“YOU’VE BEEN AWFULLY quiet since we dropped Abby off,” Woody said to Luke as they passed through Santa Maria on their way south.

Luke blew out a breath and wondered if he should talk to Woody about Abby. After a couple of seconds he said, “I guess I don’t like the idea of her staying up there by herself.”

“She’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.”

“I know, but . . .”

“Why don’t you tell her how you feel?”

“What?”

“Don’t give me those innocent eyes. You got a crush on the girl the size of Mount Rushmore. Are you going to keep it to yourself forever?”

Luke shook his head. “Look, Woody, we have a connection to a cold case, and I admire her as an investigator.”

“Only a connection to a moldy cold case? That’s all?” Woody snorted. “In a pig’s eye.”

“She just broke up with a guy she’s known for years and been engaged to —”

“Just why do you think it was so long without a final result? He wasn’t the man for her. If you step up to the plate, she wouldn’t say no.”

Conflicting emotions washed through Luke like a flash flood on a dry plain. Part of him wanted to grin and accept Woody’s insight as great news, but when Abby decided to stay in San Luis Obispo, she threw him off. He had thought they were a team and that together they would look into Alyssa. Out of the blue she called Gunther? He didn’t know how to process this, and he felt a little discomfort. He was attracted to her, but what if she wasn’t interested?

“You sure about that, Woody? I mean, Abby is a capable, independent woman. What if I disappoint her?” The question sounded lame even to him, but he couldn’t put the words back in his mouth.

“Holy moly, are you dense or what? You want to spend the rest of your life alone? As for not wanting to disappoint someone, that is weak, cowardly, and you’re no coward. Men disappoint women, women disappoint men —that’s life and the gospel according to Woody.” He hung his head, shaking it before he looked up.

Luke didn’t like being accused of being dense, but he couldn’t deny that the pain of his first marriage made him cautious. He’d certainly disappointed his first wife. Yet he didn’t want to bring that up with Woody, opting to try explaining his reticence a different way. “But Faye —”

Woody cut him off. He wasn’t having any of it. “Pull up your big boy pants and tell Faye that you’re stuck on Abby. Love is blind, isn’t it? She’s as hung up on you as you are on her. Step up and open the door. I know she won’t close it in your face.”

Luke looked at Woody and got a great “What are you waiting for?” glare.

He said nothing, concentrated on driving as he tried to sort out all the feelings swirling through him. He’d been attracted to Abby from day one, been devastated to think she’d marry Ethan and that would be the end of it.

Woody is right and wrong about one thing, Luke thought. I am a coward. I’m afraid I’ll make my move and Abby won’t be interested. I need to pray about this and then step forward. Then maybe I’ll figure out a way to move close to Abby and not fail.