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thinking changes.”
    Grant felt his heart plummet to his toes. He’d been pondering the same thing. Some of the Christians he knew could be rather opinionated and stubborn. He was one of them, and a perfectionist, too. “I’ll be careful, and I’ll see what else I can find out about her and her traveling companion.”
    Mimi covered her mouth. “I forgot to tell you something. When I told Jenny about Mr. Turner’s visit, she said she barely knew the man. In fact, she acted quite surprised.”
    We can continue our search for information about Jessica when she’s ready, Turner had said. Why would Jenny lie?
    “It will be difficult to pray for her when I’d just as soon direct her to the train station. I don’t like this, Grant. I don’t like it one bit.” Having voiced her final view on the subject, Mimi stepped into the dining room to play with Rebecca.
    Hours later, Grant sat in his office and deliberated the state of the Andrews’ household. Frankly, he found it difficult to concentrate on important matters before him. He’d gone from wanting to physically throw Jenny from his house to nearly begging her to stay. His idealistic approach bothered him, and now he wondered if he’d initiated more trouble when it came to protecting his daughter. Especially since Jenny had told Mimi that she barely knew Turner, but the man had claimed a relationship with her. Who was he to believe?
    Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into?
    *****
    Sometimes Jenny despised the woman she’d become. All her life, she’d listened to her parents and dutifully followed their instructions, and now she was behaving just like them. Something she’d never wanted . . . often despised. She should have felt some satisfaction in expressing her intentions to Grant. Instead, she wanted to crawl into a hole and never show her face again. How did he view her? Did he think she was capable of manipulating those who didn’t see things her way? Perhaps so, since Jessica persuaded men with her charms. But she wasn’t like her sister. Jessica had a stubborn strength that Jenny lacked. And her mood at this moment proved it.
    Exhausted, she lay across the carefully made bed and closed her eyes. If only she were at home, then someone would tell her what to do. But here in Kahlerville, Texas, she had no one but herself. Back home, Mother was probably hosting a tea in which the ladies discussed the right to vote along with the latest gossip. Father was most likely planning his next speech on Darwinism and the theory of evolution or the corruptness of the government. Jenny doubted if either of them realized she wasn’t in Boston with friends. After all, she’d lied about her destination. Yet once she returned with Rebecca, they’d be so very grateful and proud.
    But I’m here, and I’ve insulted a good man who is raising my niece. He also helped me when I made a fool of myself at the train station. Jenny sucked in a breath. Maybe she had become just like her parents. For the first time, she clearly understood what had driven Jessica away.
    What should she do now? Stay and attempt to work out a friendship of sorts with Grant, or leave and hope he allowed her to see the little girl in the future? Jenny never dreamed he’d refuse her offer to relieve him of raising a child. She had assumed it was a burden. A picture of Grant and Rebecca at breakfast settled in her mind. How she envied their relationship. Would Rebecca one day turn to her with the same adoring look in her eyes? Oh, how she hoped so. Her niece was such a captivating little girl, and thankfully not as impulsive and high strung as Jessica.
    Jenny had wanted to reach out and draw Rebecca close to her, but she feared Grant and Miss Mimi’s reaction. Or maybe she feared her own heart melting at the touch of such a beautiful child.
    Jenny shook her head. She was doing this for Mother and Father. They’d be raising Rebecca, not Jenny.
    Opening her eyes, she decided to forgo moving into the