Free The Harvest by Gail Gaymer Martin Page A

herself. Had she done that again, wanting so badly to feel loved and desired? Her question swung from despair to hope.
    In the darkness and her inexperience, Tess turned off the water, leaving the taps open just enough so the wrapped pipes wouldn’t burst. She remembered Al doing that. She prayed she had done the job correctly. She reviewed the list of tasks to close the cabin for the winter. With haste, she threw her luggage and storage boxes into the car.
    Pulling the shutters closed, she secured them inside, then pulled the fuses from the box. Locking the door, she climbed into the car. Tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped from her chin as she dug in her jacket pocket for her keys. Along with her keys, she felt something else. She dug them out and gazed at the smooth pink heart-shaped stone Ryan had given her. Tempted to toss it out the window, she closedher hand around the rock and slid it back into her pocket, then pulled down the rutted lane to the dark highway and headed home.
     
    Since leaving Mackinaw City, Ryan hadn’t been the same. That night, Donna had been furious and tore away from the place as if he’d cheated on her…and perhaps he had. He should have talked with her on the telephone and made things right then. His head swirled with “what ifs.” All he knew was that love had found him that night in the woods and he wasn’t going to let a misunderstanding ruin his chances to love the way God meant him to love.
    The next morning, he’d gone to Tess’s cabin and found the shutters locked, everything secured and Tess already gone. His heart felt weighted with loss and loneliness. He closed Jill’s cottage and left the northern city, his emotions as raw and aching as if someone he loved had died.
    For the past two weeks, he’d dialed Tess’s phone number time after time, but the answering machine always picked up, and Tess never returned his call. No matter what he did or said to make things better, how could he right the wrong he’d done?
    He imagined how hurt Tess had been, opening her heart to him, speaking of trust, and in the next hour, he had let her be hurt by Donna’s surprise visit. He could blame Donna, but he knew where the blame lay. He grimaced, thinking how similar it seemed to Tess’s husband’s dreadful surprise.
    With frustration charging through him, Ryan leftthe office and headed for his sister’s house. Jill could give him some needed guidance through a woman’s eyes. Gary had just gotten back to work following his appendectomy and with Davie in kindergarten, Ryan hoped Jill would be home alone. He needed to talk.
    When she opened the door, her knowing gaze smacked him with the truth. “You look terrible. What’s wrong?”
    Ryan mumbled about his northern romance and the horrible story of Donna’s unexpected appearance.
    Jill’s eyes rolled throughout his narration, and her sputtered comments seemed less than helpful.
    Finally, he fell back against the sofa cushion and closed his mouth. He’d apologized to Tess with the same comment, “Open mouth, insert foot,” and he felt as if he’d done that today with Jill.
    “I’m sorry, Ryan. I guess I don’t seem sympathetic, but you were an absolute fool. I don’t understand how you got yourself into this mess. You’re an honest guy. You’re a gentleman…in every sense of the word. So explain.”
    “I don’t know, Jill. One thing led to another. I was the kind stranger who helped her out of a couple of problems. We talked, and it felt nice to have another person nearby. I offered to help her close up the cabin. She seemed lonely and a little pensive. I started out as Mr. Macho. You know, ‘Here he comes to save the day.’ The next thing I know, I invited her to the island. There was a gorgeous sunset. Shebought a sweatshirt and I used the clothes hanger to get into my car, and—”
    “Wait a minute. I followed you until the hanger.”
    Ryan recounted the twin stories of the locked keys. “Somehow, in that