, her savvier friend saw everything.
“I’ve known him all my life.”
“They were engaged,” Angie put in. Her smile widened, and she glanced at Matt as if to see him squirm.
“That was a long time ago. He’s married with four kids now.”
It almost sounded as though she didn’t want him to worry. Matt couldn’t help but smile. Maybe she was transparent too. And Angie understood.
She stood. “Listen, Hannah, since Matt is here, I’m going to go back to the house and call the producer to see if they got all they needed today. Why don’t you have Matt take you over to see Irene? You’ve been wanting to go. She’s probably got some of your mom’s quilts. See if you can borrow them for a few days for me to photograph them.”
“But I should go back and work on the quilt too.”
“Yeah, you should, but you’re not going to, so just get your sleuthing out of your system. See you two later.” Angie grabbed her coffee and sashayed out of the coffee bar.
“You sure you don’t mind taking me over to Irene’s?”
How was he going to get out of this one? Irene would recognize Caitlin in one glance. “Not a problem. I need to question Irene myself. You just need to borrow quilts?”
“I was going to ask her about the little girl, but now there’s no need.” She blinked rapidly at the moisture flooding her eyes.
“Why not?” Was she giving up?
“One of my cousins. We look a lot alike. I think the girl might be hers. She might have given her up for adoption.”
“I’m sorry.” He reached across the table and took her hand in both of his. He rubbed his thumb along her palm.
One part of him was rejoicing that he wouldn’t be found out, and the other was responding to the touch of her hand. An impossible situation. He didn’t dare explore his feelings for her when it would all come crashing down the minute she found out the extent of his deceit. Besides, she’d never filed for divorce.
Her fingers clutched his hand, and her eyes held a naked appeal for him to make it all better. But he couldn’t. Not without destroying his daughter and himself.
TWENTY
“The Mariner’s Compass Quilt reminds me that in murky times, the Amish rely on the Word to steer their course.”
—HANNAH SCHWARTZ,
IN The Amish Faith Through Their Quilts
The desire to be certain burned Hannah’s veins. “Could we stop and see my cousin Mary before we go to your aunt’s?” she asked as Matt pulled out of the parking lot. Rain drummed against the top of the vehicle and sluiced over the windshield.
“Do you think she’ll talk to you about such a personal matter?”
“I don’t know. But I have to ask. If I know she gave a child up for adoption, I’ll know for sure that Reece is lying to me. It will put my mind at rest. And if she knows who has the child, that might lead us to important information. The little girl is on my mother’s quilt.”
“You’re sure about that? The picture isn’t that big.”
He seemed determined to disbelieve her. “I’m positive. I’m a quilt expert, remember?”
“I’m just not sure the quilt means anything more than that the killer finally started selling them off.”
She didn’t want to admit he might be right. Craning her neck, she pointed out an older house in Nyesville. “There’s her place.” Matt parked at the curb, and Hannah got out as soon as the SUV stopped rolling. She dashed through the downpour to the porch. When she knocked, the door opened immediately.
Mary’s face lit when she saw Hannah. “I didn’t think you’d really come.” She opened the door wide. “Come in out of the storm. I just put on a fresh pot of coffee. And I made some peanut butter cookies. They’re still warm.” She led them into an immaculate living room decorated in blue and yellow. The chintz fabric on the sofa and overstuffed chair looked new.
Hannah settled onto the sofa. “I hope you don’t mind us barging in without calling first.”
“I’m tickled to death to see you! There’s no one left on my mom’s side of the family. My parents live clear across the country, and I get lonesome for family sometimes.”
Her cousin’s eager welcome made Hannah want to crawl under the sofa. She should have come sooner. Her gaze lingered on some pictures on the table. Standing beside her mother, Cathy, Mary smiled out from the photo.
“How about that coffee and cookies?” Mary asked.
“I’d love some,” Hannah said, even though the thought of more caffeine didn’t appeal. Her cousin was so eager to please. “You need some help?”