“Excuse me, please. Coming through,” a feminine voice called from behind him.

Kyle turned to see a blond pregnant woman holding a tray of fresh fruit. He set down his plates and lifted the tray for her, setting it on an empty spot near the end.

“Thanks.” The woman grinned at him and then turned to look over her shoulder. “Is that the last of it, Julia?”

“I think so,” answered a female voice as its owner pushed through the swinging kitchen door carrying a tray of brownies and cookies.

Kyle’s breath caught as a raven-haired woman with a porcelain face like Snow White and Catherine Zeta-Jones combined came into view. No, neither the cartoon reference nor the Hollywood one did justice to that kind of perfection. Julia wore a low ponytail that fell in a silken stream to the middle of her back.

She glanced up at Kyle as she set her tray on the table, and her deep brown eyes widened, exaggerating their almond shape. For a moment Kyle thought he saw recognition in her eyes before her lush lashes swept down and she averted her gaze.

At the sound of Andrew coughing into his hand, Kyle started. Snap out of it, Lancaster. He was acting as if he’d never seen a beautiful woman before. Well, not up close in a long time, but still…

Andrew began introductions, but he indicated the blonde first. “Kyle, this is Hannah McBride. You already know her father, Reverend Bob Woods.”

He set his plate on the edge of the table again so he could shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Hannah indicated the brunette with a tilt of her head. “This is my friend, Julia Sims.”

He smiled at Julia, balancing on the tightrope between looking and staring. She was attractive but not as perfect as he’d first thought. She wasn’t particularly tall—no more than five foot four—and her curves were more generous than fashion-magazine wisdom demanded. He would have searched for additional flaws, but she smiled and he forgot why he was looking so hard.

“Julia, this is Kyle—” Hannah paused, waiting for him to fill in the blank.

“Lancaster,” he supplied.

He hated that Julia’s eyebrow lifted at the mention of his name. He hated even more that her reaction bothered him. Of course, his reputation had preceded him.

“Lancaster?” Julia asked. “Are you any relation to Brett Lancaster?”

“Brother.”

“I thought you looked familiar.”

So that was it. She’d only noticed a family resemblance when she’d looked at him. Maybe the whole church didn’t know about his prison record, after all.

“You two do look a little alike,” Andrew said. “Except for Brett’s short hair.”

“You know cops.” Kyle shrugged, figuring his hair was plenty short enough. On reflex, his hand went to his neck. His hair barely covered it now, though a week ago it had been long enough to tie with a band.

Julia smiled again, an expression that lit up her whole face. “You must be such a proud uncle since Brett married Tricia and got an instant family. Brett is such a proud daddy.”

Kyle tried to smile back and hoped he succeeded. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

“I didn’t know Brett had a brother,” Hannah said, tilting her head to the side and squinting as if trying to recall. “But I’ve met your sister, Jenny.”

“She works in the hospital obstetrics ward with my sister,” Julia added.

He had little time to ruminate on how everyone he’d met in Milford seemed to know everyone else, before Hannah posed the question Kyle would like to have asked himself.

“If you’re visiting tonight, why isn’t your brother here to show you around?”

Maybe for the same reason Brett hadn’t even been by to see him since Kyle had moved into his downtown apartment over the weekend.

“Oh, I invited him,” Andrew answered, covering the lingering pause. “Kyle’s going to be working with our new prison ministry and helping out with plans for the Homecoming celebration. We want to familiarize him with some of the other church programs.”

“The celebration’s going to be great,” Julia told him, excitement clear in her voice. “It’s like a big family reunion for anyone who ever attended our church. We scheduled it on the same weekend as the Milford Memories festival—the second weekend in August. That way, former members can make a vacation out of their visit.”

One of those cat-just-made-a-snack-of-the-canary smiles appeared on Hannah’s face before she spoke again. “Andrew, have you told Kyle about all the church programs? What about our singles’ program?” She turned to Kyle. “It’s called Christian Singles United. Julia’s a member. You should ask her about it.”

Sure, Andrew had mentioned it, and Kyle had been quick to nix the idea. Still, though Hannah’s approach had been about as subtle as a two-by-four to the head, Kyle couldn’t resist sneaking a peek at Julia.

She rolled her eyes and frowned.

“Julia teaches first grade at Johnson Elementary,” Hannah continued. “She’s a great teacher and a great catch.”

“Gee, thanks, Hannah.” Julia shook her head, looking embarrassed.

“No problem. Now, Andrew and I are going to see if anyone needs help in the kitchen. You two enjoy your dinner.”

She grabbed the youth minister’s arm and pulled him toward the kitchen. Over his shoulder Andrew gave an apologetic shrug and disappeared through the swinging door.

When Kyle turned back to Julia, her light olive complexion had deepened to a pretty maroon, but she was too polite to cut and run.

“Sorry about that. You’ll have to forgive Hannah. Ever since she got married a year and a half ago, she’s been setting up everyone.”

“I’ll remember to keep my distance then.”

Julia nodded as though she’d received the message that he wouldn’t be a player in the local dating game. He had no business even thinking about the opposite gender, anyway. He had so much hard work ahead of him for the next few months. So much to prove.

“Well,” she began again, “we still have to eat. So, do you want to…” She let her words trail away in an unspoken dinner invitation.

He glanced at his plates, all but forgotten on the salad table. “Sure.”

As he collected his food, Julia reached for the brownies, placing two on a dessert plate. “Get your own,” she said when she caught him watching.

He couldn’t help grinning at her since she didn’t have any dinner and was still making sure she didn’t miss dessert. He had to respect a woman who had her priorities in order.

She led him to a long table, set down her plate, indicating for him to take the spot opposite hers. As soon as he took his seat, though, she hurried off to the serving table. When she returned, she was carrying a salad to go with her brownies.

“That’s great that you’ll be working with the Homecoming committee. Do you know which subcommittee you’ll be working on? I’m on the Search and Invitation committee. We’ll be trying to locate and invite as many former members as we can.”

“I still don’t know what I’ll be doing for the celebration. They’ll probably assign me where they need the most help.”

She nodded, but he wondered if he saw disappointment in her expression. Instead of saying something more, Julia forked a bite of her brownie into her mouth and then started on her salad.

“So, you’re a member of the singles’ group.” Kyle blinked. Where had that come from, and how could he take it back?

Julia lifted her head. “I guess you could say that.” She chewed her lip before continuing. “But I’m not the best advertisement for it.”

Kyle managed to keep his face blank, which was no small feat because in his opinion, a picture of Julia Sims would be exactly the kind of advertisement a singles’ program could use. If group organizers wanted to attract new singles of the male persuasion, anyway.

“Why would you say that?” he asked.

“I’ve been a member for three years and I’ve never really, you know…met anybody.”