<< Go Back

Every Window Filled with Light

By Shelia W. Stovall

Order Now!

CHAPTER ONE—EMMA
The albino python flicked its tongue next to Emma
Baker’s cheek. She shuddered but stood very still. Applause
filled the Weldon Public Library’s auditorium when Dr.
Jones removed the reptile from around her neck. Finally.
Assisting a wildlife biologist with his creepy critters was
above and beyond the call of duty for any librarian. Emma
covered her shaky relief with a broad smile and a wink at
the audience.
Dr. Jones continued his monologue of corny jokes, and
Emma stole a glance at the clock. When would this end?
“Let’s thank my lovely assistant.” Dr. Jones waved his
hands with a flourish toward Emma.
She bowed and tightened her ponytail with a yank. The
clapping and hoots of over two hundred kids intensified.
Not bad for a small-town library.
A tall man wearing a fitted, black T-shirt leaned against
the back wall and crossed his arms, exposing a tattoo of
barbed wire encircling his muscled bicep. He swiped a dark
curl behind his ear and seemed oblivious to the interested
glances from several moms in the crowd. If not for the
trimmed box beard, he could pass for Da Vinci’s David
come to life.Review Copy
Not for Distribution
EVERY WINDOW FILLED WITH LIGHT
2
Dark eyes locked with hers, and Emma’s pulse rate
increased. Two years since Chris’s funeral and her cloak
of grief had stifled any attraction to the opposite sex …
until now, surrounded by snakes, children, and small-town
gossips. Talk about bad timing. She lowered her chin, and
the sparkling ring on her right hand caught her attention.
A heaviness pushed down on her. Until death do us part.
There was no reason to feel guilt. Any breathing woman
would react to this man.
The kids in front fidgeted, and Emma cleared her throat.
“Th–thank you, Dr. Jones.” Of all times for her childhood
stutter to resurface. “Children, you’re dismissed. Enjoy the
rest of your fall break.”
The stranger watched her while children swarmed away
like minnows.
Emma turned her back to the dispersing crowd to thank
Dr. Jones. Then she made her way upstairs and stopped at the
circulation desk in front of the security monitor displaying
twenty-four views of the library’s property. Her senses
remained on high alert as she attempted the impossible
task of ensuring each child left the building with the proper
guardian. The tension in her shoulders dissipated as the
number of people inside the library decreased. One camera
held her attention, and she meandered toward the back of
the library.
At the last stack, Emma divided the books on the shelf
and peeked through the opening. The lanky girl in the
stained, sky-blue hoodie had been curled up in the chair
all day, sleeping. Was that Harley? It had been weeks since
she’d been in the library. Where had Harley been since
school started? Poor kid missed the show. Emma removed
her phone from her sweater pocket, turned, and walked Review Copy
Not for Distribution
Shelia Stovall
3
directly into a hard, broad chest. The tall, dark, David-lookalike stranger stepped back and gripped her elbows.
“Excuse me.” They spoke in unison.
“Are you all right, Mrs. Baker?” His inviting voice made
her yearn to lean in, to wrap herself in the warm tones.
She blinked. “Y–yes.” Emma slid her phone into her back
pocket. But she didn’t have a back pocket. Good gracious.
She’d just shoved her phone inside the waistband of her
pants. She slapped her palm against her hip to try to catch
it, but the device slipped further down. She’d burn these
slacks.
“I’m Luke Davis.” He extended his hand.
Sweat broke out on Emma’s forehead, but her palm
remained glued to her backside.
“You are Mrs. Baker, aren’t you?”
“Yes.” Her voice sounded raspy.
She let go of the phone and shook his hand. A current of
energy traveled up her arm, and she inhaled sharply. In all
her life, she’d never had such a reaction to a man, not even
when she’d met Chris.
She stood there, dumbstruck, then gulped in air.
“Is there a place we can speak privately?” His low voice
implied intimacy.
Emma bit her lip when her phone slipped further down
her back thigh. Lord, have mercy. She jiggled her right leg.
The phone slid down to the bend of her knee, and she
smiled without showing her teeth. If only the dratted thing
would fall down the rest of the way. It didn’t. With a sigh,
she bent over and pretended to brush something from her
calf. Finally! The onyx rectangle clattered to the floor.
She risked a glance up and saw a dimpled smile. Snakes
in a sack! So much for being discreet. “My office is this way.”Review Copy
Not for Distribution
EVERY WINDOW FILLED WITH LIGHT
4
He chuckled, and she lifted her chin. A polite person
would pretend he hadn’t noticed.
A faint hint of cedar and wood smoke drifted on the air,
and her insides melted. Heat coursed through her entire
body.
When they entered her office, she waved towards a chair
across from her desk. “Please, have a seat.” She sat, clasped
her hands in front of her, and squared her shoulders. It was
never good when someone asked to speak with the library
director privately. “What can I do for you Mister … I’m sorry.
Could you repeat your name?”
“Luke Davis. Please, call me Luke.”
“And I’m Emma.”
Luke beamed a smile, and her mouth went dry. The heat
on her cheeks intensified.
Emma swallowed hard. “What can I do for you, Mr.
Davis—um, Luke?” He wiped his palms on the worn fabric
of his jeans and removed a folded envelope from his back
pocket. “I lead a young men’s Bible study on Wednesday
evenings.”
Emma crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. He
didn’t look like the Bible study type.
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Winston Meador started
attending our church last month after he left the juvenile
detention center.”
Emma sat up straight and gripped the chair arm. Winston
Meador. The boy who killed Chris. Killed her husband.
Killed her dreams. A chill washed through her. Just breathe.
After a few seconds, Luke spoke softly. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll never, ever, be okay.” Her voice was brittle as she
enunciated each word.Review Copy
Not for Distribution
Shelia Stovall
5
“I’m sorry, but I promised Winston I’d deliver this.” He
placed the envelope on her desk. “He’s not a bad kid. It was
an accident.”
Emma stared at her name, printed in a childish scrawl.
She bit her trembling lower lip and fought to control her
breathing as the ice in her veins transformed to lava. “A
person doesn’t accidentally stab a person with a switchblade.
I want nothing from a murderer.”
Luke cleared his throat. “It was an accident, and it was
involuntary manslaughter. Not murder.”
Anything to do with that hoodlum reminded her of all
she’d lost and dredged up her buried grief and anger.
After a minute, Luke leaned toward her. “It might help
you to read the letter. Maybe it’s time to forgive Winston.”
Her temple pulsed. Forgive. The moment he’d said the
boy’s name, the rage she thought she’d overcome burned
through her.
Luke’s dark eyes showed compassion. “It’s been two
years—”
“I know exactly how long it’s been.” She glared at the
calendar and mentally calculated. “Two years, one month
and five days.” Her voice reverberated in the small space.
On trembling legs, she stood. “Please go.” She cringed at
the pleading sound of her voice.
“I’m sorry I upset you.” Luke stood. “If you ever want
to talk about it, please call me.” He placed a business card
next to the envelope and walked away.
Emma dropped back into her chair and covered her face
with shaking hands. Call him to talk about it? Never. She’d
expected to have to deal with a snake today, but she hadn’t
anticipated him showing up in the form of a man who could
be on the cover of GQ. Grief and anger twisted her insides Review Copy
Not for Distribution
EVERY WINDOW FILLED WITH LIGHT
6
every time she looked at her name on the envelope, and she
was wilted to acknowledge she hadn’t even come close to
forgiving the boy who’d shattered all her dreams.
After a long time, she looked up. Almost five o’clock and
she’d accomplished nothing. She shut down her computer
and grabbed her purse. Her hand hovered over the envelope
before she stuffed it into the drawer with the two others
she’d received in the mail.
As was her habit, Emma walked all the hallways of the
library before leaving. Behind the last stack, she stifled
the urge to check Harley’s forehead for fever. One of the
closing staff members would wake the child in a couple of
hours if she remained sleeping. If only Emma could take the
scrawny girl home with her and fill her up with food. But
Emma had learned long ago, wishes never came true.

Order Now!

<< Go Back