The Protector's Promise

“All right. That’s cool. Hey, give me a minute to finish filing this paper work and I’ll walk you out. It’s still dark, and you never know what might be hiding in the shadows.”

“The parking lot is well lit, I’ll be fine. Thanks for offering, though. See you Tuesday?”

“See you then.” He waved and turned his attention back to his filing, leaving Honor to walk down the corridor and into the lobby alone.

The front door opened onto a wide veranda that wrapped around the building and provided a covered area for the residents. Colorful chairs and small tables were spaced carefully to allow room for walkers and wheelchairs. During the day, the area had a serene and cheerful air.

In the dark hours before dawn it was anything but cheerful. Bright overhead lights cast long shadows across the cement floor, creating odd shapes that could have been object, creature or person.

Honor shivered as she hurried toward her car, trying to tell herself there was nothing to be afraid of, but unable to shake her fear. She might have left behind the apartment where she’d been attacked, but the memory still haunted her. Wild eyes peering out from a black ski mask. A knife slashing toward her. The quick, hard beat of her heart as she put her hand up to defend herself and fell backward screaming. The crashing thud of the door as her neighbor kicked it in, running to her rescue with his service revolver in hand, shouting for Honor’s attacker to put down the knife. The sharp report of the gun as he’d fired. The soft thud of a body hitting the ground.

Blood.

Everywhere.

Honor shuddered. Thank the Lord Lily and Candace had been at the library. If they’d been home…

She shook her head, refusing to put words to what could have happened. She’d been over it all in her mind during the days that followed the incident. After several sleepless nights, she’d known she had two choices—spend her life reliving the horror she’d experienced or thank God for keeping her family safe and move on. She’d chosen the latter.

Sometimes, though, doing that was harder than it should be.

She pulled open the car door and had started to slide inside when she heard the quiet shuffle of feet on pavement. She glanced around, saw nothing and dropped into her seat, pulling the door closed, locking it against whatever might be lurking in the darkness.

A sharp tap sounded on the back window of the car, and Honor screamed, her hands shaking as she tried desperately to get the key in the ignition. Another knock sounded, this one next to her ear, and she screamed again, turning toward the sound, expecting to look into a ski-masked face.

Instead, she met Will’s concerned gaze.

She unrolled the window, fear making her angry. “What in the world are you doing?”

“Bringing you a message.” If he realized how afraid she was, he didn’t show it.

“A message?”

“Yeah. Janice just called and said we’ve got a staff meeting Tuesday at noon. It’s mandatory. She was going to call you at home, but I told her I thought I could catch you.”

“Tuesday at noon? Are you kidding? Our shift doesn’t begin until two.”

“That’s what I told her, but she said we’ve all got to be there.”

“All right. I guess I’ll have to work it out.”

“See you then.” Will waved and strode away.

For a moment after his departure, Honor didn’t move. Her hands were too shaky, her legs too weak to drive. She took a deep breath. Then another, forcing oxygen into her lungs, her brain, her limbs. Coming to a small town was supposed to make her feel safer, so why was she jumping at everything?

Frustrated with herself, she put the car into Drive and started toward home, fear still pounding a hollow beat in her throat. “Lord, I need Your help pulling myself together. I can’t afford to be afraid all the time. Not when the girls are depending on me. Not when I know You’re in control.”

She muttered the prayer as she drove along the winding road that led home, the sense of peace she always felt when bringing her problems to God filling her. No matter what her troubles, her faith had always carried her through. These new challenges and new worries would be handled with the same firm trust in God that she’d always had.

And she would get through them.

She would.

She pulled up in front of the bungalow, forcing herself to relax and enjoy the sight of the little house.

A house on a quiet street.

She’d dreamed of it for years, and now she had it. She wouldn’t let the past steal the pleasure of achieving what she’d longed for.

The door creaked as she opened it, the light from a small table lamp welcoming her home. Candace’s doing, of course. In the five years since the teenager had moved in with Honor, Candace had worked hard to be a productive member of the family. While other teenagers partied and rebelled, Candace studied hard and helped around the house. After Jay’s death, when Honor had been at the end of her pregnancy and overwhelmed with the prospect of raising a child alone, Candace had promised to do whatever she could to help out. She’d been true to her word, never once complaining when she’d had to rush home to babysit Lily while Honor worked. Even now, when she could easily exert her independence, insist on living on campus away from her rambunctious niece, she’d chosen to live at home and continue to help out. Honor would miss her when she finally made her step into independent living.

“Mommy?” Lily’s loud whisper came from the dark hall, and Honor tensed. She’d been praying for a few hours of sleep before her little girl woke up. Apparently she wasn’t going to get them. She shrugged out of her coat and turned to face her daughter.

“Sweetheart, what are you doing up?”

“I have to tell you something.”

“At three-thirty in the morning?”

“It’s important, Mommy.” Lily bounded toward her, the pink nightgown she wore brushing the floor as she moved, her wild curls bouncing.

Honor lifted her, inhaling the sweet smell of innocence and life. “Okay. So tell me. Then we’re both getting into bed.”

“I’ve been thinking about something.” Lily put her hand on Honor’s face and stared into her eyes, the deep blue of her gaze so similar to Jay’s it made Honor’s throat tighten.

“About what?”

“About the prince.”

Honor bit back impatience and answered in a quiet tone. She and her daughter had had this conversation too many times over the past two days. “Lily Mae, what did we decide before I left for work?”

“That there wasn’t a prince.”

“Then there’s nothing to talk about, is there?”

“But, Mommy, there is. There really truly is. He was right here in our house, and he must be a prince because he lives in that big castle.”

“That isn’t a castle. It’s just a big house. And Mr. Sinclair is not prince. He’s a man.”

“Princes are men.”

Honor sighed, setting her daughter down. “Yes, but not every man is a prince. Some are just men. Some are even frogs dressed up as men.”

As she’d hoped, the idea caught her imaginative daughter’s attention, and Lily laughed. “You’re very silly, Mommy.”

“And so are you to be thinking we have a prince living in our backyard.”

“Not our backyard. In his house. Only I think it isn’t a house. I think it’s a castle.”