Page 43 of Serenity Harbor

He didn’t try to tackle that one, because he was already mostly asleep.

She tucked him in, setting the purple car in his hand on the bedside table, where he would be sure to see it first thing, then smoothed a hand over his hair, aware of a soft tenderness settling around her heart.

Oh, this was exactly what she had been afraid would happen. Despite her best efforts to steel her emotions, she deeply cared for this cute little boy.

Leaving him would gouge away a little corner of her heart.

It wasn’t like she would never see him again. If all went well with the adoption, she would be back in Haven Point by Christmas. Still, she knew it wouldn’t be the same. She wouldn’t be a regular part of his life, only someone he might remember and wave to when she saw him at school or if they bumped into each other in a store.

At least she would have the chance to watch him soar from afar. That would have to be enough.

She arched her neck from side to side, aware of the ache in tendons and muscles that spread from her neck to her shoulders.

Milo might be cute, but he was also a handful. Teaching twenty-four six-and seven-year-olds in her classroom had kept her on her toes every day, constantly alert to head off trouble. One would think being responsible for only one child would be easier. Not when that child was Milo Callahan. Spending hours at a time alone with him was the very definition of exhausting.

Through the open window, a soft breeze whispered through the curtains, tantalizing, beckoning, scented with pine and the lake.

She and Milo had spent a good portion of the evening outside when they ate dinner out on the patio, then took a walk over to the Lawsons’ house to play with Jerry Lewis, but she still wanted to be out there. She couldn’t seem to get enough of the long, balmy Haven Point evenings, where the sun didn’t completely sink behind the Redemptions until nine thirty, still an hour or so away.

Unable to resist the temptation, she grabbed the video monitor into Milo’s room off the table and walked outside.

This was her favorite part of the day, when the shadows were long and the air was starting to hum and peep with night creatures. The lake still buzzed with activity as people enjoyed the glorious summer evening by whatever means they could—kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, inflatable rafts.

When a power fishing boat trawled past, close to the shore, she recognized her friend Lindy Grace and her husband, Ron, and two young sons.

The boys spotted her first and waved with an enthusiasm that drew their mother’s attention. Lindy Grace waved and mouthed something Katrina couldn’t understand. Probably,What are you doing at Bowie Callahan’s house so late?Or maybe not. The way word spread in Haven Point, everybody in the Helping Hands probably already knew she had moved into Bowie’s house.

Certain tongues were probably already wagging.

She couldn’t let it bother her. She was making a difference to Milo, and that was the important thing.

She remembered his painstaking effort that evening to squeeze out the wordbook. His brother would be thrilled at his progress. Before they knew it, Milo would be chattering Bowie’s ears off.

Thoroughly enjoying the mental picture, she settled into one of the loungers overlooking the lake and propped the video monitor on the table next to her, where she would hear the slightest peep out of Milo.

She tilted her face to the dying sun, enjoying the warmth on her skin and listening to the buzz of activity out on the lake and the soft wind murmuring in the treetops.

Not a bad way to spend a summer evening. Not bad at all.

It was her last conscious thought for some time.

CHAPTER TEN

SHEAWOKETOthe vague, unsettling sensation of being watched.

For an instant, she was disoriented, caught up in the dregs of a nightmare where someone who looked like Angel Herrera was dressed in a suit that appeared to have been fashioned out of filled-out adoption forms. The man held Gabi in his arms and walked briskly away from Katrina. No matter how quickly she ran to catch up, he and the precious cargo in his arms stayed several paces ahead of her, just out of reach.

She understood the dream perfectly. She was deeply afraid something would go wrong with the adoption and she and Gabi would be forever separated.

Milo. An instant later, she remembered her charge, and her gaze shifted instinctively to the monitor, where she saw the boy sleeping peacefully.

With that worry gone, she could focus on her surroundings and the unsettling feeling of being watched. The sun had set, and though it wasn’t fully dark yet, everything seemed in shadows. She could just make out a shape about six feet away, big and somehow menacing.

As her sleepiness receded, panic washed in to take its place, acrid and hot. She instinctively reached for the pepper spray she always carried in her pocket while traveling by herself, but her hand came up empty.

Haven Point was a safe town, for the most part. But not always. She wasn’t the daughter of a police chief for nothing. She knew the lake attracted boaters and tourists—and alcohol. The sleepy calm of the community could quickly become an illusion.

“You’re awake.”

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