Free Hometown Promise by Merrillee Whren

“Yeah, but I know I look terrible.”
    “Not terrible, but tired. How much sleep did you get?”
    “Not much. I kept waking up and worrying about Grandpa.” Lukas didn’t relish this encounter. What kind of an impression was he going to make? He should be beyond caring at this point, but for some reason he wasn’t. He wanted Juliane’s parents to like him.
    “I can understand. I don’t think I would’ve gotten much sleep either.”
    As Lukas trailed Juliane down the hallway, he spotted her father sitting next to a middle-aged woman with short light brown hair that was liberally sprinkled with gray. They stood as Juliane drew near. He braced for the meeting and reminded himself that they were here because of his grandfather, so he should get over himself.
    Lukas shook Ray Keller’s hand. Then Ray introduced his wife, Barbara. Ray and his wife were a picture of contrast. Not one gray hair marked Ray’s brown hair, and where he was a little thick around the middle and very tall, his wife was petite and trim. Although Juliane was taller than her mother, Lukas saw the resemblance between them immediately.
    Barbara shook Lukas’s hand, then placed her other hand over his and squeezed it. “I’m pleased to meet you. We’re so sorry to hear about your grandfather, but we’re glad you got him to the hospital before things got worse.”
    “Me, too.” Lukas glanced at Juliane. “And I appreciate Juliane’s help.”
    Juliane gave him a little smile. “It was nothing.”
    “Good thing Juliane called me so we could start the prayer chain.” Barbara released Lukas’s hand. “I met your grandfather when our ladies’ circle from church helped with a holiday party at the senior center last month. How is he doing?”
    “As well as can be expected. The angioplasty went according to plan, and he’s sleeping now.”
    “I hope we get to see him before we have to leave. We stopped by on our way to dinner,” Barbara said.
    “Yes, Juliane told me.”
    Barbara smiled. “Juliane tells me you have the male lead in the Winter Festival program. She says you have a wonderful singing voice.”
    Lukas wondered whether that was all Juliane had said about him. He looked her way. “Thank you.”
    Juliane glanced at her mother, then back at Lukas. “Mom didn’t realize at first who I was talking about when I told her about Ferd, but she finally made the connection when I mentioned the senior center.”
    “Grandpa certainly loves going there. I’m glad there’s a place like that for him. Otherwise, I think he’d sit in the house all day and watch TV.”
    “Does he attend church anywhere?” Barbara asked.
    “He used to, but his hearing got so bad that he quit going. He said he couldn’t hear anyway, so he started listening to preachers on TV.” Lowering his head, Lukas rubbed the back of his neck. “I had intended to set up an appointment for him to see about getting hearing aids before all this happened.”
    “Can the senior center help him find a place to get a hearing aid?” Barbara looked at Juliane. “I think they have information about that kind of thing, don’t they?”
    “Yes, I think they do.” Juliane glanced from her mother to Lukas. “I’ll look into it for you.”
    “Thanks.” Lukas couldn’t get over Juliane’s helpfulness. Another reason not to think of her romantically. She was becoming too important to him as a friend. He wondered what she thought after he’d run off at the mouth the other night. Afterward he couldn’t believe he’d practically told her his life’s story—almost every disgusting detail. Maybe it was the stress of his grandfather’s emergency that had him talking to her so openly. But she’d been so easy to talk to—so easy to like.
    “Did he attend where we go?” Juliane’s question brought him back to the present. “I don’t recall seeing him there.”
    “No. He went to another church.”
    “When he’s better, you should bring him with you. We have special