stomachache, too. Ach.” Carefully, she clipped her thread, then neatly folded the sheet she’d been mending and put the needle and spool of white thread away. “I think I’m going to head on home now.”
“But it’s only two o’clock,” Lydia protested.
“I’m watching a couple’s children tonight.”
Frannie shared a knowing look with Lydia. “You’re now babysitting in the evening, too, Beth? You need some time for yourself.”
“No I don’t,” she said quickly. “That is what I absolutely don’t need. If I think too much, I’ll hurt too much.”
As Lydia frowned, Frannie nodded. She knew the feeling well.
Lydia stayed a little bit longer, then soon left, too. She had a date with Walker.
When she was alone again, Frannie sat in silence sewing for at least an hour, with Beth’s last comment ringing in her ears. She privately felt the same way as Beth, though wasn’t brave enough to admit it. At the moment, she was sad that only she and Jack were in the house. She ached for an inn full of people so she wouldn’t have time to be alone with her thoughts.
She yawned, and let her eyes drift shut. Her insomnia had returned, and she hadn’t been sleeping well at all lately. She supposed it was time to accept that she was now going to sleep whenever her body demanded it—even if it was in the middle of the afternoon.
She’d just drifted off into that first layer of rest when there was a pounding at the door. She sat upright with a start, but now knew enough to wait patiently for Jack to open the door first.
He came down the steps and advanced toward the front door.
She was shaking out the skirt of her dress when she noticed that Jack hadn’t checked the safety of his gun. Instead, he was unlocking the door and opening it with a broad smile. Just like he was a doorman!
“How are you doing, Luke?” he asked.
Luke? Was she dreaming?
She peered around the corner. It wasn’t a dream at all. Luke Reynolds stood just inside the doorway, murmuring something to Jack when he looked in her direction and paused.
It was as if all time stopped as they stared at each other, neither blinking.
Her heart forgot its pain and was now beating a rapid rhythm that sent her pulse pounding. She didn’t know whether to laugh with joy at seeing him—or cry with the knowledge that she would have to say goodbye. Again.
He cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Hey, Frannie.”
“Luke.” She didn’t even try to be formal enough to say Detective. Her throat had gone dry as she looked at him with foreboding. “Has . . . has something happened with the case?”
He smiled slowly. “As a matter of fact, yes.”
Frannie darted a look in Jack’s direction. But instead of taking out a pad of paper or peppering Luke with questions, he was grabbing his coat off the hook by the door.
“If you two don’t mind, I’m going to take off for a little while, to, ah, get some air.” He handed Luke a card. “Call me when you are ready to leave, and I’ll come back.”
Frannie stared after Jack in confusion. “Well, that was mighty strange. He’s never done that before.”
“I guess he thought you were in good hands?”
She caught the flirty tone in his voice and wondered at it. “So I suppose you want to talk to me alone? Want some coffee?”
“I do.” He followed her to the kitchen, and sat at the table and watched her pour water into the old percolator just like it was part of their daily routine. She really hoped he couldn’t see her hand shaking.
“Luke, I thought we wouldn’t see each other again.” She really was proud of the way she was keeping her voice even.
Looking sheepish, he said, “To tell you the truth, I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Yet,” she said, “here you are.”
“Yes. Here I am.”
As she carefully measured out coffee, and wondered why he was here, he said, “Did I ever tell you about Renee?”
Her hand shook, spilling coffee grounds everywhere. “Nee.” She grabbed a sponge.
“Renee was a woman I was seeing off and on before I got here. We kind of had a ‘thing’, an understanding, between us.”
She squeezed the sponge extra hard. “I see.” So that was why he had returned! To tell her in person about his girlfriend. She now wanted to throw the sponge at his head. There were some things she didn’t need to know.
There was a hint of humor