Sonoma Rose: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel by Jannifer Chiaverini Page B

her to marry John instead of him.
    They drove along in silence across the valley, past rain-soakedfields of strawberries and alfalfa, past the large Queen Anne homes of prosperous farmers and small adobes like the one Rosa had left behind.
    When Lars spoke again, the anger and frustration had left his voice. “You need to see a doctor.”
    The pain in Rosa’s side had subsided to a dull ache, but the cuts and bruises on her face throbbed. All she wanted to do was find a safe, soft bed somewhere and sink into a dreamless sleep. “Ana and Miguel need to see a doctor more than I do.”
    “There’s no reason why all three of you can’t see a doctor. We’ll go straight to the hospital.”
    “Not tonight, please,” Rosa begged. “I can’t face doctors and questions tonight.”
    Lars looked as if he might argue, but he glanced at her face and nodded reluctantly. “First thing tomorrow morning, then. I’ll ask around and find someone who’s good with children.” He paused for a moment, lost in thought, and absently patted his coat above his heart. Rosa heard the faint rustle of paper within the inside pocket. “I collected a payment for Oscar at the packinghouse, but in all the excitement I forgot to give it to him. I guess what I’m saying is that I have money for the best doctors we can find. I know Oscar wouldn’t mind.”
    “I have money too,” said Rosa, suddenly remembering the valises. “Oh, Lars, John is mixed up in something very dangerous. I don’t know what exactly, or how long it’s been going on, but he’s been hiding guns and liquor and cash in the hayloft.”
    Lars shot her a curious look. “Cash and guns too?”
    “Yes, four crates of tommy guns and three valises full of money. We—I took two of them.”
    “Why didn’t you take all three? And why not a few of the guns for good measure? They might be handy in a tough spot.”
    It took her a moment to realize he was teasing her. “Lars Jorgensen, this is no joking matter. John’s breaking the law.” Suddenly something Lars said gave her pause. “You said ‘cash and guns too.’ You knew about the liquor? And you didn’t warn me?”
    “I suspected, but I figured you knew more about what was going on than I did.”
    “I didn’t know anything about this until a few minutes before we fled for the mesa. Lupita saw John stashing the valises, and she showed me where they were.” She studied Lars, bewildered. “What did you see that I overlooked? What made you suspicious?”
    “Do you remember that day in June when Elizabeth and I came by to pick up the mail, and John and I got into it?”
    “Of course I do,” said Rosa, although she wouldn’t have described the incident that way, since all the rage had come from John’s side. John had been off on one of his mysterious errands when Lars and Elizabeth arrived, and while Marta and Ana led Lars off to play, Elizabeth came into the house to post a few letters to her folks back home in Pennsylvania and stayed to chat.
    Then, suddenly, they had heard angry shouts from outside. John had returned and had flown into a rage when he discovered Lars playing with Marta and Lupita in the shade of the orange trees. John had seized the girls by the arms and was dragging them away from Lars, his face red with fury. “I told you to stay away from my family!”
    Lars tried to calm him down, and when Rosa intervened, John knocked her to the ground. As Lars helped her to her feet, John shoved the girls into the house and returned a moment later clutching something in his right hand. Rosa heard Elizabethcry out in alarm as he flung the object at Lars’s chest. Instinctively, Lars caught it. Clear liquid sloshed inside the glass bottle.
    “I remember what you are even if she doesn’t,” John had snarled. “Crawl back inside your bottle and leave us alone.”
    How Rosa had despised John at that moment, for frightening Marta and Lupita and bruising their arms as he dragged them away from Lars, for