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knew he wouldn’t go through with it!” Charlotte pressed her hands to her breast as she leaned back in the brocade-upholstered chair. “I knew he wouldn’t get married like this.”
    Charlotte sounded as if she’d believed that, but in truth, she’d spent the morning in her room, weeping into her pillow. The very idea that Jakob Hirsch would send away for a bride when he had to know—
    Emma lifted her teacup from the saucer. “Laura Gaffney said it was Miss Breit who couldn’t go through with it.” She paused to take a sip. “Her father-in-law was there to see it all. He said Miss Breit stopped Pastor Joki right in the middle of the ceremony.”
    Charlotte’s eyes widened. “I don’t believe it.”
    “It’s true, whether you believe it or not.”
    Charlotte considered this news a few moments, then gave a sniff of disdain. “That’s what he gets for sending for a mail-order bride.”
    “But haven’t you heard, Charlotte? She isn’t a stranger to him. They grew up together in Germany. Laura says they were sweethearts before Jakob left to come to America.”
    That news caused a sick feeling in Charlotte’s midsection.
    “Mr. Gaffney has given Miss Breit a room at the hotel until it’s decided where she will go. Mother says we must call on her tomorrow. Mother says we must make her feel welcome in Shadow Creek.”
    “I, for one, have no intention of calling on her.” She tilted her chin. “I don’t care a whit if she feels welcome.”
    Emma laughed. “But that’s because you’re sweet on Jakob Hirsch, and you’d just as soon Miss Breit left town as quickly as she came.”
    Charlotte harrumphed, choosing silence for a change.
    Karola sat in the chair near the window of her second-story hotel room, looking out at the steeple of the Holy Shepherd Lutheran Church.
    Jakob was so angry.
    Could she blame him?
    Nein, I cannot.
    Nor would she blame herself. Not marrying Jakob was perhaps the first truly sensible decision she’d made in a long while.
    But what am I to do now? I did not think of that.
    She had no money to speak of, and she didn’t want to be sent back to Germany. She knew no one in America except Jakob, and she certainly couldn’t ask him for help. Nor could she live forever in this hotel room, depending upon the charity of strangers. So what was she to do? Where was she to go?
    Her mother’s words on that last night at home came to her again: “Have you asked God what he wants you to do?”
    Someone tapped on her door, interrupting her troubled thoughts, and Karola rose to see who it was. Opening the door, she found Laura Gaffney—whom she’d met when Tulley brought her to the hotel that morning—standing in the hallway, a hesitant smile curving her mouth, a tray covered with a white cloth in her hands.
    “I thought you might be hungry.”
    Karola wasn’t.
    “Miss Breit, you didn’t join us for lunch and supper is still two hours away. You really should eat something.”
    As much as she wished the young woman would leave her alone, Karola stepped back.
    Laura walked to the small, round table beneath the window. After setting down the tray, she turned and regarded Karola, her eyes kind. “Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?”
    Karola shook her head.
    “Papa Tulley should be back with your things soon.” Laura offered another gentle smile. “He left for the Hirsch farm about an hour ago. My father-in-law never lets grass grow under his feet if he can help it. He has a heart of gold, that man.”
    “Mr. Gaffney has been very kind to me, offering me a place to stay.”
    Laura laughed, a sweet and melodious sound. “He’ll want you to call him Tulley. He isn’t a man who stands on ceremony.” She motioned toward the table with one hand. “Won’t you sit and eat while we become better acquainted?”
    Karola had hoped Laura would put down the tray and leave, but it seemed that wasn’t to be. With an inward sigh, she closed the door, then walked to the