Bluegrass Courtship. Allie Pleiter

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      “Maybe we skip the small talk,” Drew said, “and you tell me what’s on your mind.”

      Janet decided to take him at his word. “Look, I’m glad the preschool’s getting an overhaul. But that doesn’t change the fact that Middleburg’s problem is about to become prime-time entertainment.”

      “You don’t trust us to get the job done right.”

      “As a matter of fact, yes.”

      “Well, Janet Bishop, I’ll make you a deal.” Drew pulled out a checkbook and wrote out a check. “This here’s a blank check made out to your store. After we’re gone, if plaster cracks, if the pipes leak, we’ll cover the cost for anything the church needs to order. I don’t want you all to feel we’ve taken advantage of Middleburg in any way.”

      Janet stared at the check.

      “I believe in what I do, Janet, and I mean to prove it to you.” He extended his hand. “Will you let me?”

      ALLIE PLEITER

      Enthusiastic but slightly untidy mother of two, RITA^® Award finalist Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and nonfiction. An avid knitter and non-reformed chocoholic, she spends her days writing books, drinking coffee and finding new ways to avoid housework. Allie grew up in Connecticut, holds a BS in Speech from Northwestern University, and spent fifteen years in the field of professional fund-raising. She lives with her husband, children and a Havanese dog named Bella in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois.

       Bluegrass Courtship

       Allie Pleiter

      MILLS & BOON

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      Unless the Lord builds the house,

       its builders labor in vain.

      Unless the Lord watches over the city,

       the watchmen stand guard in vain.

      —Psalms 127:1

      To my late father, Joe Stanko, who built things

      Acknowledgments

      Returning to Middleburg always means a return trip to charming Midway, Kentucky. Everything good about Middleburg comes from Midway. Everything “quirky” is definitely of my own invention. My thanks again to the lovely people—readers included—who’ve helped me fall in love with this part of the country. I’m so happy to be back and eagerly awaiting my subsequent returns.

      My thanks, as always, to my family—especially Mandy and CJ who endured another one of those “research vacations.” To the inventors of the DVR, who saved my family from sitting through dozens of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition episodes. To Jim Griffin and Alana Ruoso in the art department at Steeple Hill for giving me a delightful cover. And to all of you, for your kindness, your letters and prayers. You are all proof that God can bless abundantly across the airwaves and the miles.

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Chapter Seventeen

      Chapter Eighteen

      Chapter Nineteen

      Chapter Twenty

      Chapter Twenty-One

      Chapter Twenty-Two

      Chapter Twenty-Three

      Chapter Twenty-Four

      Chapter Twenty-Five

      Chapter Twenty-Six

      Chapter Twenty-Seven

      Questions for Discussion

      Chapter One

      Eight seconds.

      Sometimes five, but never more than eight.

      Drew Downing knew the world divided itself up into people who loved his television show, and people who hated it. After three seasons of Missionnovation, Drew could size up which side of that very thin line any one person stood. Always in under eight seconds after his trademark greeting of “God bless ’ya and hello, Middleburg!”

      He didn’t need the last five seconds this time…not with the pretty face of that woman in overalls standing at the end of the paint aisle. It broadcast pure skepticism. Drew didn’t even need three seconds to tell him Bishop Hardware, while it was Middleburg’s only hardware store, would be no instant ally to his cause. “Hostiles,” his producer, Charlie Buchanan, called them. Sometimes you could win ’em over, most times no matter what you did they were just sure you had an angle. If the hostiles couldn’t find an angle, they never believed you just might not have one. It only meant you hid it well.

      Middleburg, Kentucky was the perfect project for the season finale of Drew’s Missionnovation television renovation program. The tiny town’s church preschool had been smashed by one hundred-year-old tree during a summer storm. Toddlers had had to learn their primary colors in the YMCA gym because their preschool had been destroyed. The town had been holding bake sales to buy new roofs and spaghetti dinners to fund drywall. And now Missionnovation was here to help.

      Some folks at least were glad of it. “My stars!” came a woman’s awestruck squeal from over by the gardening supplies. “It’s those Missionnovation folks! From TV! Pam, look! It’s him.”

      “How may I help you?” The woman in overalls asked.

      Wow, Drew thought, I didn’t know you could make “How may I help you?” sound unfriendly. “Well, that’s just it,” he said, turning his gaze to the excited crowd that had pooled into the store behind him, “I’m here to ask you the same thing.”

      Oh, sure, said the woman’s dark eyes. Drew could be in a sea of people thrilled to meet him, and the only thing he’d notice was the one person who was convinced he was on the take. The one person sure the “ministry makeover” Missionnovation offered was just too good to be true. Charlie was always giving him a hard time about his obsession to “win over the hostiles.”

      A chubby older man grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously. “Mr. Downing, we sure are glad to see you and your team here. I’m the one who sent in the application.”

      “Of course you are.” Drew recognized him from the application