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money for their needs, and He would certainly reveal the details in the appropriate time.

    Jace fed the livestock early Sunday morning, not paying attention to what he was doing, just going through the motions, his mind far away. Not until the rooster tried to spur him did he realize he’d better attend.
    â€œYou could end up in a stew pot,” he mumbled to the large, colorful rooster, who clearly knew he was the king of the farmyard.
    Jace was eyed disdainfully for his comment and then completely ignored. He finished the chores without consequence and then went inside for breakfast. He took extra time in cleaning up, and when he arrived in the kitchen, he was dressed to go out.
    â€œYou going courtin’?” Woody teased.
    â€œNo,” Jace said quietly but firmly, working to convince himself as well as his uncle. “I’m going to services this morning.”
    Woody stared at him and then asked, “At the meetinghouse?”
    This stopped the butter knife in Jace’s hand. He set it and the muffin down and stared at his uncle.
    â€œYes. Where else would I go?”
    â€œThere is a Center Meetinghouse right on the green, but then there’s a group that meets at the Muldoons’, the yellow house in town.”
    Working to be as nonchalant as he could manage, Jace went back to buttering one of the muffins Clara had left for them. He tried to wait a while, but his mind was too anxious.
    â€œWhere do Shephards attend?”
    Woody took a sip of his coffee and grinned.
    â€œI wondered what took so long in town yesterday. You met Maddie, didn’t you?”
    â€œI might have,” Jace hedged, smiling but not willing to be caught outright.
    Woody wanted to tease him and draw him along, but he didn’t have the heart.
    â€œThey attend on the green.”
    Jace nodded.
    â€œI think I’ll go with you,” Woody announced, stopping Jace’s breakfast again.
    â€œCan I trust you should we happen upon Miss Shephard?”
    â€œTrust me how?” Woody said with a satisfied smile.
    â€œTo keep quiet.”
    Woody only grinned at him, and Jace shook his head, wishing he’d lied to his uncle about where he was headed.

    Well now, Doyle thought to himself, noticing that Woody and Jace had slipped into the rear of the meetinghouse. He’d not shared his thoughts with anyone, but he had wondered all day— and some in the night—if Jace had taken any notice of his girl. He hadn’t seen Jace in the meetinghouse since he moved there, and he’d not seen Woody since long before his health began to decline. Assuming Jace was there for only one reason, Doyle found himself as satisfied as if he’d managed the whole business himself.

    â€œJoin us for dinner,” Doyle said hospitably to Woody and Jace once the service ended. “We have plenty.”
    â€œThank you,” Woody accepted, amazed at himself. He tended to be a loner and couldn’t remember the last time he’d eaten in someone else’s home. He glanced at Jace to see what he thought of the idea, but Jace was looking in Maddie’s direction, telling Woody he’d done the right thing.
    Maddie was not looking their way. She appeared to be making an exit from two young men who were trying to speak to her. There was a smile on her face, but she kept backing away from them. They didn’t get the message, however, and kept moving with her. Finally, Doyle spotted them and went to the rescue. In the midst of all of this, Woody also took in the fact that when the young ladies passed by Jace, they did so slowly, hoping to catch his eye. Woody could actually find it in his heart to pity them, but he wasn’t at all sad that Jace’s gaze went in Maddie’s direction.
    â€œI’m sorry if I kept you,” Maddie said as she joined the group. “They had questions about Boston.”
    Maddie said this with such sincerity that for a moment Jace’s and