Free The Nanny's Little Matchmakers (Love Inspired Historical) by Danica Favorite

to be his friend, hoping to gain access to the amazing Hattie Winston. And now that she was gone, every charlatan in town was offering “help” with the case, only their motives weren’t so pure. Whether it was to prove his guilt, or get the inside scoop for the latest newspaper, all the supposed offers of help never had Mitch’s best interests in mind.
    Did Will have Mitch’s best interests in mind? He had no idea. He’d barely met the man, and while Polly’s recommendation might mean something to some people, Mitch had too much at stake to trust just anyone.
    Polly led him into the parlor, where Pastor Lassiter, Gertie and Maddie sat waiting. Before Mitch could speak, Pastor Lassiter stood.
    “Now I know you object to receiving help, but I have to say that in this instance, you are going to accept what we offer. Those children of yours need protection, and if they’re staying with us, no one is going to know who they are. Folks around here are used to us having all sorts of children running around, and not one will question who these children are. Pride isn’t going to keep your children safe.”
    Mitch nodded slowly. “Thank you. I am grateful for the offer. In fact, I was afraid of what would happen if I had to take them back home. They don’t need to be subjected to the scandal.”
    The older man looked at him solemnly. “Now, Polly assures me that you’re innocent, but I need to hear it from you. I won’t harbor a murderer in my home.”
    The ever-present lump in Mitch’s throat threatened to cut off his airway. It seemed like all he ever did was proclaim his innocence, but no one ever listened.
    “I didn’t kill Hattie.”
    There. The words were his own, but he hardly recognized his voice. He had children who were grieving a lost mother, and rather than focusing on them, he had to continually defend himself.
    “Where are my children?”
    Polly smiled at him. “They’re playing in the yard. We’re letting them get their wiggles out before we start lessons.”
    Once again, Mitch nodded slowly, trying to process the information. Laughter drifted toward him, and somewhere in there, he thought he recognized the sound of his own children. Pastor Lassiter walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
    “I believe you, son. But from what I’ve seen in the papers, you’re going to need to do a lot more than what you’ve been doing to get the rest of society to believe it.”
    Mitch’s body went cold as he looked around the room. “You’ve seen the papers? Are they here? I don’t want the children—”
    “They’ve already been burned in the stove,” Maddie said, rising. “What do you take us for? Fools?”
    Once again, he felt his body relax at the knowledge that someone else was thinking through all the details that plagued him.
    “Thank you.” Mitch looked around the room. “I’m not used to people wanting to help me like this, and I’m not sure what to do with it. To be honest, I don’t understand why.”
    The hand that rested on his shoulder squeezed it, spreading warmth through his body. “Because we serve a Lord who has taught us to love the least of his children and fight for justice for those for whom no justice comes.”
    Mitch wanted to believe him, but he’d spent so much time listening to the church people standing in front of his house, his store and every other place he went telling him how undeserving he was because of all his sin.
    And, if Mitch were honest with himself, all those people were probably right. He’d committed a good number of sins in his life. The trouble was, he wasn’t guilty of any of the sins people accused him of.
    So when was the real agenda of these people going to come out? Mitch would like to think they were who they said they were, but he’d had too much experience with life teaching him otherwise. Still, he had to admit that this was the safest place for his family right now, and while he wasn’t sure how long this hospitality would