Secretly Smitten (7 page)

“Your face looks like it’s healing,” Ryan said. “Or is that topic taboo?”

“Nothing is off limits,” she said. “I saw the doctor this morning. It was just an allergic reaction. It will be gone after a few days of taking the steroid pack.”

“You’re not limping either.”

“My ankle is fine.”

“You didn’t have to cover your rash with makeup. That’s one of the things I like about you, Tess. No pretense. You’re transparent.”

“I don’t like people staring.” She looked down at her hands, her appetite gone. The compliment felt slightly backhanded to her. Did he mean she had no femininity? She might be slightly overweight, but that didn’t mean she gave no thought to her appearance.

He cleared his throat. “Well, I guess we can go to the attic. Dessert needs to cool a bit, and it will make a nice break from the work in about an hour.” He flexed his fingers. “I hope you’re up to tackling that huge pile under the eaves.”

“I’m up to anything,” she said, trying to match his light tone. She wasn’t about to let him know his words had stung.

She followed him up the back stairs from the kitchen to the second floor. Going this way led down the hall past his bedroom, and she couldn’t resist a peek into his private space as they headed to the attic steps. It was more masculine than she’d expected. Had he redecorated after Candace died? She couldn’t imagine Candace living with a plain navy coverlet. There was only a picture of Sophia on the nightstand. The bureau was devoid of any decor. A few woodsy pictures were on the pale blue walls.

“Everything all right?” he asked.

Tess realized she hadn’t moved beyond the door to his room. “Of course, sorry. Lead on.”

Her face burned, but she smiled and followed him to the attic.

Sophia had found a box of old toys, and she played happily while Ryan pulled out boxes and carried them to an old table under the weak glow of the dangling lightbulb. One was a shoe box, and he peeked inside. “There are old pictures in here. They don’t seem to be of anyone in my family.”

“I love old pictures,” she said. “Why wouldn’t they take these with them?”

“Maybe they left in a hurry.”

“Maybe.” She scooped up a handful of photos and began to look at them. She flipped several over and read the inscriptions on the back. “These seem to belong to the Hutchins family. Here is a picture of David’s graduation.”

He took the yellowed photo and studied the group of fifteen boys and girls assembled in front of the old train station.

“He’s the third on the left in the back row,” she said. “Grandma is in the front row, first on the right. I recognize her from old pictures I’ve seen.”

“So they graduated together.”

“People never forget their childhood sweethearts.”

He wanted to ask Tess if she yearned after a lost love. Maybe that’s why she’d never married. There had to be some reason a woman like her was still single. She was the perfect package: beautiful, sweet-natured, caring, optimistic. He said nothing, though, not willing to go back to the unease that had developed since last night.

He dug back into the box and pulled out a handful of photos. The one on top was of a man in a uniform in front of the same train station downtown. The woman with him was Rose. They stood with their arms entwined and identical forced smiles. Their linked arms and body language told the real story. The parting would be painful for them both.

Wordlessly Ryan showed it to Tess, and her eyes welled with tears.

“War stinks,” she said. She put it on top of the school picture, then went back to sorting through pictures.

They found nothing more of interest for well over an hour. Ryan was conscious of everything about Tess—the way she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear when she was distracted, the little inhalations she made when she was studying the pictures, the way she crossed her legs, then uncrossed them. He was smitten with her and realized that he had been for a long time. Books weren’t the only reason he brought Sophia to the bookstore every week.

Though she seemed to have no interest in him, he was going to do all he could to change that.

“This is odd,” she said. “It’s a letter from David to his parents.” She handed it to him. “It’s dated January 19, 1952.”

“Why is that odd?”

“It’s two years after he was reported missing.”

“But it’s addressed here. The family would have been gone already.”

“And it’s never been opened.”

He stared at the yellowed envelope. “Should we open it? Is that even legal?”

She bit her lip. “Well, his parents are long dead. And it might help us get to the bottom of the puzzle.”

He didn’t like opening mail addressed to someone else, but in this case it seemed the only thing to do. The glue on the flap was only stuck in one place, and the paper separated easily. He pulled out the two sheets inside and began to read. Tess read over his shoulder.

“He’s letting them know he’s not dead. And they weren’t here to get the news! I wonder if he ever found them.”

“I sure hope so,” he said.

Her breath was sweet as she leaned closer. “Rose married Grandpa on December 16, 1951. So this news came a month after her marriage.”

He whistled. “That would have disrupted the honeymoon if she’d heard the news.”

“Plus she was pregnant. Mom was born nine months after the wedding.”

“He was on his way here to see his parents, not knowing they’d moved. And he asks about Rose. You think he got here and found out she was married?”

“Maybe. But that still doesn’t explain how the dog tags ended up in the attic. He had to have been in the house.”

“Or else his parents gave them to her.”

She shook her head. “No, she’d never seen them before Mia found them. And his parents had left already, so how could they?”

“Has your grandma said anything else about him?”

“Everyone has carefully avoided talking about the dog tags. No one wants to upset her. I bet she’s wondering about it, though.”

He grinned. “Your eyes are sparkling, and you’re totally engaged in this. You love a good mystery, don’t you?”

“Guilty as charged. You have to admit it’s intriguing.”

“Sure is. So what’s next?” he asked. “We know David survived the war and came back here.”

“We
assume
he came back here. But why didn’t Grandma see him? You would have thought in a town this small that if he’d been in town, someone would have told her, even if she didn’t see him personally. But all she knew was that he died in the war.”

“We could try to find someone in his family. Or he may even still be alive. How old is Rose?”

Tess’s forehead wrinkled as she thought. “Seventy-eight or seventy-nine. I lose track.”

“He’d be the same age. So it’s possible he’s still alive.”

Her gaze went dreamy. “Wouldn’t it be something if he was still alive and we reunited them?”

“He’s probably married too. His wife might still be alive.”

Her expression went to crestfallen. “Party pooper. I had a nice daydream going there.”

He wanted to hug her. She grew more enchanting to him every day. “Well, you never know. Any ideas how to find his family?”

“We could start with Facebook. Search there and other social network sites.”

He stared at her. “Honey, he’s nearly eighty. Do you honestly think he’s going to be on Facebook?”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Grandma has a page!”

“You’re kidding. I don’t even have one.”

“A situation I can quickly remedy,” she said, lifting one eyebrow.

“I can live without it.” He stood and picked up the box of pictures. “You want to take these home and go through them at your leisure? I don’t have any use for them. Your grandma might like to see them.”

“She probably would. But I’m not going to show them to her yet. She’ll know I’m investigating. We’re not telling her until we have it all figured out.”

He called Sophia and tucked the box under his arm. Now he needed to figure out how to keep Tess there for the rest of the evening.

CHAPTER SEVEN

S
everal swans floated serenely by on the lake where Tess sat with her mother and sisters. A blue-and-white checked tablecloth covered the rough wood of the picnic table, and Anna had produced her famous fried chicken from the depths of the oversized basket she’d lugged from the car. Tess’s contribution to the Sunday feast was homemade herb bread. Zoe had brought a plate of store-bought brownies, and Clare brought mashed potatoes made from scratch. None of it matched the rest of the food, but the mishmash of assorted food was a tradition and gave every Sunday dinner a party atmosphere.

“I saw a sign up for workdays to redo the station,” Tess told her family. “A train stop in Smitten would be the salvation of my bookstore.”

Clare handed her a plate of food. “It’s going to take major workdays to bring that place back. It’s filled with mice and spiders.”

“Eew!” Zoe shuddered. “Last time I looked, half the floorboards were rotted too.”

“Carson is donating new floorboards,” Anna said. She was wearing black slacks and a bright pink top that lit her fair skin with color.

Tess had often wondered why she had never remarried after their father left ten years ago. Anna was still lovely and vibrant, and several single men at church had given her more than a passing glance.

“So the train is coming?” Zoe popped a brownie into her mouth.

Anna put a chicken breast on her plate. “We don’t know yet. The town is going to put its best foot forward. The decision won’t be made for several months, and there will be visits by RailAmerica to evaluate what we could bring to the table. But you have to admit our town would make a perfect backdrop to a scenic journey.”

“The train station will look darling when it’s restored,” Clare said. “Just imagine flower boxes under the windows and the walk lined with purple pansies. We’d have enough tourists coming through that the nursery could stay open year-round. I talked to Mr. Lewis about selling wreaths, holiday decorations, and souvenirs. I wouldn’t have to look for a winter job.”

“Are you doing the landscaping for the train station?” Tess asked.

“I sure am. I have a ton of plans for the yard.” Clare settled beside Tess at the picnic table. “But I’m more interested in what you’ve found out.”

“It’s kind of sad.” Tess told her family about the letter they’d found.

Anna’s eyes filled with tears. “So his family never received it. What if he never found them?”

“He had to have come to town or his dog tags wouldn’t be here. So maybe he was able to find out where they’d moved.”

“But if he was in town, why didn’t someone see him and tell Grandma?” Zoe asked. “I would have thought that kind of news would be trumpeted all over town. It’s very odd.”

“It’s strange for sure,” Tess said. She glanced at her younger sister, who seemed unusually distracted today. Ordinarily Zoe would be demanding they get to the bottom of this now. She’d be pushing for them to talk to their grandmother too. “What’s up with you, Zoe? I heard you quit your job at the coffee shop.”

A smile played around Zoe’s lips and her dark eyes snapped with excitement. “I’m starting my own business.”