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had to excuse herself to meet someone else that had just shown up to help with the preparations. Grace would rather that Mrs. Metzger had not had to leave, because now she was left to the mercy of her own thoughts, and she could not shake the thoughts of Owen out of her head. There were so many unanswered questions.
    Grace’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Owen’s voice. “Are you going to join us for lunch?”
    She looked up and saw Owen smiling in her direction. She had not noticed that Constance had brought the basket of food over, and spread a blanket for them to sit on. “Sure. I’ll be right over. Just let me finish tying off the streamer.”
    She finished what she was doing, and then joined the others on the blanket, and sat down next to Constance.
    “Are you alright dear?” Constance asked, sounding concerned. “You look pale.”
    Owen, sitting opposite of Grace, eagerly biting into a chunk of bread, looked up at Grace. A look of concern spread across his brow. “You are pale. Maybe you are over doing it.”
    “I’m okay. I probably just waited too long to sit down to eat.” Grace answered. “I’ll be fine.”
    Owen moved closer, placed a hand on her shoulder, and looked into her eyes as if examining her. “Are you sure. Maybe we should head back home so you can rest.”
    “No, no. I am fine. I insist.” Grace said, more annoyed than comforted by Owen’s concern. “If we leave now, the rest of those stands won’t ever get up. I’ll take it easy, I promise.”
    Grace was relieved when it was agreed that they would not leave. She didn’t want to be responsible for the stands not getting finished up, and she was sure that without Owen, they probably wouldn’t be finished in time. Besides, she knew that she wasn’t sick. Just a bit in shock over the rumor she had just heard.
    She didn’t know if she should talk to Owen about it. She knew that she didn’t have any right to be upset, even if it were true. Owen had not made any overtures toward her, nor had he lead her on in any way. It was true that he seemed to be warming up toward her, but it was possible that she was interpreting it wrong. He may not be developing similar feelings as she was, and had certainly never expressed to her that he was. It was not fair for her to make assumptions. She decided for the time being that she would wait to decide whether or not to talk to him about it.
    The rest of the afternoon, Mrs. Metzger had Grace so busy that she had little time to think about Owen, or anything else for that matter. She was glad for it though, because sometimes her own thoughts could be her worst enemy. By the time everything was finished, Grace was exhausted, and happy to be headed back home.
    Once they arrived home, they ate a quick supper, and then everyone, exhausted, retired early to bed. They planned to stop by the festival for an hour or two the next day. It was scheduled to start after church services let out, and would run until night fall.
    The next day they rose early, and despite not having a full night’s sleep, they were able to make it to Church on time. Afterwards, Grace had a wonderful time at the carnival. Owen won a pie by winning a bag race, and promised to share it with Grace and Constance at supper that night. There were so many people in attendance, and she could only imagine that the event was the most exciting thing to happen, to draw so many people out of the sticks. She met so many people, including several single gentlemen, all of whom seemed pretty excited to learn that there was a new eligible girl in town. She really enjoyed the attention, but when the day was finally over and she was all alone to her thoughts, she had to admit to herself that none of the gentlemen that she had met, held a candle to Owen.
     

CHAPTER 5
     
    October 19, 1896
     
    Owen was happy for the opportunity to spend some more time with Grace, but his guilty feelings over his childhood crush would not let him enjoy the