Chapter 2

"Pry marks on my window?" Carrie gasped.

"They appear to be fresh." Raylene went into a long spiel about how to spot signs of forced entry.

"Have you seen these before?" Jo asked.

"I dunno. I can't remember." Carrie pressed a hand to her forehead. "To be honest, I thought someone had been inside the house the other day."

"Inside?"

"Maybe. I've been so frazzled, I chalked it up to me leaving the door unlocked and one of the construction workers coming in, looking for me."

"Or maybe it was someone else," Raylene said.

"Does Charlie have a key to this place?" Jo asked.

Carrie shook her head. "Nope."

"We need to check the windows."

The trio split up, each heading to a different room to make sure the windows on the lower level were locked. They met back in the living room a short time later.

"Everything looks A-OK," Raylene reported.

"Ditto," Jo said. "I didn't notice any other signs of forced entry."

"Me either," Carrie said. "I'm sure it's nothing."

Jo's cell phone chimed. "We need to get going. Raylene and I are popping in to visit with Kelli and Sherry before heading home."

Carrie escorted them to the door. "How is Kelli and her new business venture doing?"

"Wonderful. She and Sherry rented a loft apartment. I couldn't be more thrilled with how things are going."

"I hope Divine Sanctuary Rehabilitation Center does half as good as your other businesses. I need the Jo Pepperdine magic touch."

Jo impulsively hugged her. "You're doing a good thing, Carrie Ford. Don't let Charlie get you down. You've got this."

"Thanks, Jo. Thanks for being such a great friend and business partner."

"You're welcome." Jo jangled her keys. "We'll see you at six?"

"See you at six."

Jo waited until they were back inside the SUV to talk. "Poor Carrie."

"It sounds like she and Charlie had a major falling out."

"I've always heard Charlie was a little…odd."

"A little odd?" Raylene echoed.

Jo twirled her finger next to her forehead. "I still remember the first time we met. He told me the earth talked to him."

"How does the earth talk to you?"

"I suppose what he meant was he was in tune with nature. At least, I think that's what he meant. It's hard telling with Charlie." Jo steered her SUV onto the road. "Sherry said she and Kelli had a surprise."

"Good or bad?"

"I don't know. We'll soon find out."

*****

"Are you ready for our surprise?" Sherry beamed, playfully blocking Jo and Raylene from seeing inside the apartment.

"Yes. Hopefully, it's not another roommate," Jo said. "Between the two of you and the last shopping trip to finish furnishing your apartment, you have a full house."

"I hate to disappoint you, but we did get a new roommate." Sherry flung the door wide open.

Standing steps behind her was Kelli, holding the most adorable puppy Jo had ever laid eyes on. Her heart melted. "A puppy. He's so cute."

"She." Kelli carefully handed the squirming ball of fur to her. "She's a German shepherd / Australian shepherd mix."

"Check out those paws." Raylene rubbed the puppy's paw. "She's going to be a big girl."

"Very big. We couldn't resist," Sherry said. "Kelli took her to work at the shop the other day and the customers fell in love with her."

"It wouldn't be hard." Jo snuggled the puppy closer, chuckling as she licked her face and tried biting her hair. "She's a nibbler. What did you name her?"

"Shelli," Kelli said. "It's a combination of our names."

"The three amigas." Jo handed the puppy to Raylene. "Shelli will be a good guard dog."

"She already is," Kelli said. "We miss Duke and Curtis and figured, what the heck? As soon as our landlord gave us the green light, we drove over to the local shelter and adopted Shelli."

"C'mon in." Sherry motioned them inside.

Raylene finished cuddling Shelli and carefully set her on the floor. The puppy promptly trotted off. She plopped down on a mound of stuffed toys and began rolling around.

"Can we get you a water or a glass of lemonade?" Kelli asked.

"I'm good."

"Me too." Raylene spun in a slow circle. "Your apartment is cozy and homey. I bet you love living here."

"We do," Sherry said. "It's nice to know I'm not coming home to an empty apartment."

"I'm thrilled to hear it's going well," Jo said. "Considering you lived together, I would have been surprised if it hadn't worked out."

"Have you changed your mind about the size of the wedding ceremony?" Kelli asked.

From the moment Nash proposed, Jo knew she wanted an intimate wedding ceremony. The reception, on the other hand, was a completely different story. Although the couple had originally planned a scaled-down event, the list of invites had somehow taken on a life of its own. Twenty-five guests turned into fifty, turned into a couple hundred.

Almost all of Divine's residents planned to attend the reception. Despite the size of the list, Jo had dug in her heels and kept the ceremony itself much smaller. It would consist of the women at the farm, the former residents, Delta, Gary, and Nash's son.

"Nope. Small ceremony. Blowout reception." Jo rolled her eyes. "Thank goodness we have plenty of parking."

"With Delta in charge of the food, no one will leave hungry," Kelli said.

Sherry nudged her roommate. "Go ahead and show them."

Kelli's brows furrowed. She shook her head.

"Show us what?"

"I was tinkering with something for the wedding." Jo's former resident twined her fingers.

"If you don't go get it, I will," Sherry warned.

"Fine. Hang on." Kelli darted out of the room, returning moments later with a candle wrapped in bark wood. A twined rope was tied around the middle and a heart-shaped piece of wood sat in the center. Purple forget-me-nots, miniature pink roses and white carnations—all dried—were tucked behind the wooden heart.

A tiny gold angel dangled from the twined rope.

"Look at the tiny angel," Jo said. "This is beautiful."

Kelli's eyes lit. "You like it?"

"I don't like it. I love it. These would be perfect for table decorations."

"She has more," Sherry said. "Show them the rest."

"Yes. Please do." Jo handed the candle to Raylene. "I hadn't even thought about table decorations yet."

"Be right back." Kelli left again, this time returning with a thin braided rope. Sprigs of ferns and clusters of pine needles were laced through it. "I thought if you stuck with the outdoorsy farm theme, you could use these for table runners and then put the candles on both ends and in the center."

"This is perfect," Jo gushed. "Do you think you could have them ready in time for the reception?"

"Yeah. I mean, they're easy to make."

Jo reached for her purse. "I'll give you a deposit for materials. We can settle up with the labor charges after the arrangements are done."

"I wasn't planning on charging you," Kelli said.

"You most certainly will." Jo mustered up her best stern voice. "I insist on paying a fair price. How much will you need to buy the supplies?"

Kelli rattled off a number Jo thought was more than fair. She promptly wrote out a check and handed it to her.

The woman hesitated. "I wouldn't have Kelli's Divine Crafts if not for you loaning me money. I don't feel right taking this check."

Jo grasped her hand and caught her eye. "I love you, like you were my daughter. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you, for any of you. But business is business. These will be perfect and will look fabulous."

Kelli flung her arms around Jo's neck. "Thank you, Jo."

"You're welcome." She returned the hug.

The women chatted for a little longer until Sherry reluctantly admitted she needed to get ready to cover her shift at Marlee's deli across the street.

"We need to get out of your hair." During the drive back to the farm, Jo carried on a one-sided conversation with a noticeably quiet Raylene. "Are you okay?" she finally asked.

"Yeah. I was thinking about how Sherry, Leah and now Kelli all seem to be not only surviving but thriving."

It dawned on Jo what was going through Raylene's mind. She was next. Soon, it would be her turn to leave the farm, a home for women who had recently been released from prison.

Raylene's fears and concerns were nothing new. In fact, it had happened to each of the women. As the days grew closer to their release, the residents became nervous, even fearful of their future. What if they floundered? Or worse yet, they failed. It was a legitimate concern.

Statistics weren't on their side. The rate of recidivism—the tendency of a convict to commit another crime—was high. Too high. But not when they left Jo's place. She had almost a 100% success rate…and she planned to keep it that way.

If her residents wanted to lead successful, productive lives, Jo would do everything in her power to make it happen. Raylene would be no exception.

"Are you worried you won't find your purpose again?"

"No. I still have money sitting in a bank account, waiting for me to…" Raylene's voice faded.

"To do what? Open another bounty hunting business? I thought that was the plan," Jo said.

"It was." The woman absentmindedly tugged on her seatbelt. "I can't help but think, what if I open one and something bad happens?"

"Someone else, someone close to you, dies?"

Raylene nodded.

Jo chose her words carefully. "Life is full of choices. Every day. Sometimes those choices work out. Others don't. What's worse than making a poor decision is not making one at all. Let me ask you this…is bounty hunting still your passion?"

"Yeah. I like catching the bad guys. I feel like I'm helping, even if it's in a small way to make the world a safer place."

"Then go for it," Jo said. "Don't live with regrets. Don't look back and wonder what if. Grab hold of your dream and run with it."

"Just like you did."

"Yes, and I've made more than a few mistakes along the way. It's part of life."

"You're right. I guess I'm just getting nervous."

"It won't be long now." Jo cast her a side glance. "Have you decided where?"

"Where I'm going to open up shop?"

"Mm-hm."

"Cancun, Mexico."

Jo made a choking sound. "Mexico?"

Raylene laughed out loud. "I'm kidding. I'm staying right here in Divine."

"Not that I want to sway your decision, but I hoped you would decide to stay." Jo turned into their driveway and pulled around back, parking next to Delta's van.

A flit of movement caught her eye. It was coming from the vicinity of the clothesline, close to an old windmill Nash was repairing.

Raylene craned her neck. "What on earth…"

Jo finished her sentence. "Is she up to now?"