The Guy Next Door. Missy Tippens

how the donor knew exactly how much we need right when we needed it,” Grace said. “Didn’t you tell me your new coworker at the hospital—Lois?—has a son who is part of the program and a recipient of the meals? I imagine you’d want to make sure he doesn’t go hungry.”

      Steeling herself, Darcy braved looking at the oh-so-perceptive woman. “If this year’s auction is successful, maybe we won’t run out of money next year.”

      “You sure are generous, especially considering you’re working so hard to pay off your college loans.”

      Darcy’s faced burned. She let out a long sigh. “Lois just graduated and is trying to get back on her feet after a divorce. She’s adamant about refusing charity, especially from townspeople she knows. So please keep this anonymous, okay?”

      Grace made a zipping motion over her lips, but then her grin unzipped them. She patted Darcy’s hand. “By the way, I have a plan.” She glanced toward the living room to make sure Luke wasn’t there.

      Apparently that hadn’t been his car door they’d heard outside.

      Darcy closed the notebook where she’d jotted a list of their project ideas. “Tell me.”

      Grace clasped her hands in front of her chest, looking more like an excited teenager than a grandmother. “It’ll be the perfect way to get through to Luke,” she whispered. “My grandson needs a push to get him to move home to Appleton.”

      No amount of pushing would change Luke’s mind now that he’d bought the office building. Apparently, Grace had no idea what Luke planned.

      “And that push involves the auction?”

      A flash of sadness in Grace’s eyes knocked her excitement down a notch. “Since Joan founded the Food4Kids ministry, his helping with the auction would be a connection to his mother.”

      “Of course.”

      “I’m simply going to suggest Luke work for a good cause, a cause that meant a lot to Joan.”

      Darcy herself had experienced moments of sadness at the loss of their committee leader. “You know, I hadn’t anticipated how difficult this year’s auction would be without her. Are you doing okay?”

      Her friend sat straighter, pulling together the edges of her ivory cotton cardigan, taking a deep breath. “I’m fine. And hopeful. I truly think if Luke gets involved in the community, he’ll realize this is where he belongs.”

      Which is exactly what Darcy had hoped, too—before Luke decided to stay in Nashville after law school. “Sure can’t hurt to try.” She scooted her folder labeled Missions Auction across the table. “He’s welcome to take my place on the committee since I don’t have a spare minute in my day.”

      Grace slid the folder back to Darcy. “No, dear. You’re part of the plan, too. A reminder that he has friends here.”

      “Seriously, I don’t mind turning over my duties to him. I’ve been working fifty to sixty hours a week.”

      “Working too many hours if you ask me,” a deep voice said.

      Luke filled the doorway leading to the kitchen, and at the sight of him, her heart gave a stutter.

      Heart stutters were not allowed. She raised her chin and gave him a defiant look. “Butting into my business again?”

      Grace hopped up and greeted him with a tight hug. “That was you we heard out front!”

      “I got caught up talking to your neighbors.”

      “I’ve missed you, son. ’Bout time you came home.”

      “Thanks, Granny. I’ve missed you, too.” Over the top of Grace’s head he gave Darcy a pointed look. “See, Darcy. That’s how you greet a man.”

      Darcy couldn’t help laughing. “Hey, I greeted you like that yesterday, before you started handing out unsolicited advice about my work schedule.”

      “Come join us.” Grace led Luke to the chair beside her. “I was talking to Darcy about her second job.”

      Grace sat and grasped Darcy’s hand, her grip firm and strong. “Your mother told me you’re worried about finances. Darcy, honey, you need to find a good man to take care of you. You shouldn’t have to shoulder that burden alone.”

      Darcy almost laughed out loud. Then she remembered Grace had grown up in a different time, had married her husband at eighteen. “I appreciate the thought, but I haven’t met my knight in shining armor and can’t wait around until I do. I have bills to pay.”

      “Goodness, dear. How do you think you’ll meet the man God intends for you if you’re working all the time?” Grace asked.

      A problem Darcy had bemoaned for months as her only life outside of work had been fulfilling church obligations.

      Darcy glanced at Luke, his rakish grin proof he was enjoying her discomfort over the direction the conversation had taken.

      She’d recently accepted the possibility that God planned for her to remain single. Darcy didn’t need Grace shaking up a world she’d begun to settle into.

      “It’s not my place to doubt God’s plan for my life.” Darcy slid the folder back to Grace. “Now, here. Give this to Luke and tell him about your idea.”

      “Don’t change the subject.” Grace eased the folder to Darcy. “It’s not your place to assume you know God’s plan and give up so easily on love.”

      “I’m not giving up. I’m simply being realistic.”

      Back and forth, they’d slid the folder. With each declaration, Luke’s questioning gaze bounced between the two of them.

      Grace slowly inched the file toward Darcy. “You’re a young, beautiful woman with lots to offer, isn’t she, Luke?”

      As she waited for his response, Darcy’s breath froze in her lungs, and she wanted to slap herself silly over the fact that his answer mattered so much to her.

      With a smirk on his face, he rubbed his chin and examined her. “She is young, yes…”

      Darcy shook her head.

      “And has a lot to offer…”

      Why did her heart have to beat so wildly? Did she really care what he thought of her?

      He leaned forward, his light brown eyes sparkling.

      “And…?” She lifted her chin, staring right back, daring him to speak.

      The teasing suddenly morphed into something else entirely. The laughter in his eyes heated, holding her captive. The moment seemed to last an eternity.

      With one blink, he wiped away the spark between them. He sat back in his chair and looked over at his grandmother. “Granny, I have to admit, now that she’s all grown up, she’s not hard on the eyes.”

      The words were something he would typically say in fun, something a brother would jokingly say to disparage his sister. But he appeared to use the words as a weapon against the connection they’d just shared.

      A connection they didn’t normally have, one that didn’t fit best friends.

      Fear thudded in her chest. At one time, she’d been one of the many girls with a crush on him. For years, she remained on the sidelines with friend status, watching as Luke dumped girlfriend after girlfriend, marveling at how he somehow managed to remain unscathed and commitment-­free, while each new conquest cut her a little deeper. Dating her older sister, Chloe, had been the death of the crush. Falling in love with a girl named Raquel had hammered the nail in the coffin.

      She could not let herself go there again even for a moment. Luke would end up stomping on her heart like he had before. Unintentionally, granted. But a stomp was painful nonetheless.

      Darcy yanked up