Dana Corbit - Homecoming at Hickory Ridge

Maybe for the same reason Brett hadn’t even been by to see him since Kyle had moved into his downtown apartment over the weekend.

“Oh, I invited him,” Andrew answered, covering the lingering pause. “Kyle’s going to be working with our new prison ministry and helping out with plans for the Homecoming celebration. We want to familiarize him with some of the other church programs.”

“The celebration’s going to be great,” Julia told him, excitement clear in her voice. “It’s like a big family reunion for anyone who ever attended our church. We scheduled it on the same weekend as the Milford Memories festival—the second weekend in August. That way, former members can make a vacation out of their visit.”

One of those cat-just-made-a-snack-of-the-canary smiles appeared on Hannah’s face before she spoke again. “Andrew, have you told Kyle about all the church programs? What about our singles’ program?” She turned to Kyle. “It’s called Christian Singles United. Julia’s a member. You should ask her about it.”

Sure, Andrew had mentioned it, and Kyle had been quick to nix the idea. Still, though Hannah’s approach had been about as subtle as a two-by-four to the head, Kyle couldn’t resist sneaking a peek at Julia.

She rolled her eyes and frowned.

“Julia teaches first grade at Johnson Elementary,” Hannah continued. “She’s a great teacher and a great catch.”

“Gee, thanks, Hannah.” Julia shook her head, looking embarrassed.

“No problem. Now, Andrew and I are going to see if anyone needs help in the kitchen. You two enjoy your dinner.”

She grabbed the youth minister’s arm and pulled him toward the kitchen. Over his shoulder Andrew gave an apologetic shrug and disappeared through the swinging door.

When Kyle turned back to Julia, her light olive complexion had deepened to a pretty maroon, but she was too polite to cut and run.

“Sorry about that. You’ll have to forgive Hannah. Ever since she got married a year and a half ago, she’s been setting up everyone.”

“I’ll remember to keep my distance then.”

Julia nodded as though she’d received the message that he wouldn’t be a player in the local dating game. He had no business even thinking about the opposite gender, anyway. He had so much hard work ahead of him for the next few months. So much to prove.

“Well,” she began again, “we still have to eat. So, do you want to…” She let her words trail away in an unspoken dinner invitation.

He glanced at his plates, all but forgotten on the salad table. “Sure.”

As he collected his food, Julia reached for the brownies, placing two on a dessert plate. “Get your own,” she said when she caught him watching.

He couldn’t help grinning at her since she didn’t have any dinner and was still making sure she didn’t miss dessert. He had to respect a woman who had her priorities in order.

She led him to a long table, set down her plate, indicating for him to take the spot opposite hers. As soon as he took his seat, though, she hurried off to the serving table. When she returned, she was carrying a salad to go with her brownies.

“That’s great that you’ll be working with the Homecoming committee. Do you know which subcommittee you’ll be working on? I’m on the Search and Invitation committee. We’ll be trying to locate and invite as many former members as we can.”

“I still don’t know what I’ll be doing for the celebration. They’ll probably assign me where they need the most help.”

She nodded, but he wondered if he saw disappointment in her expression. Instead of saying something more, Julia forked a bite of her brownie into her mouth and then started on her salad.

“So, you’re a member of the singles’ group.” Kyle blinked. Where had that come from, and how could he take it back?

Julia lifted her head. “I guess you could say that.” She chewed her lip before continuing. “But I’m not the best advertisement for it.”

Kyle managed to keep his face blank, which was no small feat because in his opinion, a picture of Julia Sims would be exactly the kind of advertisement a singles’ program could use. If group organizers wanted to attract new singles of the male persuasion, anyway.

“Why would you say that?” he asked.

“I’ve been a member for three years and I’ve never really, you know…met anybody.”

“You’re kidding.”

She flitted her gaze his way but looked away again, something in her salad requiring all of her attention.

“Sure, I’ve met people,” she began, still looking at the table, “but just no one special…for me.”

“I still find that hard to believe.” He also found it hard to imagine why he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

She looked up at him with a sheepish grin. “There were extenuating circumstances with a few of the men I met. In one case, my friend, a young widow, tried to set me up with this guy, and then she realized that God intended for them to be together.”

“You mean…?”

“Yes. Tricia tried to set me up with your brother.”

“You never went?”

Julia shook her head but was quick to add, “Brett never asked, either.”

“Oh.” His relief was more for Julia’s sake than his own. His boring Dudley Do-Right brother would never have been a good match for an intriguing person like Julia Sims.

As if you would be.

“There were some others, too. Hannah tried to convince me to go out with her best friend, Grant. The only problem was that Grant was more interested in Hannah and hasn’t dated anyone else since she got married.”

Kyle shook his head, chuckling. “You’re making this stuff up. It sounds just like a soap opera.”

“It gets better. Tricia wanted me to go out with Brett’s former partner, but she couldn’t even convince him to visit the singles’ group.”

“Ouch.” It sounded like a comic routine on the trials of dating in the new millennium—a regular comedy of dating-scene horrors—but he didn’t tell Julia that.

“Yeah, ouch.” She tore a corner off her second brownie and nibbled on it. “You see, if the church used me as an advertisement, Christian Singles United wouldn’t look too successful.”

“Those guys wouldn’t come off looking too smart, either.” The words were out of his mouth before he had the good sense to stop them. He was definitely out of practice talking to women.

Her cheeks reddening again, she glanced at the serving window, the salad table and the other dining tables to avoid looking at him. For such a lovely woman, she wasn’t comfortable with compliments. That surprised him, but he suspected there were many surprising things to discover about Julia Sims.

Strange how he suddenly wanted to know more about her. Not the details he might find listed on some dating service data sheet or even the casual information fellow church members might know, but the deeper stuff. What made her nervous around him, especially if she didn’t even know who or what he was? What made it so difficult for her to look him in the eye?

He shouldn’t be curious. Rebuilding his own life would be enough like an uphill march after an ice storm without adding anyone else’s dramas to the mix. But wisdom had never been one of his stronger points. He would have asked her some of his questions if someone hadn’t entered the room then, announcing that prayer service would begin in ten minutes.

That announcement must have signaled the church greeters because several approached and introduced themselves, too many for Kyle to ever recall their names. Several asked questions, so he kept his answers vague.

The task would have been easier if he weren’t so distracted by the woman who’d moved across the room to throw their trash away. Maybe he would give the singles’ group a try, after all. At least it would give him something to look forward to besides meetings with his probation officer.

At the sound of the heavy gym doors opening, Kyle glanced over to see his brother in full Michigan State Police uniform, scanning the room as if he’d entered a crime scene. When his gaze landed on Kyle, Trooper Brett Lancaster took several long strides toward his table.

“I tried calling you tonight.” Brett’s words sounded more like an accusation than a statement. That he was staring down at Kyle the way he would a suspect during questioning didn’t help, either.

Kyle glanced sidelong in the direction Julia had gone, and, sure enough, she now stood just a few feet away.

“I wasn’t home.”

“I’d gathered that. I wondered where you were.”

What’d you think, a breaking and entering or a drive-by shooting? He pushed back his chair and stood. With effort, he calmed his breathing as he’d done so many times on the inside. He lowered his voice and leaned close to the brother he’d once admired.

“I’m not on a tether. I don’t have to check in.”

Kyle didn’t expect an apology from his holier-than-thou brother, but Brett’s stiff stance surprised him. Stepping back, Kyle crossed his arms and waited.

“I called Andrew a few minutes ago, and he said you were here.”

“And you just drove right over?”

“I didn’t figure—”

“What? That I should be here? At a prayer meeting dinner?” Kyle’s eyebrows drew together as he studied his big brother. Though Kyle stood two inches taller than Brett’s five-eleven and outweighed him by fifteen pounds, it was hard not to feel outsized by the ten-gallon hat that Brett wore.

Brett shook his head, appearing to search for the right words.

Kyle didn’t give him time to find them. “I don’t get it. You agreed to help me get a job, made a call about my apartment—” As realization dawned, he stopped himself, the stab of pain fresh though he should have been immune.

He stepped closer to his brother, too angry to be intimidated by the uniform and the badge. He spoke in a low voice. “Oh, I get it now. You’re not upset that I work here, just that I’m here with these people.”

“You’re not making sense, little brother. And you’re making a scene.”

“As if you racing in here didn’t make one?”

Brett gripped Kyle’s shoulder, but Kyle shook off his hand and backed out of his reach.

“It’s okay for me to live in town as long as I keep my head low. And it was okay for you to give me a recommendation at your church. I could work here as long as I stayed invisible. I don’t know how you expected me to do my job that way, but that’s not the point right now. I went too far by socializing here. You don’t want your ex-con brother anywhere near your friends.”

Trooper Lancaster’s body became still, but he turned his head from side to side. Dread gripped Kyle’s insides as he glanced at the startled faces around him. He’d forgotten their audience, and from the way everyone scattered and pretended to be involved in their own conversations he realized he’d been overheard.

Brett turned back to him, his eyes narrowed. “You’re a one-man demolition team. You destroy everything in your path. Just like always.”

“Maybe there’s a quota. Only one perfect son per family.”

“You’re not worth it.”

It was only a frustrated comment that Brett made under his breath, but Kyle didn’t miss it. He lied to himself, saying it didn’t bother him. Brett glanced around once more and then stalked toward the door. In his life, Kyle had never followed his older brother’s example, but it didn’t sound like a bad idea now.

He took two steps, catching Julia’s image in his peripheral vision. A wave of melancholy filtered over him. It was best that she found out now, before she thought they could be friends or something. She didn’t seem like the kind of woman who would be friends with a guy like him, anyway. The people around her probably had award lists…not rap sheets. None of that mattered. He didn’t need friends. He didn’t need anyone.