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"I won’t," he proentle shove "Nohat are you doing standing here? Go talk to Faith"

"That’s exactly what I plan to do" He bounded down the steps and met Faith in the driveway

The words he’d planned to say were trapped in his throat

"Would you like to stop by the house for a little while?" Faith asked when he reached her

By soed to nod

"Shall we say in fifteen hed "Five?"

"Why don’t I just follow you home?"

She nodded

Troy started toward his own car "I’ll see you there"

"Troy?" Faith stopped hiain

She paused "I want to settle these…these differences between us"

"I do, too"

"It’s just that…Oh, I don’t know…"

"Faith," he said softly, walking back to stand in front of her "Let’s not make any decisions yet Let’s talk honestly and openly, and if we both decide a relationship is wrong, we’ll lay it to rest once and for all Does that seem fair to you?"

She looked up at hi as in her heart "It does," she whispered

He touched her cheek, then hurried to his car

On the short drive, Troy felt almost drunk Drunk on love and hope… For no real reason he burst into laughter

They were finally going to resolve this situation between them

It wasn’t until Troy hts of two patrol cars Both were parked outside Faith’s house

Troy was out of his vehicle before Faith had even pulled into her driveway

"What’s going on here?" he asked Deputy Weaver, who met him halfway up the walk

"The alarm company phoned in a breach"

Faith hurried toward hihtened "Troy, what’s happened?"

"It appears someone broke into the house" In an effort to calm her, he slipped his arm around her shoulders "The alarm company alerted hbor, as well," Deputy Weaver added

Faith covered herto stop?" she cried "What do these people want from me?"

Unfortunately, Troy didn’t have any answers

After conferring with his deputies, he entered the house with Faith The destruction was minor--a broken , a lah Faith gasped and he put out a hand to steady her

Troy stayed while his deputies finished their report After they’d left and the house was quiet again, he turned to her

"I’ll help you straighten up"

"No," she said and shook her head "I can’t deal with this now I’ht with Scott and his faive just about anything to solve this and to find out why Faith, of all people, was being targeted

"It see, "that while you’d like me to remain in Cedar Cove, someone else wants me to leave"

Nineteen

It was the first Tuesday of March and Christie had driven her almost-new car over to Teri’s She tried to visit every few days, especially now that Teri hardly ever left the house anymore

Christie carried the teapot into the family room, where Teri sat with her swollen feet propped up "You look wonderful," she told her sister Despite everything--Teri’s obvious discomfort and the inconvenience of enforced bed rest--it was true

"I feel like a bliot three and a half et a forklift tolike this would only happen to Teri Triplets--and without fertility drugs, too

"You’ll probably deliver early"

"Thank goodness," Teri said wryly

"You feel okay, though Right?" Christie placed the tray with the teapot and two cups on the coffee table and sat on the sofa

"I feel like Sigourney Weaver in that ives birth to an alien You wouldn’t believe what it’s like to have three little soccer players kicking away at my ribs and--"

"Oh, Teri"

"Wipe that s "You’re going to have so ed "Yeah,to love being an aunt" She knew she’d probably never be a mother, so Teri’s babies would have to be hers, too

Teri and Bobby were both elated, and Christie had never seen a husband ht Teri real happiness; she’d told Christie that when she’d is didn’t even compare to what she felt now