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So wedding plans with Marty and drearown further and further away

Now she wondered if God had intentionally pushed her out, because she’d make a lousy missionary’s wife—she couldn’t even speak Spanish—and she was too unreliable to take care of His children Anyone’s children

Her eyes, protected by sunglasses slick with sweat, cut toward the creek that ran behind her family home If she listened closely, she could hear the pretty, happy sound of clear, cold water trickling over rocks Water could be so deceptive

And men, even Christian men, could be so cruel Marty hadn’t understood her fear of having children He’d said he did at first, but he never really had

She tugged her attention toward hts Soht the house next door The luxury home had been empty for a while—ever since the local doctor passed away and his wife had hter Now the closest medical care was miles away

Home buyers in Clayton, Colorado, were as rare as medical care On the day of the funeral, she’d heard ain and that some hotshot front hbor? Someone with a corporate job would be the only person who could afford the doctor’s home

By now she’d reached her long, covered front porch Hot, thirsty and eager for a shower, she reached beneath a flowerpot for the key It was gone

Weird The key had been there when she’d left She was certain She’d put it there herself Although most people in Clayton rarely locked their doors, she’d been living in Colorado Springs for the past four years She always locked up, and as she and her family had done her entire life, she’d stuck the extra key beneath the flowerpot She tilted each of the other pots Nothing

Puzzled, she rattled the doorknob for good ed around to the back

As she’d known it would be, the back door was locked, too

By now, she was frustrated and a little nervous She was sure she’d put the key under the pot Her family had always kept the key there Vivienne and Zach each had a key, but they’d gone back to their respective cities of New York and Miareed to return, but Brooke wasn’t sure about her siblings They had jobs, lives, futures right where they were

Brooke had a locked door, akey and a case of nervous worry Someone must have taken her key