Chapter 4 Evangeline
EVANGELINE
An hour later, Evangeline watched the city melt away as the train rumbled down the tracks, her heart still pounding as she thought of her brother.
He’ll be okay, she told herself.
But she wasn’t sure that was true. Most people adored her brother within a few minutes of meeting him. But the police wouldn’t give him a chance to show them who he was. To them, he would just be another troublemaker.
Rory was probably in a jail cell right now, and she wasn’t there to bail him out, or to explain to anyone who would listen that he was a selfless man who had given his life to ensure that she had one.
She itched to pull out her phone and try to find out what was happening. Even if she couldn’t reach Rory, Rooster would probably know what was going on by now, and know if there was anything she could do.
But the only thing Rory had asked of her was that she turn off her phone and run.
She knew from TV shows that the police could locate mobile phones.
She didn’t think the Vagabonds had that kind of technology.
She honestly doubted that any of them could work a toaster oven.
But all it took was for one of them to have a cousin on the force…
She decided to keep her phone off—just in case.
When I get there I’ll find a way to help him.
But “there” was a relative term. She had found the Trinity Falls stop on the train schedule, but she had never been this far out of the city before and she had no idea where to even find Sam and her sister in the little village.
Without her phone, she couldn’t even look Sam up.
I’ll get off the train and I’ll ask for the veterans center, she told herself firmly. It’s a small country town. People will know where everything is.
But as the buildings shrank and the suburban sprawl stretched out the windows and the afternoon sun began to sink, Evangeline grew more certain that she was going to reach Trinity Falls and find the center closed already, leaving her with no hope of getting any answers until the morning.
She spent the rest of the ride trying and mostly failing to come up with some better plan. By the time the train finally pulled into the station, the sky was a deep, dark blue and snow flurries were drifting down.
Evangeline stepped onto the platform just as all the streetlamps popped on one by one, like the will-‘o-the-wisps in the fairy tale book Rory used to read to her, showing her the way to the center of the tiny village.
A candy cane decoration hung from each lamppost, and pretty lights were strung around the display windows of all the shops and the smaller windows of the apartments above. She smiled, thinking about how much the kids she babysat would love this kind of thing.
A pang of guilt twisted her stomach as she thought about the Andersons noticing tonight that she hadn’t come home.
She doubted this town was big enough to have any kind of internet cafe, but it probably had a library.
Hopefully, she could sign into email tomorrow morning and let them know there had been a family emergency and she couldn’t come back to work for a while.
They would find someone to take her place quickly. Plenty of nannies would love to live in that pretty attic room and take care of their boisterous, good-natured children. Evangeline knew how lucky she was, and hoped she wasn’t burning any bridges with them.
She hurried down the platform after the other travelers. A cold, sweet breeze swirled around her, lifting her hair from her shoulders. Tiny flurries kissed her cheeks, and she ducked her head down to follow the small crowd.
Now would be a good time to ask someone about the center, but they all seemed to be in such a hurry. She felt shy about stopping anyone.
Besides, the town didn’t look too big, maybe she could find it without help.
The platform led to a crosswalk, and since everyone else was crossing the street, Evangeline did too.
The happy sounds of people up ahead had her looking up to see one or two of the other passengers being greeted by their families, who had been waiting on the sidewalk for the train. It was such a wholesome sight that Evangeline found herself smiling again, in spite of all her worries.
And as soon as she began walking down the street she felt even better because she recognized the view. The Tudor-style storefronts had been in the photo of Sam and Amelia—she was sure of it.
She hurried down the street, scanning all the signs on the shops. The big front windows were so beautifully decorated that it took discipline not to just stop and admire the pine and holly boughs, colored lights, and cotton batting snow.
The only thing that didn’t fit into the sweet holiday scene was Evangeline herself, in the borrowed black leather jacket and biker boots.
With everything else going on it was probably silly to feel self-conscious about her clothing.
But it was hard not to when everyone else around her looked like they belonged on a Christmas card.
An older couple who seemed to be bundled up and out for a stroll smiled at her as they passed.
“Hello,” the woman said in a friendly way, not thrown at all by Evangeline’s clothing.
“Oh, hi,” Evangeline replied, surprised.
Do I know these people?
But the couple continued on before she could place them, and the young woman she passed next nodded to her and smiled.
“Cold enough for ya’?” a little old man asked her on his way by, giving her a wink.
She laughed weakly and smiled back at him.
Something about the situation was familiar, and it hit her suddenly that this was a bit like walking down her old block when she was a little girl, waving a polite hello to all the grandmas sitting out on their porches.
Her heart ached with homesickness for a life that was lost, and she focused her eyes on the storefronts again, determined to find Sam, or at least her place of work.
Just as she neared the end of the first block of town, she spotted a sign on one of the doors.
The Hero Center
By some miracle, light spilled out from inside. Evangeline pushed open the door immediately, as if she thought it might lock before she could step inside.
“Hi, there how can I—Evangeline?” a familiar voice said.
And there was Samantha Green, sitting at the main desk with Amelia curled up on a chair behind it, her nose in a book.
“Hey, Sam,” Evangeline said, suddenly realizing that she had no idea what to say next. “How are you?”
“Well, I’m great,” Sam replied. “I’m happy to see you. What brings you to Trinity Falls?”
“I’m looking for work,” Evangeline heard herself say calmly. “I thought maybe you could point me in the right direction.”
“That’s wonderful,” Sam told her, without missing a beat. “You watch kids, right?”
“Yes,” Evangeline said.
“Babies?” Sam asked.
“Yes,” Evangeline agreed immediately, though she really hadn’t watched kids younger than toddlers before.
I can do it, she told herself firmly. I can do anything I set my mind to.
“Listen, I want to hear all about what’s going on with you,” Sam said. “But this is too good to pass up. I literally just talked to someone who needs your help. It must be some kind of a sign for you to show up right now.”
“That’s great,” Evangeline said. “Should we call her?”
“He was headed over to the firehouse,” Sam said. “Maybe we can catch him. Come on, Amelia.”
Her little sister dutifully got up, put a bookmark in her paperback, then set it down on the chair.
“Hi, Amelia,” Evangeline said.
“I know you,” Amelia said. “You’re a city person, right?”
“Sure am,” Evangeline told her.
“Well, it’s nice here,” Amelia said, shrugging. “You’ll probably like it.”
“Of course she will,” Sam said approvingly, as she held out Amelia’s jacket.
The three of them headed outside and began walking briskly down the street.
“The firehouse is down this way,” Sam explained. “The library is in the same building and there’s a little amphitheater out front. They have a farmer’s market in the parking lot when the weather’s better.”
“Wow,” Evangeline said. It sounded like something on TV, not a real town.
“There he is,” Sam said suddenly, pointing to a man with a stroller who was talking with someone in the parking lot. “That’s Grayson Ward.”
His back was to them, and in the dim light all Evangeline could make out was his impressive height, which didn’t really tell her anything at all about her prospective employer.
Please let him and his wife be good people.
As they reached the edge of the parking lot, Grayson let go of the stroller as he gestured toward the fire house.
Before Evangeline’s horrified eyes, the stroller began to slip backwards, down the slope of the lot toward the street.
Her feet were flying before she knew she had made the decision to act, but she wasn’t moving fast enough.
She threw herself to the ground, hitting the pavement so hard that all the air left her lungs with a whoosh, just in time for the stroller to catch on her outstretched arm and stop with a jerk.
She waited for the baby’s cries at the sudden jolt, but the only sound was Sam’s surprised gasp from behind her.
“Oh my gosh,” Amelia yelled.
Keeping her hold on the stroller, Evangeline scrambled to her feet and pulled back the blanket inside to check on the baby.
It took her a moment to register what she was looking at.
The padded interior of the stroller was filled with half a dozen wax paper-wrapped bundles.
It’s not a baby. It’s sandwiches.
I just threw myself to the ground to protect a stroller full of hoagies.
Evangeline just stared for a moment. She didn’t have the breath to talk, and she had no idea what she would say if she did.
“She’s a friend of mine from the city,” Sam explained to the man as Evangeline brushed herself off and wondered how she could possibly salvage this embarrassing situation. “She’s looking for work as a nanny.”
“With moves like that, you’re hired,” the man replied, his booming voice full of humor. “Grayson Ward.”
Evangeline looked up at the man who was approaching her. He was tall, she had gotten that much right. He had dark hair, blue eyes, and an adorable baby strapped to his chest.
When their eyes met, a little shiver went through her chest. It felt almost like she knew this man, though she had never seen him before.
“Evangeline Dunn,” she said softly, tearing her eyes from his to stop the weird feeling.