Secretly Smitten by Diann Hunt Denise Hunter Kristin Billerbeck Colleen Coble Read Free Book Online

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