Echoes of what Jamie had said hung in the air. An unspoken cloud of caution and suspicion had settled over the entire community. I hoped they would forget my part in Jamie’s indiscretions, but I hadn’t returned to warn them as he had. If anything, they were even more suspicious of me now. At least that’s what I imagined I saw in their eyes as they quickly diverted them from me after morning Chapel.

Maybe I really would need Bobbie. She was an angel, right? She had to be.

Watch your heart, watch your neighbor, watch for the demon who appears as an angel. On repeat, Jamie’s words whispered through my mind. I felt their urgency acutely, as I would now have to ward off evil for both myself and my baby.

“I can help you with that.”

I spun around and she was there. Bobbie, standing in the same corner she had before, with the same startling beauty and glimmering eyes.

I glanced at the door. Still closed.

“Congratulations,” she said, her eyes cutting to my stomach and then back to my face.

She knew. Of course she knew. She heard my thoughts, saw my fears. I was completely vulnerable around her.

Bobbie took a step forward, and for the first time since meeting her, I felt some comfort. She noticed and smiled. “Good. You should get comfortable with me.”

“I asked you to leave,” I said.

“That was before you knew what you now know.”

“You said you wouldn’t come back unless I asked for you.”

“But you did ask for me. Not with your mouth but with your heart. With everything coming, do you really want to be alone to fight for yourself?”

There it was again. The idea that something was coming. A warning to be on the defense against the invisible force that would crush us all.

“You need me,” Bobbie said. “Especially now.” Again she dropped her eyes to where my unborn child grew.

I put my hand on my stomach, as if I could somehow protect my baby.

“Sooner or later you’ll realize that I’m here to keep you safe,” she said. “Both of you.”

“Why?”

“I already told you. You’re my only concern.” She flashed me a grin. “Don’t you feel important?”

I didn’t know how to answer that.

Bobbie spread her arms wide. “Think about it, Grace. You were chosen, set apart. Maybe not in the same way you think, but definitely chosen. Now you carry a child who longs to be born in light and beauty.” She lowered her arms. “For all you know, that child will change the world.”

I said nothing, but her words filled me with new hope.

“Invite me to stay, Grace. Claim me, and I will stand by your side in the face of what’s coming,” she said.

Watch your heart, watch your neighbor, watch for the demon who appears as an angel.