Under a Desert Sky by DiAnn Mills

Author:DiAnn Mills
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781609361389
Publisher: Guideposts

CHAPTER 27

I crawled into Tahoma’s truck so tired that a sense of numbness had spread throughout my body and certainly my brain. The sheriff had me look at photographs of wanted men, but none of them looked like Walt Chambers. Again I drank in the smells of the truck—of the outdoors—and of Tahoma. How could one man have made such an impression in my heart? I wanted to talk to him about Pete and ask if he had any idea who’d killed him. Why had the killer spared me once but then changed his mind? Did Tahoma have any answers? Or did Pete die with the information? So many things had been kept from me, and that knowledge shattered my confidence. It also infuriated me.

I was a grown, educated woman. But my sheltered life had left me ignorant of the ways of the world. I wanted to learn it all without delay.

In my exhausted stupor, I remembered my foolish words to Tahoma on the way to Santa Fe. He’d been right. We were from two different worlds, and he’d never be at home in New York. At times, home was a distant shore. I belonged in the gray stone mansion with Victoria. Yet the past weeks had changed me, strengthened me, and I’d never be the same. Neither did I want to be the pitiful creature who’d boarded the train to New Mexico. I should have stayed and fought, but then I’d never have known Tahoma or Charlotte or Pete or Rex or my beloved Monarch boys.

My pondering solved none of the problems plaguing me. Right now, I needed to stay awake.

Tahoma touched my shoulder. “Eva, try to sleep.”

“I can’t. It would be selfish of me when you have to drive back home.” I caught my words and leaned my head back against the seat. “I said ‘home,’ didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Before my father died, he used to take me on many of his trips. At night I’d always want to go home. One night, in between my tearful pleas, he told me something I’ve never forgotten.”

“What’s that?”

“He said home was being with those you loved. A safe place. Not a building, but a warm spot in your heart. I didn’t quite understand it then, but I do now. Ghost Ranch is my home until this is all over.” I wished I hadn’t used the word “loved,” for I’d already said too many unwise things this evening. With my weariness, I needed to cease talking.

“During medical school, I missed everything associated with home—our ways, family, food, the peacefulness of the high desert. The sounds and the culture of those living in Chicago made me homesick. Only the intense drive to become a doctor kept me rooted there.”

I abandoned the need to be quiet for the desire to hear his voice. “Did it change you?”

“I became a Christian there.”

Since I’d learned that being a Christian meant more than going to church, his confession intrigued me. “How did your family accept your faith?”

He didn’t answer for several moments.

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