her life to complicate things. There, everything was as it should be.
Was as she’d hoped it would be.
Lord knew, she’d just been writing about that in her diary!
But, sometime during the past year, Lucy knew she’d also started to trust herself again. Oh, she was far from the vivacious woman she’d been before marrying Paul. But maybe—just maybe—she wasn’t quite as skittish as she used to be.
Maybe she wasn’t as fearful of her emotions. Or as fearful of other men. “Lucy, are you all right?”
“I’m sorry, I was woolgathering. You know, if you could go speak to Graham for me, I would be most grateful. I need to get back to Mattie. I would hate for her to be alone much longer.”
“Ah. I’ll go tell Graham, then.” But still he paused. Searching her face, looking for encouragement.
And, oh, she yearned to give him that—but it wouldn’t be good for her. Nor was it what she should be concentrating on. Keep your mind on your task, Lucy, she cautioned herself. That’s what is important.
“Please don’t forget to tell him to hurry. I mean, if he can come at all.”
“I won’t forget.”
When she raised a hand to tell him goodbye, he shook his head.
“The least I could do is walk you to your buggy.”
“That’s not necessary—”
“It’s on the way, yes?”
“You’re right. I . . . Danke.”
He closed the door behind him, and they set out, first walking under the few feet of covered porch before strolling out into the April sun.
Calvin smiled her way as they approached her buggy, parked in the shadows of the barn so the horse could stand in relative comfort. “So . . . are you settled in okay at your cousin’s house?”
“I am. Well, as much as I can, I suppose. There’s a lot to do . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“I imagine so.”
“How is Katie? And how is your uncle doing here? Is he enjoying being back in Jacob’s Crossing?”
Calvin chuckled. “Katie is as she always is—a handful. And my uncle, I believe he’s settling in fine.”
“He’s happy to be back here on the farm?”
“Oh, he’s not here. He’s living in town, near the library.” His eyes sparkling with amusement, he said, “He’s living above a donut shop.”
“Truly?”
“Yep. And he likes it . . . a lot, too! You should stop by there one day. Or I could even take you?”
“Yes, I will stop by soon,” she murmured, doing her best to ignore his offer without being too rude.
“You know, Lucy . . . one day we should spend some time together. Talk to each other more.”
“About what?”
“Oh, this and that.” After a beat, he continued: “You know, it’s occurred to me that we’ve never really talked too much about our pasts.”
“There’s not much to say,” she said quickly.
His eyebrows rose. “Oh?”
Now she felt like a liar. And worse, there was something in his eyes that told her he knew more than he was letting on.
But maybe that was simply her imagination? “Well . . . I had best get back to Mattie.”
“And I’ll tell Graham to head over soon.”
He smiled, and just like clockwork, Lucy felt his interest in her. And felt her body respond. When he smiled her way, his gaze was soft, almost like a caress.
A moment passed.
Looking just as startled as she felt, Calvin cleared his throat. “Well, now. I should probably be on my way. Lucy, I am glad that our paths crossed.”
She’d been glad to see him, too. Too glad. “I’ll tell Mattie that Graham will be over as soon as he can,” she said, injecting a friendly, easy tone into her voice.
“Yes. Please do.” He stepped backward. Resumed a more formal posture. “Goodbye, Lucy.”
“Goodbye to you, Calvin,” she murmured as she finally got back into her buggy and released the break.
Through the cloud of pain and dizziness, Mattie recognized Graham’s cool hand and matter-of-fact personality. “Graham,” she tried to say, but even to her own ears, it sounded much like a grunt.
“Mattie, only you would try to speak at a time like this,” he muttered. “Now, sit still and lean back, would you? You need to settle your head and your stomach for a time.”
With a frown his way, she leaned back against the hard rails of the rocking chair. But instead of finding comfort, she only felt the hard planes digging into her spine and shoulder blades. Even her bottom and thighs felt sore.
The nurse had talked about an increased sensitivity to her skin, but this was