âYOU DONâT BELONG HERE.â
Someone wants to stop Becki Graw from claiming her inheritance. Police officer Joshua Rayne is just as determined to keep his beautiful neighbor safe. She may not be the tomboy Josh remembers, but sheâs just as stubborn. Becki is intent on keeping her grandparentsâ remote farmhouseâno matter the danger. Beckiâs feelings for her childhood crush may be rekindled, but sheâs seen too much to risk opening her heart. As the threats against Becki escalate, the list of suspects grows longer. Josh must convince Becki to trust him with her heartâand her lifeâbefore a madman ends their chance at happiness...permanently.
âWhen did you get this?â
Becki caught Joshâs arm long enough to get a look at the note. âIt was in the mailbox when I got here. Courtesy of my sister.â
Josh frowned. âWhy would she say you donât belong here?â
âBecause if I sell, she thinks sheâll get more money.â
âWho else knew you were moving in today?â
âI donât know.â Becki rubbed her worsening headache. âMy boss, my roommate, my mom.â
âNo one from around here?â
âNot that I know of. Like I told my sister, Iâm here to stay.â
Josh sat beside Becki on the sofa, and her heart jumped at the touch of his knee. âWho else might have sent this note?â
âWhat do you mean?â
âI meanâ¦who didnât want you moving here badly enough to attack you?â
She dug her fingers into the seat cushion. âYou think the note and the incident in the barn are connected?â
Obviously he did. Which meant whoever was slinking around the property had been expecting her.
SANDRA ORCHARD
hails from the beautiful countryside of Niagara, Ontario, where inspiration abounds for her romantic suspense novelsânot that she runs into any bad guys, but because her imagination is free to run as wild as her Iditarod-wannabe husky. Sandra lives with her real-life hero husband, who happily provides both romantic and suspense inspiration, as long as it doesnât involve poisons and his dinner. But her truest inspiration comes from the Lord, in the beauty of a sunrise over the field and the whisper of a breeze, in the antics of a killdeer determined to safeguard its nest and the faithfulness of the seasons. She enjoys writing stories that both keep the reader guessing and reveal Godâs love and faithfulness through the lives of her characters.
Sandra loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website, or at www.Facebook.com/SandraOrchard or c/o Love Inspired Books, 233 Broadway, Suite 1001, New York, NY 10279.
You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause.
âEzekiel 14:23
To my stepsister, Rebecca-Becki-Bec, for letting me borrow all her names.
With special thanks to Karen and Alf Acres for giving me a ride in their âhorseless carriageâ and answering all my antique car questions, along with Albert Unrau. Also to my wonderful critique buddies, Eileen, Laurie, Vicki and Wenda, who help smooth all the storyâs rough edges. And to the NRP officers who tirelessly answer my police questions.
ONE
At the sight of her grandparentsâ old farmhouse, with its wide front porch and empty rocking chairs, Becki Graw blinked back bittersweet tears. All her life sheâd longed to live in Serenityâs beautiful countryside, but not like this. She stopped at the roadside mailbox and grabbed the mailâa single letter addressed to her. No return address.
Thatâs strange. Who would know to write to her here? She slid her thumb under the flap and pulled out the single typewritten page.
You donât belong here.
Her heart jolted at the cold, black words. Whoâ
She crushed the note in her fist. Sarah. Becki floored the gas and veered into the driveway, then punched her sisterâs number on her cell phone.
Sarah answered on the first ring.
âYouâve sunk to new lows,â Becki fumed.
âI warned you Iâd go to the lawyer if you didnât agree to sell and split everything fifty-fifty. You shouldâve listened to me.â
Becki ground to a stop in front of the white two-story willed to her by Gran and Gramps. It wasnât as if they hadnât left her sister anything. Sheâd gotten most of the liquid assets, not to mention all the financial help when her husband was in law school. Even if Becki sold the house, Sarah probably wouldnât come out that much further ahead.
While Becki would lose the only place that had ever felt like home.
She looked at the darkened windows and empty porch and swallowed a rush of grief. âIâm talking about the note.â
âWhat note? I didnât send any note.â
âRight. Because people are lining up to scare me out of here.â