“We’ve money to cover the cleanup; hopefully two weeks will do it,” Pete had said. “It’s just grunt work. We can’t afford extensive background checks for grunt work.”

On one hand, she knew he was right, and they had run want/warrant checks on everyone. Other than a couple of suspended licenses, everyone was clean. But some shady-looking guys had been hired for the work crew, and the one just fired was obviously an opportunist.

The incident made her take a hard look at the rest of the crew. Only one gave her pause, and she wondered if it was just because of his name, James Smith. When she worked patrol, that was a throwaway name if someone didn’t want to be identified. It was the most common man’s name in the country and it always sent up red flags, so she wasn’t sure if it was the name or his demeanor. He didn’t strike her as a down-and-out in-need-of-any-kind-of-work guy. There was an edge about him. Yet when she spoke to the supervisor, he got high marks. “One of my hardest workers,” he’d said.

Tess let it go, recognizing that there were thousands of men legitimately named Jim Smith. His California driver’s license was valid after all, and she was a little too on edge because of the arrest.

Maybe the problem has been solved, she thought as she turned on the oven and set a loaf of French bread inside to warm up. Then she quickly shed her clothes and jumped into the shower.

Oliver would be here in fifteen minutes. Luckily, dinner was ready, simmering in the Crock-Pot since she’d put it together this morning, and the house was filled with the mouthwatering aroma of beef stew. She forced her mind to shift gears and consider the pleasant evening ahead she had planned with Oliver. Weekly dinners together, either at her house or his, followed by a Bible study, had become standard. No one was more surprised than Tess that a pastor could so completely fill her mind and heart.

While she’d stepped away from faith after her father’s death and come to view pastors and people of faith as one-dimensional, deluded, and boring, Oliver had shattered all her preconceived notions. He was so alive, interesting, clear about his beliefs, and solidly three-dimensional. They connected on so many levels, shared many interests, and completely enjoyed one another’s company. Tess finally felt as though she were coming out from under the shadow of her failed marriage and the betrayal that caused it.

Humming to herself, she finished her shower and changed into comfortable clothes with five minutes to spare. Fluffing out her hair, she decided to let it air-dry and hurried to the kitchen to check on dinner.