Home to Sparrow Lake. Lynn Patrick

were shelves of books and videos about quilting. A half-dozen colorful baskets held samples of the patterns that were stored in a file cabinet. Notions—rulers, cutting tools, pins and needles, and spools of thread—took up the center of the store. And brilliantly colored fabrics were displayed closest to the windows to take advantage of the natural light. It was only when she was admiring some batik prints that she noticed a black-and-white patrol car stop next to the curb directly outside the store.

      Pulse humming, she ducked down to take a better look at the driver...just as Police Chief Alex Novak looked back.

      Was he checking up on her?

      Without thinking it through, Kristen left the store to find out. Through the windshield, she could see that his expression changed, as if he hadn’t expected a confrontation. And then, appearing resigned, he got out of the vehicle. She came face-to-face with him curbside. His feet were still planted on the street, while she was on the higher curb, so they were actually eye to eye. Not that she could see the soft gray color of his eyes through his dark sunglasses.

      “Is there a problem, Chief?”

      “Alex, please.”

      He was wearing a uniform today, looking unbelievably good in stark black. Not wanting to be attracted to him, she swallowed hard. “Okay, Alex, do you have a problem with me?”

      “Why would you think that?”

      “This is the second time today that you stopped in front of the store, as if you were casing it. Or maybe you’re expecting me to be doing something not to your liking. Maybe you just want to arrest me again.”

      The way he was staring at her intently, as if he wanted to say something but was reluctant, made her mouth go dry. Was he really not going to explain himself? The way he was staring at her was so...so personal.

      Her pulse quickened, and she was about to demand an answer, when he said, “When I drove around back, I noticed the glass in that window was still missing.”

      “And?”

      “I wondered why.”

      “And I’ve been wondering why Aunt Margaret’s handyman hasn’t returned my calls. Three of them.” She couldn’t help sounding a little exasperated. “That’s why. So is having a window with no glass illegal in Sparrow Lake?”

      “Just risky. You never know who might try to crawl in through an open window.”

      Heat rose along her neck as she remembered the way he’d caught her the night before. Did he enjoy embarrassing her? She thought so.

      “Thanks for the observation, Chief, but as long as it’s not illegal...”

      She didn’t finish the statement. His eyebrows flashed upward over the tops of his sunglasses, and he looked as if he wanted to say something more. But in the end, he gave her one of those sarcastic smiles that irritated her and touched the front of his cap before backing off.

      “Have a good day, ma’am.”

      She stood there, feet glued to the curb, as he got into the patrol car and drove off. No man had ever made her feel so uptight before. What was with that? Tension gradually flowed out of her body, and she retreated back inside the store.

      Now what had she been doing before she’d seen Alex out there? Oh, right, taking a mental inventory of the store’s wares. Her mind had gone blank. Instead of product, it was filled with Alex Novak’s face. The way his mouth always seemed ready to curl in a smile. Or was it a smirk? She shook away the image and forced herself to concentrate on work.

      Happy to see that Brian was gathering items to fulfill those orders, she went back to the office area to search the internet for the computer program that she wanted to install.

      Glancing back to Brian, however, she hesitated. Rather than working, he was now reading something on his cell phone. She knew he was into the whole social networking thing. He was always checking his phone and sending off messages to his friends. Nothing wrong with that—all the kids and many adults did it—but he was supposed to be working now. About to say so, Kristen stopped when Brian slipped the cell back into his pocket and got to work on an order.

      Okay, then. Back to work for her.

      She had the ability to concentrate even in the midst of chaos. Sew Fine was fairly calm compared to the office she’d last worked in. As she clicked on internet links to check out several potential programs, she heard the entrance door opening and closing, customer questions being answered about the pros and cons of using patterns as opposed to kits, soft laughter coming from someone at the other end of the store. Nothing affected her concentration.

      Not until a jarring noise came from directly behind her on the other side of the back wall, as if someone was stomping on loose boards.

      Kristen tried to ignore the noise, and for a moment it went away. Then a rough, grating sound scraped straight down her spine.

      “What the...?”

      She turned to see movement on the other side of the broken window. Had the handyman simply shown up and started the job without telling anyone? But wait...the person wielding a tool that scraped the frame was dressed in black.

      Suspicion made her hackles rise. Lunging out of her chair, she made for the back door and threw it open only to find Alex, a rectangle of glass in hand, standing on the Dumpster. He was trying to set glass into the empty window pane.

      “What do you think you’re doing?”

      He gave her a quick glance before returning his attention to his task. “You’re welcome.”

      “I didn’t thank you.”

      He sighed. “I figured you wouldn’t, but that doesn’t stop me from being polite.”

      Realizing she’d let her temper best her when it seemed he was simply trying to do her a favor, Kristen took a big breath to calm herself. What was wrong with her? She never used to be like this. Then, again, she’d never run into an Alex Novak before. Now he was using some kind of a tool to push little pieces of metal into the frame, undoubtedly meant to hold the glass in place.

      “Look, I’m sorry,” she said and meant it. “You just...well, kind of startled me, is all.”

      He glanced her way again and grinned. “You weren’t ready for me, huh?”

      Not sure any woman would be, she asked, “Did Aunt Margaret call you to take care of the window?”

      “No one had to ask me.” He rolled a cord of white stuff around the glass frame and used the tool to press it in place. “I could see you needed a little help. You couldn’t get Margaret’s handyman to return your calls, and I assumed you wanted the place locked up and the alarm set tonight.”

      “Well, yes, of course.”

      He used another tool to remove any goopy stuff off the glass. “And I don’t want to have to respond to a burglary in progress, so I’m taking the easy way out.”

      Kristen realized he was done when he jumped from the Dumpster and landed next to her. And she realized she’d sounded ungrateful for a charitable act.

      “Well, thank you, Alex. I mean that sincerely.”

      He set the sunglasses back in his hair and cocked his head, his gray eyes going soft as they swept over her face. It put a knot in Kristen’s stomach.

      “You’ll have to get someone to paint the compound and touch up the frame. Wait a couple of days, though, so the compound has time to dry out.”

      “Okay.”

      “In the meantime, I’ll take a look at your alarm system, make sure it’ll work now.”

      Kristen followed him inside and watched as he pulled a chair under the window and stood on it. Glancing around the store, she realized that no one was paying them any mind. Alex checked something attached to the window frame then stepped down.

      “Looks