She let it ring.
A second call came.
Then a third.
Finally, he sent a message.
Please answer. This has gone far enough.
Rachel read it twice.
Then typed:
I agree.
His response arrived instantly.
Thank God. Unlock the card.
Rachel almost laughed.
With everything happening, that was still what he believed this was about.
The hotel.
She slipped her phone into her pocket.
“Mom?”
Rachel turned around.
Lucas stood behind her holding two ears of corn.
“You okay?”
Children noticed far more than adults sometimes realized.
Rachel kept her voice steady.
“Yeah. I just need to handle something boring.”
“Dad?”
She hesitated.
“A grown-up problem.”
Lucas studied her for a second.
Then he offered her one ear of corn.
“This one looks perfect.”
Rachel accepted it.
“It does.”
He walked back toward Chloe.
Rachel looked at the corn in her hand and felt something inside her become still.
Brandon had been relying on chaos.
That was why he had selected this weekend.
He expected Rachel to be occupied with the children, the harvest, and her parents. He expected to be hundreds of miles away before anybody realized. And he expected her money to save him if anything went wrong.
Rachel carried the baskets toward the barn, then told her parents she needed two hours by herself.
Her father asked no questions.
Her mother did.
Rachel told them enough.
By the time she finished explaining, her mother’s face had turned pale.
“He used your name?”
