Simple Deceit (The Harmony Series 2) by Nancy Mehl Page B

woman tagging along with you.”
    I started to protest, but she shook her head and smiled at me. “Bless you, dear. I know your invitation is sincere, and I appreciate it. Another time, ja?”
    I reached over to hug her. “Another time, ja,” I repeated softly.
    Sam knocked on the door and then pushed it open so Ida wouldn’t have to get up and let him in.
    “A couple of fine-looking women,” he said, grinning at us. “I’m here to take at least one of you to lunch. Both of you if you’ll let me.”
    “Ach, you two young people,” Ida said, waving her hand at him. “You are too good to me. When a warmer day comes, we will all go to town together. But that day is not today.”
    “Ida already turned me down,” I told Sam. “I guess we’re on our own.”
    “Oh well. Guess you’ll have to do,” he said, smiling at me. “Are you ready?”
    I hugged Ida one more time and then grabbed my coat.
    “Gracie,” Ida said before I made it out the door, “will you please let me know if Abel finds that baby’s mother? I will be praying hard for her and her child.”
    “I will, I promise. Hopefully it will be soon.” I waved goodbye and followed Sam to the truck. We decided to leave my carat Ida’s for now and pick it up after lunch. Leaving the warmth of the old woman’s house for the bone-chilling air outside hit me like a slap in the face.
    “I swear it’s colder now than when I left the house,” I grumbled as I climbed into the truck. “I hope the heater in this thing is in operating order.” I knew the air-conditioning was useless. I could only hope the heat was a different matter. Sam started the engine, and a blast of hot air spat out of the vents on the dashboard.
    “Wow,” I said happily, “at least something in this old heap actually works.”
    Sam grunted. “Hey, everything works. I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “What about the air-conditioning? I sweat so much this past summer I thought I’d drown us both.”
    “The air-conditioning works fine,” he said as he pulled out onto the street. “It’s called a window. I can’t help it if you didn’t want to roll them down because you’d mess up your hair.”
    As we bumped down the road, I was reminded of something else the old truck was missing. Shock absorbers.
    “Before you say anything else derogatory about this fine vehicle, it might please you to know that I’m thinking about buying another truck—for backup.”
    I laughed. “Backup? I thought this incredible specimen of automotive excellence was perfect. Why would you need backup?”
    “Well, to be honest, it broke down while you were gone. We almost couldn’t get it going again.” He stroked the steering wheel like it was a beloved pet. “What if Ida needed help or we had an emergency?”
    “Well, there’s my car.”
    He burst out laughing. “I’m afraid your little bitty Slug Bug couldn’t haul much fruit or farm equipment.” He shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’ll have to pass.”
    I frowned at him. “You didn’t say you needed to haul anything in it.”
    “Well, you may not have noticed, but I grow fruit. Lots of fruit. Of course I need something I can use on the farm.”
    “Okay. I get it. And by the way, what in the world is a Slug Bug?”
    He turned to stare at me. “You mean you don’t know about the game?”
    “Obviously not. What are you talking about?”
    “When you’re out on the road and someone in the car sees a Volkswagen Beetle, they’re supposed to slug another passenger and call out, ‘Slug Bug!’ ”
    “Oh, lovely,” I said in a sarcastic tone. “So you plan to start hitting me whenever you see my car?”
    “No.” His mouth tightened slightly. “My mom and I used to play it. We didn’t hit each other hard. It was just a game to pass the time. We traveled a lot.”
    Sam didn’t talk much about his mother, so I was surprised to hear him mention her. She’d died when he was a boy. That was why