Roy nodded but Maude beamed. Then Gray turned his attention to Annabelle, and it felt like her heart was in her throat.

“So you’re leaving for Kansas tomorrow?” he asked.

Her gaze locked with his, and the first cracks in her heart began to split. She wanted to rush into his arms and lay her head on his shoulder, turn back the clock, and run away with him.

Instead she managed a smile. “My boss gave me a sack of durum wheat. We’ll be the first farm in Kansas to test it. Maybe it will be the answer for us.”

Gray’s eyes warmed in affection and a hint of regret. “I hope so,” he said and extended his hand. “Best of luck, Annabelle.”

Was she really going to bid farewell to the only man she’d ever loved by shaking his hand? But she did, and he touched the side of her face before turning away to follow his sister out of the building.

After the thrill of the day’s events, Gray found the loneliness in his townhouse unbearable, for there was no one with whom to share his triumph. Annabelle was leaving for Kansas, Caroline now lived at the White House, and Luke . . . well, Luke was probably gone forever.

Like the irresistible urge to wiggle a sore tooth, Gray felt the need to torment himself by heading upstairs into the cold loneliness of his younger brother’s bedroom. Everything was exactly as Luke had left it four months earlier. A half-used bar of shaving soap lay on a dish alongside a canister of tooth powder. Some books from the local library were stacked on the corner of the dresser. It was past time to return the books and dispose of the toiletries, but Gray had been delaying the inevitable. He just didn’t want to face the fact that Luke wasn’t coming back.

He sighed and paced the room, turmoil and loneliness clawing at him. The only sound in the empty house was his footsteps echoing in the empty room. Thud, thud, thud, thunk . . .

That was odd. He stepped on the hollow-sounding spot again. Thunk.

The floor was covered by an oriental rug Luke had bought a few years ago. Gray remembered being surprised by it, for although Luke had always been a sharp dresser, he’d never spent anything on furnishing the house. So why the pricey rug?

Gray knelt to peel back the carpet and saw that a square about two feet wide had been cut into the floorboards. His heart accelerated and his palms began to sweat. Whatever was hidden here, Luke had gone to a lot of trouble to hide it.