Wife Wanted in Dry Creek by Janet Tronstad Read Free Book Online Page A

here.”
    “Good,” Conrad said. Why did she make it sound like Charley had warned them? Surely, Charley hadn’t said anything about the car being stolen. He noticed Linda hadn’t taken the good silverware off her tables so she couldn’t be too worried about theft.
    Linda held out two menus. “Welcome.”
    “Your place is beautiful,” Katrina said as she took one of the menus and looked around. “Are those antiques on the wall?”
    Linda stiffened. “They’re just family items. Nothing valuable.”
    “They’ve been hanging there forever,” Conrad added. “No resale value at all.”
    Well, maybe Linda did know about the car. He didn’t think there was any cause for concern, though. The old memorabilia hanging on the walls was there to add to the fifties look of the café. He knew the guitar on the left side had belonged to Linda’s husband, Duane, when he was a boy; now he was a famous musician called The Jazz Man. The rolling pin had been discovered in the café when they remodeled it years ago. No one knew how old that was although the handle was engraved with a woman’s name. The mirror had come out of the farmhouse where Linda and her sister, Lucy, had grown up.
    “I’m keeping a couple of tables for you to the side,” Linda finally said. She gestured to them. “I have my special kids’ table set up for the boys. It’s got bibs, crayons, that kind of thing. A special tablecloth they can color on.”
    Linda had her trademark white chef’s apron on and a streak of gold in her dark hair. It had been a long time since Linda wore streaks, Conrad thought. When she first started with the café she used to have a different color in her hair every few days. But she’d calmed down in the years since then.
    “We don’t need anything fancy,” Conrad muttered in case she was on some creative kick. “Place settings or food, just regular will do.”
    He remembered that the café owner sometimes cooked gourmet romantic dinners for couples she decided should be together. He didn’t want to scare Katrina away with peach flambé or anything. Besides, she had enough to deal with today. She’d have to talk to the sheriff some more after they ate.
    As they walked, Linda touched Conrad on the elbow and motioned for him to hold back. They let Katrina and the boys go far enough ahead that they wouldn’t be able to hear them.
    “Why didn’t you tell me your calendar woman was in town?” Linda whispered, low and urgent. She looked distressed. “I finally convince Tracy to come over for lunch, thinking the two of you could—you know—casually sit together. I thought it would cheer her up. And here you are—hours before lunch so there’s no time for my pep talk to her. And there’s no reason to give it anyway since you came in all lovey-dovey with some woman you picked off a calendar!”
    “We’re not lovey-dovey.” He was aghast. They hadn’t even kissed. “I was just wiping away the rain.”
    “People get wet in the rain. No one needs the drops wiped off their face.”
    “Well, maybe not, but—” He realized he had no reasonable excuse to offer so he let the sentence trail off. “I didn’t pick her off the calendar. She just drove into town this morning. Muffler problems. She was going somewhere—I don’t know where, but she didn’t even mean to come here.”
    Linda shook her head in bewilderment. “What arethe odds then? No one comes here who’s been on a calendar anyone has seen.”
    “I know,” Conrad admitted miserably.
    “Especially not when we’re praying for—well, you know.”
    “Believe me, I do.”
    Neither one of them said anything for a minute.
    “Well,” Linda said, her voice suddenly getting a bracing tone to it. “Since that’s how it happened, my advice is to grab your chance. This calendar woman isn’t going to wait around for you forever. Just because your uncle prayed her into town doesn’t mean you can relax. You’ve got to show her a good time. Do more than