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been baking bread. I came at just the right time.” He leaned forward and dropped his voice. “Did you save the heel for me?”
    “How could I, when I didn’t know you were coming?” Something was up. She could tell by the look in his eyes. Always one with forward-thinking ideas, Hjelmer often came to ask Lars and Haakan for advice or blessing on his latest venture, whatever that might be. “Besides, I didn’t hear your automobile drive up.”
    “I came on horseback.”
    “You mean that smoking monster wouldn’t start … again?”
    “Now, don’t go make disparaging remarks about my Oldsmobile.”
    “Why not? Everyone else does.” Haakan hung up his hat too. He looked to Ingeborg. “I hear you’ve been doctoring today.”
    Ingeborg nodded and smiled at Jonathan, who trailed in after Andrew. As the men took their places at the table, she slid a heel of bread onto Hjelmer’s plate, earning a wink from him and a headshake from her husband.
    After Haakan said grace, she set the platters on the table and stood back a moment to watch them help themselves and pass the food around the table.
    “So what brought you out this way?” Haakan asked.
    Hjelmer looked up from his full plate and caught Ingeborg’s gaze. “Come sit down, Ingeborg. You need to hear this too.”
    At the look in his eyes, she caught her breath. Something was afoot, and she had a feeling she would not be happy with the news.
    Hjelmer laid his fork and knife on his plate. “I’ve been offered a position in government that requires me to move to Bismarck. I told Penny about it last night, and now I’m talking to the rest of you.”
    “And Penny said?” Ingeborg’s voice broke on the words.
    Hjelmer sighed. “Penny is having a very hard time with this.”
    “Have you accepted the job?”
    “No. I knew I had to come home and see if we could make arrangements. We have a lot of questions. Do we sell the store and the machinery business, find someone to manage them for us, or … ?”
    “Or stay here.”
    “Right. But if I take the position, I would have to resign my seat in the legislature or at least not run again in the fall.” He sighed again. “It is a good opportunity.”
    “But you would have to move.” Ingeborg used the corner of her apron to dry her eyes.
    “Either that or never see my family. You know how Penny already feels about my being gone so much.”
    “She loves her store.”
    “I know.”
    “Would you have to sell it? I mean, can you afford a house in Bismarck without selling the businesses here?”
    Hjelmer buttered the heel of bread, staring at it longer than necessary before raising his head to look directly at Haakan. “I don’t know. Most of our money is tied up in the businesses.”
    You can’t move away. Lord, don’t let them move. But what if this is the plan you have for them? Ingeborg tried to unscramble her thoughts, but they tumbled over each other in spite of her good intentions. Penny couldn’t leave. They were all used to Hjelmer being gone, but Penny and her store were part of the warp that held the tapestry of the town together. Newcomers were threads in the picture, but without strong warp, the piece would not continue to grow. Ingeborg glanced around her kitchen. The zinc dry sink came from the Blessing General Store, as did the jars that held her canning, the crocks of all sizes, the cast-iron frying pans and pots, her sewing machine, the new washing machine, the gingham she had turned into curtains for the windows. Penny loved stocking new inventions for the women of Blessing. Hjelmer brought in the latest in machinery, and his blacksmith shop not only reset wheels but repaired some of the farm machinery. His windmills dotted the countryside, providing fresh water for humans and animals.
    “You can’t leave Blessing.” Ingeborg tried to put a touch of teasing in her voice, but the cracking was a dead giveaway. “Please don’t leave.”

A S J UNE DANCED WITH BLOOMING LILACS and the