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didn’t have to sit with them.
    Sometimes she hated council meetings. Or wherever else he’d been.

    The next morning church passed as she’d thought it would. She kept her gaze off the slumped figure in the third row on the right. You’d have thought at least her parents would have had the decency to sit in the back. But no matter, third pew on the right belonged to the Rogers family, as much as if they’d paid for it. Relief surged through her when the pastor pronounced the benediction and the choir stood for the closing hymn. If her salvation depended on what she’d learned in church this morning, she’d be heading the other way. As Pastor Mueller made his way to the narthex to greet people as they filed out, she and the other choir members exited to the choir room to divest themselves of their robes.
    “Went right well,” Dr. Gaskin, lead baritone, pronounced. The fact that he said the same whenever he made it to church made no difference. Everyone nodded and wished each other a good week.
    “Miss Rogers?”
    Elizabeth turned. “Yes?”
    “I’m thinking Mrs. Sidney might be going into labor today. If you want to come along, you be ready.”
    “Oh, thank you. I will.” Elizabeth followed the others out the side door of the brick church, complete with bell tower and white window trim. She shaded her eyes with her gloved hand. Her mother and father waited in the buggy. New leaves, still tight to the branches, furred the oak trees that lined the hitching posts where members of the congregation tied up their horses. When she reached the buggy, she looked up at her father.
    “I think I’ll walk home. It’s such a beautiful day.”
    “We’ll be eating right away. Your father says he has to go back down to the paper.”
    “Oh.” Elizabeth climbed into the rear seat of the buggy. Since this was the cook’s day off, she knew she’d be expected to help put dinner on the table. And if her father had to wait, he’d turn into a grumbling bear. “I thought you weren’t going to work on Sundays anymore.”
    “That’s what he always says.” Annabelle clasped her hands on her watered-silk dress, nodded to an acquaintance, and shot her husband a look compounded with equal parts sadness and disdain.
    The ride home passed in silence, matching that on the drive over.
    They’d just finished dinner when the doorbell clanged.
    “I’ll get it.” Elizabeth wiped her mouth with her napkin and pushed her chair back. “That was delicious, as always, Mother. Thank you.”
    “Won’t you be having dessert? Cook made a canned peach pie.”
    Elizabeth left the dining room and, like a diver coming up for air, paused to take a deep breath and let it all out. Now her step regained its usual bounce, and a smile returned. “I’m coming,” she answered to another knock. She opened the door. “Oh, Dr. Gaskin, so soon?”
    “Told you to be ready. You coming or not?”
    “I’m coming. Let me tell Mother and get my apron. Should I bring anything else? Like peach pie?”
    “We’ll get that later. This baby’s in a hurry.”
    Elizabeth flew back down the hall, called to her mother as to what she was doing, grabbed her apron and a shawl in case they were late, and was out the door before the doctor had finished climbing into his buggy.
    “Whew. Oh, I forgot my hat.” She paused before sitting down.
    “Too late.” The buggy was already in motion, causing her an abrupt connection with the leather seat. He clucked the horse to a fast trot and headed south of town. “How’s school coming?”
    “Near to the end of the term. I’ve been studying like mad for my biology exams. The lab class takes a lot of time, memorizing and dissecting. Going to Carleton for science classes is not really convenient.”
    “You think that’s hard, wait till you get to med school. You have to memorize every bone, muscle, nerve—every part of the human body. But with a mind as good as yours, that won’t be hard.”
    “If they let me