Hometown Sweetheart

Had God brought her to these beautiful woods to help Simon?

Or should she do as he’d suggested, mind her own business and get back to counseling the children in her care?

Janie met her on the path. “Have you seen Katie?”

“No, ma’am. I thought she was with you.”

Janie shook her head. “She was right there but she had to go to the bathroom. She ran ahead and didn’t wait for me to come up here with her.”

“I’ll go check the cabin,” Shanna said. “Why don’t you wait down by the tables? It’s getting dark.”

Then they heard a child’s scream echoing down the hill. Followed by a male voice.

“Shanna?”

That was Simon, calling to her. He sounded frantic.

“Shanna, can you come here?”

Shanna ran up the hill. “Wait here, Miss Janie.”

“Shanna!”

“Simon?” She searched the long back porch of his cabin then looked inside the brightly lit kitchen and den.

“In here.”

Running through the open door, she found Simon sitting on the sofa, holding Katie. The girl was crying her heart out against Simon’s shirt.

“I found her when I got inside,” he said, rocking the little girl, his hand stroking her hair. He looked as helpless as Katie. “She’s bleeding. Her leg.”

“Katie, baby, what’s wrong?” Shanna said as she dropped to her knees on the braided rug in front of the couch. “What’s the matter?”

“I miss my mama,” Katie said, gulping back sobs. “I got scared. I came up the hill to go to the bathroom and I came inside the wrong cabin. I got confused and…I tripped on the rug.” She burst into tears again.

“Oh, honey, that’s all right. I’m sure Simon didn’t mind you using his bathroom.”

“I didn’t,” Simon said, glancing at Shanna. “But when she came out and saw me standing in the kitchen, she screamed. I told her it was all right. But she tried to run and she tripped. I sat her down and told her I’d get you. Then I tried to calm her down.”

Shanna took Katie into her arms. “Did you think Simon would harm you?”

Katie nodded. “Everyone says he’s a mean old man.”

Shanna’s gaze locked with Simon’s. The hurt inside his eyes tore through her. In spite of his moodiness, she didn’t believe this man would ever hurt anyone, let alone a frightened little girl. And yet, that’s the perception the world had of him.

Lifting Katie up, Shanna held the girl’s head in her hands. “Listen to me, Katie. Simon Adams is a very nice man. He’s just been out here alone for so long, he’s forgotten how to act around other people. It doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, okay?”

Katie’s big eyes searched Simon’s face. “I thought he was gonna be mad at me. I didn’t want to get a whipping.”

“A whipping?” Simon let out a breath. “I’m not mad, Katie. You scared me as much as I scared you. I don’t mind you coming inside my house, not at all.”

Katie looked doubtful. “Brady said you’d turn into a bear if I bothered you.”

Shanna shook her head. “Brady was just teasing you, honey.”

“But Marshall told me Simon would grow fangs and look like a wolf.”

Simon stood up, his hands moving through his hair, shock clouding his face. Then he turned to face Shanna again. “I’d never—I don’t know—”

“It’s all right,” Shanna said, lifting Katie up onto a stool so she could check Katie’s bleeding knee. The girl had reopened the wound from her first fall the other day. “I’ll have a talk with those boys. They shouldn’t be scaring you that way.”

But the damage had been done. And not just to Katie. She’d get over her scare. After all, Simon had tried to comfort her. But he might not forget this night or the harsh accusations the boys had placed on him, all in the name of fun and jokes. He did seem scary, after all. But he also seemed as confused and lost as some of these children.

“I’m sorry,” Shanna said, taking Katie up in her arms. “I need to get her back to the cabin so I can check her knee. This is the second time this week she’s skinned it in the same place.”

Simon nodded, his eyes vacant and faraway. “I scare little children.”

Shanna sat Katie down again then hurriedly wet a paper towel and placed it on her leg. “Honey, stay right here, okay, and hold this on your knee. I need to talk to Simon for just a minute. You’re okay, right?”

Katie looked up at Simon, bobbing her head, her tears receding. “He wasn’t so scary after all, Miss Shanna.”

“I know, darling. I saw that.”

Janie called from the yard. “Shanna, is Katie all right?”

“She’s fine, Miss Janie. You can come in if you want. She just got confused and hit her knee again.”