Read Lorie's Heart for Free Online Page B

haven’t seen him in a while. Why do you ask?” She looked from Luke to Lorie and back again. “Is he in trouble?”
    â€œActually, he passed away a few weeks ago.”
    The words stabbed at Lorie’s heart. She lifted her gaze to look at the women behind the desk. “He was my father.”
    â€œOh, my,” the blond-haired woman said. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”
    â€œ Danki. ” Lorie nodded her head, hating the tickling sensation of her prayer kapp strings against her bare neck. Or maybe her emotions were so raw she couldn’t take any more sensations.
    Her father had come here. These women knew him as Henry Mathis, not Kauffman. Her knees started to tremble. “Why?” she whispered, her words directed at no one in particular.
    â€œAre you all right?” Luke laid his hand on top of hers.
    â€œ Jah. No. I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Why did he come here, Luke?” She focused all of her attention on him. He was the one steady and familiar thing in her world at that moment, and she couldn’t take her gaze from him and remain upright.
    â€œYou say you’re his daughter?” the blonde asked.
    â€œHow could you not know why he came here?” The brunette searched their faces.
    Lorie took a shuddering breath, trying to calm her nerves and set her thoughts back to rights. “It seems my father kept some secrets.” She did her best to keep her voice steady, but it trembled even more than her knees. “No one . . . no one in my family knew that my father came here. At least not until now. Danki . . . thank you for your time.” She turned on her heel and started for the door. She couldn’t stand there any longer. She had to go somewhere and get her swirling thoughts in order before they exploded inside her head.
    She heard Luke’s uneven footsteps behind her, the clink of his cane as it met with the waxed tiles of the foyer. Their voices sounded behind her, but she kept walking, kept going toward the door.
    â€œMiss?”
    Her steps remained steady though her heart pounded.
    â€œMiss?”
    â€œLorie.” Luke caught her arm and halted her escape. “The ladies at the desk want to talk to you again.”
    â€œ Nay, ” she whispered.
    â€œI know it’s a lot to take in, but just hear them out, okay?”
    His sea-colored eyes were so earnest, she stilled. She had waited for this moment for so long, too long to let it slip away. But all of the advice she had received in the days since her father died knocked around inside her head, while her need for answers filled her heart. “Okay.” Her chin bobbed in consent, and she allowed him to lead her back to the two ladies and the circular desk.
    They shared a look as she and Luke approached. Then the blond-haired lady stood, smoothing the wrinkles from her lap as if she was as nervous as Lorie was.
    â€œYour father,” she started, quickly glancing at Luke as if he could confirm this as truth, “he came here to visit his mother.”
    â€œHis mother?” Lorie repeated.
    â€œBetty Mathis.” The brunette nodded.
    Her father had a mother? That would make her Lorie’s grandmother. She had a grandmother? She tried to remember anything her father had told her about his parents. Only that they “were gone.”
    â€œCan I see her?”
    The women exchanged another look.
    â€œIt’s not exactly allowed,” the blonde said. “Not without proper identification.”
    Luke drummed his fingers against the desk and flashed the pair of them a charming smile. At least it took the sting from his words. “She’s Amish, you know. It’s not like she has a driver’s license.”
    Like being Plain had stopped her father.
    â€œI’m Luke,” he said, like it made a difference. “And she’s Lorie.”
    The women exchanged another look.
    â€œI’m Carol,” the blond