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.Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.She had no reason to fear.Her Heavenly Father cared about her.She was not forgotten, as it had seemed over the years.The rest of the week went too quickly.Since Emily was leaving, Jules suspended work on the house.It looked as though Olivia would be going with them.He’d have plenty of time after they were gone to finish up the details.For now he wanted to spend all the time he could with them.He had promised to take Emily fishing, so the women packed a lunch.“We’ll need a spade,” Olivia told him.“And several buckets.”“How many worms do you think we’ll need?”“You’ll see,” she answered mysteriously.He grabbed a spade from the barn and laid it in the wagon bed beside a stack of empty pails.They traveled to a stream where Olivia chose to rest in the shade rather than fish.She had something else she wanted to do.After digging for worms, Jules baited Lorena and Emily’s lines and showed them how to cast into the water and wait for a bite.Their lunch consisted of Olivia’s mouthwatering bread sliced for ham sandwiches and a watermelon Jules had picked from Wayland’s small garden.Jules, his mother and Emily went back to the stream to check their lines.A long time later, they returned, and packed up to head home.He stopped and stared into the bed of the wagon.All the pails he’d brought along were lined along the side rail and brimming with drooping poppies.The sight gave him a strange feeling.Turning, he sought her out.Olivia stood to the side of the wagon.Her face was flushed, her pretty, blue dress damp with perspiration.Her bonnet had fallen back, and tendrils of hair clung to her neck and cheeks.She was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen.And she’d dug up poppies to plant in his front yard.He didn’t want to think about the following summer or the ones to come if she was gone and all he had to remember her by were those blooming flowers.That night they ate crisp-fried trout for supper, along with fried parsnips and boiled greens.Olivia and Lorena shared duties in the compact area, which proved they were compatible and lessened one area of Olivia’s doubts about being in the way if she accompanied her to Ohio.Lorena was nothing but generous and good-hearted.Olivia had every confidence in Lorena to be a good mother to Emily.Her own presence, however, would likely add confusion.She would always be a reminder of where Emily had come from.She would be known in Lorena’s social circles as the poor young woman with no family of her own.Her dilemma remained.When they arrived at church Sunday morning, the local newspaperman introduced himself.“Will you join me for dinner here in town one night this coming week?” he asked.Olivia glanced at Emily, who stood nearby, listening.Olivia hadn’t yet made up her mind about the trip, so she couldn’t answer.“May we speak privately after church?” she asked.Mr.Saxton’s toothy grin showed his pleasure with her request.Jules gestured for Olivia to lead them to one of the pews.She did so, and he gave her a sidelong glance.She had to make up her mind today and give Lorena time to purchase her ticket if she decided to go.After church, she explained to Mr.Saxton that she wasn’t sure if she would still be in town.She assured him she would contact him if she stayed.Jules took them to the café for a meal of sliced beef, creamy potatoes and gravy.“Why aren’t there roasts like this on your dinner table?” his mother asked.“We haven’t eaten beef once since I’ve been here.”“Beef is my living,” he told her.“Every head I sell buys breeding stock or lumber.Until my herd is established, we only eat a cow if it has to be put down because of an injury.”“And when will your herd be established to your satisfaction?” she asked.“I saw a lot of cattle on those hills.”He seemed to consider her question, but didn’t give her a reply.Emily didn’t finish her meal, and she was especially quiet.“Are you feeling well?” Olivia asked her.“I feel fine.”But she continued to hang back and not participate after Jules drove them home and suggested another fishing expedition that afternoon.Lorena sat on the bank, wearing one of her wide-brimmed hats and dangling a line in the water.Jules encouraged Emily to join them, but she said she was tired and laid on the faded blanket in the shade of a rustling cottonwood.She watched the shimmering leaves overhead, her hand tucked under her cheek.“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Olivia asked.“You’re not acting like yourself [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]