The Search (21 page)

There was a hint of humor in his voice as he said, “No . . . I don't think you do see. With Renee and me, when we were together, we got along fine. We never argued. But when we were apart, I hardly ever thought about her.” He laughed softly. “I felt kind of bad about that until I realized she felt the same way.”

Carefully, she wiped the coffee grounds off the counter, closed the lid, and put the percolator on the burner.

But still couldn't summon the courage to face him. Absently, she noticed that her heart had begun to ache again.

“Now you,” he said softly, “on the other hand . . . I can't help but think about you.”

She gripped the edges of her black apron tightly and stared at the coffeepot. “You sound like that's a bad thing.”

“I was kind of disturbed about it, if you want to know the truth. And I tried to blame my thoughts of you on the case.” He paused. “But it wasn't the case that had me thinking about you. It was you.”

Did that even make sense? She sort of thought it did. Her lungs squeezed tight. “What did you think about? That is, when you thought about me?” Mentally, she braced herself for Luke to tell her the many reasons she wasn't right for him. All the reasons she knew she wasn't right for him.

“Us.”

“You said we needed to stay apart.”

“I was wrong. I was completely, utterly wrong.”

She exhaled and blinked. Then, when the silence between them lengthened, Frannie found herself turning and staring at him in wonder.

His eyes were fixed on her and shining. Showing trust and happiness and a sureness. Yet, there was also a mischief lurking in their depths. That same look the boys used to have back in fifth grade when they pulled braids and ran away.

Bracing her hands on the table, she drew in a shaky breath. “Luke, what are you saying?”

His gaze didn't waver. “I'm trying to say that I've fallen in love with you, Frannie.”

“You have?” Tears welled in her eyes.

“I have.” Slowly, he rose, and then bent down onto one knee.

“Luke?”

“Frannie, I love you, and I hope one day you will love me, too.”

Happiness coursed through her like millions of tiny white lights, illuminating her heart. This was why she'd never been able to love Micah.

This was why she'd been sad for Perry's death but not heartbroken for their parting.

She'd never felt this powerful pull of rightness toward another person.

His boyish look returned, tenfold. “Francis, are you ever going to answer me?”

“I'm trying to get my mind around what you are saying.”

“It's not too hard to understand. I love you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”

She knelt down next to him, looking at him eye to eye. “But what about your job? And my inn?” And everything else, too, she wanted to scream. She wanted to believe that love was easy, but she knew it was not. She'd learned that with Micah. Your heart didn't always do what your head needed it to.

He sighed as he swiped a tear from her cheek. “Only you would want things organized when I'm trying to tell you I love you.”

“Luke,” she began, then abruptly stopped talking. What was she doing? Luke was the man she wanted.

There was nothing more to say! Suddenly something she thought was so wrong felt very right. But there were still issues—problems . . .

He chuckled, showing he wasn't upset. On the contrary, he looked rather amused. He took her hands in his. “So, I started thinking that maybe I don't have to work in the city any longer.”

“What would you do?”

“I thought I'd talk to Mose. Maybe work with him, if he wants help.”

After all the waiting and worrying, everything was happening so fast! “You'd do that? You'd work for Mose?”

He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe I'll go into private practice. I inherited some money from my parents years ago, and invested it well. As long as I don't do anything too crazy, I don't need much as far as paychecks.”

The idea of not worrying about an income was foreign to her. But so was what he was suggesting. “But what about us?”

“I want to date you.”

“What?” She hopped up.

“You know what I mean . . . right?” He swallowed as he struggled to his feet. “I want to court you.” Looking resolved, he said, “Seriously. I mean . . . I want to court you seriously.”

“But I'm Amish!”

“Are you? Mose gave me some information about being Amish. He said you don't get baptized and join the church until you're ready to marry.” He looked at her searchingly. “Frannie, have you joined the church already? You didn't, did you?”

She shook her head. “I've been waiting for the right time.” Actually, she'd been searching for a reason to stop waiting.

“Frannie, I can't be Amish. But I don't mind a wife who embraces a lot of the ways she was brought up. I'm willing to live in your bed-and-breakfast, learn to adjust my way of life to yours.”

“You'd do that?”

“I'd do just about anything for you, Frannie. I love you.”

He'd said it again. Love.

She leaned closer to him. Dared to believe. “Luke, you truly love me?”

“More than you'll ever know.” He drew her hands to his chest.

She felt his heart beating under her palm and wondered if it had been aching like hers had. “What if I told you that I loved you, too?”

He smiled as he tugged her closer, then linked his hands around her waist. “Then I would probably tell you that I'm the happiest man in the world right now.”

She couldn't help but loop her hands around his neck. “I must warn you, I don't sleep.”

“What?”

“I can't sleep at night. I worry too much.”

But instead of being worried by her proclamation, he chuckled. “Frannie Eicher, you need to get married quickly. Because I happen to know that if you weren't sleeping alone, you'd sleep like a baby.”

She felt her cheeks heat at that talk. But she wondered if he was right. “What should we do now? Go talk to my
daed
?”

“Frannie, you have a lot to learn,” he chided as he leaned closer. “When a man says he loves a woman—and she says she loves him too—they kiss, Frannie.”

Their lips were only inches apart. “And then what?”

“And then he holds her close,” he murmured after a very lengthy kiss. “And then he holds her close and never lets her go.”

The last coherent thing Frannie remembered thinking . . . was that Luke was full of very good ideas.

Epilogue

“Once, when the rains came, the whole community gathered at the Yoders' greenhouse. When the water got high, we all carried furniture to safety. Our clothes were soaked, two men caught pneumonia. When I got up the nerve to ask Perry where he'd been, he'd just shrugged.”

J
ACOB
S
CHROCK

L
uke was walking along the well line again, thinking about the case, about how sure he'd been that the sunglasses were the link to Perry's killer . . . and then how they'd only led him to a whole other investigation.

Pulling out the file he'd brought with him to the Millers' property, he reread the medical examiner's findings—about how there had been traces of meth in Perry's blood, but an overdose hadn't killed him. His death had been caused by the trauma to his head.

“Who killed you, Perry?” he asked and listened as his voice echoed across the empty field.

He wanted to do right by the kid, the kid who'd caused so much trouble to so many people. But who had also been a victim. “Who did this?”

He knew Mose was getting pressure from Perry's parents to drop the investigation. The Borntragers wanted everything to be over. They wanted to move on with their lives. They were willing to accept the idea that a drug dealer from outside the county killed Perry.

Mose hadn't said it, but Luke knew the sheriff was leaning toward that route, too. They weren't finding much, and seemed only to be hurting a lot of local people by continuing to ask questions.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement that some things were better left alone.

But that wasn't the way to do it. Flipping through the pages again, he started skimming interview notes, looking for common phrases, discrepancies that a careful reading didn't always register.

Then he saw it.

Times that didn't match up. A mixed-up alibi. An obvious lie. A person several people happened to notice walking toward the Millers' farm.

And suddenly—to Luke at least—it all made sense.

Finally, after thirty-two days in Crittenden County, the killer had been found.

Now all he had to do was figure out how to prove it.

Author's
Note

Dear Reader,

Every so often, a particular character seems to
take on a life of his or her own. In
The Search,
that person was Beth. When I began the novel, Beth's whole purpose was to call
for help when Frannie got hurt. That was it. She was supposed to be a minor,
secondary character who would appear in one scene, maybe two at the most.

But I guess Beth had other ideas! Before I knew
it, Beth had a last name, a mother fighting a disease, a job caring for
children, and had set up shop in Frannie's kitchen. Then, when Chris Ellis
walked in that kitchen, a whole new storyline emerged. I really had no choice
but to accept that Beth and Chris needed to be a part of the book!

Discovering
a new
character or storyline is what I love about writing, and especially what I love
about writing these trilogies for Avon Inspire. I so appreciate that I'm given
the freedom to include new characters that I hadn't planned for, and I am
thankful that I'm given the chance to see where those characters take me.

I hope you've been enjoying this series, and
this journey into Kentucky's Crittenden County. As I write this, I'm putting the
finishing touches on
Found
and have already started
thinking about a new series. I can't wait to research a new setting and develop
a whole new plot and cast of characters!

But first, no letter would be complete without
me offering my thanks to the many, many people who work so hard to make these
books the best they can be. Thank you to my editors Cindy and Julia, to my
publicist Joanne, to the art department for the beautiful covers, and to all the
folks at Harper who do so much for me. I feel so blessed to work with you
all.

And thank you, of course, to all of you who
pick up my books and give them a try. Thank you for writing me about them, and
for telling your sisters and aunts and neighbors about them, too! Thanks to all
of you who've asked your librarians and local booksellers to carry my books as
well. It's because of all of you that I get to write every day. And for that, I
am so very grateful.

With my blessings,

Please “friend” me on Facebook, visit me at
my website, or write to me at:

Shelley Shepard Gray,

10663 Loveland, Madeira Rd. #167,

Loveland, OH 45140

Questions for Discussion

1. All of the characters in
The Search
yearn not only to discover the truth about Perry's murder, but also the truth about themselves. For Frannie, it's that she couldn't really ever love Perry, but that she could love Luke. What was it about Luke that Frannie needed? What do you think would have happened to her if she hadn't met Luke?

2. How does Luke's search for the killer mirror his own search to be accepted? Who do you think was more responsible for Luke's acceptance in Crittenden County—Mose or Frannie?

3. What did you think of Frannie's relationship with her father?

4. We learn a lot more about Deborah Borntrager in
Found,
the final book in the series. Is she responsible for her brother's actions? Are any of us responsible for other family members' choices in life? Have you ever had a family member who grew hard to love?

5. Lydia and Walker are learning that while they love each other, sometimes love isn't enough to sustain a relationship. Do you know of anyone in your life who's had the same type of experiences?

6. There were definite sparks between Beth and Chris, but ultimately neither was ready for a commitment. Was Chris right to leave the way he did? Or would it have been better for them to keep in touch?

7. Frannie has a good heart, and it's shown in the hospital with her “mystery” roommate, but also in her dealings with her friends and with her father. Who do you know in your life who is a lot like Frannie?

8. What do you think would happen to the characters in Crittenden County if Luke and Mose never solved Perry's murder? Why is closure such an important part of moving on?

9. I focused on the verse from Philippians,
“I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content,”
while writing this novel. Learning to accept God's will and “to be content” is a goal of mine. Have you learned to “be content” during all times? When is it the easiest? When is it the hardest for you?

10. I thought the Amish proverb,
“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end,”
was a perfect fit for Frannie and Luke. Both characters are ready to begin a new journey in their lives. What about you? Have you ever taken a chance on a new direction in your life?