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her seat and asked,
"How far are we going?"
    "The MacGregors are three miles west."
    Wally followed alongside their buckboard for
about a half mile until Brant told him to go back home. With his tail between
his legs, he watched them roll on. Abigail turned to look at him.
    Brant laughed. "He's quite the actor. See
how he's already got you feeling sorry for him."
    Abigail giggled. "I always wanted a dog
growing up, but my parents refused to let me have one. Wally's already found
his way into my heart." Immediately, she regretted her heartfelt words.
She didn't know Brant well enough to expose her inner thoughts.
    He didn't reply and she was glad.
    Abigail's hip bumped the container of cookies on
the seat between them. She and Jenny had made them the day before. Thankfully,
they were chewable, although not as tasty as she had hoped. She really wished
she'd paid more attention to Mrs. Puffins' culinary skill back in Philadelphia.
Next time she was in Two Rivers, she intended to buy a cookbook at the general
store.
    Although it was still morning, the weather was
already turning muggy. Abigail lifted her head to the sky, its blueness sending
happiness into her heart. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. When she
opened them, Brant was staring at her. Her curiosity got the better of her and
she asked bluntly, "How old are you?"
    He turned to look ahead. "Thirty-two."
    She gasped and looked away from his profile. She
was six years older. "You…you married very young."
    "We were both seventeen. Does my age bother
you?"
    She looked back at him. "A little. I'm
thirty-eight."
    He pulled the reins to adjust the horses' path.
"Well, Miz Abby, your age doesn't bother me in the least."
    Abigail bit the inside of her cheek and watched
the passing countryside.
    * * *
    Brant chuckled at the startled look on prim and
proper Miz Abby's face when he told her his age. Hell, what difference did six
years make. Obviously, it made a difference to her.
    The rest of the way, they made small talk and he
pointed out places of interest in the countryside. "Those hills are called
the Little Siblings and beyond those trees is Moccasin River, one of the two
that crosses paths just outside the town of Two Rivers. The other cuts through
the north of my property and its called Hawk River."
    He crested a hill above a cabin similar to his
own and pulled the reins. "Whoa horses!" Pausing their trek, he
turned to smile at Abby. "That's the MacGregor place."
    For the moment, she seemed to have forgotten her
shock over their age difference and smiled at the happy scene. Other neighbors
had already arrived and men, young and old, were hammering out the frame of a
barn. Young women scurried after children and elderly ones sat in chairs on the
porch or under trees. Older children chased each other in a game of tag. Picnic
tables had been placed under the shade of tall oaks. Long tablecloths flapped
in the breeze.
    Brant flicked the reins and started down the
hill. He pulled his buckboard beside the others and jumped down. Walking around
the wagon he helped Abby down first. Next he lifted Ty from Jenny's arms and
handed him to Abby. Then he scooped his daughter up and swung her around until
she squealed. Luke jumped down and Brant said, "Wait up, son."
    A middle-aged woman approached. "Welcome Brant.
We're real happy your family could make it." She glanced curiously at
Abby.
    "Hello Cora, we wouldn't have missed it.
Mick helped me raise my barn and I wanted to return the favor after I heard
yours burned down." He grinned mischievously, "Actually, I came for
the food."
    Cora laughed, "Well, there's plenty of
that."
    "We made cookies!" Jenny said proudly.
    "That was mighty thoughtful, Jenny. I'll
put them on the dessert table."
    Brant reached for the container and handed it to
Cora and then said, "Cora, I'd like you to meet Miz Abigail Vaughn."
    Cora held out her hand. "Pleasure meetin'
ya, Miz Vaughn."
    Abby held Ty in one arm and stretched her other
one out to