When Mike was walking back to the gate she spotted a stranger. The man was scruffy, dirty and wearing ragged clothes. Her first thought was How did he get in here? Everyone but workers were to be told to come back later. Even Mason residents weren’t yet allowed in.

When he saw Mike, his dirty face seemed to light up and he took a step toward her. If she weren’t hurrying to meet Hayes, she would have stopped and told him he wasn’t supposed to be there.

Instead, she frowned at him.

To her annoyance, he smiled back. From the look of him, she expected blackened teeth, but they weren’t.

When he took another step toward her, she practically ran. She didn’t have time to deal with an overly friendly trespasser. Besides, he looked like he was going to ask her out on a date.

She was almost at the gate when she saw Hayes. He looked scrumptious! All blond and clean and pressed. He was perfect. He smiled at her in a way that made her knees weak. But the best thing was that he wasn’t carrying a bow. The tension she didn’t know she was holding left her shoulders and she smiled broader.

They exchanged double cheek kisses, then held hands.

“What do you want to do first?” she asked. “Barbecue isn’t ready yet, but there’s lots on the food tables. How about a cinnamon bun?”

“Too much sugar,” he said. “Any bagels? English muffins?”

“I doubt it but let’s go see.”

They walked to the food tables, and Mrs. Murray, Uncle Seth’s grandniece, handed her a fried pie. “I know you love these.”

“Cherry?”

“Of course.”

She bit into it. “Great. Perfect. Thank you.”

“How’s my uncle?”

“He and Pauly send their love to everyone, especially to Papi.” They laughed together.

Through this, Hayes had been standing back. When they were getting to know each other, Mike had introduced him to people around town. When he said there were too many to remember, she stopped. She saw him look at his watch.

She wiped her mouth with a napkin, then held up what was left of the pie. “These are really good. Want to try one?” A movement caught her eye. Behind them was the dirty, raggedy man. He was staring at them intently. She looked back at Hayes. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“How about we do something rather than just stand here?”

“Sure, of course.” She quickly finished her pie. When Hayes looked away, she saw that the man was still there. She gave him a fierce glare to leave. She didn’t want Hayes thinking he was a representative of Mason.

But Hayes did see him. “Excuse me,” he said to Mike.

A security guard had entered the grounds. Hayes went to him and they talked. The guard spoke into the radio on his shoulder and minutes later two more guards appeared.