Authors: Kelly Irvin
“Well, then let’s do it.” Charisma grabbed a bag filled with diapers. She glanced at Annie. “You sure you can’t come in?”
“You should come in.” Sergeant Parker didn’t quite meet her gaze. “Logan asks about you sometimes.”
“I can’t.” Annie took a quick glimpse of the officer’s face, then lowered her gaze to the ground. Charisma’s remarks about him having a crush on her floated through her mind. Silliness. “I have to get to the bakery.”
“You don’t have to worry. They’re not going to call you to testify. I promise.”
“How can you be sure? Luke says—”
“Because I’m sure. With the mayor’s eyewitness testimony and my deputy’s testimony, they’ve got more than enough to convict. They also have two witnesses who saw him come out of the bakery with the gun in his hand and the bag of cash.” He smacked his hand against his chest. “There’s no one to come forward and say he didn’t do it. Mostly because he did.”
“But Mr. Moreland said he wanted Sadie, Miriam, and me to testify anyway.”
“Mr. Moreland knows you’ll be hostile witnesses.”
“Hostile?” Annie felt heat flame her cheeks. “We’re never hostile—”
“Whoa, whoa. All I mean is you want Logan to be found not guilty. You won’t lie, but you won’t say anything to get him convicted. Not if you can help it. Moreland figures he’s better off with a bloodthirsty witness like the mayor. An upstanding member of the community who is known and loved by her constituents.”
“Yeah, with the mayor testifying against him, there’s no chance Logan will get out of jail.” Charisma’s frown drooped even more. “He’s going to prison, isn’t he?”
“I’m sorry.” Sergeant Parker looked genuinely apologetic. “All the more reason for you to get in there with that baby and spend a few minutes with him.”
“You coming?” Charisma directed the question at Annie.
Exasperated, Annie shook her head. “I can’t. Sadie needs help at the bakery. Bring us the babies before the trial starts, and then you can watch the whole thing in peace.”
She turned to flee.
“Wait. Wait here until I get back.” Sergeant Parker tinged the words with a pleading tone that surprised her. “I want to show you something.”
Curious at what could be so important to this man, she wavered.
He pointed to a bench at the top of the stairs next to the heavy wooden double doors. “Have a seat on that bench. Please. After I take Charisma in to see Logan, I’ll come for you.”
“I can’t be in the courtroom, Sergeant.”
He smiled. He had a kind smile. No shadows on his face. No lines of stress or grief around his mouth. And he had a full head of curly blond hair. “Call me Dylan. I know you can’t go in the courtroom. That’s why I’m going to show you a place where you can watch the trial and if you’re careful, no one will know you’re there.”
She shouldn’t. Yet Annie found herself sitting on the bench, contemplating the guilty feelings that swirled inside of her. She hadn’t
stayed because of Sergeant Parker. She wanted to be there for Charisma. So why did she feel so guilty?
Sergeant Parker was gone just long enough for Annie to think about whether she was doing the right thing, but not long enough for her to run. He barely paused in front of her bench. “Come with me. This way.”
She scurried to keep up with his enormously long stride. “Where are we going?”
“Have you ever been in the courthouse before?”
She shook her head.
Whistling a funny little tune, he climbed a long flight of stairs that ended in a landing, then turned and took them up more stairs. His long legs ate up the steps while she concentrated on not tripping over her skirt. When she did stumble, he grabbed her arm in a firm grip. “Easy there. Sorry, I forget not everyone is the Jolly Green Giant.”
Jolly Green Giant? His uniform was a dark blue that brought out the blue of his eyes. Annie did her best to ignore the strange thrill that ran through her at a man’s touch. She halted and prepared to retrace her steps before something unseemly happened. She hadn’t been thinking properly. To go anywhere alone with Sergeant Parker, even though he was an officer, could be seen as inappropriate. In Luke’s eyes, no doubt it would be. “I shouldn’t be here. I should go to work.”
“Begging your pardon, Miss Annie.” The smile on his face died and his hand dropped. “I didn’t think. I didn’t want you to fall and hurt yourself. No disrespect intended.”
“Of course not. And it’s plain Annie. No
miss
necessary.” Annie breathed. Just once she wanted to see the world from an Englischer’s view. She’d never run around on her rumspringa. She’d never courted outside her faith. She’d never drank or smoked or worn Englisch clothes. And where had it gotten her? Alone? “Where are we going?”
“Did you ever see the movie
To Kill a Mockingbird?
” At her confused look, he smacked his hat against his forehead. “Stupid question. Okay, this courthouse was built over a hundred years ago. They used to come from all over the county to have court here. In those days, the
public sat in the balcony while the attorneys and their clients and the witnesses sat below in the courtroom. They closed off the balcony years ago, but it’s still there.”
He opened a squeaky door and threw out his arm in a flourish. “Your seat in the hall of justice awaits you.”
Annie slipped past him. An odor like old newspaper and mildew mingled in the air, making her want to bring out her cleaning supplies. Light from windows that ran the length of the far wall filtered across the seats, revealing particles of dust that danced in the air. Rows upon rows of empty wooden seats lined the balcony.
Sergeant Parker whipped a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped off a seat for her. “Just don’t get too close to the railing. If the judge looks up, he’ll be able to see you. But if you’re quiet, no one should know you’re here.”
She nodded, touched by his consideration. “Why are you doing this?”
His bulky shoulders rose and fell. A diffident smile fled. “So you can see there’s nothing to be afraid of. The justice system is meant to be just. It protects us. Protects you. Amish or not. Besides…” His deep voice faltered and his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Besides, I like you.”
Heat burned through Annie. She stood alone on a balcony with an Englisch man who had just declared his feelings for her. “
Ach
, no, I—”
“Hold your horses there, Missy. I’m not being improper or whatever y’all want to call it.” He doffed his hat to her in an old-fashioned gesture that touched her heart. “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable, but you did ask, and I try to make it a rule to tell the truth.”
Shocked, she opened her mouth, then closed it. She didn’t even know where to begin. Charisma had been right. “So when you come to the bakery…”
“Do I look like I eat a lot of sweets?”
Not an ounce of fat on the man. He filled out his uniform perfectly. She dropped her gaze to the floor. “Sergeant Parker, you know…”
“Dylan. Yes, I do.” Now his gruff voice sounded amused. “Like I said, you asked. I would never do anything stupid. I know we can’t go out. I’ll just continue to admire you from afar.”
Not so far. After all, he visited the bakery a couple of times a week. More than any other man she knew. “Someone like you…I mean, surely you have your pick of the pretty Englisch girls.”
A rueful look descended on his face. “I’ve dated plenty. Just never found the right person, I guess. I’m looking for someone with a sense of humor, cheerful, happy in her own skin, a Christian, someone with my values. Someone who wants children. Someone who puts family first.” His eyes were warm with humor. “Doesn’t hurt if she’s pretty, either.”
Annie swallowed hard against sudden tears. She waited so long to hear such a declaration. Now it came from the wrong man. Wrong community. Longing to get away from his amused, admiring gaze, she peeked over the railing. The courtroom was even bigger than she had imagined and filled with dark, ancient-looking wood. Long pews filled more than half of the deep green carpet. The judge’s bench set up high above the railing that separated him from the masses. “I’m sorry.”
“I know.” He turned his hat around and around in his hands. If he kept that up, he would need a new one before the end of the day. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I’ve lived here all my life. I know the rules.”
Annie stared at the American flag next to the Kansas flag. Time to steer this conversation to more important things. “I should tell you something.”
“What’s that?” His voice remained soft. He didn’t recognize that she had moved on. “You can tell me anything.”
“Charisma doesn’t love Logan. She plans to tell him now. Right now. Before the trial starts.”
His rueful expression fled into a scowl the likes of which Annie had never seen on his face. “She bore his children, and she doesn’t love him?”
“It’s a long story.” Annie met his gaze. She didn’t have time or the right to tell him why Charisma found it so hard to give her heart to anyone. “A chain of events, one thing leading to another down this path, until she found herself stuck on an Amish farm in the middle of nowheresville.”
His shaggy eyebrows did push-ups. “You approve?”
“I don’t judge.” A sudden thought popped up—one she couldn’t ignore. “She’s going to need someone to take care of her and the babies. Logan won’t be able to do that.”
“You’re suggesting that I…” He threw his head back and laughed. “That firecracker? Didn’t I tell you I was looking for someone to make a life with? Not some hard-living teenager with babies on both hips and a cigarette dangling from her mouth.”
“We’re the same age.”
“But there’s a world of difference and you know it.”
“You would be good for her. She would look up to a man who knew right from wrong. You could protect her…from herself.”
“The Lord knows she needs protection. But me? I don’t know, Miss Annie, that sounds a little far out there.” His expression bewildered, he slapped his hat on his head. “I’d better go make sure Logan isn’t having a meltdown. This won’t help his case.”
His words revealed that Sergeant Parker wasn’t just a law man. He saw his prisoners as broken people with problems that needed to be fixed. “You’re on his side?”
“I’m on the side of rehabilitation. When you make a mistake, you pay for it, and you learn not to make it again so you can rejoin society and be productive.” He adjusted his hat again. “He might come out husband material, you never know.”
“For someone, but not Charisma. Charisma is broken. She needs someone who can heal her wounds, someone to look after her. She needs someone on her side too.”
“You’re a regular do-gooder, you know that?” The softness of his tone told her that was a good thing in his eyes. He tipped his hat to her. “You know your way down, right?”
“Yes.”
He held her gaze for a few seconds longer. “Thank you for not laughing at me.”
“I would never laugh. I’m…I’m honored.” Annie stumbled over the words, heat scorching her face. “I hope you…I hope you find what
you’re looking for. I hope you’ll consider at least keeping an eye on Charisma, if nothing else.”
“We’ll see—and I hope the same for you.”
“I already have my someone.”
He backed away. “Then I wish you Godspeed.”
He disappeared through the doorway. Annie sank into a chair, her bones like water. Had she told the truth? She put her hands to her face and let the tears seep through her fingers.
God, I’m still waiting.
A
nnie swished the broom across the bakery floor harder than necessary. Tiny plumes of flour wafted in the air. She smacked the dustpan to the floor and stooped to finish the job. Customers would’ve been a welcome interruption. She couldn’t help replaying the scene on the courtroom balcony earlier in the day over and over again. Sergeant Parker declaring he had feelings for her. Why couldn’t it have been David?
“You’re getting more dust on your dress than in the trashcan,” Sadie bustled from behind the counter, a bucket of soapy water in one hand and the mop in the other. The smell of bleach mingled with the sweeter aroma of baking bread. “You act like you have a burr under your saddle. What happened at the courthouse?”
“Nothing.” It wasn’t exactly the truth. Annie didn’t lie. Even little lies led to problems. “I mean, Sergeant Parker, he said some things.”
“Said some things?” Sadie dropped the mop into the water, put both hands around the handle, and stared at Annie. She didn’t look happy. She looked like Annie’s mudder had when Annie decided to cut her hair during her rumspringa. Horrified. “What kind of things?”
“Very nice things. Very respectful. But I couldn’t help but think… help but wish…”
“You didn’t encourage him, did you?”
“Of course not, but I admit it was nice to know someone likes—”
“Now, you just stop right there.” Sadie slapped the wet mop back and forth on the floor with such vigor Annie feared there’d be no finish left. “I know my son hasn’t been the easiest man to love. It’s been very hard on you. But it’ll get better. This treatment will work. You’ll see. He’s getting better. Don’t you let some Englischer with a uniform and a way with words get you all turned around. Your heart is Plain through and through. Patience.”