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jar in to work with her. She’d need it, scrubbing out the entry each day.
    Virginia thrust her arm into the sleeve of her coat. She hated wearing it when it was supposed to be spring, but she knew she would be more than thankful for it by the time she reached home. She tied a scarf over her hair and prepared for the onslaught of wind and rain as she stepped out onto the sidewalk.
    It was as miserable as she had feared. She thrust hands deep into her pockets and lowered her head against the storm.
    She would have walked right into someone standing beneath the weeping birch had not a hand reached out to touch her shoulder. Startled, Virginia’s head came upright as she stopped abruptly. A tall man, bundled in dark clothes against the unspringlike weather, stood solidly in the path in front of her.
    “Virginia.”
    Virginia’s breath caught in her throat. Was she dreaming? “Jonathan?”
    “I’ve been waiting….”
    Suddenly it did not matter about the rain. About the mud in the entry or the heavy coat. It could rain all it wanted. Nothing—nothing in all the world—mattered, except that he was there. He was finally there. He had come back. He was waiting.
    “Oh, Jonathan” was her glad cry, and then she was in his arms, weeping against the rough wool of the broad-shouldered jacket.
    He held her. Just held her and let her weep. She wondered if he was weeping, too, but she could not tell for the constant stream of rain that ran over both of them. At length he kissed the top of her wet head. “I need to get you home,” he whispered. “You’re soaked.”
    Virginia laughed. Laughed at the rain that had made her so despondent such a short time earlier. “You look a little wet yourself,” she informed him.
    He laughed with her. “Guess I am. That birch isn’t all that great as a shelter.”
    “How long have you been here?”
    “Under this tree, or in town?”
    “Both, I guess.”
    “Well, I came in on this morning’s train. Had to get the horses out to the farm and into the corrals. They’d had enough of train travel. Soon as I got them settled I came into town. Couldn’t wait for your day to end….” He stopped and looked into her eyes. The cloudy skies and damp surroundings did not make for good lighting, but Virginia saw the love and eagerness in the gaze. You were wrong, Jenny , she said in her heart. He came back .
    “As to how long I’ve been here under this dripping birch—only an eon or two, I guess. It seems like a very long time.” His arms tightened about her. Virginia’s reached up to encircle his neck. Oh dear , she found herself thinking. He has not even officially come calling yet, and here we are in an embrace. On Main Street. Just as though … as though … it was all settled .
    The thought did not make her back away. She looked up into Jonathan’s face and smiled. “I think we’d better get out of the rain,” she said softly. “I want to hear all about your trip west. We have so much to talk about.”
    “We do,” he agreed. “We surely do.”
    He kissed her dripping hair once more before releasing her, and Virginia stepped back and smiled at him again. There was no use trying to straighten rumpled clothes. The rain had them both a wrinkled, sodden mess. They merely smiled at each other, then started down the street, her arm tucked protectively in his.
    “You know, I never cared much for the rain,” Jonathan said in a teasing tone, “but I have the feeling that from now on it might hold a charm all its own.”
    Virginia looked at him, saw the glint in his eyes, and understood. “I hate the rain,” she nodded. “I always have.”
    “Well, look at you. Look at me. If this had been a normal day, if I had walked up to the post-office door and met you as you left—in broad daylight and bright sunshine—would you have welcomed me in the same way?”
    Oh, Jonathan, I missed you so much , Virginia’s heart cried. Every day I’ve longed for you to come back . But Jonathan