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Surrendered Love

By Laura V. Hilton

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Chapter 1

The police officer sorting though the Gala apples reminded Janna Kauffman of Hiram Troyer, but this Englischer couldn’t be her teenage crush. With a sigh, she focused at the display in front of her. Cabbage. She picked up a head. Homemade coleslaw sounded good to go with the hamburgers and baked beans she planned for supper. She put the cabbage in the cart, but couldn’t keep from glancing at the gut-looking officer again. Dark blond hair, cut in a fancy hairstyle, a trim build…Ach, she shouldn’t be noticing things like that about an Englischer.
Janna looked away but not before he glanced at her. She did a double take. She thought his eyes were blue, like Hiram’s, but she didn’t get a good view before he turned his back and walked away. Probably headed for the doughnuts. She smiled and turned her attention to her shopping list. Ten five-pound bags of carrots…
When she put the carrots in her cart, the hair on the back of her neck tingled as if someone were watching her. She turned, and caught the policeman’s glance just before it slid away. A thrill shot through her, that an Englischer might be attracted to her, an Amish woman, but she stifled it. His interest was a moot point. Of course, he might have just been curious about why she’d loaded so many carrots into the shopping cart.
He disappeared around the corner of an aisle. She turned her attention back to her list. A bag of oranges for Emma Brunstettler. Emma believed an orange a day kept sickness away. It seemed to work for her. Janna selected ten ripe ones and put them in Emma’s mesh bag. The hair on the back of her neck rose again along with her pulse. Her breath hitched.
She wouldn’t look. Instead, she turned to put the oranges in the cart, but missed the edge, and they went rolling all over the floor.
“Klutz.” A woman carrying a hand basket stepped over them and hurried away.
As Janna bent to pick up the first of the escaped fruit, she noticed a man wearing blue pants approaching. She hoped it wasn’t the store manager coming to yell at her. Or even worse, it might be the police officer witnessing her klutzy humiliation. She didn’t know which would be worse. She dared a glance up as he crouched and helped her pick up the oranges. The police officer. He grinned as he handed her the ones he’d collected. She stretched out a shaking hand for the fruit while trying to keep her burning face averted as she stuffed the fruit back into the bag.
His smile would have made her weak in the knees, if she weren’t already squatting. Even so, she put one hand on the floor to keep her balance. He stood, picked up his few grocery items from the edge of a display, and turned to go.
She found her voice. “Danki.”
He glanced back at her and winked. “Careful with those oranges. They’ll get you every time.” He strode toward the checkout lines. She smiled as she noticed a box of doughnuts and a canister of coffee tucked under one elbow, a bag of apples in his hand.
Janna’s heart rate accelerated more with his wink. She gripped the refilled bag in one hand and slowly straightened, watching him as he checked out, giving herself a silent, yet stern lecture for her ogling him the whole time.
An hour later, she pushed the cart, piled full with her bagged purchases, to her buggy, her thoughts still on the handsome police officer.
She started to sort through the bags looking for the Yoder family’s groceries to put toward the back in her buggy, since they’d be the first home she came to on the way home.
“Janna Kauffman?” An Englisch man’s voice shattered her thoughts.
Janna’s heart stuttered. Was it him? She paused in riffling through the plastic bags in the cart beside her, and looked up. A policeman approached. He wasn’t the one from the store. Her heart crash-landed somewhere in the vicinity of her toes. This one had dark hair, and sunglasses covered his eyes.
“I’m Officer Pete O’Dell.”
Janna tried to find a smile. “Is there a problem, Officer?”
He didn’t return her attempt at a smile. His lips didn’t even twitch. He opened his mouth, but as he did, another police car pulled to a stop beside her. She stiffened, trying to prepare herself for whatever bad news they brought. She searched her mind for ideas. She knew she hadn’t double parked, and dropping oranges wasn’t against the law. Ach, maybe there’d been an accident....
Her rush of thoughts stopped as the police car door opened, and the blond officer from the store approached her, sliding his sunglasses down from the top of his head to cover his eyes. Ach, it was him. Her face heated, thinking of the shame of ogling him in the store after dropping all those oranges. The blond officer looked at her buggy packed full of coolers labeled with the full names of Amish men. “Where’d you get all these?” He opened up the red lid of a cooler, labeled Elam Troyer—the father of her crush. That seemed like a slap in the face. The cooler was empty, except for a package of ice.
Janna sucked in a breath. Ach, they probably thought she’d stolen all the coolers. “I didn’t steal them. They gave them to me.” She waved toward the cart, still overflowing with plastic bags. “I’m doing their grocery shopping.” Embarrassed at being caught in yet another humiliating situation by the cute officer, she pulled her list out of her pocket and shoved it toward the blond. He took it and perused it.
Officer O’Dell shifted and glanced at his watch. “Do you know Meghan Forest?”
Renewed panic filled Janna. She hadn’t considered her niece being the receiver of bad news. She pushed down her fear and nodded. “Jah, she’s my Englisch niece.”
“Do you know where she is?”
“At the public school here in town.” At least, that’s where she was supposed to be. But if they were asking, then they needed to find Meghan to tell her about some bad news. “Did something happen to her mom?” She froze, dreading the answer.
“Your niece has been picked up for shop-lifting. We need you, as her guardian, to come to the police station,” Officer Pete O’Dell said.
“Excuse me?” Janna shook her head. This couldn’t be happening. “You’ve arrested Meghan for shop-lifting? She’s in school.” She glanced at the position of the sun, then looked for a watch. She found one conveniently located on the arm of the handsome officer. Almost noon. The officer still studied her shopping list, not contributing anything to the conversation.
“Well, apparently she decided to skip school today, Ms. Kauffman. Will you come with us to the station?” Officer O’Dell asked. It sounded like an order, as if she had no option.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Janna’s stomach knotted. But she stood there, staring at the plastic bags in the cart. She had perishables. She had to deliver the food first. Or at least sort it, and hope the ice would keep it cool while she handled the situation with Meghan. Otherwise she’d have to personally pay to replace the spoiled food. Besides, late or incomplete orders won’t help her business any. And here she’d thought the day was going so well.
“Now would be a good time, Ms. Kauffman.” Officer O’Dell grabbed a plastic bag from the cart and tossed it in the buggy.
Janna reached for the bag and pulled it back out. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Maybe he didn’t hear her the first time. “I have to get these sorted and in the coolers so they won’t spoil.”
“Go on, O’Dell. I’ll help her.” The blond policeman handed back her list. He ran his fingertip over Elam Troyer’s name written in black permanent marker. “What can I do?” His dark glasses turned in her direction as Officer O’Dell scowled and strode back to his cruiser.
Janna swallowed. She wasn’t Meghan’s parent—just one of her temporary guardians, until Sharon decided she was ready to take Meghan back home. She sighed. Since the police probably wouldn’t ask a parent to fly in to deal with this, she would be it. Unless Daed could do it… For a second, hope flared. Then died. Nein, Daed and Mamm had a driver take them into Springfield to visit someone in the hospital. As much as she hated it, she was it.
“I don’t know if you can help,” Janna said. “I have this list and I need to pack the items into the right coolers. I tried to keep the orders separate in the store, but the bagger grabbed bags at random and piled them in the cart, so I still need to figure out who gets what.” Normally, she was better organized, but this time, the police officer had taken her thoughts prisoner.
“Then, you tell me which cooler it goes into and I’ll put it in.”
She watched his eyebrows rise above his dark glasses. He really did seem familiar…
“Why are you doing their grocery shopping?” His finger tapped the lid of Elam Troyer’s red cooler.
She shrugged and decided to answer generally. The Troyer’s reasons were personal and none of this officer’s concern. “Various reasons. Sickness. Old age. Maybe the wife had a baby. Or maybe it’s a widower with no interest in shopping.” She looked through the contents of one bag, consulted her list, then handed it to the officer. “This goes to Elam Troyer.”
She glanced at his name badge, pinned to his shirt. Troy Troyer. She didn’t know a Troy. But he had to be related in someway. She studied his face, wondering if the name meant anything to him. His expression remained impassive. Except for the tiniest flicker of a muscle in his jaw.
It must be her overactive imagination.
***
He should be shot for neglecting his parents like he did. Hiram “Troy” Troyer slid his hand off the top of the cooler, lifted the lid, and put the plastic bag inside. He’d run by their house on the way home and check on them. If they were hiring someone to do their grocery shopping, then something must have happened.
He accepted another bag from the attractive Amish woman. “Same family?”
She nodded, distracted as she sorted through another bag.
He dropped it in the cooler, keeping his gaze on her. Janna Kauffman. Seemed she would have been married by now. He remembered noticing her at singings and frolics back when he…
No point going there. That was a lifetime ago. Still, looking into her eyes when they’d seen each other in the store, had felt like an earthquake tearing through his heart and mind, rearranging everything about his life. The aftershocks still rumbled through him.
But now, Troy’s thoughts were no longer scrambled but crystal clear. He knew exactly what he wanted to do. He just didn’t know how he was going to do it.
She looked up as she handed him several more bags. “These are the last of Elam Troyer’s.”
He was glad his sunglasses hid his eyes as his gaze slid down the length of her curvy body. She was still as attractive as ever. Light brown hair, hazel eyes, the usual cape dress, but in lavender. She’d skipped the black bonnet Amish women usually wore over their prayer kapps when they went out—but he’d seen other women do that, especially as the days got warmer. Lately, the temperatures had reached the eighties. Eighty-two, he thought he’d seen on the bank sign, though he could be mistaken, because gazing into Janna’s eyes left him reeling. He looked away.
He’d left Meghan locked in a cell in the otherwise empty police station. Troy slid his glance back to Janna, then away. “Hurry and finish.”
Okay, that was a bit abrupt, but he needed to be there for the prisoner and to take the statement from the manager.
He hoped he’d get back to the station before the store manager arrived. She’d been running the cash register and needed to find someone to cover for her.
Troy glanced in the direction of the police station. Maybe O’Dell had gone straight back. Troy had told him he’d talk to Janna, but as usual, O’Dell didn’t listen. Probably because a hint of action beat the dispatcher job O’Dell was supposed to be doing today.
And come down to it, Troy needed to do his job, instead of standing there staring at the Amish woman. He needed to get away from Janna and the feelings she raised in him.
***
As Janna neared the police station, she began to regret the meat and cheese samples she had eaten while she shopped. They weighed heavy on her stomach. Years of trying to be the perfect Bishop’s daughter, and she got called in for trouble. At least she wasn’t the one who’d done it. She hoped shop-lifting wasn’t punishable with jail time. Her sister would never forgive her for letting Meghan go to jail. Maybe she could talk the nice blond policeman into going easy on Meghan. And somehow keep it from Sharon.
Janna climbed out of the buggy, tied the reins to a telephone pole, and went inside the station, wishing again she didn’t have to handle this—or that the problem would disappear. If only the blond policeman had waited for her. But he’d disappeared before she talked her horse, Tulip, into pulling out of the grocery store parking lot.
The dark-haired officer sat with his feet on the front desk, a full cup of coffee in one hand, and what Janna assumed was a McDonald’s burger halfway to his mouth. The room smelled like fresh-brewed coffee. A glance around showed an almost full pot on a file cabinet.
The man lowered his lunch. “Ms. Kauffman. Go on back.” He talked around a mouthful of food and pointed over his shoulder in an abrupt move.
Janna inclined her head to acknowledge his directions and went to the partially closed door the man indicated. She knocked once, then pushed it open. Meghan sat hunched over in the far chair. She didn’t even look up when Janna came in. Not good.
A woman wearing black pants and a low-cut hot pink shirt leaned against the wall next to the huge desk. She played with the bangles on her arm. The blond officer sat in another chair behind the desk, talking on the phone, apparently the king of the office. He’d removed his sunglasses, but other than a brief glance her way, didn’t look at her. He was handsome, but instead of the friendliness she’d seen earlier, now his expression was stern. She probably didn’t know him. Maybe she’d just seen him around town.
Janna inhaled deeply. Her stomach knotted. She pressed a hand to her abdomen, hoping to keep her snack down.
The officer looked up as he replaced the phone into the receiver. His blue-eyed gaze pierced Janna. She pressed her nails into her palms. Good-looking but scary—not someone she’d want to tangle with on a dark dirt road. Or even in a brightly lit office.
He stood. “Please, have a seat.”
She’d rather stand like that woman in the hot pink shirt. Right there by the trashcan, in case the food decided not to stay put. Or near the door, so she could beat a hasty retreat and not deal with this situation. But obediently, she dropped into the chair he gestured toward. “I’m sure this is just a simple misunderstanding.” Janna glanced over at Meghan who studied the floor as if she found the pattern of the tile fascinating.
The officer slid a card holding a pair of earrings across the desk. They were pretty, dangly, and sparkly. Definitely something Meghan would wear. “We found these in your niece’s possession. Would you like to see the video?” What sounded like anger colored his voice.
Not really. “No…”
He ignored her and pushed a button. A rather grainy picture of Meghan and someone Janna didn’t know appeared on the screen. Janna glanced around. The friend was nowhere in this tension-filled room. She must have gotten away, or maybe waited in the holding cell, because it was clear that both girls slipped things into their pockets.
He pushed the button again, and the screen went blank. His cold gaze speared Janna. Her hands shook. His eyes shifted to Meghan. “Shoplifting is a crime, punishable by jail time. But, since this is your first offense, we’re willing to work with you.” He made a motion toward the woman standing there beside him. “The manager on duty, Ms. Taft, said she won’t press charges if you serve six weeks of community service. I just talked to the DA to make sure this was agreeable. He said you could begin Monday after school, reporting to the courthouse. You will not enter that store again.” He tapped the card holding the earrings. “If you do, the management will not hesitate to report you to the police for trespassing.”
Janna glanced toward Meghan. “I’m sure it won’t happen again.” She hoped. She glanced at Meghan to see if she felt the same relief for staying out of jail, but her niece’s face was impassive.
“And, the DA said you’ll pay for the merchandise you stole. Three times the retail value.”
Janna couldn’t hold back her gasp. That seemed a bit harsh. “Three times?” Acid burned in the back of her throat. She stood and moved to the trashcan.
“Ms. Kauffman, take a seat.” There was no “please” included. This man expected obedience. She wondered where the nice officer who’d helped her collect fallen oranges and load groceries had gone. This man looked the same, but his attitude and bearing was completely different.
Janna cast him a frantic look, then lost the contents of her stomach and what was left of her pride. Ms. Taft gagged.
“Ewww, Aunt Janna. Gross!” At least Meghan had generated a reply.
Janna blinked back tears, pressed her hand against her stomach. The officer stood, opened a mini-refrigerator and reached for a bottle of water. Her throat burned.
“Thank you.” Her fingers brushed against the officer’s when she took the water. Fire shot through her and she glanced quickly at him. His blue eyes widened as they met hers, but his expression seemed sympathetic. Maybe he was friendly after all, and not so scary. She set the trashcan outside the door and moved back to the desk.
“Now. Back to business.” The officer’s voice hardened, and he moved behind his desk, all traces of kindness gone. “As I was saying…” He repeated himself with enough force to make Janna’s stomach churn again. The punishment Daed would come up with for Meghan couldn’t be harsh enough for making Janna go through this torture.
Something the policeman said seemed to have reached through Meghan’s indifference. She flung a wad of cash on the desk. Her hands didn’t even shake. Janna stared at the currency as her mouth dropped open. Sharon sent an allowance, but Janna didn’t think with the way Meghan spent money she’d have any left.
The manager reached for the bills and flipped through them. She seemed satisfied with the amount and slid it into her pocket. “Thank you, Officer.” She almost purred the words. Her voice hardened as she turned toward Janna. “If I ever see your brat in my store again, I will have her arrested for trespassing.” She flipped her hair and walked out of the office.
The uniformed man rose to his feet. “Thank you for coming in, Ms. Kauffman. I’ll escort Meghan back to school.”
Did that fall under his job description? She supposed it must. Truant kids. Janna didn’t even try to force a smile. “Thank you, Sir. Meghan, I expect you straight home after school and we are going to have a talk.”
“What. Ever.” Meghan punctuated the words with a sneer. “You aren’t my mom.”
Meghan’s words knocked air from Janna’s lungs like a fist slamming into her gut. No, she wasn’t Meghan’s mom. But she was once her favorite aunt. After all, they were only five years apart.
Janna glanced at the police officer on her way out. In light of the humiliation she had just suffered, if she never saw him again, it would be way too soon.
Whatever Sharon’s reasons were for sending Meghan to live in Seymour with her Amish relatives, they weren’t good enough.

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