Page 37 of Amazing Grace

“She went nuts, that’s what happened,” Grace said. She was shaking and trying to ascertain if Molly had been injured. “She attacked us with the old WWII knife she had in the display case!”

“Are you two okay?” Maverick asked. “I couldn’t get off a shot without hitting one of you.”

“Yeah, I think so. She didn’t get close enough to stab either one of us, hard as she tried.”

“I-I’m bleeding,” Ginny mumbled. “I need help.”

“We’ll take you to the ER for stitches as soon as we read you your rights. You’re under arrest for the murder of Jeremy Prada. We found the gun hidden in the back of a drawer. Looks like we’ll be adding assault with a deadly weapon to the list of charges. Ginny Windom, you have the right to remain silent…”

As Sheriff Maverick read Ginny her rights, Grace made sure Molly was okay.

“Your arm. Did you reinjure it? Maybe we should take you in for another x-ray.” Grace said. She ran her hands over Molly’s arms and sides, almost as if she were frisking her, searching for injuries.

“Grace, I’m fine. Are you okay? She went after you, too.”

“No, she didn’t get me. I’m good.”

“Then can we go home?” Molly asked. She might not have been injured, but she was visibly shaken by the ordeal.

“Sheriff? Can we go home?” Grace asked.

“Yes, but you’ll have to come down to the station to make a report,” Maverick answered. “Oh, and Grace, Molly? Thank you. I probably wouldn’t have looked at Ginny Windom again ifit hadn’t been for your stubborn interference.” Maverick smiled as she said it.

“You’re welcome. I’m just glad it’s over,” Grace said. “Things can get back to normal.”

“Except for your maze. I’m so sorry you had to get caught up in all this and lose your maze,” Molly said. Her arm was threaded through Grace’s elbow crook, and she clung to it.

“We’ll see.”

“What do you mean? The farmer doesn’t want your maze on his field anymore, remember?”

Grace grinned. “I know. But I have a plan.”

l

Chapter 15

They returned to Zoe and Emily’s house after leaving the Second Time Around Vintage Clothing store, but the frightening debacle of seeing the real Ginny Windom come to the surface followed them home.

“She was out of her mind!” Molly said, once they were safely ensconced in Zoe and Emily’s living room, a cup of hot tea in her hands. “I can’t remember ever being so frightened. She looked like a different person. Her face actually changed. It was horrifying.”

“It was an ordeal, for sure,” Grace said. She sat close to Molly, her tea in one hand and the other hand on Molly’s knee. She took a sip of tea. It was lavender and chamomile, exactly what they needed — something calming to ease their tension and soothe their frazzled nerves.

“She kept saying it was my fault that Jeremy was here. That he came looking for me,” Molly said. “Did he? Is all this my fault? All the people in town that he bilked…even Bridget McBain, who thought I was having an affair with him…” Tears came to Molly again, and she sniffled.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Emily cried. She was feeding Lily. Then she took the bottle away and held her up against her shoulder, patting Lily’s back until she got a little burp. Then she gave Lily back her bottle. “You said you hadn’t talked to him for a year.”

“That’s right,” Zoe put in. “It’s not your fault he decided to come find you, and it certainly not your fault he swindled people. I wonder how he found you?”

“My folks. They told him where I was. It was right after I left home. They didn’t understand that I needed to be away from him. They’d invested money with him and thought he was still a good guy,” Molly explained. “They thought at the time that I might get back together with him. This was all before everything came crashing down.”

“Did you tell them about us?” Grace asked in a tiny voice. She was afraid to know the answer. “Your folks?”

Molly smiled and wiped away the wetness from her face. “I did. All they wanted to know was if I ever gave you money.” She laughed. “I had to tell them it was the other way around. All they said was that they wanted me to be happy. I told them I was.”

Emily smiled. “Well then, everything will be going back to normal now. Ginny Windom is behind bars where she belongs, and Summit Springs is safe again. It’s a shame the people Jeremy bilked are still out of their money.”

Grace nodded. “The Feds and their forensic accountants will try to trace his money trail. Hopefully, he wasn’t bright enough to get it out of the country. If it’s still here in an account somewhere, they’ll find it, and at least some people will get their money back.”