Arnie was speechless for a moment. “You really don’t know who you’re dealing with, do you?”

Noah let out his breath slowly. Unfortunately he did. He grew up with one of them. “I just thought we’d both be happiest if we negotiated. Met each other halfway. Because if we go head-to-head, physically or legally, I’m going to win. Trust me. Now—give the kids a break here.”

“If I do that, it’ll take me all week to get ’em back into shape.”

Noah pushed the door open a little more, pushing it against Arnie. “Watch that, Arnold,” he threatened. “You’re already on thin ice here. You’re not going to get away with anything. You treat those kids harshly and it’s going to come back on you so hard, you’ll never forget it.”

“Like it’s my fault they haven’t been raised right?”

“I said, go real easy on them. And I mean it.”

“Are you threatening me?” he asked coolly, totally unafraid.

“You’re damn straight. Now, get the kids. I’m getting tired of trying so hard with you.”

Arnie seemed to think about this. Then he said, “You sure you’re a preacher?”

“Complete with two master’s degrees, a ton of money and a load of local influence.” He faced him down squarely. Noah was just a hair taller than Arnie, but his arms and shoulders were strong, his neck thick, his chest hard, and while Arnie had that generous spare tire, Noah had a six-pack. He looked Arnie in the eyes easily. And there was only one, maybe two lies in what he had said, and he considered them small ones. His money did not amount to a lot after spending on the church, and he thought maybe his influence went as far as the local bartender. Period. But what the heck. These were innocent children. And no matter what Ellie had done for a living, this bastard was bad. Yet there was nothing about Ellie that was bad. Just nothing.

Noah’s little secret was—he had a bit of a temper. It didn’t take all that much to push his buttons—especially over matters of injustice. He’d been trying real hard to be one of those turn-the-other-cheek kind of guys, but it wasn’t going that well. Injustice like this ranked right up there as something that made him fighting mad. And he was damn sure going to research Arnold a little further.

“Stay out here,” Arnie said. “I’ll get the kids ready. And don’t ever pull this again or you’ll be sorry.”

Noah wanted to slap back many retorts and threats. But he said nothing. He stood. And stood. And stood. He cast a glance over his shoulder at Ellie, waiting impatiently in the car, confusion and anxiety all over her face. It was a good ten minutes before the door opened again.

Arnie appeared alone in the doorway. He looked behind him and said, “Stay! I said stay!” as if the kids were dogs in training. Then to Noah he said, “She can keep them overnight if she’ll get them back by four tomorrow afternoon.”

“We can do that. I’ll make sure of it. And I’ll come along to bring them home, just so we’re sure we’re all on the same page here.” From the look on Arnie’s face it was pretty clear that he understood the subtext of Noah’s comments.

“So, you’re sleeping with her?” Arnie asked.

Noah was momentarily stunned. “Did you seriously ask me that?” he said, shocked. He shook his head and laughed unhappily. “You know, she’s my employee. People can respect and help each other without there being a sexual agenda. Did you know that?”

“Not with Ellie,” he said. “She’s a tramp.”

Noah ground his teeth, his eyes narrowed and his fists clenched. He was seconds away from the happiest moment of his life, when he broke this guy’s nose. But there was a miracle. He didn’t move at all, and simply said, “Let the kids go to their mother now.”

Arnie stepped back, gave his head a nod and let the kids past. “Mind your manners,” he called after them, and his voice was controlled, civil, as though he meant well. It made Noah’s head spin. It was just as Ellie had said, this guy had two sides—both of them creepy.

The children each carried small backpacks for overnight, and they tried to walk slowly, until they were halfway to the car, until Ellie’s door came open, and then they lost control and broke into a run. Ellie fell to her knees and they flung themselves into her arms.

There was so much kissing and hugging and crying, it made Noah nervous. He saw that Arnie watched for a moment, then closed the door. He heard the dead bolt slide. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” Noah said, trying to shepherd them into the car. “Kids in the back, seat belts, come on, let’s go.”

“In the car, kids,” Ellie said. “This is Reverend Kincaid, my new boss. This is Danielle and Trevor.”

“Noah,” he said. “Just call me Noah. Come on, let’s get outta here, huh?”

When he was behind the wheel, his brain went into overdrive. Would Arnie call the police and insist the kids had been kidnapped by a small-town preacher? Would they suffer even more when they were returned because Arnie felt he had lost ground? What could happen to these kids a few weeks down the road? Was there any way to assure their safety? How would Ellie survive if something happened to them and she felt it was her fault?

Noah listened as Ellie and the kids discussed the situation. “He said we were good enough today so we could spend the night. But we have to be back by four.”

“Did he?” Ellie asked Noah. “Did he say they could stay over?”

“He said we have to mind our manners and behave if we ever want another visit. Mommy, I have been doing my manners,” Danielle said. “I’ve been doing my please and thank-yous, I’ve been keeping Trevor from crying at night.”

Noah thought furiously, that son of a bitch let them think they had earned their visit by being “good.”

“Oh, baby,” Ellie said, tears in her voice. “Trevor, have you been scared?”

He nodded piteously and reached for his mother, the seat belt holding him in place.

“It’s okay, Trev—you’re very brave,” she told him, holding his hand. “Did you bring your books?”

He shook his head. Danielle said, “We didn’t get to bring them. We only have two now. Arnie said they keep us from paying attention.”

“No, they don’t,” Ellie said. “That’s not right. How upside down is that? A school principal who doesn’t want kids to read? Okay, here’s what we’ll do. When we get back to my new place and drop Noah off at his church, we’ll go to the bookstore at the mall in Eureka. We’ll buy books for you to keep at my house. And there’s a library in town—they have books for children. Every week I’ll get new ones for you to look at when you have Saturdays with me.”

“I’m going with you,” Noah said.

“Huh?” Ellie asked.

“I’m going to take you and the kids to lunch, or early dinner, or whatever it is, then to the bookstore for books.”

“You don’t have to do that, Noah,” she said. “We’ll manage.”

But no one could manage against that big, mean cretin. “And then, we’re going to get some legal help. Right away.”

It took a long time for the tension from the escape to wear away, but it did. Noah asked the kids where they most wanted to go for lunch and they picked McDonald’s. Ellie said, “That’s a big treat. We couldn’t do that a lot.”

“Well, today it’s my treat,” Noah said.

“This is…Well, I wish you wouldn’t do so much. I’ll buy. Let me buy. I don’t want to owe you so much.”

“Get over it,” he said shortly. “I want to do this.”

She leaned closer to him. “And I don’t want to be a charity case, Rev.”

“You’re not. You’re a friend. Let it go at that.”

“How’d I rank friend so quick?” she asked him.

“You’re kidding, right? You cleaned the kitchen. Painted the bathroom. Nice job, too. Just looking at how you paint your nails, I was afraid. I was very afraid.”

And she laughed. “That’s good. We’ll get along fine if you stay a little on edge like that.”

Children are almost too resilient sometimes, Noah thought. They were so excited to be having McDonald’s, they perked right up and forgot all the stuff that had them anxious and scared in the car. He delivered their orders while Ellie found a booth. Of course, she sat on one side with the kids, an arm around each one, and they talked about a trip to the bookstore. She promised to read to them a little bit and buy them two books each.

Noah wanted to buy them ten books each. And clothes—they were growing out of theirs. For a guy who couldn’t seem to work up any excitement about his own wardrobe, he was surprised to be angry about the state of theirs. Couldn’t Arnie, who claimed to be the better parent, do something about that? Apparently Arnie had no talent beyond disciplining and punishing. Noah wanted to make a big run through Target and make sure the kids had clothes and shoes that weren’t too small, too worn and too scuffed. He knew Ellie’s funds were limited, but what about the big shot who was going to do better by them? But he kept his mouth shut; it wasn’t his place and he’d been pushy enough.

At the bookstore he told her to take all the time she wanted—hours if she felt like it. “I want to graze, myself,” he said. “I can be happy in a bookstore forever. Just relax and enjoy yourself.”

Noah picked up book after book, reading the jackets, skimming first pages, but unlike his usual bookstore crawls, he couldn’t keep his mind on all the choices. Every so often he’d wander over to the children’s section. He saw them cuddled close to their mother while she read. The next time he checked, he saw Danielle close to her mom while Trevor pillaged the stacks for the next book. Then he peeked and saw Trevor on her lap while Danielle sat nearby, reading her own book. The last time he looked, Trevor was asleep on Ellie’s lap while she read to her daughter.

If the judge saw this, would it matter? he asked himself.

Noah wasn’t only watching Ellie and her children or browsing for books—he was also people watching. He wandered through the mall a couple of times. He’d been out of the mainstream of life for quite a while; he was either working in the fishing trade, attending the seminary or teaching at a conservative university. The students and staff were pretty buttoned down, more right wing than left. They certainly hadn’t looked Amish—there were plenty of tight and ragged jeans, short skirts, but they didn’t push the limits much. He’d been in a monastery, of sorts, where the culture was cautious. He had probably stood out the most, refusing to wear the standard V-neck sweater or herringbone jacket to teach in. As a professor he looked like he looked right now—very casual. He had acquired a suit for his wedding, and he wore it again for Merry’s funeral. He didn’t like the idea of suiting up for future church services.

But here, in the bookstore and mall, there were hip young women, mothers and otherwise. He saw bare midriffs, pierced belly buttons, tattoos poking out of low-slung jeans and a rose on the top of the rise of a breast. He hadn’t seen much body art at his teaching job, but it was popular around the docks and he had even acquired his own tattoos while working as a fisherman. Ellie’s clothing might be a little racy for a church lady, but by contemporary standards, she fit right in. Well, except that it was hard to find anyone as beautiful, or as sexy.

And why wouldn’t a woman with those assets—height, figure, thick hair, ivory skin—want to look pretty? Sexy? Her means might be slim, but in her own way she was making the most of what she had.

He smiled and admitted to himself that he found Ellie a lot of fun. Edgy and authentic and full of delightful mischief. Seeing her with her kids gladdened Noah’s heart.