“It will,” Hannah said with certainty. “Josiah works hard, and he’s very ambitious.”
“Those are good qualities to have.”
“Now, you must tell me how you and Mr. Harris met. Did you grow up together?” Hannah asked.
Jolie laughed. “That’s an interesting story.” She launched into all that had happened since she’d responded to the letter Mrs. Crenshaw had given her back in Massachusetts. When she finished, Hannah had forgotten all about the dishes.
“What would you have done if Mr. Harris hadn’t proposed marriage?”
“I don’t know,” Jolie said honestly as she rinsed off the last of the plates. “But I suppose I would have found work in town and tried to save enough to return to my mother.”
Hannah picked up the pot of dirty water. “You are far more courageous than I am. I would have never responded to the letter, much less boarded a train to a place where I didn’t know a soul.”
“You might have, if your circumstances were different,” Jolie said kindly. She paused a moment. “I don’t suppose you know whether Mr. Sawyer was the neighbor who told the marshal he’d seen a man riding a white horse the same day Cade’s brother was found murdered?”
Hannah glanced down at the pot in her hands, and then shook her head. “No, not that I know of.” She walked out quickly to empty the pot.
Perhaps it had been another neighbor. As she finished drying the clean dishes, Jolie reflected on what Hannah had said about Jolie’s decision to come here. Perhaps shewascourageous. Going to New York would have been the easiest option, even if it had meant living in cramped quarters and finding factory work. But Jolie had considered it only briefly. Mama knew that would have made her unhappy, and she was right. Even if everything hadn’t work out as she’d thought, shewashappy here, in this beautiful place with Cade at her side.
She set about wiping down the wooden countertop for Hannah. When she finished, she folded the rag and set it next to some other linens on a nearby shelf. She was just about to turn away when something caught her eye.
There, next to a set of folded tea towels, sat a single handkerchief—embroidered along the edges with blue squares in a pattern that looked immediately familiar.
Jolie absently patted her empty pocket. If she wasn’t mistaken, that was the same style of handkerchief that she’d found alongside Silver Creek earlier in the week.
“It has grown to be so cold outside,” Hannah said as she bustled in through the door.
Jolie jumped, her mind still on what she’d found. “I was just admiring the embroidery on this handkerchief. Is this your work?”
Hannah’s face lit up. “It is. I made a pair of them for Josiah soon after we came here. I’m glad you like it.”
Jolie pretended to admire the workmanship again. She ought to tell Hannah she’d found one of the pair, but her mouth remained firmly closed. It was odd, finding that handkerchief where she had, just at the edge of their property. It had most likely blown away, considering that the Sawyer ranch was their nearest neighbor.
Jolie chatted with Hannah for a while longer, until Cade came searching for her. They said their goodbyes before heading back toward home.
The ride wasn’t very far, but the night was clear and cold, and the stars winked overhead.
“Did your brother ever show you Cepheus, the king?” Jolie asked as she pointed at the characteristic square and triangle that made the constellation.
“Yes,” Cade said, a note of impatience in his voice.
A half-second passed in which Jolie attempted to puzzle it out, and then Cade spoke again.
“Did you enjoy the evening?” he asked in a much more conversational tone.
“I did, very much. Hannah was a delight, and I’m glad to have her as a neighbor. Did you have a good conversation with Mr. Sawyer and the other men?”
“Sawyer’s a congenial enough fellow, and Yount would talk the ear off anyone. Bennett was quiet, but all in all, they seem to be a good set of neighbors.”
“I look forward to hosting them at our home once that stove arrives,” Jolie said.
“And once we have a table. And chairs,” Cade added with a grin.
She laughed. “Yes, I suppose they might like to sit while they eat. We’d need to invest in a few more plates and bowls, too.”
“So perhaps next spring?”
“Next spring!” Jolie tried to imagine not having a table or chairs for the next six months.
