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injury.
    Kari blinked.
    Since her husband, Tim, had been murdered, she’d done everything possible to avoid thoughts of Ryan Taylor. It simply wasn’t the time. She was still reeling from last year’s incredible sequence of events. First, Tim’s bombshell—his affair with a college student. Then finding out she and Tim were expecting a baby. After that came Tim’s refusal to talk with Kari or get counseling, all of which led to her rekindled closeness with Ryan Taylor.
    And ultimately her decision—and Tim’s—to do what was necessary to make their marriage work.
    She would forever remember Tim’s face, his tenderness toward her on the last morning of his life. They really had been growing close again, after all the hurt. Who would have thought  it would all end so tragically, so senselessly? A stalker. A fanatical college kid on steroids bent on marrying Tim’s lover. How was it possible that he’d shot Tim outside her apartment—when the only reason Tim had stopped by was to tell her he couldn’t see her again, to assure her that he was in love with Kari and always would be? There’d been no tense hours of hospital waiting with Tim. He’d never had a chance; he was dead on arrival.
    Jessie stirred and flopped a small hand against Kari’s arm.
    “That’s right, sweetie. Mommy’s here.” Kari stared at her daughter, awed at the way the tiny baby in her arms had helped her through the past months.
    She knew better than to dwell on the awful memories of Tim’s death—or to let her mind camp too long on the shores of all she once shared with Ryan Taylor. As always when it came to Ryan, the timing was wrong. Ryan was in New York coaching the Giants, fulfilling a longtime dream. And she was here in Bloomington, a grieving widow learning how to be a single mom.
    But now, with Landon in the hospital, Kari couldn’t help but remember. And maybe that was all right. If she never walked through the past, never allowed the painful areas in her heart to heal, she would never be able to move forward.
    The front door creaked. Kari’s father walked quickly into view. He scanned the room. “Where is she?”
    “Ashley hasn’t been home all day.” Elizabeth stood, and Kari watched her parents embrace. “How is he?”
    Her father’s gaze fell to the ground. When he looked up, Kari could see the weariness in his soul. “He might not make it through the night. His oxygen level is—”
    Before her father could go into any detail, they heard the front door open again. This time it was Ashley. Kari saw her sister’s eyes grow wide as she stopped short and took in the full house.
    She has no idea what’s happened, Kari thought. Then, without hesitating, Kari felt a prayer wind its way through the alleys of her mind. Whatever happens to Landon, use this, God, please. Use it to help Ashley believe again.
    Ashley slowly pulled off her jacket. “What’s going on?” She looked around the room, and her eyes settled on their father’s stricken face.
    Luke shifted forward, balancing himself on the edge of the sofa. Even angry, he looked handsome. Like a young Robert Redford, only taller. But he’d had little good to say about Ashley since she’d come home from Paris. “Nice of you to check in.”
    Ashley spun around and stared at Luke, her expression more surprised than angry. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    Elizabeth put a hand on Ashley’s shoulder. “We expected you hours ago, dear. I was worried.”
    For a moment Ashley’s mouth hung open. “I told you I wasn’t sure when I’d be back.”
    “Yes,” their mother nodded. “But you said the interview would be over by noon.”
    “Okay, so I took care of some errands.” Ashley gestured at the others gathered around the living room. “Is that what this is? Some kind of search party for crazy, irresponsible Ashley?”
    Their father cleared his throat and stepped forward, bracing Ashley’s shoulders with his hands. “Landon’s hurt. He was