The Bear's Bride (Mail-Order Mates #3)(14)

Dom put his hand on Frank’s shoulder. “Buddy. You are desperate.”

The men all laughed, but Frank didn’t take it personally. “I guess you’re right. I’ve got nothing to lose. Only problem is, I don’t know where she lives.”

“I bet we can figure it out with a little sleuthing.” Ben cracked his fingers and pulled out his phone. “It’s the twenty-first century. It’s not that hard to find people anymore.”

An hour later Ben was eating his words. “Are you sure you have the name right, Frank?”

“Yes.” Frank gritted his teeth. They hadn’t been able to come up with more than a publisher’s name and her sister’s social media profiles. As far as they could tell, Amy had no social media presence. Which was beyond strange.

“I bet she hides her profile,” Dom proclaimed. “There’s no way a woman today wouldn’t have at least one account on one site. You know hot women get lots of inappropriate pictures. I bet she got tired of it and made her pages friends only.”

Owen nodded. “Erin did that. Nobody wants to get dick pics every time they sign on.”

“Why not just go to Akron?” Clint asked. “Not the best chances, but it can’t be that hard to find her.”

“What am I going to do, ask around if anyone knows her?”

Owen chuckled. “I don’t think many people are going to give Frank directions to a single woman’s home.”

“I don’t know,” Ben said. “Once that Cuisine special comes out, he’s going to be a local celebrity. I think it’ll be easy for him to find her.”

“You should mention her on all the interviews you do,” Owen suggested. “Maybe she’ll come forward.”

“Nope.” Frank vetoed the idea immediately. “That kind of thing only works in the movies. I’ll go and look around town. It’s as small as Sunset Falls. It can’t be that hard to find someone. I’ll hang out at all the bakeries until I see her or her sister.”

The guys argued with Frank about his plan until they headed for bed, but he wouldn’t be moved. This was it. He’d wait her out. As soon as he got home, he would find her.





Seven


Amy faked another smile for the camera. Karen had dragged her to the Falls for the day. Amy hadn’t wanted to go, but Karen thought it would be a nice outing for the baby. Their mother had been pestering them about it for months. They had all gone to the Falls when they were babies, and she had to get a picture of her only grandson at the Falls as a baby too.

It wasn’t so bad, but Karen was acting strangely the whole time. She kept looking over her shoulder and checking her phone. It was unnerving.

“We should go get a souvenir,” their mother suggested.

“Yes!” Karen looked at the map for half a second and took off.

“Slow down,” Amy complained. Her sixty-year-old mother had no trouble keeping up, but Amy was dragging ass. She wasn’t in the mood to be at the Falls. It reminded her of Frank. The only reason she’d come was Max. She didn’t want to miss his first Falls trip because of some stupid guy.

A stupid guy she couldn’t stop thinking about. She was going to have to pick up her phone eventually. She didn’t want to go her whole life being bitter about this one man. She would let him know what happened and why she was upset. Maybe he would have a really great explanation for why he didn’t want to get matched anymore. She had to be sure. Just in case.

Karen kept up her brisk pace with the stroller and Amy walked faster to keep up. They passed one stand with shirts and mugs.

“You passed it,” Amy said. Karen didn’t slow down. “Karen. Mom. Hello?”

“I want a funnel cake,” Karen declared when their mom started to slow down.

“That sounds good.” Their mom looked back at Amy. “I know you want one too.”

“Maybe.” Amy walked a little faster. A funnel cake did sound really good. She hadn’t stepped foot in a bakery since she’d been home. She’d had Karen make deliveries for her. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to go inside a bakery again for a very long time.

As soon as they got close to the treat-selling kiosk, Amy stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn’t believe her eyes.

“Stop,” she hissed at Karen. “Stop right now.”

Karen kept going. “Come on, Amy. We’re almost there.”

Amy couldn’t move. Frank Franklin was hard to miss in any crowd. Even without the giant bouquet of roses, he would have been a very impressive figure. Women kept giving him lingering looks as they passed. Amy understood. He looked great, and anyone who was meeting him was a lucky woman. She didn’t want to be there when Frank’s date showed up.

“Karen. It’s Frank,” Amy said a little louder.

Her sister turned around. “What?”

Their mother looked confused when Karen slowed just a little but didn’t stop. “Who’s Frank?”

“No one,” Amy said quickly. “I don’t want a funnel cake anymore. I think I’m sick. I’m going back to the car.”

Amy turned and fled while her sister called her name. Only when she got near the exit from the park did she realize her mistake. She didn’t have the keys. Now that she was away from Frank, she felt foolish. What if he had seen her running away? He would know how heartbroken she was. It was so embarrassing.