A Family Homecoming by Laurie Paige

for lunch?” he asked.
    Sara nodded before Danielle could speak. Looking at her daughter’s pleased countenance, she agreed. She was sorry the minute they walked into the odd little restaurant with its mishmash of articles from ornate mirrors to a moth-eaten moose head on the wall. The town gossip sat at one of the tables. She motioned them over before Danielle could shepherd them in a different direction.
    â€œWell, if this isn’t a surprise,” Lily Mae Wheeler exclaimed, her earrings, which were two bright-green parrots perched on gold wires, swinging madly from each ear as she looked from one person to the other.
    Sara, who thought Lily Mae was neat, took a seat. That left Danielle no choice but to join them. Kyle sat next to her, his eyes busy taking in the dining room and each person in it. When he looked at her, he smiled.
    Caught off guard, she smiled back.
    â€œWell, so this is your husband,” Lily Mae said.“We’ve been wondering if you were real or made up to cover an embarrassing circumstance.” She glanced meaningfully at Sara.
    A dark red tinge crept up Kyle’s neck. “Danielle and I have been married for six years,” he informed the busybody in no uncertain terms.
    Lily Mae giggled, then leaned close. “Well, years ago we had one librarian who told one whopper after another. Lexine Baxter left town as a teenager, then came back pretending to be a children’s librarian. Turned out she was a criminal, killed her father-in-law and husband and no telling how many others to get her hands on the Kincaid fortune.”
    Danielle felt the air on her neck lift.
    Kyle leaned forward. “Did she have a partner?”
    â€œOh, yes. She killed him, too. At her wedding to poor ol’ Dugin Kincaid, would you believe?”
    Kyle looked disappointed and settled back into the chair. The waitress came to take their order.
    â€œI’m up for a chili dog with lots of fries on the side. How about you?” he asked Sara.
    Her eyes sparkled and she nodded shyly. Danielle didn’t argue with their choices, but, setting a good example, she ordered the vegetable plate lunch.
    â€œHave you ever seen so many weddings?” Lily Mae asked when they were finished ordering. “Everybody’s getting married on the run these days. Not a good thing, if you ask me. People should take time to get to know each other.” She eyed Kyle. “What kind of work do you do? I might know of an opening you can check on.”
    â€œThanks,” he said, “but I don’t need a job.”
    â€œHmm, independently wealthy, huh?”
    Danielle shifted impatiently at the woman’s nosiness but said nothing. Kyle was an adult. He didn’t need her help in fending off the inquisition.
    â€œSeems odd that you haven’t visited your family.” Lily Mae turned to Danielle. “You and young Sara here have been in town about two years now, haven’t you?”
    â€œYes,” Danielle said.
    Janie, their waitress, who also managed the place, brought plates of steaming food. “Lily Mae thought Wayne Kincaid was an escaped convict when he showed up in Whitehorn and wouldn’t confess his life story to her. She had everyone thinking he was out to murder us in our beds.”
    Lily Mae glared at the saucy young woman. “Well, how was I to know? He acted as if he had dire secrets, not telling anyone where he came from or why he took a job at the Kincaid ranch when everyone knew it had a curse on it. And probably still does.” Her heavily mascaraed eyes narrowed on Kyle. “It makes a body wonder is all.”
    Before thinking about what she was doing, Danielle snapped, “My husband’s business is his own, but I can assure you he has no prison record. For your information, he’s a good and honorable person. He works for the…” She noted the four pairs of eyes staring at her. “Well, he isn’t a criminal,”