Added to his physique were a pair of dark brown eyes and the kind of quiet manner that women seemed to find endearing.
“Sorry I brought all this up,” Luke said, feeling like the lowest of the low. “It’s none of my business.”
Mose waved off his excuse. “Oh, I don’t mind. Ask whatever you want, Luke. I’ve made peace with my situation, for sure. I made the choice long ago to go this route, and come back here and live with the consequences. God set my path, and He knows what is best for me. I just have to keep reminding myself to not forget that.”
Luke believed in God, but he wasn’t used to being around people who talked about faith so openly. “Your faith is admirable.”
Mose shrugged off the comment. “Nah. My faith is part of who I am.” Obviously embarrassed by their personal conversation, Mose cleared his throat. “Now, as much as I’m sure you’d love to talk more about your love life—”
“Not,” Luke said quickly.
“You got it. So start telling me about what you’ve learned, Detective, and don’t forget to tell me everything, neither.”
As Martha placed their plates in front of them, Luke got to work. He told Mose about his conversations with Walker Anderson, Lydia Plank, and Perry’s parents. “I tell you what’s frustrating—I know they all know more than they’re telling me. But no matter how hard I push, I can’t seem to get them to trust me.”
“You’ve learned more than I did. It will come.”
“It will,” Luke agreed. But of course what neither of them said was that time was not their friend. It wasn’t like he could stay in the county for an unlimited time. He had a life to get back to, one that he made a living from.
But what was more important than his schedule was the fact that with each day, Perry’s trail and final hours were growing fainter and fainter.
“I did get a lead on what Perry was selling,” Luke said.
“Wasn’t pot, was it?”
“Nope. Looks like meth. Maybe some pills, too.”
“I was afraid of that.” Mose shook his head. “More and more people in these rural areas are setting up their own labs. We’ve even gotten some help from the DEA to help track it down.” He paused. “But if Perry was selling pills, that’s harder to trace. Lot of that is coming from St. Louis.”
Thinking about what Walker had said about Perry having some new friends, Luke nodded. “I’ll keep looking into things. As for the meth, the dealers might be hard to locate in the middle of rural farmland, but it’s not impossible. Dealers don’t talk but addicts do. I have a couple of leads, and I’ll follow them. I’m going to get to the truth, Mose. I promise you that.”
“I’m not the only one who has faith in you, Luke.” Mose raised his chin and glanced upward. “Don’t you forget that you’re not alone. Not ever.”
Luke stewed on those words long after they’d ordered peanut butter pie from Martha and ate it while discussing the latest basketball scores.
He stewed on Mose’s words as he limped back to his truck and drove along the near-empty streets of the town. And as he sat in bed that night, pretending to read but really thinking about his life back in Cincinnati.
Who did he have there who he truly cared about?
And how come he couldn’t come up with a single name?
Arms full of laundry fresh from the line outside, Lydia stood outside the kitchen, listening to her mother chat with little Petey about his homework. Every thirty seconds he interrupted and whined.
Petey had the patience of a gnat.
“Peter, you settle and listen to me,” her mother said. Again.
Lydia had to smile. Many of the things her mother was saying were words Lydia had heard more than a time or two.
“Mamm, I am trying. It ain’t my fault,” he said.
“Ach, but I think it might your fault, son. I think you’re playing and daydreaming while in school.”
“But my teacher—”
“Your teacher is practically a saint, doing her best to teach you. You need to concentrate more.”
“I do concentrate.”
“Not as much as you should.”
“But that don’t mean—”
“I’ll hear nothing else about this,” she said sternly. “You need to do your best, Peter. Our Lord expects nothing less.”
“I don’t think the Lord is paying attention to me at school, Mamm.”
“He always is. Even at school.”
Lydia winced. Her mother now had the tone in her voice that said she had just about lost her composure. It was truly time for her little brother to step back and get quiet.
But obviously, he still had a lot to learn.
“But—”
“Peter . . .”
Lydia couldn’t take being a fly on the wall any longer. “Petey,” she interrupted as she entered the room. Setting the towels on the table, she added, “Stop talking for once. It’s time for you to listen, jah?”
“Of course you’re going to say that. You do everything right,” he retorted with a glare.
“We both know that’s not true. Right, Mamm?”
“None of us is perfect, Lydia. That is what I know to be true.”
“Well, you’re a lot closer to being perfect than I am,” Peter grumbled.
“Over the years, I heard plenty of the same things Mamm is telling you now. If you want some advice, it would be to listen and follow directions.”
But, as she’d predicted, her brother just glared, then grabbed his bowl of half-eaten soup and noisily placed it in the sink. “I’m done.”
“If you’re done, go put up the towels,” Lydia said.
“That ain’t my job. It’s yours.”
Lydia closed her eyes and hoped she wouldn’t have children for years and years. A house full of kinner like Peter would surely drive her crazy.
“Child, you are not helping your cause,” their mother cautioned.
But Peter just glared, turned away, and gathered up his books. “I’m going to go out and do my chores.”
“With your books?”
“I’ll put them down first.” He grumbled something more under his breath, but thankfully their mother didn’t seem to be in any big hurry to decipher it.
Her mother folded her arms over her chest while Lydia stood with her mouth half open. “Mamm, I can’t believe him!”
“He’s wearing me out, that is true.”
“Were Reuben or I that disrespectful when we were eight?”
“Don’t you remember?”
She knew her mother was teasing. But what actually surprised Lydia was that she couldn’t remember a lot of her behavior during the years of learning to give and take. She remembered her parents’ lectures, but not how she reacted to them. “I don’t remember as much as I should,” she said finally. “That surprises me.”
Her mother smiled. “Believe it or not, I was the same way. It’s easy to remember the good times, yes? No one wants to remember the bad.” After rinsing off Petey’s bowl and spoon and setting it to dry, she eyed Lydia up and down. “What are you planning to do the rest of the day?”
It was time to make a choice. She could either be evasive or completely open.
It looked like the Lord had an idea about what she should do, however. After all, here she was, listening to Petey and her mother when she usually did no such thing.
“I’m going to the park, Mamm.”
“Oh? To do what?”
It didn’t escape Lydia’s notice that the question was gently asked. Almost as if she’d been afraid to upset Lydia by being too invasive.
Almost the exact opposite of how she’d been with her brother.
The hesitancy made her move even closer to the full truth. “I’m going to meet Walker Anderson.”
“You are still spending time with him?”
“I am.”
Everything in her mother’s body language signaled a wealth of questions she was so obviously wanting to ask. But still she didn’t.
“We are just friends, Mamm.”
“Why do you two feel the need for this friendship? That is, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I don’t mind you asking. But I will tell you I don’t have any set answer. It just seems like we have a lot in common right now.”
“Because of Perry?”
Was that it? Was that the main reason? “Because of Perry,” she said finally. “But also because of who I am.”
“You are my daughter. My special, much loved daughter.”
“And you are my mother. I know that. But it’s important to me to think about what could have been. If you hadn’t adopted me.”
“I just want you to know how much we love you, have always loved you.”
“I know.” Lydia bit her lip in order to not say another word that she might later regret. As the tension between them grew and her mother’s eyes watered, Lydia tried harder to explain herself. “Mamm, you asked me where I was going, and I told you the truth. I told you the truth even knowing that it might cause you pain.”
What mattered now more than peace and tranquility was honesty.
With Perry, she’d chosen peace. He’d broken her heart and she’d kept to herself, kept her sorrow and confusion to herself. Afraid to make others see her pain, or afraid to inconvenience others.
But all that had gotten her was a series of restless nights and a desperate feeling of being alone.
“I’ll be home before dark,” she said finally.
Her mother merely nodded—instead of offering her opinion, or cautioning her to be careful.
She appreciated her mother’s willingness to allow her some independence. It wasn’t her family’s way, but given all that had happened in the last few weeks, Lydia needed this space. She hugged her mother tight and whispered “I love you” before she headed out the door and finally let the memories of Perry rush forward like they always did. As she looked at the way the sun was half peeking through the thickening clouds, she recalled another time she’d been standing outside, hoping the rain would hold off, just for a little longer.
When Perry had stopped by to break off their date.
“Lydia, I can’t go walking with you, Something came up that I need to take care of.”
She’d bit her lip so he wouldn’t see how disappointed she was. She’d run around the house like a crazy person, getting her chores done early so she could spend the evening with him. “What?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Why not? What are you going to do?”
“Nothing you need to worry about.” But his eyes had darted away when he’d spoken.
“Is it another girl?”
A slow smile curved his lips. “Nee, Lydia. I won’t be with another girl. I wouldn’t do that to you.” He’d stopped all conversation then with a kiss. And then another one. And then another one.
She’d allowed it because she was sure that one day he was going to go back to being how he used to be—kind, patient. . .
Only later had she realized that he’d kissed her like that so she wouldn’t ask any more about his plans.
He’d only kissed her to make her be quiet.
Chapter 16
“Sometimes, in the middle of the night when the dream comes back, all I see was how Perry looked, lying at the bottom of the well. And no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember what he looked like alive. I don’t know why that is.”
ABBY ANDERSON
Can I come along?” Abby asked as Walker grabbed his keys to head out to his truck.
Her request caught him off guard. “Where do you think I’m going?”
“To see the Amish girl.”
He stopped in his tracks and glared at her. “How do you know about Lydia? And how do you know I was going to meet her today?”
“I overheard you talking on the phone to one of your friends about how you had plans.”
“So you just assumed I was going to see Lydia?”
“Who else would it be? Everyone’s talking about your new fascination with Lydia. It’s pretty obvious that you like her. I mean, you’ve never dated an Amish girl before.”
“We’re not dating.”
“Seems like you are . . .” Her voice drifted off suggestively. She was still his little sister and no matter what her age, she would always be into his business and always feel that she had the right to interfere.
“I don’t want company, Abby.”
“But—”
“That’s it. That’s all I’m saying.” He opened the door, ready to stride through the garage. But the light rain falling stopped him in his tracks.
With anyone else, he would’ve kept his plans without a second thought. But with Lydia? How did the rain affect her?
Would she still walk to the park in it, or would she opt not to go? Or would she take her buggy instead?
Was she even allowed to use her family’s buggy? For some reason, the fact that he had no idea what her situation was at home made him feel even more confused.
“She’ll be there, you know. The rain’s not going to stop her.”
He turned around. Though he was irritated that his sister was still hanging around, he was more interested in what she had to say. “Why do you say that?”
“That’s the way the Amish are.” Her voice was so strong and sure, she sounded like a mini-authority or something. “They value plans more than problems.”
“And you know this because . . .”
“Because of Grandma and Grandpa, of course.”
“They’re my grandparents, too, Lydia. I didn’t know that they felt that way.”
“You don’t ask.”
“And you do?”
A flash of hurt entered her eyes, and because it hadn’t been there before, Walker felt his cheeks burn. Hadn’t he promised himself to be there for her to be the one person in her life who she could depend on? “Sorry, squirt.” He sighed. “Listen, Abby, Lydia won’t like you being there. Plus, we’ve got to talk about some things that are private.”
“How about this? I’ll only stay for a little while.”
“Abby—”
“Just let me ask her a few questions, then I’ll leave you two alone. Promise.”
“You seem to have all the answers.”
“Come on, Walker. Please?”
Suddenly, he had nothing to lose. “Fine. Get in. But if all of this backfires, I’m going to totally blame you.”
“Blame me all you want.”
Oh, he would. If Lydia did actually show up. Turning on his windshield wipers, he glanced his sister’s way. “If things turn out bad, not only am I going to blame you, I’m going to expect you to fix it.”
Fifteen minutes later, they were sitting silently in the cab of his truck. Watching fat raindrops splash against the windshield. And waiting.
And then they saw her.
“Well, I guess they do use umbrellas,” Abby stated as they watched a solitary figure walk down the main path under a bell-shaped black umbrella. “Do you have one in here?”
“No. Why?”
“Well, where are you going to talk to her? I mean she’s probably not going to want to sit in here, right?”
His sister had a point. “There’s an overhang by the restrooms. Let’s go meet her there.”
Abby didn’t wait two minutes. She opened up her side and scrambled out, waving and calling to Lydia like they were best friends. Walker felt like sinking into his seat as Lydia stopped abruptly, looked at Abby, then at his truck in confusion.
Then slowly raised a hand and waved back.
There was only one thing to do. He opened up his door and joined them. And pretended that his heart was beating a little faster because he was embarrassed that he’d brought his little sister along.
It had nothing to do with the way he felt around Lydia.
Or that when he’d glanced her way, she’d met his gaze.
And then slowly smiled.
Oh, for heaven’s sakes! Walker had brough
t a friend to their meeting. A girlfriend, obviously, from the way she seemed so at ease around him.
And with that observation, all the warmth and anticipation Lydia had been feeling vanished in an instant. The last time they’d seen each other, she’d been so sure that they had something special between them. Okay, well perhaps that was an exaggeration.
But if it wasn’t special, it was good, at the very least.
The problem was that she’d thought he’d felt the same way. Now it was obvious that she’d only been imagining things.
And she’d walked all this way in the rain, too! Looking down at herself, she shook the hem of her dress. The bottom two inches of her dress was soaked through, making her calves cold.
“Lydia, let’s go stand under that covered area by the restrooms!” Walker called out. “I’ve got someone I want you to meet.”
Now she had no choice. “Hold your horses,” she replied, feeling suddenly like she was sounding silly and immature. “It’s raining, ya know?”
“A little bit of rain shouldn’t stop your feet from moving.”
Crossing over to him, to them, she made a new plan. She’d stand with them for a little while, then turn around and get home. She would be in their company ten minutes, tops.
She’d gone to a lot of effort for such a brief visit, but that couldn’t be helped.
“I hope you don’t mind that I brought my sister,” he said, the look in his eyes fully detailing his apology.
She was brought up short. “Sister?”
The girl stepped forward. Gave a little, half-hearted wave. “Hi,” she said shyly. “I’m Abby.”
Stunned, Lydia looked from Abby to Walker to Abby again. There, she saw the matching brown eyes. The wheat-colored hair. The same sprinkling of freckles.
And just as importantly, she saw Abby’s youth and hesitancy. The girl was nervous around her! But there was something in her eyes, too. A plea for acceptance, to be included.
As Lydia continued to study her, Abby’s look of hope dimmed. “Do you not want me here?” She bit her lip. “Walker told me I shouldn’t come, but I really wanted to. I’m sorry.”
“Nee! I mean, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. When I first saw you two together . . . well, I thought you were a couple, you see.”
Missing with Bonus Material: The Secrets of Crittenden County, Book One Page 13
