Page 20 of Charlotte

“Good morning, Mr. Peterson.”

He hesitated. “Good morning, Miss Bellamy.”

Then he walked away down the side path, his right hand still tucked against him and his hat held low in his left. Lottie stood where he had left her and let out the breath she had been holding.

She had asked whether he intended to marry her.

He had not answered.

A sensible woman might be discouraged. Lottie considered it unfinished. Behind her, someone cleared her throat.

She turned and found Val watching from several feet away, not close enough to have heard everything, but close enough to have seen more than Lottie might have preferred.

“Did he frighten you?” Val asked.

“No.”

“Did he try?”

Lottie considered that. “I think he tried to frighten himself.”

Val’s expression softened. “That sounds nearer the truth.”

Lottie looked down the path where Peterson had gone. “He does not seem happy I came.”

“Some men have lived a long while believing happiness is a thing belonging to other houses.”

“That is very sad.”

“It is.” Val touched her arm gently. “Sadness is not always a warning to turn away. Sometimes it is only a sign to walk carefully.”

Lottie nodded because that sounded true, and because she did not trust herself to speak.

Across the yard, Delly still sat on the low stone wall. Mr. Simms had risen and was walking down toward the camp road. Delly watched him go with an expression so peculiar Lottie forgot her own bruised heart for a moment.

Oh, Delly.

Lottie crossed the churchyard and sat beside her sister.

“You look peculiar,” she said. “Are you ill?”

“I’m thinking,” Delly answered.

“That is usually when you look most dangerous.”

Delly did not deny it. Lottie studied her. Her sister’s notebook rested unopened in her lap. That alone was enough to alarm anyone who knew her.

“Are you doing this for me?” Lottie asked softly.

Delly looked at her.

“Doing what?”

“All of it,” Lottie said. “Coming west. Marrying, if you truly mean to do it. Is this so you can hover over me and catch me before I fall?”

For once, Delly did not answer quickly. “Partially,” she finally said.

The honesty hurt. It also warmed her inside. Everyone should have a sister like Odelia, she thought.