Simple Deceit (The Harmony Series 2) Read Free Page A

after her. Unfortunately, the grass was slick with ice that had melted and refrozen. Although it impeded my progress, it also caused the woman her own problems. A few yards before the tree line, I reached out and grabbed her cloak. She spun toward me as I tried to secure her with my other hand. Suddenly pain exploded in my head and everything went black.

Chapter Two
     
    G racie, can you hear me?”
    I slowly opened my eyes. “Please. Get that light out of my face.” My voice sounded far away. “Wow. My head hurts. What happened?”
    “You knocked yourself out.” I’d recognized the first voice as Abel’s, but this was someone else. I squinted through the throbbing and discovered John Keystone leaning over me. He flicked a small flashlight back into my eyes and caused an explosion of pain to shoot through my head.
    “Would you stop doing that?” I pleaded. “It isn’t helping.” I glanced around the room and realized I was in the pastor’s office.
    “I carried you in here,” Abel said gently. “I heard a commotion outside, and when I got to the door, I found…”
    “A baby?” I finished.
    “Yes, a baby.” He stepped closer and frowned down at me. “What do you have to do with this, Gracie? Did you see who put this child near the door?”
    I struggled to sit up over the protestations of both men. “Hey, I just got hit on the head. It’s still attached. I’m all right.” I shookmy head slowly at Abel so as not to cause myself further agony. “I saw a woman put the basket there, but then she ran away. I was trying to catch her when she clobbered me.”
    “I don’t think she actually hit you,” Abel said, handing me a glass of water, which I gratefully took. “I think you slipped on the ice and hit your head on the ground.”
    I rubbed my offended noggin. “Well, maybe so. I didn’t see her slug me, and we both fell when I grabbed her.” I looked up at Abel with one eye closed. “I don’t suppose you saw her, did you?”
    “I’m sorry, Gracie. I didn’t. She was gone by the time I reached you. Did you recognize her?”
    “No. She was wearing a long dark cloak, you know, like the one Ida wears. She had the hood pulled over her face.”
    John wiped the side of my face with a warm, wet cloth. There was dirt and dried grass on the fabric when he took it away. “I hope you’re not telling us that the baby is Ida’s,” he said with a grin. “She’s in her eighties or nineties, isn’t she?”
    Abel chuckled.
    “Very funny. No, it wasn’t Ida.” I glanced toward the basket. “How’s the baby?”
    “She seems fine. I’m grateful you knocked loudly enough for me to hear you. I usually leave by the side door. If she’d been left outside all night…”
    “I think the mother was trying to get your attention. Did you hear anyone else at the door?”
    Abel rubbed his beard. “To be honest, I did hear something, but I thought it was the old pipes acting up again, so I ignored it. But when I heard a loud banging and you yelling, I came downstairs.”
    I sighed. “That was definitely me. Banging, yelling, and falling on my head.”
    Abel chuckled. “I missed the falling-on-your-head part. Sorry.”
    I grabbed John’s arm and pulled myself up. “Look, I’ve got to get home. Snickle needs to get out of his carrier. The last time I looked, he had his legs crossed. Besides, Sam and Sweetie are waiting dinner for me.”
    “I think you need to rest awhile longer,” John said, his handsome face twisted in a frown. His dark eyes showed concern.
    “What do you know?” I said teasingly. “You sell meat.”
    He laughed. “My advice comes not as a butcher but as a doctor.”
    “You
were
a doctor.”
    “It wasn’t so long ago I can’t tell pretty girls to take it easy after they knock themselves silly.”
    “Do I have a concussion?”
    He shook his head. “I don’t see any signs of one, but it wouldn’t hurt for you to drive into Sunrise tomorrow and see the doctor there.”
    “How