Alan opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

  "You're right about one thing, Alan. You do need to disappear." McGinty gestured with his right hand.

  Alan looked over his shoulder to see two hard-faced men materialize from the office's dim corners. A third blocked the door. The room suddenly seemed devoid of air. There would be no slipping past these three.

  Realization crashed upon him with sickening clarity. He'd been wrong. Absolutely wrong. Letting the police capture him would have been better, after all.

  30

  Dinah waited while Seth opened the door and held it for her. Their steps echoed down the empty hallway.

  "I don't even know why I'm here tonight."

  "Because you're the teacher. You made the commitment. If only one child comes—even if none of them show up tonight—you have to be here. It's that consistency we talked about the very first time we discussed the class. In the long run, you'll be glad you came, regardless of who is here."

  She saw the challenge in his eyes and looked away. But Seth was right. She had made the choice, and she had to follow through on it.

  Dinah marched the rest of the way down the hall to her classroom and paused with her hand on the doorknob. "All right, I'll do it. I may sit out the whole class period alone, but I'll do it."

  She took two steps inside the room before her mind registered the scene before her. All nine of her girls sat demurely in their semicircle. The rest of the room was filled wall to wall with their families, and a smile wreathed every face.

  Dinah put her hand to her throat and stumbled back. "What's this?"

  Jenny rose and tugged her forward. "We just wanted to thank you for loving us."

  Her aunt nodded. "Martha told us how you found her and how much that Bible story helped her hold on."

  Martha beamed, misty eyed, from her place directly behind Jenny's chair.

  Dinah looked around at the gathering. "I—I don't know what to say."

  She felt Seth move up beside her. He grinned and leaned close enough for her to hear his whisper: "I told you you'd be glad you came."

  Jenny's father cleared his throat. "I got to admit we thought at first you were just doing this to make yourself feel good. But then the things you did for these girls—taking them to the fair, sticking it out and being here whether the girls showed up or not, and then bringing our Martha home—well, we all just wanted to tell you we're glad you're here, and we hope you'll stay." He turned to his neighbors, and the room filled with cheers and applause.

  Dinah blinked hard but couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her cheeks. "Thank you. Thank you all so much." She gave a shaky laugh. "I do have a lesson ready for tonight, but I'm not sure I'm prepared to teach it to such a large crowd."

  Anastasia's mother waved her hand. "Don't you worry about any lesson. It doesn't matter tonight. We just wanted to come out and tell you thanks for being here for our girls." Murmurs of assent rippled around the room.

  "Thank you all for coming." Dinah swiped at her cheeks. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

  Jenny's aunt stepped forward. "One more thing. That story you told Jenny and Martha—the one about the giant? I never heard anything like that before." She looked around, as if gathering courage from the others. "Some of us were wondering if you'd start a class for us women. We'd like to know what you've got to say."

  Dinah choked back her sobs, too overcome to speak. She turned to Seth, who winked and squeezed her shoulder. "Are you ready to take on another class?" he asked.

  Joy bubbled up inside her. Still too filled with emotion to speak, she could only nod. She would teach any number of classes, providing God wanted her to.

  Admiration shone in Seth's eyes. "I'm proud of you. You've more than proven yourself to these girls... and to me."

  As if someone had given a signal, the girls jumped up from their chairs and swarmed around Dinah. She hugged first one, then another, wishing she could wrap her arms around all of them at once. Their parents crowded behind them, offering more words of thanks and encouragement.

  Through tear-filmed eyes, Dinah looked at their faces—so hostile in the beginning, so welcoming now—and reflected on the turn her life had taken.

  While she floundered, trying to understand all that went on, God's hand had been at work in everything, even using her father to lead her—not away from Gladys, but to Chicago, where she could find the place of service He planned for her all along. A place of service, and...

  Dinah looked over the heads of her girls at the man she had come to love. A question rose within her heart, and she thought she saw an answer in his eyes.

  * * *

  "Why are we turning this way?" Dinah tilted her face and looked up at Seth. "I thought we were going back to the boarding house."

  "Since we didn't stay long at the class tonight, we have some extra time. I thought we might spend it at the fairgrounds."

  "You mean, walk around and look at it like normal people?" Her lighthearted laugh made his heart sing.

  "Something like that." The lights would be coming on soon, transforming the parklike setting into a glittering fairyland. It would be a perfect night for seeing the grounds. But he didn't plan on spending a lot of time looking at exhibits.

  A couple passed them, moving away from the direction of the fairgrounds. Dinah gasped and huddled close to him before shooting a glance back over her shoulder.

  Seth wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight against his side. "What's wrong?"

  "That man." She gave a shaky laugh. "He reminded me of Alan. But he isn't, of course. How silly of me to react that way." She tilted her chin up and made a brave attempt at a smile, but Seth could feel the shudder that rippled through her body.

  He drew her aside under the spreading arms of a mulberry tree and let the throng of fairgoers flow past them. "There's nothing silly about it. You've been through a terrible experience. It's going to take time for you to recover from it."

  "Of course. It's only a matter of time." Her smile wobbled, and tears pooled along her lower lids. "But I don't know if I ever will get over it. Not completely, anyway. As long as I know he's out there, I'll always wonder when he's going to show up again." Her voice broke on a sob, and she rested her forehead against his chest. "I couldn't bear it if something like that happened again, Seth. I couldn't!"

  "You don't need to worry about him." Seth brushed his fingers through the curls that framed her cheeks and lifted her face until their gazes met. "He'll never bother you again, I promise."

  The sad light in her eyes twisted at his heart. "We both want to believe that, but there's no way to know for sure. He'll come back again some day—I just know it. I can't get the thought out of my mind. And those poor women he sent to New York! I lie awake at night praying for them and wondering if there's any hope."

  "There is." Seth cupped her face in his hands. "The Chicago police are already acting on what Martha told them. They're going to alert the New York authorities to see if any of the women can be rescued. Let's keep on praying they'll all be set free."

  Dinah nodded in solemn agreement. "I will. My heart aches for them. Some of them are no older than Martha. How many others is he going to hurt? And how will I ever feel free of him?"

  Seth drew his thumbs across her cheekbones with a feather touch. He hadn't planned on bringing up such a dark subject on this, of all nights. Still, the most important thing at the moment was to put her fears to rest. He hesitated a moment more, then made up his mind. "Mac has friends in many places. He came to see me this afternoon. Alan has already been located."

  Dinah's lips parted, and her fingers dug into his arms. "When? Where is he now?"

  "They found him this morning, floating in the Chicago River. He'll never hurt you—or anyone else—again."

  Her eyes widened as the meaning of his words sank in. "The river. You mean someone—"

  "More than likely." He pressed his forehead against hers, remembering the question that sprang from his lips the moment Mac shared the news: "McGinty?"

  Mac had given an eloquent shrug in response. "Probably. But they'll never pin it on him."

  Not now, perhaps, but the hoodlum wouldn't go unpunished for his evil deeds forever. That would be a problem for the police to solve, though. Right now, Seth had other priorities. He slipped his arms around Dinah's waist and whispered, "You're free, my love. You'll never have to worry about him again."

  Her breath caught. "I'm not sure how to feel now. It will be wonderful not to keep on living in fear. But I almost feel guilty about being so relieved."

  Seth shook his head. "Every one of us is responsible for the decisions we make. He made the choices that brought him to this end. It's tragic, but it isn't your fault. Never think that."

  He dropped a light kiss on her forehead and led her to the fair's entrance, where they pushed through the turnstiles and made their way past the noisy hubbub of the Midway to the shaded pathways leading to the Court of Honor.

  Dinah slowed, her attention caught by something on their left. Seth followed her

  gaze to the spires of the Café de Marine, and frowned at the reminder of the night her father had rejected her.

  "Have you heard anything from him?"

  Dinah shook her head. "And to think, he was the reason I came here. When I got that letter, I just knew everything was going to change. All those hopes I had, all the dreams I built up in my mind over the years..." Her voice dwindled to a whisper. "That's all they were—dreams."

  Seth took her hand and twined his fingers through hers. "You do know it isn't your fault?"

  She mustered up a smile. "I'm beginning to realize that. It isn't so much that he doesn't care about me. I honestly think he's incapable of caring about anybody but himself, and there's nothing I can do to change that."

  He tightened his grip on her fingers. "There's only so much any human can do. We'll keep on praying that God will open his heart." He drew her to a stop.

  Dinah looked up at the long, white edifice before them. "We're starting with the Woman's Building?"

  "Actually, I had something else in mind." Seth gestured in the opposite direction, where several gondolas lay moored at the boat landing.

  The glow on Dinah's face rivaled the incandescent bulbs that outlined the buildings of the Court of Honor. So far, so good. He recognized Giuseppe in the nearest gondola and waved.

  The boatman spread his arms wide. "Ah, you have returned. You want another tour of the lagoon?"

  Seth waited until he helped Dinah maneuver down the small, square step and into the boat, then drew Giuseppe aside. "No tour, just lots of bridges."

  Giuseppe beamed and winked. "I understand, signore."

  Seth stepped in beside Dinah and patted his jacket pocket to make sure it still held the small parcel he had tucked inside it earlier. He settled onto the tufted seat, and Giuseppe pushed the small craft away from the landing.

  Dinah snuggled against him, far more relaxed than on their previous ride. He stretched his arm out along the seat back, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

  Giuseppe steered them past the tip of the Wooded Island and sang softly from his position in the stern. The setting could not have been more perfect.

  Seth rubbed his cheek against Dinah's hair, savoring the softness of her glossy curls. "It's been quite a week."

  Dinah nodded. "When I first came to Chicago, I told myself I was looking for adventure. I never imagined it would lead to anything like what we've been through."

  "You've handled it amazingly well."

  "It never would have happened that way without God." She shifted and turned to look up at him. "And you."

  Looking at her sweet face only inches away, Seth found it hard to fight the temptation to press a lingering kiss onto her full lips... and decided he didn't want to resist after all.

  When they drew apart, he could see Dinah's eyes sparkle in the moonlight. "I didn't see any bridge."

  Seth's heart hammered at her nearness and the sweet, honeyed taste of her lips. "It's okay to break a tradition now and then. Providing, of course, that you begin a new tradition of your own."

  Dinah sighed and nestled against him. "I think I like this new one better." They sat in silence while the gondola rippled across the dark lagoon.

  Seth looked out across the water at the lighted walkways filled with people and thought of the days he spent wheeling visitors around the vast fairgrounds. The first time he had laid eyes on the wonders of the White City, he had been struck by its inspiring splendor. But mingled with that sense of awe had been the knowledge that, as splendid as this was, heaven would be a place of infinitely more beauty.

  Dinah stirred, and Seth looked down at the woman in his arms, grateful that God sometimes chose to give a little taste of heaven here on earth.

  "This is so nice," she murmured. "I wish it could go on forever."

  "So do I." Seth kissed the top of her head. "The first day we met, I knew there was something special about you. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get you out of my mind." He gave a throaty chuckle. "And I have to admit I didn't try very hard."

  Dinah sat up and turned to face him. "I could have sworn your first impression of me was that I was a flibbertigibbet."

  Seth flinched. "Guilty as charged, I'm afraid. But when I watched the way you dealt with your father and Gladys, your discouragement over the girls' class..." He smiled down at her upturned face. "In other words, when I finally took the time to listen to what my heart was telling me, I realized how much you meant to me." Laughter rumbled in his chest. "And after seeing the kind of trouble you can get into, I also learned I can't let you out of my sight."

  He held her gaze. "And I don't want to."

  Dinah stared up at him. Her parted lips trembled, and her luminous eyes matched the stars for brilliance. Seth brushed back a tangle of curls from her shoulder and let his hand rest against her neck. He could feel her pulse racing under his fingertips, and his own heart quickened its pace in response.

  Moving his other hand to cup her cheek, Seth looked deep into the hazel eyes that had captivated him from the moment they met. "Dinah, I love you with all my being. Will you marry me?"

  He heard her breath catch. She smiled, but he saw a flicker of uncertainty in her gaze. He slid his hand to her chin and traced her lower lip with his thumb.

  "I'm not your father, Dinah. You will never have to worry about when I'm coming home or wonder whether I'll want you with me. There is nothing I want more than to have you beside me, now and always."

  Only the sound of the water lapping against the side of the gondola and Giuseppe's gentle crooning met his ears. In the soft light, he could see crystal droplets form along Dinah's lower lids. She studied him for a long moment, then let her breath out on a trembling sigh.

  "I know you're not like him. You are God's man, and you reflect His faithfulness in everything you do." She rested her hand on his shirtfront. "I love you, too, Seth. I can think of nothing I would treasure more than to become your wife."

  At that moment the gondola slipped under a bridge, enveloping them in shadow. Their lips found each other in the darkness. A gentle rocking told Seth the boat had come to a stop. Good man, Giuseppe.

  He tightened his arms around Dinah and lost himself in the glory of their embrace.

  Minutes—or was it hours?—later, they drifted out from under the bridge again. Bathed in the moon's glow, Dinah's face shone with an ethereal light.

  Seth fished in his jacket pocket. "This was my mother's." He unwrapped the small twist of paper to reveal a plain gold band set with a small diamond.

  He took Dinah's hand and slipped the ring on her fourth finger. "I know how pleased she would be to see you wearing it." He covered her hand with his, enjoying the nearness of the woman to whom he had just pledged his life.

  "Is there anyone I need to speak to? Your father?"

  Dinah shook her head. "Aunt Dora will be in town tomorrow to pick up Gladys. We can tell her then. I know she and Uncle Everett will be very happy for us."

  Seth's mind raced ahead. "As soon as we set a date, I'm sure the church board will be glad to let us get married in the chapel. Provided that's what you want, of course."

  Dinah raised his hand in both of hers and held it to her lips. A tiny smile quirked her lips. "If it's all the same to you, I think I know the perfect place to hold our wedding."

  31

  Dinah fastened the last button at the back of her fresh, white blouse and patted the folds of the shirred bodice into place. She slipped on the heliotrope jacket and checked her reflection in the mahogany-framed pier mirror. The pale lilac shade brought out the color in her cheeks and made her eyes sparkle.

  She took a deep breath. It would do. In the wedding of her girlhood fantasies, she would have worn a flowing dress of shimmering white, but that was one more dream to be set aside. In her present circumstances, she had neither the funds to purchase the materials needed for such an elaborate gown, nor the time to sew one.

  But she did have Seth. Her lips curved up, and the pink in her cheeks deepened. What did her girlish dreams matter when she had this reality before her?

  "What do you think?" she asked Millie.

  Dinah's friend cocked her head and pursed her lips. "I guess you'll do." Then she laughed and wrapped Dinah in a hug. "You look absolutely gorgeous, white gown or no. Seth Howell is one lucky man."

  "Blessed, Millie. We're both blessed. There's no such thing as luck."

  "Then I hope I get blessed that way, too, one of these days." Millie grinned back at her, unabashed.

  "I'm so glad you're going to stand up with me. You've become such a dear friend."

  "I'm glad you'll still be working with me, even though you're getting married." Millie said.

  "I'll be there until the end of the fair. I gave my word when I took the job, and that's important to me."

 

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