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Velda if there was anything she could do for her and was very smartly turned down, so she settled in a chair and read.
    Around half past five, there was the sound of a vehicle outside and then the front door opened. A tall young man a few years younger than Jeff walked in. He stopped when he saw Gracie. With a broad grin he walked over to her and kissed her on the mouth.
    ‘Well hello! I’m Rick. I didn’t realise my brother had married such a looker! Welcome to the family.’
    Gracie saw the thunderous expression on Jeff’s face, but he remained silent.
    ‘When did you arrive?’ Rick asked.
    ‘Earlier today. Once we’d unpacked, Jeff took me into town to look around.’
    Her brother-in-law sat beside her. ‘So, what did you think of your new surroundings?’
    ‘It’s far too soon to know, really. Everything is so different. It’ll take a while to get used to.’
    ‘Well I think you’re very brave, Gracie, to leave your country behind and come out here. It can’t have been easy for you.’
    ‘No, but then, of course, I want to be with Jeff, so there was no choice really. So here I am, although I hope for not very long. Your mother is kind to put us up, but we need our own place.’
    He rose from his seat. ‘I’m off to have a shower, so I’ll see you later but I hope you don’t move out too soon. It’s kinda nice to have a beautiful young woman around the house.’ He grinned broadly at her and left the room.
    She looked at Jeff. ‘Don’t you two talk to each other?’ she asked sharply.
    ‘When necessary,’ he replied and continued to read the paper.
    Shortly after, the door opened again and an older man entered. Jeff put down his paper.
    ‘Dad, come and meet your daughter-in-law. This is my Gracie.’
    Ben Rider was tall, broad and powerfully built, dressed in jeans and a heavy short coat. He removed the woollen hat from his head, walked over to Gracie and shook her hand. His grip was hard and firm.
    ‘Well, howdy Gracie. Welcome to Barton. I hope you’ll be very happy here. You’ve had a long journey, you must be weary.’
    ‘We stopped over in Denver last night, so we did have a rest.’
    ‘Very wise,’ He turned to his son. ‘You alright boy?’
    ‘Yes thanks, Dad. I took Gracie around the town, I borrowed your car.’
    ‘That’s fine, use it whenever you like, I’ve got my truck, so I only use it at weekends sometime.’
    ‘Where do you work, Mr Rider?’ asked Gracie.
    ‘I’m working on a construction site,’ he told her. ‘We’re building new apartments on the other side of town. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go see my wife.’ He left them and wandered into the kitchen.
    Gracie could hear voices as husband and wife talked. She couldn’t distinguish the words, but Mrs Rider sounded angry. Then Ben returned with two cans of beer and passed one to Jeff.
    The two men sat and chatted and Gracie listened. She was thankful that they seemed on good terms after seeing Jeff with his brother. She liked her father-in-law. He had seemed friendly enough.
     
    At suppertime, they all sat round the table and Velda served the food. There was a large meat loaf, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob and green beans. It was delicious and Gracie said so.
    ‘This is so tasty. I haven’t had these kind of potatoes before, they’re so different and I really like them.’
    For once Velda seemed pleased. ‘I take pride in my cooking,’ she said, ‘men need a good meal in their belly after a hard day’s work.’
    Rick looked up. ‘You’ll have to cook us an English meal one night, Gracie, so we can see what that’s like.’
    Gracie was about to say how much she’d like to do that until she saw the look of anger on Velda’s face. ‘We’ll have to see what your mother thinks, after all it’s her kitchen.’
    Velda remained silent so no more was said.
     
    Later that night, when they were in bed, Jeff reached for her but Gracie caught hold of his hand on her breast. ‘Your parents are in