Reflection Point: An Eternity Springs Novel by Emily March Read Free Book Online Page B

pen from his pocket and jotted a note, the action struck her as … official. Her throat went tight. Had he checked up onher? Had her effort to deflect his request to see her ID that day up at Lover’s Leap failed?
    Every time someone asks me that question, it spells trouble for me. Big trouble . With that, her thoughts went spinning into the past.
    Outside the movie theater when she is thirteen, the police officer pulls his notebook and a silver pen from his pocket. “May I see your ID?”
    Her heartbeat pounds. Her mouth goes dry . Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap. “I wasn’t trying to sneak in, Officer. I bought a ticket. I promise I did. I thought I put it in my purse. I must have dropped it.”
    “The manager says this is the third time he’s caught you crashing the gate, and he’s pressing charges.”
    Great. Just great .
    Six months later: a policeman motioning her to roll down the driver’s-side window as he flips open a notebook. “May I see your ID?”
    No, he can’t. I’m driving without a license.
    Eight months after that while on a delivery run, with the acrid scent of her daddy’s moonshine hanging on the air from the half dozen jars lying broken on the floorboards of the wrecked car’s backseat: “Step out of the car, please.”
    Savannah can’t imagine having a worse encounter with the law.
    Two years later, when the tall, handsome, blond-haired cop warns her that her taillight is cracked, then asks for her cell phone number, she’s not concerned. “I don’t own a cell phone.”
    “Your home phone, then.”
    “I’m afraid I don’t have a home phone, either. I don’t live here. I commute here to the junior college. I live with my grandmother in a rural area two hours away. We don’t have long-distance phone service.”
    “Now, that’s a problem.” He flashed a brilliant smile. “How am I supposed to call you to ask you for a date?”
    A date? Her heart grew wings and took flight. “My grandmother’s next-door neighbor will give me a message. She lets me use her phone.”
    She repeated the number, but he didn’t write it down. Instead, a grin spread slowly across his face. “You know, life is filled with strange coincidences, isn’t it? I know that number. I’m Kyle Vaughn—Francine Vaughn is my mother. You must be Mrs. Aldrich’s granddaughter. Got into a little trouble before you moved here, I hear.”
    Savannah’s heart crashed back to earth. She fumbled for words as he slipped his notebook back into his pocket. “I … um … my family …”
    He gave her a magnanimous smile. “Don’t worry. I understand family obligation. If my dad was a moonshiner, I’m sure I’d have gone into the family business, too. Tell you what. Rather than involve our grandmothers right off the bat, how about I ask you out here and now? Want to go to the movies with me Saturday night?”
    In her wildest dreams, she had not guessed that the encounter with Detective Kyle Vaughn would prove to be her undoing .
    An elbow to her ribs jerked Savannah back to the present. “Raise your hand,” Sarah Murphy urged.
    Savannah reacted automatically and raised her hand.
    “Thank you, Ms. Moore.” Mayor Townsend beamed at her. “It’s so kind of you to volunteer, especially when we know you’re working your tail off to get your shop up and running. But it’s the best way possible to become part of the community.”
    Volunteer? What did I volunteer for?
    She twisted her head to look at Sarah and saw that the other woman was gazing across the table, a smug, satisfiedlook on her face. Savannah’s heart sank. She knew what she’d see before she turned and looked.
    Zach Turner wasn’t happy.
    Zach wanted to strangle Sarah Murphy.
    He knew the woman well. He’d been friends with her a long time. They’d even dated for a few months.
    He had recognized that wicked glint in her eyes, but by the time he’d figured out that it was directed toward him, he’d been helpless to prevent her