The Search The Secrets of Crittenden Cou - By Shelley Shepard Gray Page 0,73
wanted.
And even if he didn’t always say the words of love or praise that she would like to hear.
“Kind of surprised to see that Englischer here,” he said when his plate was empty. “I would’ve thought you’d be ready for some peace and quiet.”
Briefly, she told him about Chris and the men they were afraid would be returning.
“Do you want to come back with me, child?”
“No, I am not going to let those men drive me from my home.”
He leaned back. “You’re calling this place home now?”
“I think so.”
Looking her over, he commented, “I had thought that city detective would have been here instead. He certainly liked visiting you in the hospital.”
“Luke?”
“Jah, Luke. I may be old, but I got the feeling you cared for him.”
She wanted to lie, but she was too worn out for more dishonesty. “I did. But that doesn’t matter. I don’t think he felt the same way. And besides, nothing could have ever become of us.”
“Did you like him that much? To even think about a future together?”
“I did imagine that there would have been something between us. Even though it wasn’t proper,” she said grudgingly. There was no need for her father to know that Luke had thought about it, too . . . but had cast their chance of a future together away.
“Who said your relationship wasn’t proper?”
She looked at him in surprise. “Father, we are too different.”
“Are you sure about that? People change. I mean, look at you. Here you are, living with a policeman who is worried about a band of drug dealers coming to storm your house and business. If I had told you that this was in your future, you would have been mighty surprised.”
With a laugh he added, “And never would I have imagined that you and I would calmly discuss it.”
She couldn’t argue with that. “You’re right.” She sighed. “I think all this was God’s way of talking to me, Daed. I mean, I need to get my feet firmly on the ground and begin to look at the man who is right near me.”
“Me?” He grinned. Making her giggle softly.
“No. Micah.”
He scratched his graying beard. “Micah has certainly been in your life for some time. That is true.”
“He’s a very loyal man. And he did come see me at the hospital twice.”
“Yes, for sure, he has always been around.” With a sideways glance, he added, “Remember how he used to hover around you at singings?”
“I didn’t know you knew about that.” Frannie was surprised. Never had her parents seemed to be too aware of who she’d kept company with at those singings. Even so, she wouldn’t have thought of her father having any interest in her social life at all.
“Oh, daughter. Believe me, both your mother and I were well aware of what you did back in those days.” The skin around his eyes crinkled as he grinned. “And I have to say that watching young Micah hover around you like a sluggish hummingbird was a great source of amusement for many of us.”
Frannie knew it wasn’t very nice, but she did enjoy that analogy. “Sometimes I simply wished he would land in a chair next to me and say what was on his mind.”
Her father’s eyebrows rose. “Or, perhaps, fly to another woman?”
She tucked her chin. “Jah. Sometimes I did wish that.” Even back when she was a young teenager and Micah had first shown his preference for her, she’d felt awkward around him. She’d been torn between feeling lucky that a boy had singled her out and guilty for not being able to return his feelings with more enthusiasm.
“But your feelings have changed?”
They hadn’t in many ways. But did romantic feelings even matter all that much? “They have to change. I have to learn from my mistakes.”
“Not liking or loving a person ain’t a mistake, Frannie. God made sure that we’d all have a mate in life. If you don’t feel love, then it’s not meant to be.”
But obviously she didn’t have good judgment when it came to love. “Daed, Perry was a bad mistake. And Luke . . . Luke was a terrible dream.”
“Perry was a good boy until he wasn’t. It wasn’t your fault you thought you could help him back to the right path.”
Her father’s simple statement couldn’t have been more true. She had liked a lot of things about Perry until he’d embraced a whole set of new ideas and changed. “That is true. God rest his soul, he wasn’t