Endless Chain Read Online Free

eyes a blue so intense they were the most arresting feature in an immensely attractive face.
    “Thank you.” He held out his hand. “Sam Kinkade. I’m the minister.”
    She had already guessed that. She extended her hand. “Elisa Martinez. I hope I’ll be your new sexton.”
    They stared at each other longer than politeness called for. In those unexpectedly charged seconds, she warned herself of a hundred different things. The incident with the boys had left her shaken and vulnerable. This man might well be her new employer. She was lonely and worried about getting this job. The talk of police had frightened her. Adrenaline was pumping through her body.
    And still, if she subtracted all those things and added in years of hard-earned caution and the fact that she could not afford even the briefest foray into romance, she was still left with a strong attraction to Sam Kinkade.
    “Well, go ahead and hire her right now, preacher,” one of the woman, the oldest, demanded, moving closer. “What other proof do you need that she can do the job? A signed statement from the Almighty?”

C HAPTER Two
    S am turned to the old woman and managed a smile. His anger was just beginning to fade. He was not easily provoked, but by the same token, he was not easily placated. “Thank you, Helen. I’ll take your recommendation into consideration.”
    “You do that, and don’t you try to humor me. I saw the whole thing. We could use somebody around here who takes matters into her own hands. If she’s not scared of that gang of teenage thugs, she won’t be scared of a little dirt.”
    Sam walked over and slung his arm around Helen Henry’s shoulders, steering her back toward the church, which was not an easy job. She was a big-boned woman in her eighties, but she still knew how to do a day’s work. The church had been a far more boring place before she started coming regularly, and before the quilters organized and commandeered the Beehive.
    Sometimes he was nostalgic for boredom.
    “How’s the quilt coming?” He knew this subject would take them all the way inside.
    The other women started heading inside. He walked back to Kate Brogan who was standing ten yards behind the others, and he scooped the flailing Rory out of his mother’s arms and set him on his hip, leaving Kate with only shy baby Bridget.
    Sam paused a moment and turned to Elisa Martinez, who was standing exactly where he had left her. He was struck, as he had been a moment ago, by how gracefully appealing she was. She was average height and slender, wearing a simple white blouse and black pants. She had shining dark hair clipped back in a ponytail that fell past her shoulder blades, creamy toffee-colored skin, and eyes so darkly liquid and expressive that he had felt himself going down for the third time in just the seconds he had stared into them.
    He shoved his mind back into gear. “Do you mind following us inside? We’ll do the interview in my study.”
    Cathy Adams, one of the quilters, waited to walk with Elisa. When he saw they were bringing up the rear, he made his way through the lot and the play yard into the Beehive. He deposited Rory in a corner after a brief man-to-man chat about ninjas and sledgehammers, said a few words to each of the women, genuinely admired the quilt stretched out on the frame, and finally motioned for Elisa to follow him upstairs.
    He was in marginally better spirits by the time he closed the Beehive door and they started for the steps. Beside him, Elisa was silent.
    They were upstairs and on the way to his study before he spoke. “No sign is worth risking your safety for.”
    “I’m not sure what came over me.”
    He wondered if that was true, or if she knew very well and wasn’t going to acknowledge it. He unlocked his door and ushered her inside, leaving the door open, as he usually did. He did not like enclosed spaces, and today the church secretary, who was usually at the desk in the next office, was out of town for the