Homecoming at Hickory Ridge. Dana Corbit

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      When Kyle turned back to Julia, her light olive complexion had deepened to a pretty maroon, but she was too polite to cut and run.

      “Sorry about that. You’ll have to forgive Hannah. Ever since she got married a year and a half ago, she’s been setting up everyone.”

      “I’ll remember to keep my distance then.”

      Julia nodded as though she’d received the message that he wouldn’t be a player in the local dating game. He had no business even thinking about the opposite gender, anyway. He had so much hard work ahead of him for the next few months. So much to prove.

      “Well,” she began again, “we still have to eat. So, do you want to…” She let her words trail away in an unspoken dinner invitation.

      He glanced at his plates, all but forgotten on the salad table. “Sure.”

      As he collected his food, Julia reached for the brownies, placing two on a dessert plate. “Get your own,” she said when she caught him watching.

      He couldn’t help grinning at her since she didn’t have any dinner and was still making sure she didn’t miss dessert. He had to respect a woman who had her priorities in order.

      She led him to a long table, set down her plate, indicating for him to take the spot opposite hers. As soon as he took his seat, though, she hurried off to the serving table. When she returned, she was carrying a salad to go with her brownies.

      “That’s great that you’ll be working with the Homecoming committee. Do you know which subcommittee you’ll be working on? I’m on the Search and Invitation committee. We’ll be trying to locate and invite as many former members as we can.”

      “I still don’t know what I’ll be doing for the celebration. They’ll probably assign me where they need the most help.”

      She nodded, but he wondered if he saw disappointment in her expression. Instead of saying something more, Julia forked a bite of her brownie into her mouth and then started on her salad.

      “So, you’re a member of the singles’ group.” Kyle blinked. Where had that come from, and how could he take it back?

      Julia lifted her head. “I guess you could say that.” She chewed her lip before continuing. “But I’m not the best advertisement for it.”

      Kyle managed to keep his face blank, which was no small feat because in his opinion, a picture of Julia Sims would be exactly the kind of advertisement a singles’ program could use. If group organizers wanted to attract new singles of the male persuasion, anyway.

      “Why would you say that?” he asked.

      “I’ve been a member for three years and I’ve never really, you know…met anybody.”

      “You’re kidding.”

      She flitted her gaze his way but looked away again, something in her salad requiring all of her attention.

      “Sure, I’ve met people,” she began, still looking at the table, “but just no one special…for me.”

      “I still find that hard to believe.” He also found it hard to imagine why he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

      She looked up at him with a sheepish grin. “There were extenuating circumstances with a few of the men I met. In one case, my friend, a young widow, tried to set me up with this guy, and then she realized that God intended for them to be together.”

      “You mean…?”

      “Yes. Tricia tried to set me up with your brother.”

      “You never went?”

      Julia shook her head but was quick to add, “Brett never asked, either.”

      “Oh.” His relief was more for Julia’s sake than his own. His boring Dudley Do-Right brother would never have been a good match for an intriguing person like Julia Sims.

      As if you would be.

      “There were some others, too. Hannah tried to convince me to go out with her best friend, Grant. The only problem was that Grant was more interested in Hannah and hasn’t dated anyone else since she got married.”

      Kyle shook his head, chuckling. “You’re making this stuff up. It sounds just like a soap opera.”

      “It gets better. Tricia wanted me to go out with Brett’s former partner, but she couldn’t even convince him to visit the singles’ group.”

      “Ouch.” It sounded like a comic routine on the trials of dating in the new millennium—a regular comedy of dating-scene horrors—but he didn’t tell Julia that.

      “Yeah, ouch.” She tore a corner off her second brownie and nibbled on it. “You see, if the church used me as an advertisement, Christian Singles United wouldn’t look too successful.”

      “Those guys wouldn’t come off looking too smart, either.” The words were out of his mouth before he had the good sense to stop them. He was definitely out of practice talking to women.

      Her cheeks reddening again, she glanced at the serving window, the salad table and the other dining tables to avoid looking at him. For such a lovely woman, she wasn’t comfortable with compliments. That surprised him, but he suspected there were many surprising things to discover about Julia Sims.

      Strange how he suddenly wanted to know more about her. Not the details he might find listed on some dating service data sheet or even the casual information fellow church members might know, but the deeper stuff. What made her nervous around him, especially if she didn’t even know who or what he was? What made it so difficult for her to look him in the eye?

      He shouldn’t be curious. Rebuilding his own life would be enough like an uphill march after an ice storm without adding anyone else’s dramas to the mix. But wisdom had never been one of his stronger points. He would have asked her some of his questions if someone hadn’t entered the room then, announcing that prayer service would begin in ten minutes.

      That announcement must have signaled the church greeters because several approached and introduced themselves, too many for Kyle to ever recall their names. Several asked questions, so he kept his answers vague.

      The task would have been easier if he weren’t so distracted by the woman who’d moved across the room to throw their trash away. Maybe he would give the singles’ group a try, after all. At least it would give him something to look forward to besides meetings with his probation officer.

      At the sound of the heavy gym doors opening, Kyle glanced over to see his brother in full Michigan State Police uniform, scanning the room as if he’d entered a crime scene. When his gaze landed on Kyle, Trooper Brett Lancaster took several long strides toward his table.

      “I tried calling you tonight.” Brett’s words sounded more like an accusation than a statement. That he was staring down at Kyle the way he would a suspect during questioning didn’t help, either.

      Kyle glanced sidelong in the direction Julia had gone, and, sure enough, she now stood just a few feet away.

      “I СКАЧАТЬ