her. “We must make certain this man does not hurt you again.”
* * *
Hannah had left Knoxville and her sisters and mother in the hope of making her own way in life and finding a place to call home, which she was beginning to realize might never be in her future. She bit her lip and blinked back tears at the realization of what her future would most likely be.
Lucas must have sensed her upset. He circled her shoulders with his arm and pulled her closer, cradling her to him. “It’s okay. The man’s gone. I won’t let him hurt you.”
Hannah nodded her thanks and tried to smile. Lucas seemed sensitive to her needs and, at the moment, she needed the reassurance of his embrace.
Calvin pulled the golf cart to a rear door that led into Fannie’s office.
“Let me help you,” Lucas offered as he hopped out of the golf cart. Taking Hannah’s arm, he supported her as she stepped onto the path.
As much as she appreciated his concern, Hannah didn’t want to go to town. Willkommen meant traveling the road where she’d first been assaulted by the guy in flannel. She wanted to stay put at the inn. She would lock the door to her room and curl up under the hand-stitched quilt and sleep until she forgot about everything that had happened. But how far back would she have to go?
Memories assailed her of growing up and being the odd child who didn’t fit in. Her mother had told Hannah the truth about who her father was on the night she had left home. The same night her mother had accused her of being a thief. Hannah shook her head to block out the memories. She never wanted to remember the pain she’d felt. Better to be a woman on the run, trying to escape her past, than to open the door that needed to remain closed. Now and forever.
“I don’t want to go to town, Lucas. I never should have come to Willkommen. It was a mistake.”
“Hannah, you need to see a doctor. I’ll stay with you. You won’t be alone.”
She stared deep into his brown eyes. Lucas didn’t know who she was or anything about her family. What would he think if he knew the truth about her father?
She shrugged out of his hold, needing to stand on her own two feet. She didn’t need anyone’s help. If her mother had turned away from her, how could she trust anyone else?
* * *
Lucas didn’t understand Hannah’s need to be so independent. She seemed to change in a heartbeat, at first allowing him to help her and then backing away as if he was the one out to do her harm. She reminded him of someone who had been hurt, badly, and feared getting hurt again.
Lucas could relate.
Only his worst enemy was himself.
Hannah took a step forward. He reached for her elbow to steady her faltering gait. “The door leads into Fannie’s office. There’s a couch inside where you can rest and relax.”
Her pallor had him worried, along with the lack of luster in her eyes. More than the wind had been knocked out of her sails.
“There’s a small step.” He pointed to the rise and held her arm as she navigated through the doorway and into the welcoming warmth of the office.
With Lucas’s help, Hannah lowered herself onto the couch. “Thank you,” she said, her voice little more than a whisper.
Fannie followed them in and drew water into a glass in the small sink at the rear of the room. “Take sips,” she suggested as she passed the glass to Hannah.
“I’m really fine,” she assured them both before she raised the glass to her lips.
Lucas returned to the golf cart to speak privately to the mechanic. “How long before the car will be ready?”
“Give me fifteen minutes,” Calvin said. “I’ll bring the car around.”
“Thanks, Calvin. Let’s keep this trip to town between us.”
“You think someone at the inn might be involved?”
Lucas shook his head. “I’m not speculating on anything, but the fewer people who know Hannah’s whereabouts, the better.”
“Don’t worry. You can trust me.”
Lucas smiled. Calvin was a good man and an outstanding mechanic.
Returning to the office, Lucas was concerned by the worry he saw in Hannah’s gaze and the lack of color in her face.
“We’ll leave in about fifteen minutes,” he announced, looking first at Fannie and then at Hannah. She must have realized her own fragile condition because she didn’t object.
“My purse is in my room. I’ll need identification and my medical insurance card.”
“Stay where you are,” Fannie insisted. “I’ll get it.”
She stepped out of the room and soon returned with the handbag. “Hector Espinoza is waiting in the hallway, Lucas. He wants to talk to you.”
Lucas hesitated, confused by the request.
“Hector said he delivered a note to Hannah,” Fannie explained. “He heard what happened and was worried he might be in trouble.”
Hurrying into the hallway, Lucas spied Hector, hat in hand, a doleful look on his full face, and motioned him into a corner alcove that was out of sight from anyone walking along the main hallway.
“Who gave you the note?” Lucas quickly asked.
“The Amish girl who works in the store.”
“Belinda Lapp?”
“Sí. She helps her mother.”
“You saw her in the store?”
The man shook his head. “On the trail. She said you wanted the note delivered to the new guest. She described the woman. Belinda had shelves to stock, so she could not go to the inn herself. She said you told her that I would deliver the note.”
“Was anyone with Belinda?”
“No, senor.” Again Hector shook his head. “She was alone.”
“Did you read the note?”
A look of surprise washed over Hector’s full face. “I would never do that.”
“But you found the lady?”
“She was in the main entryway. She is younger than the other guests. I did not have a problem identifying her.”
“What happened after you gave her the note?”
“I returned to the barn.”
“And Belinda?”
“I did not see her again.”
“Thanks, Hector. You did the
