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what Rory really thought. Wondering why she’d let him in. Really let him in.
    â€œYes.” He munched on his waffle cone. “But that’s not your fault. And you don’t have to go through it alone.”
    â€œDo you mean clearing away this clutter or grieving?”
    He gave her that blue-eyed stare that left her feeling light and heavy at the same time. “Yes.”
    â€œI don’t need a lot of help,” she replied, panicking. The cold ice cream burned at her stomach. She imagined him being here every day, watching her, checking on her, asking her pointed, preacher-type questions. “I can handle this, Preacher.”
    He didn’t speak. He kept munching on his cone. Finally, he finished chewing and nodded. “I don’t doubt that, but why should you have to do this alone?”
    â€œWhy are you so determined to make sure I get help?”
    He seemed to accept that she was turning ugly again, and Vanessa felt ashamed at herself. “I’m sorry. I guess I need some more time to process this.”
    â€œOkay.” He finished his ice cream and went to the kitchen sink to wash his hands. “And I should leave you alone to do this in your own way.”
    If he noticed the dishes everywhere or the half-eaten sandwich she’d left on the counter, he didn’t blink. Instead, he dried his hands on a butterfly-embossed dish towel and walked over to where she stood holding a melting ice cream cone.
    â€œAppetite gone?” he asked, taking the cone from her.
    â€œYes.”
    He took her ice cream and went back to the sink and dropped the dripping cone inside and washed his hands again. Then he came back to stand near her. “You do what you need to do. We’re all here, though. Remember that. Miss Fanny next door—she knew your mom. She’s willing to help, and she’s willing to listen.”
    â€œI don’t need anyone to listen to me,” Vanessa retorted, needing him to leave. Needing to be away from his soft, sweet gaze. “I... I’ll figure this out.”
    â€œI believe you will.”
    â€œBut you’d like it better if I opened up and told you all my troubles and my fears?”
    He started backing toward the door. “No, I wouldn’t like that better. I wouldn’t like that at all. But what I would like is for you to stop seeing me as the enemy and let me be your friend.”
    â€œI can’t do that,” she said, tears burning at her eyes. “I don’t think you’re the enemy, but I can’t be your friend, Rory.”
    He held a hand on the doorknob. “Or you can’t let me be your friend? Because I’m what you consider a pushy minister?”
    â€œThat’s part of it. That especially, and you being so nice and not being a pushy minister in the way that I know, is really messing with my head.”
    â€œI wish you’d reconsider things,” he said, “but I understand. I’ll see you soon, I guess. You know where to find me if you need me.” He opened the door, but turned back. “But you need to understand, I didn’t come over here today to badger you. I came because I saw someone in need. That’s my nature as a human being, not only as a minister. Sometimes, people tend to overlook that I’m as human as they are.”
    And then he was gone, just like that.
    For a split second, Vanessa wanted to run after him and tell him all of her troubles. But she had to be strong. She had to fight that notion with all her being. She’d told a minister her innermost secrets before, and that man had used her fears and her insecurities against her. Never again.
    She’d been taking care of herself for a long time now. Why should that change? Why should she believe a sweet-talking preacher who brought her ice cream and made her feel safe?
    She rushed to the sink and turned on the hot water and watched as the caramel-vanilla ice cream melted into