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He nodded, feeling pleased at his selection. “I’m not a big reader, but if I find an interesting topic, I can’t put the book down.”

Annie’s grin threatened to split her face wide-open. “That’s the exact feeling I want readers to have when they start a great book.”

He shifted from one foot to the other. Suddenly he felt nervous about asking Annie if she wanted to go to the fund-raiser. Would she think it was a date? Or would it simply be two friends hanging out at a town event? Truth be told, he wasn’t sure if he knew the answer to that himself. The longer this stretched out, the more conflicted he felt about it.

“Hey, Annie. I was wondering if you wanted to come to the winter-wonderland event with me.” He grinned at her. “I promise it will be a lot of fun.”

Her face fell. She bit her lip. “Oh, Declan, I would have loved to go with you, but Dwight just asked me a few minutes ago to be his date. And I said yes.”

Dwight? Annie and Dwight were going to the event together? And here he’d just been snickering about Dwight’s lack of finesse. At the moment, the joke was on him. The town treasurer had just swept in and asked Annie to the fund-raiser. He felt his face getting heated. Just the thought of the two of them together made him feel out of sorts.

“That’s okay,” he said in a casual tone. “I’m sure the two of you will have lots of fun.” He was trying his best to keep any hint of sarcasm out of his voice. Having a good time with Dwight seemed near impossible as far as he was concerned. He was about as entertaining as a wet blanket.

“I’m sure there are dozens of women in the Operation Love program who would love to go with you,” Annie said. “From what I hear and from what I’ve seen with my own eyes, they practically have a Declan O’Rourke fan club going on.”

He knew Annie’s statement was somewhat true—ladies in town wanted to date him. He had taken quite a few of the Operation Love ladies out on dates over the past few months or so. However, there was no fan club. Not that he knew of, anyway. So far, a few ladies had laid down some heavy hints about attending the event with him. The problem was, there wasn’t a single one of them he wanted to ask except Annie. And thanks to Dwight, she was taken.

No one could make him laugh the way Annie could. No one made him think like she did, either. There was always something interesting she brought to the table. Some rare fact he had no clue about. She seemed to enjoy his sense of humor, and he loved seeing his hometown through her eyes. Everything in Love was so new to Annie, and she seemed to be getting the most out of every moment of her journey.

“Have you read Gram’s journal?” she asked. “I’ve been dying for your verdict.”

“I read a little bit,” he hedged. “I want to wait till I finish the whole diary to give you my assessment.” The more he read of the diary, the more he was becoming uncomfortable about Jasper’s possible link to Annie.

“That’s fine,” she said. “I know you have a lot on your plate these days. Have you heard from the FAA?”

“Not yet. It should be any day now, though,” he said. “A lot is riding on this for me.”

“I know, Declan,” she said in a mournful tone. “I’m offering up prayers on your behalf. You’re a fantastic pilot. I know the investigation will clear you.”

“Thanks, Annie,” he said, wishing he could rely on prayer alone.

“Have a good day.” With a simple wave, he walked away from her, his thoughts tied up in the fate of O’Rourke Charters and the plane crash.

His stomach had been in knots for days in anticipation of the findings. He’d sent up more prayers to the big guy upstairs than he cared to count. Although he knew God was in his corner, he had a hard time feeling worthy of all his prayers being answered. What was so special about Declan O’Rourke that he should be so blessed? He’d learned early in life that bad things happen

ed to people, and prayers didn’t stop them from happening. When his mother had died so suddenly, it had felt as if the sun had been stamped out of the sky. And despite his suffering, the wheels of life had continued to spin.

If the worst happened and the accident was deemed pilot error, he would be devastated. It would be a huge blow to his career and self-confidence. But the world would keep turning on its axis, and he would pick himself up, dust himself off and move forward.

It’s what he had always done. This time would be no different.

* * *

Annie let out a sigh as Declan sailed out the door of the library. She admired the way he walked. The strong tilt of his head belied the anxiety she sensed was riding under the surface. Although he presented a good picture of someone who was holding everything together, Annie feared he wasn’t doing well at all. She had it on good authority from Hazel that Declan hadn’t flown Ethel yet on any of the client runs. His employee, Willard, had filled in for him each and every time, which meant that Declan was still avoiding flying his seaplane.

The very idea of Declan struggling to find his way in the aftermath of the plane crash caused her stomach to tighten painfully. Annie didn’t want to see him hurting. She cared about him way more than she wanted to admit, even to herself.

Lord, please watch over Declan. Lift him up and restore his confidence. I don’t think he realizes how important he is to this town. Or what a good man he truly is.

It had gutted her to have to say no to his invitation to be his date to the fund-raiser event. Talk about bad timing! If he had arrived a few minutes earlier, Declan would have beaten Dwight to the punch. Poor Dwight. He seemed like the type of man who was looking for some companionship.

The sight of an older, silver-haired gentleman entering the library caused her to sit up straight in her chair. There were two other men walking behind him at a much slower pace. Within seconds she had identified the man in front as Mayor Prescott. He was striding toward her with a look of purpose etched on his handsome face.

Jasper Prescott! Just being in proximity to him made her pulse race with exhilaration. This man could be her grandfather. He was distinguished and stately and, by all accounts, a barrel of fun. And he had an extensive family and enough relatives to give her a plethora of familial connections right here in Love. She knew that she was getting ahead of herself, but she was hoping and wishing and praying that he was her long-lost kin.

“Good morning, Annie. I brought some pals along with me. These boys have been lifelong friends of mine. We were as thick as thieves growing up,” he said with a wink. “This is Eli Courtland, and this is Zachariah Cummings.”

“It’s great to see you again, Mayor Prescott,” she gushed. There was something about the man that was infectious. It didn’t take a genius to see why Hazel was so enamored of him.

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