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“I’ve no reason at all to pack anything from the parlor.”
    “If you treasure them, you will. Big, brawny men cause a lot of unintentional damage in small places. One expansive gesture, and he’d sweep everything straight off a shelf. Little Magpie, we both know you could fill a dozen crates and barely take away a glimmer from the cave.”
    Aladdin’s Cave. Daddy said she’d gladly live in Aladdin’s Cave, but Mama was from here in the holler and expressed herself in a more natural way. She’d said Maggie gathered up pretty things like magpie, and the nickname took. Uncle Bo knew her all too well – he’d said the very thing that would gain her cooperation. But she’d prove him wrong. From her trading trips, she’d learned to fit a lot in a small space. He predicted a dozen; she’d surprise him. “I’ll stack the crates in my bedchamber.” Needing to go sit with Mrs. Crewel again, Maggie washed her hands.
    “Suppose storing them there’s a possibility. I’ll talk it over with Valmer.”
    “That man’s got no call deciding on anything for me or my house. Certainly nothing about my – ”
    “Sure he does.” Uncle Bo closed his hand around hers. “Maggie, my magpie, I gave him leave to sleep in your bed.”

Three
    “You what?!”
    “Now, Magpie – ”
    “Don’t you now me!”
    Looking wounded, Uncle Bo reared back. “You’ll need to sleep on a cot by Mrs. Crewel, and Mr. Valmer’s got to sleep somewhere.”
    “We both know he should sleep at your house!”
    “Granted, ’tis true, but Jethro and his daddy are having a set-to, so Paw-Paw sent Jerlund to spend the night at my place. He’s already upset, and Mr. Valmer’s not going to sleep a wink, worrying and not bein’ able to check on his ma.”
    Thoughts tumbled through her mind. This was just what she and Uncle Bo had been hoping for – that Jerlund would come to Uncle Bo in a troubled time. Sensitive to others’ moods and any change, Jerlund wouldn’t settle in at Uncle Bo’s with Mr. Valmer there. If the first stay didn’t work well, he’d never go back again.
    But it wasn’t right, having a man spend the night in her house. A big, strong, handsome man. Well, maybe it wasn’t so bad. His mama was in the house. That changed things . But appearances count. And this still gives a bad witness. “The barn. He can sleep in the barn.”
    “You’d withdraw the hospitality I extended?”
    “How could you possibly allow a bachelor to stay here for a full three days until the storm passes?”
    “Magpie, my lass, I trust you full well.” He hooked his thumbs into his suspenders. “Aye, and I’ve taken that man’s measure. He’s one you could ride the river with.”
    Inhaling so sharply she set herself into coughing, Maggie made a sound of disbelief between coughs.
    “I’m giving you just what you asked for, lass. This very day, you said God could ‘send that groom on by. God or groom – them I’ll listen to.’ You made that deal, and I’m holding you to it.”
    “Hold your horses!” Grabbing him by the arms, she resisted the urge to shake some sense into her uncle. “Just because Mr. Valmer’s a man doesn’t automatically turn him into my groom.”
    “He’s the most promising prospect around.” Uncle Bo brushed a kiss on her cheek. “You’re the one who let the man stay when everyone wanted to pitch him out.”
    “He carried an ill woman.”
    Smiling as if he’d won the final point in a debate, Uncle Bo stepped back. “Can’t get a better recommendation than that. Men wind up treating their wives just like they treat their mother and sisters. Feelin’ concerned ’bout his loved one, he wants to stay close. You can’t fault a man for doing something praiseworthy.”
    Making a living by bartering taught her plenty. Cocking a brow, Maggie said, “Whenever someone talks fast and fancy as you are, I know better than to trade. They’re trying to pass off a skunk as a swan.”
    “I’m not trading a-tall,