Hard to Find: A Tillgiven Romantic Mystery

by Traci Tyne Hilton

  “Charming.” Isaac looked disgusted.

  “Bratty, you mean.” Berger swatted at Drew’s hand.

  “Bratty, for sure,” Drew said. “I was bored. No offense, Isaac, but Tillgiven is dull.”

  “So you pretended to be a boy called Andrew, and Maurice pretended to be a girl called Marissa, and you met each other at a concert in Cardiff, only to find…” I summed it up as best as I could.

  “Only to find true love.” Drew sighed. “I felt like such an idiot. Not because Maurice had catfished me, because I totally realized it about a day after he suggested the place to meet. Who knows about Wickham? Very few of us.”

  Berger groaned.

  “No offense, love. But the day after ‘Marissa’ suggested we meet at the concert, she started quoting lines from the Red Coat album, which, at the September concert, you guys only had like one box of, so I knew she couldn’t possibly know the lyrics as well as she did. All I had to do was reread some of our messages to each other. Marissa was Maurice. Totally obvious. She was exactly the same kind of vague and fake in her messages that I was. I really can’t believe I hadn’t noticed it sooner.”

  Maurice shrugged. “You were a nice surprise, though, I have to say. If I had to be catfished by anyone, might as well be a hot blonde chick.”

  “But back to true love.” I tried to turn the conversation again. Maurice was not impressing me at all, and I really didn’t want any more of his input.

  “I met you both in September,” Berger said. “And from that day, I haven’t been able to get Drew out of my mind.”

  “Probably because when he tried to get me into a compromising situation backstage, I roundhoused him.”

  “Yes, that was probably why.”

  “How did I miss that?” I couldn’t even remember Drew going backstage, much less having it out with the lead singer.

  “You probably saw some cool bug in the bushes or something.”

  She was making fun of me, but she was probably right. The fall concert was outdoors in the gardens at Alvsborg Fortress.

  “She was beautiful, smart, and a spitfire. But I didn’t think I’d ever see her again.”

  “But Drew, you told me you had found true love way before you got to Cardiff.”

  “What? No.” Drew shook her head.

  “Then what did you mean when you texted that you found it?”

  “Freedom, baby. Didn’t you know that’s what I had been looking for since, like, the day I was born?”

  I exhaled slowly. My head was spinning. She was impossible to keep up with.

  “I know what you are thinking, little zuss. But that is half of her charm.” He reached his hand back and grasped hers. “She only thinks she wants freedom. Really she wants a spanking, and someone to give it to her regularly.”

  “Ew.” Antje made a gagging sound.

  “He’ll learn,” Drew said. “No one spanks a Honeywell.”

  “But you, my liefjev, are not a Honeywell anymore.”

  I sat down. Right there, on the floor. It was hard. “What?”

  She held out her hand, a big honking sparkler slipped to her knuckle. “When in Gretna.” She grinned.

  Isaac took a step forward, fists clenched.

  “Relax.” Berger took the bediamonded hand and pulled Drew down to his lap. “She needs looking after, wouldn’t you agree?”

  Drew smacked him, then kissed his cheek.

  “I might have made a terrible mistake, but I couldn’t leave her to wander Europe on her own, could I?”

  I liked that. I couldn’t help it. It was the kind of thing a man in a Jane Austen novel would say, or do.

  “Besides, divorce in Europe is cheap if you’re broke.”

  Drew punched him in the gut, but playfully.

  He groaned, but pulled her closer. They were kind of disgusting.

  “So you found freedom, but it lasted less than a week?” I asked.

  “Who needs freedom when you have true love?”

  Berger rewarded this sentiment with a groping kind of kiss.

  We all turned away.

  Berger cleared his throat. “Listen, we’re young, broke artists in love. The wedding was totally legit, and we’ve filed the appropriate papers in the Netherlands.”

  “It’s amazing what you can do online.” Drew nuzzled Berger.

  “I don’t hate your sister, so far,” Thomas said. “So I don’t expect her to be a Yoko.”

  “I don’t expect us to be the Beatles,” Maurice added. “But we make a living, so far. Not if all of us marry vagabonds. But so far.”

  “We’re counting on Antje to nab Prince Harry.” Thomas had been quiet until now. From his thick accent, I assumed it was because he wasn’t quite as fluent in English as the rest of them.

  “Ew.” Antje wasn’t having it. “What we are trying to say is you are family now, Dani. And if you want to chill with us for a while, you can. But we’re kind of straight edge, and you would need to make sure your papers were good.”

  I nodded.

  Travel with my favorite band? Keep an eye on my sister? Get to know my new brother-in-law? I looked at each of the band members in turn. Antje was beautiful, talented, and cool. Thomas was really, really Dutch. From his accent to his mint-green pants. Maurice was a butt. It would be so much fun to travel with them.

  Then I looked at Isaac. His face was a mask, impossible to read.

  I had judged him harshly back in Tillgiven. Maybe my hurts hadn’t been as bad as his hurt. Maybe the disappointments in my life hadn’t tested me as badly as his had. He didn’t know the things I had gone through, but I had not judged him fairly—jumping to the conclusion that he wasn’t really a Christian, just because he hadn’t given me some pat answers about praying.

  Christian people had disappointments, and hardships, and those things didn’t always make a person feel closer to God. Drew hadn’t drawn closer to God through our hard times. But Wickham was a Christian band, or at least a band with Christians in it, and Berger had married her instead of just running off with her, so maybe God still had Drew in his hand, and planned to do more with her than she knew.

  Maybe he was doing more with me than I knew. Maybe my knack for knowing who was a real Christian and who was faking it wasn’t as keen as I had thought. Maybe I had something to learn still—or even was in the middle of learning it.

  Whatever it was, I wasn’t going to learn it with Drew and Berger and the band.

  Besides, God had told Isaac to bring me back to school.

  And I have always been into doing what God asks.

  Isaac Daniels 13

  I left Dani at the hotel with the band. She and Drew had their parents on speakerphone.

  Berger walked me out. “Listen, brother, I have mad respect for you and the way you have taken care of Dani.” He clapped me on the back. “I hope when you guys are done with school, you can join the rest of our tour. Drew says you should be done in May.”

  I was in no mood to admit that I wasn’t Dani’s boyfriend, but in life, we have to do a lot of things we don’t want to do. “I think you have the wrong idea.”

  Berger laughed. “When May comes, you won’t be her teacher any longer.”

  I sighed. I had heard that kind of line before.

  I had two main reasons for taking the trip back to school slowly. The first was to give myself more time to prove to Dani that I didn’t think she was an ignorant child. That kind of comment could be hard to come back from. But if you wanted to win a girl’s heart, you couldn’t beat a two-day drive through all of Europe.

  The second reason was that I had the most wonderful girl in the world all to myself, and I wanted it to last as long as I could. When we got back to school, I would have to stop being her friend and start being her teacher again.

  So I took two days to drive us home. We stopped anywhere that looked pretty, which meant we managed to drive past all the important sites, while still getting to eat fast food in pretty fields. We allowed ourselves
to think the rules were the same as in Sweden and all fields were fine for picnicking in, no matter who owned them.

  We stayed at a hostel—she in the girls’ dorm, and I in the boys’—in Hanover, Germany, and visited the castle before we left the next day. Neither of us talked about our feelings, to my relief. I didn’t think I could handle being put in my place.

  But no matter how slowly we tried to go, we managed to arrive in Brunn Vatten, Sweden, in time for dinner on the second day.

  I stayed in the car and texted Stina. “I’m here with Dani. Is your offer for the apartment still good?”

  “Sure thing. Come in and get the key.”

  Dani was lingering by the car. The manly thing would be to walk her in to dinner. But I was feeling somewhat less than manly.

  “Can you bring it out? I’m not supposed to be here.”

  “No.”

  Stina. Always helpful.

  I got out.

  Dani walked next to me. We didn’t touch, or talk, but her arm swung next to mine, almost asking me to hold her hand.

  And then she did. She just slipped her hand into mine, wove her fingers through mine. We stood on the front steps, the doors closed, and held hands. My heart. My breath. My temperature. None of it seemed to make sense.

  Didn’t she hate me?

  I knew she didn’t.

  Wasn’t she mad at me?

  I knew she wasn’t.

  “I know that, I, um…” She blushed. “That I’m just a dumb kid.”

  “No, you aren’t.” Why did my voice come out all gravelly like that? And how could I make it do it again next time? “You are a beautiful, amazing girl.”

  She bit her lip. “We’ve got a lot of months of school left.”

  Like a punch in the gut. “It’s not forever.”

  She smiled, but her eyes were teary. If she cried, I didn’t know what I would do. Probably kiss her, and live to regret it.

  She let her fingers slip out of mine. “I just wanted you to know.”

  The dining room window was full of students watching us. There was nothing to do now but go in.

  Dr. Grey stood at the foot of the stairs, watching me with eyes that seemed to know everything.

  “There’s been some trouble with the Drew Honeywell situation.” I tried to play it off like I hadn’t been caught making a move on a student and hadn’t directly disobeyed his one, pretty easy stipulation to not come back to the school while he was still there.

  “How’s Si?” Dani interrupted, and I couldn’t have been more grateful.

  Dr. Grey’s face relaxed. “He’s back. Much better now.”

  Si himself was sitting on the bench against the wall. “I’m great. Thanks for asking. That little fainting thing doesn’t happen often.”

  “Fainting?” I asked. “You had a seizure, buddy. You almost died.”

  “It was nothing.” He looked as hale and healthy as ever, blast him. Kids like Si were hard to kill.

  “As for the Honeywell situation…” I started again.

  “Isaac managed to bring me home safely.” Dani beamed at me, lighting up the whole room with her smile.

  Si laughed. “It looks like he enjoyed it.”

  “Si…” Dani scowled at him.

  “Tillgiven.” He pronounced the Swedish word very naturally.

  Dani turned red.

  “Tillgiven Bridal-skola.”

  “Si, this isn’t a joke.” I wanted to strangle him, but that wouldn’t put me on Dr. Grey’s good side.

  “I don’t see why it isn’t. So you have the hots for a student? Big deal. It’s hardly the biggest scandal at Tillgiven this year.”

  “Si…” He needed to stop. I don’t think he realized my job was at stake.

  “Besides, you guys made him a volunteer, didn’t you? Nothing in the rules says a volunteer can’t date a student. That’s why I am so very, very glad that Stina doesn’t take a salary.”

  “Sioeli Grey…” Stina had come out of the office with the key, laughing.

  “If you think you know of some other problem on this campus, I would appreciate hearing about it.” Dr. Grey managed to keep his composure. I could see why he was in charge of the whole international school system. The guy was made of stone, and yet pretty even handed, all things said.

  “Did you know what the girls’ RA has been reading them at story time? Porn!”

  “What?” Stina laughed.

  I squirmed. It wasn’t my business to keep tabs on Cadence, but maybe I ought to have asked what was going on when I saw her hide the book.

  “Don’t be an idiot. They’re reading a good book about relationships. Some of these children need a little extra education when they get here.” Stina had a smooth answer for everything.

  “Fifty Shades is educational?”

  “Cadence isn’t reading them Fifty Shades. I gave her my copy of Spoons to Spooning. Nearly two-thirds of the girls here come looking for a husband. The least we can do is help them get there.” Stina’s eyes sparkled. She was truly a handful.

  Dr. Grey exhaled, the hint of a smile on his face. “If we send them home with husbands, the least we can do is teach them what to do with one.” He crossed the foyer to me. “I expect you have a good reason for being here?”

  “God told me to bring Dani back.” I had not meant to say that.

  Dr. Grey made eye contact and held it much longer than would be normal. After what felt like an hour, he nodded. “Fine.”

  Stina tossed me the key. “Si’s not wrong about volunteers, by the way. There’s a reason I never take a salary.” Stina laughed that almost bell-like, if it perfect, laugh of hers and went back into her office.

  Dani glowed from ear to ear.

  “When you come back, be ready to work.” Dr. Grey’s words weren’t harsh but sounded serious. I was in for some kind of Bible school boot camp on my return, I could tell. They’d whip me into shape, if it was the last thing they did.

  “Yes, sir.”

  I took a deep breath.

  I walked out.

  Si followed me.

  “Hey, by the way, thanks for saving me.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’m sorry about the job.”

  “Me too.”

  “But if you had to pick between a paycheck and the girl…” He grinned.

  I gave him that one.

  I leaned on the car. “Before I go, how are you? You look healthy, but the rest of it…”

  He rocked his head back and forth. “Grandma brought a letter from home.”

  “Good news?”

  “Could be.”

  “Does it help you want to stay here until May?”

  “It might.” He blushed. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked away.

  A girl, maybe? Could Tillgiven be getting a new student for winter term?

  I no longer had driving privileges, so I walked to the bus stop. Evenings in Sweden were colder than in southern France. I’d have to beg someone to bring some of my winter things to Stina’s place for me.

  Maybe Dani would do it…

  It wasn’t a perfect ending, but Si was right. The thing with volunteers and students being able to fraternize might make losing my salary a little easier to live with.

  I saw the bus in the distance. In a few moments I would get on it and go away, to hibernate for a couple of weeks. To pray and read my Bible and start approaching God like I didn’t know it all. Above me, tiny white flakes fell from the sky, the streetlight illuminating them.

  It wasn’t supposed to snow yet. Not in the middle of October.

  I shoved my hands in my pockets. From everything I had read before coming here, this snow was impossible.

  But then, so had everything else been, so far.

  The snow melted as it hit the ground. A passing cold front. No big deal. Hard times come and go, but during them, you always find something good. Like Dani Honeywell. Or Stina, letting me stay in her apartment. I tossed the key and caught it. W
ho knew I’d feel this thankful for Stina?

  When the bus pulled up, I realized I had no idea where her apartment was in Vetlanda.

  Nothing was ever perfect, was it?

  ***

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  Author’s Note

  During the 1996-1997 school year, and the summer after, I had the privilege of being a student at the Holsby Brunn, Sweden, campus of the Torchbearers Bible School. It was the best year of my pre-married life and the most important part of my education. It was also a little bit like a year of summer camp, therefore the perfect setting for any number of mysteries and romances.

  Tillgiven Bible School is inspired by my year overseas, but it is fiction, and so is the larger organization it is a part of that runs the school. I would never disrespect the actual Torchbearers school system because it means so much to me. Plus, I need Tillgiven to be run in a way that suits my plot, so I don’t have to twist the plot to suit an existing school system.

  Tillgiven Bible School, the staff and students of the school, and the town of Brunn Vatten, Sweden, are completely fictional. Any resemblance between them (apart from being in Sweden, being a Bible school, and having a medicinal well) is coincidental. I have worked with a student from the 1986-1987 class of the Holsby Brunn campus to ensure that, to the best of our ability, nothing created for the purpose of this book could be mistaken for reality. Besides, the shenanigans the students got up to the year I was there would be too unbelievable for fiction!

  About the Author

  When not writing, Traci accompanies her mandolin-playing husband on the spoons and knits socks.

  She is the author of the Tillgiven Romantic Mysteries, the Plain Jane Mystery Series, the Mitzy Neuhaus Mysteries, and Hearts to God, a Christian historical romance novella. She was the Mystery/Suspense Category winner for the 2012 Christian Writers of the West Phoenix Rattler Contest, and has a Drammy from the Portland Civic Theatre Guild. Traci serves as the vice president of the Portland chapter of the American Christian Fiction Writers Association.