prayed for strength and wisdom and comfort. Being a victim of violence was unheard of in her circles. Her father kept weapons in the house, but she’d never really been around them. And learning that she was adopted had upset her more than she wanted to admit. She loved her parents more than anyone on the face of the planet and wanted to please them, but now that she knew she was adopted, then what? Who was she? And who were her parents?
She tugged her purse off the floor of Derek’s SUV and dug around for the mints she always carried. The corner of a package scraped her hand. She grasped it and pulled out the box that had arrived in her mailbox earlier that day. Without time then, she had grabbed the package from the mail on her way to the interview and stashed it in her bag to open later. Centered on her lap, she studied the computer-generated return-address label that said it was from “Dad.” That was a little odd since he had always been “Father.” Hannah couldn’t recall a time she had ever called him by that casual moniker.
She placed her bag back on the floor and wiggled a finger under the corner of the wrapping. Maybe this was some kind of affirmation from him, some acceptance of her desire for a career in law. It was doubtful, but a girl could hope.
Derek ceased his scanning of the road around them long enough to glance at the package. His eyebrows lifted into question marks, but he remained silent. Hannah appreciated that he wouldn’t pry, but there was no harm in telling him. He had never met her father, and her father knew nothing of their secret romance in high school, so perhaps it would help him if he knew a bit of the man going in.
“I received this today from my father, and this is the first chance I’ve had to open it.” She tore away the paper and revealed a small box with a hinged lid. Inside, nestled in the white fabric lining, sat a wristwatch with a black leather strap and a brass case. The face was creamy white with the scales of justice engraved on it. “It’s beautiful.”
She held it out to Derek, and he glanced at it. “Nice. That was thoughtful of him.”
Hannah pulled it back and studied it. “Maybe he’s finally beginning to see that this is God’s path for me. Law school.”
“They don’t approve? Are you there against their will?”
Good question. Was she going against their will? She and her father had had their disagreement about school, but he had acquiesced. Of course, a job after graduation was another hurdle to jump. “I don’t think I’d say I’m defying them... I wouldn’t risk that. But they expect me to marry someone within their circles and then live a life of charity events and country-club dances and garden-club meetings. What they refuse to see is that I don’t want a life like that for myself. I would be so bored. So unfulfilled. I want to do more.”
“Do you doubt their faith?” he asked.
“No. I doubt their acknowledgment that I’m a grown-up with faith of my own, and that I’m also able to discern God’s will, especially for my life.”
“Well said, counselor.” He tossed a smile in her direction.
She strapped the watch on her wrist and held her arm out, admiring the sparkle of the brass case and ignoring what his dimpled grin did to her insides. “While we’re there, I’ll thank him for it, but he may not even know exactly what he sent. He probably had an assistant choose it and mail it.”
“Still, though, it was a thoughtful gesture.”
He was right, of course. Hannah stared out the window as they rode the next several miles in silence. Freshly plowed and planted fields shone in the evening sun, and Hannah inhaled deeply of Derek’s scent, a mingling of fresh laundry detergent and spicy aftershave. It was aromatherapy, a healing oil that brought peace and calm.
That calm disappeared when Derek spoke again, a huskiness creeping into his voice. “So are we going to talk about us? About this awkwardness?”
Oh, no. “No. I’d rather keep the awkwardness than dredge up the past. It doesn’t matter anyway right now, does it?” He’d left once. She wasn’t going to let him get close enough to hurt her again.
“It wasn’t what you thought.”
How could he possibly know what she thought? And why did he have to bring it up now? Did he really think she needed this, too, today? “It’s fine, Derek. Whatever. It’s in the past.”
“I just think you should know...”
A vehicle in her side mirror grabbed her attention and jolted her heart until she clutched at her shoulder belt as it looped across her chest. Was that the same truck as before?
She stared into the mirror, the sound of Derek’s voice drowned out by the drumming of her pulse.
“Hannah? What is it?”
She spun to look out the back window, crouching low behind the headrest. “I think that’s the same truck that followed me earlier, on the way to the interview. Is that a badge-shaped decal in the front window?”
“Yes. It’s been following us for a couple of miles now. I think we need to lose it.”
“We’re almost to Lafayette.” She turned back to face front, clutching and twisting the hem of her shirt. “Are we going to lead him right to Father and Mother?”
“Not if I can help it.” Still peering into the rearview mirror, Derek grabbed the steering wheel with both hands. “Hold on.”
Hannah grasped the door handle with her right hand and the edge of the seat with her left as he pulled hard on the wheel. The little SUV cut across two lanes of traffic and veered down the exit ramp toward South Street. A whiff of exhaust and warm rubber assaulted her as she fought to stay upright in her seat. Multiple car horns protested the rudeness of the truck’s driver as a blur of black followed them down the ramp.
“He’s still tailing us. Now what?” Her palm slicked against the handle. She dried it on her skirt and prayed silently for safety and security.
“We keep going.” Derek was so focused on the road that he didn’t even glance at her. “Remember, we’re in the lead, deciding where to go. He has to react. That gives us the advantage.”
At the bottom of the ramp, he turned west. The evening sun was just above the horizon, blinding in its intensity. Hannah slapped down the visor, but it didn’t reach low enough. The truck squealed through a yellow light to follow them.
“How can you see? Shouldn’t we turn out of the sun? An accident won’t help us now.”
“Affirmative. Hold on.” At the next thoroughfare, he made a fast and hard right. Hannah barely had a chance to glance at the street sign. Sagamore Parkway. The name seemed familiar, but the surroundings did not. Her parents had moved to Lafayette after she had graduated high school, so although it had been her legal domicile through college and law school, she wasn’t familiar enough with the city to know where they were. Truth be told, she had barely wandered any farther from her parents’ mansion than to the local branch of the library and the mall.
The black truck followed, but Hannah noted with satisfaction that two cars separated them and more traffic traveled just ahead of them. She couldn’t quite see the face of the driver, to make visual confirmation that it was the same man as before, especially in the gathering gloom of evening and with that distance between them. But the truck was the same, so the driver was mostly likely the same as well.
Derek screeched the SUV left, again into the sun, on Union Street.
A shiver threatened as Hannah read the road signs. “We’re in a school zone.” She pointed to the left, and he swiveled for a quick glance. “Multiple school zones. We can’t do that slow speed. What is it, twenty miles per hour? Look at all those buildings. He’ll catch up for sure.”
“It’s late. School’s out.” He released a hand from his grip on the wheel long enough to squeeze her hand as it clutched the seat. “No need to slow down.”
His hand radiated warmth and gave her a sense of security, but a glance