They reached the fence line and stopped. In the pasture, several horses grazed. A brilliant Texas sunset painted the sky with soft pinks and pale purples. Jax wandered farther down to sniff the grass.
“I’d forgotten how beautiful it is here.” Grace rested her arms on the fence. “I always loved visiting when we had breaks from law school.”
Megan pulled an apple from her coat pocket and clicked her tongue. Her aunt’s horse, Cinnamon, picked her head up.
“Come on, girl. I have a treat for you.”
The gorgeous brown quarter horse ambled over. Grace stroked her neck while Megan fed her the apple.
“I love the white blaze on her nose,” Grace said. “She reminds me a little of your old horse, Fiona.”
“Yeah, but she has the personality of her daddy Remnant.” Megan wiped her hand on the leg of her jeans. “Spunky and just a touch wild.”
“Well, Cinnamon certainly seems happy with her mini-vacation here. How many horses does Luke have?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t been down to the barn at all.” Megan shoved her hands into her pockets to warm them. “Thanks for taking over my cases for the last week, on top of what you are doing for Wade. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d had to juggle everything. If I haven’t said it lately, you’re amazing.”
“I know.” Grace linked her arm in the crook of Megan’s elbow. “But it’s always nice to hear.”
They laughed. Megan whistled for Jax, and they headed back to the house.
Inside, Nancy was humming to herself and working on the computer. She smiled when they walked in. “You’re just in time. In exchange for a cup of hot cocoa, I need an honest opinion on this website.”
“Deal.” Megan removed her coat and hung it on a peg, along with her scarf. “Nancy designs websites for the local businesses in Cardin.”
They gathered around the computer. Onscreen, images of coffee beans and scrumptious-looking desserts scrolled against a background with a script logo.
“Oh, this is for the Wake Up Cafe. I keep meaning to go down there and visit with Rosa and her mother.” Megan had been lying low since many townsfolk were upset about the investigation. “The website looks amazing, Nancy.”
“You don’t think it’s too dark?”
“Not at all,” Grace replied. “You’ve balanced it well with the logo colors and the images. Megan and I should hire you to update our site.”
Nancy blushed and handed them each a steaming mug of cocoa topped with tiny marshmallows. “Of course, I’d love to it. Anytime.”
“She’s so sweet,” Grace said as they walked through the living room toward the office. She took a sip from her mug and her eyes widened. “And this has to be the best hot chocolate I’ve ever had. I might never leave here.”
“You and Archimedes both.” Megan paused to run a hand over June’s tabby cat. He’d taken over the recliner in front of the fireplace and was living his best life. “Nancy and Hank are both fantastic. I was nervous about staying here with them, considering a lunatic attacked me and burned my aunt’s house down, but they insisted.”
“They care about you. And speaking of people who care about you, how are things with Luke?”
“Nice try there, counselor. I see what you did with that transition.”
“Thank goodness, because it wasn’t all that smooth.” Grace chuckled. “I can see there are feelings between you and Luke. It’s as plain as the noses on your faces and obvious to anyone with eyeballs.”
Megan’s cheeks grew warm. She wasn’t going there.
“Things between us are fine. Luke’s taking the case seriously and looking at every angle.” She pointed to the binder on the table in the office. “That one is yours. It’s a copy of the entire case file. At least, everything we’ve been able to find.”
Grace opened it and her expression grew solemn. “Is this Franny?”
“Yeah.”
The young woman was front and center in the photograph. Her hair was cut in a pixie style, accenting her gorgeous cheekbones and beautiful eyes. Every time she looked at it, Megan’s heart twisted painfully.
“It was taken on the day of her murder, at her birthday party.” She swallowed hard. “She didn’t deserve what happened to her, Grace.”
“No. But we’ll fight for her. We’ll catch the person responsible.”
“What if we can’t? You and I have been through this before with other cases. The burden of proof to overturn a conviction is high. If the courts are convinced Wade is the killer, then how can we bring the real one to justice?” Megan sat her cocoa down on the table. “I want to believe things will work out, but I’m terrified they won’t.”
“That’s where faith comes in.” Grace touched the cross hanging from her necklace. “We do our very best and then we give the rest to God.”
“I don’t know if I can. So many bad things have happened—my parents’ death, Franny’s murder, my aunt’s accident, Wade’s conviction—I just can’t see where having faith has helped. It feels…random.”
“God doesn’t promise bad things won’t happen. He only promises to be with us when they do. It can feel like things happen without a reason, but our perspective is limited and judgments based on it don’t help.”
Grace’s words struck a chord deep inside her, in a part of her heart she’d been ignoring for a long time. Like with Luke, Megan had closed off her relationship with God after Wade’s arrest. She’d been holding on to the hurt and the anger. But it was time for a change.
Megan took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to take the first step.”
“Let’s start with prayer.” Grace held out her hands for Megan to take. “And see where that gets us.”
Luke’s truck bounced over a cattle guard as he entered the Dickersons’ ranch. He turned to the right and headed down to the foreman’s house, parking next to the old-fashioned windmill.
Chad was already outside.
