Page 22 of Two Hearts' Accidental Heroes

Just like that, he steered her away, and they walked back outside through the front door.

“We can wait around the corner and grab something to eat at the hot dog stand,” he said. “By the time we’re finished, she’ll probably be gone.”

Luckily, it was a nice day, so they could sit outside at one of the tables. But Shanna was worried that Anya might walk right by, so she kept a close eye on the mall entrance.

What was her sister doing here? As far as she knew, Anya had a great job and was working down in Madison. It was amazing how much gossip was available in the town paper that Shanna picked up every time she had the chance. It was distributed for free throughout town, so Wes didn’t object, knowing that she was avoiding people she knew, and following his directives.

Finally, Shanna noticed Anya leaving the mall, having a conversation with the owner of the flower shop, who Anya had worked for back in high school. They both walked by without a glance at the hot dog stand.

Shanna breathed a sigh of relief. She wouldn’t mention it was her sister that she’d seen. Not only had they threatened her mom in the past to keep Shanna in line, but Anya too. More than likely, Anya was just visiting Mom for a long weekend, and would be leaving town again sometime soon.

She stayed calm when they went back into the mall and dropped off the paintings with the gallery owner, who’d been impressed by the number and assortment of scenes.

“These will probably go as quickly as your others,” he said.

“Are there any particular locations that are requested by customers more than others?” she’d asked.

“I’d say that The Dragonfly Pointe Inn tops the list. People seem to have a lot of fond memories of the place,” he said.

“Okay. I’ll try and come up with a few different scenes of other eras. The place has been remodeled a lot through the years,” she observed.

She left Wes to do the negotiations as usual, and when she saw him pocketing quite a bit of cash, she was surprised. Were her paintings really selling for such an exorbitant amount?

But her stomach was churning. Seeing her sister again for the first time in nine long years had thrown her. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about what life would have been like if she hadn’t been handed over to Wes Montgomery when he’d discovered she was pregnant with his child.

Shanna held herself together during the entire trip back to the cabin.

“I’ll give you a call sometime tomorrow if you want to make a list of all the supplies you’re going to need,” Wes said as he coasted into the dock near the cabin.

“Okay,” she answered before stepping out from the cruiser. “You’d better wait until later in the day so that I can go through all my supplies first to see what I’m low on.”

“Alright,” he replied, saying nothing more as he revved up the engine, driving away.

Shanna thought about her sister and how much she’d wanted to run to her and let Anya know she was there.

If only she could go home.

Once Shanna was inside the cabin, for the first time in years, she broke down, falling onto the floor and sobbing uncontrollably.

* * *

Just in case Wes called early, Shanna had made her supply list the night before so she could make a trip in her canoe at first light in the morning. She needed to reassure her mom, even if it meant just leaving her a message on voice mail.

It was a beautiful calm clear morning, she thought, paddling along the edge of the shoreline. Sunlight flickered across the lake as the sun began to rise to the east. She was headed west, back to the house that she’d been at with Wes the other day. With renovations happening, she was sure that someone would more than likely leave a cell phone laying around somewhere.

There was a lot of activity up on the bank, she saw as she steered her canoe to the rickety pier near the cavern opening. Instead of going through the passages, she decided to hike up the staircase. No one would probably pay any attention to her since she was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt, and had her hair in a ponytail, with a baseball cap covering her head.

When she reached the top of the staircase, everyone appeared to be busy in the barn which was near the end of the driveway, several yards away from the house.

She was in luck, she realized, glancing inside one of the company trucks that was parked behind several others, with the window down. A cell phone was resting there on the passenger seat. Reaching inside, she scooped it up, strolling at a purposely relaxed pace until she reached the edge of the woods on the property.

Taking cover behind a tree, she switched it on, relieved that it didn’t appear to have a lock screen.

Quickly, she dialed her old number, and when her mom’s voice echoed through the phone, tears filled Shanna’s eyes.

“Mom, it’s me. I’m doing alright. Please don’t try to find me. It could put you in danger, and I don’t want anything to happen to you,” Shanna whispered, switching off the phone.

Peeking around the tree, she was nearly ready to head back to the truck to return the phone, when she saw a man with a familiar face walking out from inside the house onto the porch.

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