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age and a hell of a lot more grounded. And I have a feeling that was your doing.”

Cathy caressed Jack’s cheek. “Sometimes…”

“Sometimes what?”

“Nothing, really. Just sometimes I wish things could be different. I wish I could change the past.”

He grabbed her hand and held it. “It’s bad to look back. The past is over and done with. All we have is the here and now.”

Cathy laid her hand in the center of his chest and smiled. “Will you come for dinner tonight?”

“Why don’t I pick up some barbeque and bring supper with me?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Think about me a few times today.”

“I will,” she told him. “You think about me, too.”

“I’ll think about tonight.”

She kissed his cheek again before walking away, her emotions all over the place. Happy. Worried. Eager. Uncertain.

How long would it be before she’d have no choice but to tell Jack the truth about Seth?

John Earl had debated whether or not he should be at home when Ruth Ann arrived with Missy Hovater. He certainly didn’t want to do anything to upset the girl or cause her any undue distress. But in the end, he had decided that if he and Ruth Ann were going to bring this young girl into their family as a foster daughter, the sooner she accepted him as a friend, the better. He realized that she would be wary of him at first, that because she had been abused by her father for so many years, she might see him as the enemy. She would need time to learn to trust him. He was, after all, a man, and the poor child had learned from her horrific experiences that men could not be trusted.

When Ruth Ann had spoken to him about Missy, about her desire to help the girl by making her a part of their family, he had been reluctant. But seeing how important this was to his wife, he had finally agreed. Perhaps in helping Missy, Ruth Ann could actually help herself. Until the recent series of clergymen murders, John Earl had thought perhaps, at long last, she had been able to put the past behind her. Of course, she could never forget the years of sexual abuse she endured or the way in which her father had died, but he had hoped those things no longer haunted her. But then the old nightmares had returned to plague her on a routine basis.

“They’re here.” Felicity jumped away from the window and let the curtain fall back into place. “What do we say? What do we do?”

“Don’t do anything other than say hello,” John Earl advised. “She’ll probably want to go to her room, and she may not want to interact with any of us, other than your mother, for a while.”

“I think bringing that girl into our home is a mistake,” Faye Long said.

“Grandmother, how unchristian of you.” Felicity glowered at Faye.

“I think it’s awful what Missy’s father did to her,” Charity said. “I don’t blame her if she did kill him.”

“We’ll have no more talk like that,” John Earl told his elder daughter.

“Did she ever tell you what was going on?” Felicity skewered her sister with her sharp glare. “You two are friends, and friends tell each other secrets. If Missy really is the Fire and Brimstone Killer, maybe she’ll confess to you.”

“Oh, shut up!” Charity shook her head in disgust. “Don’t you dare say stuff like that to Missy.” She looked to her father. “Daddy, warn Felicity that she’d better behave herself.”

Before John Earl could caution his younger daughter, she answered her sister. “I’ll behave. I like Missy. But I have to admit that I don’t know why Mother was willing to give up her craft room to make Missy a room of her own when I’ve been having to share a room with you all my life.”

Charity glared at Felicity, who promptly stuck her tongue out at her sister.

The back door opened, and Ruth Ann called, “We’re home.”

John Earl took a deep breath, gave both of his daughters a quick be-on-your-best-behavior glance and prepared himself for the first day of their new life.

Ruth Ann led Missy into the family room, her arm around the girl’s slender shoulders. Everyone waited, barely breathing, all of them wanting to put Missy at ease.

“Welcome to our home,” John Earl said. Then quickly added, “Welcome to your new home.”

With a wide, deer-in-the-headlights look in her eyes, Missy glanced quickly from John Earl to Faye, who forced a smile and nodded, to Felicity