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trim waist and narrow hips.
    He glanced around as if searching for someone. Lil hastily lowered her eyes and busied herself with spreading a tablecloth. Was he looking for her? Mercy, what a fool thought! Even so, her cheeks grew warm.
    * * *
    Tye was looking for her, all right, and it took only seconds for his gaze to home in on her. Expecting her to be wearing britches again, he was pleasantly surprised to see her in a plain but pretty calico gown. The deep rose color nearly matched the roses in her copper-gold cheeks. Was she blushing? And could he be the cause?
    Begorrah! You’re full of yourself to be thinking such a thing, boyo. She probably hasn’t spared ye a single thought since the day ye met her.
    He’d surely thought of her, though, calling up her image whenever his black memories threatened to crush him over the past few weeks. So often, in fact, that she’d become a kind of talisman against the guilt and terror. But there was more to it than that. He felt a kinship with her because he knew she, too, was bedeviled by hidden sorrows, although he didn’t know their cause.
    Recalling his desire to draw a smile from her if they ever met again, he was tempted to approach her right now, but he hesitated when she abruptly turned to speak to the blonde woman standing beside her. Then he was put to work sawing lumber and didn’t get anywhere near Lil until mid-morning. By then he’d built up a fierce thirst, for both water and a moment with her.
    Tye laid aside his saw and stepped over to the water bucket for a drink. He took a long pull from the dipper, hung it back on the bucket and sauntered toward Lil. She was arranging covered dishes on a cloth-covered table. With her back to him, she didn’t see him approach.
    “Good morning, Miss Crawford,” he said, halting a couple of paces behind her.
    She whirled around, lips parted, brown eyes wide. Her chaotic mix of emotions – surprise, wariness and perhaps a hint of excitement – blasted him, bringing on a dull pain behind his eyes and causing his smile to slip for a moment. Seeing her nostrils flare delicately as if testing his scent, she made him think of a frightened doe poised to leap away.
    “H-how do you know my name? I never . . . .” She paused, then answered her own question. “David and Jessie told you.” 
    “Aye, colleen, and I’ve been wondering, is it Lil for Lily?”
    “Th-that’s none of your business.”
    Tye cocked an eyebrow but didn’t press her for an answer. “Ye look very lovely this fine day, if ye don’t mind me saying so.”
    She stiffened and scowled at him, her color heightening to that angry, beautiful shade of rose he remembered so well. “Save your smooth words, mister. I know how I look, and I’m not lovely.”
    “What?” He stared at her in disbelief, detecting the deep well of hurt from which her anger sprang. “Of course you’re –”
    “Hello, Lil,” Jessie interrupted, startling him as she walked up to him. “I understand you’ve met my brother once before.”
    Lil shot her a sharp glance; then her dark eyes drilled into him. “Yeah, we met a while back. Guess you heard all about it.”
    “Aye, I mentioned getting directions from ye,” Tye said before Jessie could reply. He registered Lil’s anger at him for talking to his sister about her, and felt her resentment toward Jessie. Mystified as to its cause, he went on, “But I neglected to properly introduce myself that day. The name’s Tye Devlin, and delighted I am to be seeing you again, Miss Crawford.” He winked, hoping to lighten her mood.
    Her gaze darted uncertainly from him to Jessie and back again. She licked her lips and seemed to search for words. Before she managed to reply, a short, stout, older woman marched up and clutched her arm. Her skin was darker than Lil’s, her features broader, but the two were plainly related.
    “Come and help me,” she snapped, ignoring Tye and Jessie completely and paying no heed to Lil’s dismayed