The following evening, after spending the day exploring the farm and helping in the garden, Lucy cooked apples in a big iron skillet to turn into an apple tansey for dessert while Theo helped their grandfather milk the cows.
She and her grandmother used the outdoor kitchen to prepare the meal. It was wonderful to not have the heat in the house, and Lucy enjoyed being outside in the shade of two big oak trees.
Her grandmother looked over her shoulder from where she shredded a cabbage. “I forgot to mention, our neighbors are joining us for supper.”
“Oh. Which neighbors?” Lucy asked, having met most of them over the years.
“The new couple who live on the farm to the east of us. I guess they aren’t all that new anymore. They’ve been there about a year, I suppose,” Katherine said, mixing the cabbage with vinegar, oil, and spices. “Nate and Sarah Dobbins are just the nicest people. Younger, no children, but they work so hard. Sarah’s nephew is here for a brief visit.”
“Is the nephew Theo’s age?” Lucy asked, thinking it would be wonderful for Theo to have a playmate. Most of the neighbors had been there so long, their children were grown.
Katherine laughed. “No, darling girl. He’s closer to yours.”
Lucy could almost see the ideas whirling in her grandmother’s mind like yarn on a spinning wheel. Whatever matchmaking notions her grandmother entertained, the woman needed to get them right out of her head. Lucy had no time or interest in being courted.
Well, that wasn’t entirely true.
She wouldn’t object, at least not long or loudly, if the intriguing and altogether handsome Branch Barton came to call, but she doubted that would ever come to pass. Especially not when she was convinced he was a Loyalist, just as he had somehow surmised she was completely devoted to the Patriots.
Since the day Lucy had first picked up the locket and met Branch, a feeling for him had taken root in her heart. She couldn’t deny it, even if she refused to speak of it.
What good would come of her affection for a Loyalist?
“You know, Lucy, we never got around to discussing the young man your mother mentioned dropping by the shop on occasion,” her grandmother said, intruding on her thoughts. “Do you think he’ll pay court?”
“No, Grandmama. I don’t think he will. I’m not entirely sure what to think about him. One day he’s sweet. The next teasing. Then we won’t see him for days at a time, and he never offers a word about where he’s been. He claims he’s a trade merchant and wanders around the city looking for business opportunities. I hate to even give voice to the thought, and haven’t to anyone, but I can’t help but consider the truth that he might be a Redcoat spy.”
“Oh, gracious! Not one of those horrid men in disguise.” Katherine scoffed and turned to study Lucy. “If he turned your head, though, there must be something special about him.”
Lucy shrugged, feigning a disinterest she was far from feeling. “He’s intelligent. Strong. Amusing. He lures me into debates just for the sake of taking the opposing view. He’s also quite sweet with Theo. He’s the one who fanned the flames of Theo’s recent fascination with bugs. He even spent one morning helping Theo weed the garden in search of more creeping and crawling beasties. Mama and Papa both seem to approve of his presence in our lives.”
Katherine laughed. “He sounds divine, darling. Is he quite good-looking?”
Lucy felt her cheeks warming and hoped her grandmother attributed the heightened color to the heat involved in creating the apple tansey. “Some might say he is.”
Her grandmother lifted an eyebrow and smirked. “And I can only wager you are among those who would.”
Theo appeared with a basket of eggs, saving Lucy from the need to make any further comment. As soon as she had finished cooking the apple tansey and flipped it onto a plate for serving, she dashed to the well and filled a bucket with water, then scuttled into the house and up to the room that had once been her mother’s when she was a young girl, but was Lucy’s whenever she visited the farm. Lucy hastened to remove her clothes that were dirty from a day of hard work, wipe her skin with the refreshingly cool water, then dress in a gown that was clean. It wasn’t her finest attire, but it was far better than a sweat-soaked chore dress.
Lucy quickly styled her hair that she had simply wadded into a knot at the back of her head that morning to keep it out of her way, then pulled on a clean white linen cap. As ready as she could be to greet her grandparents’ guests, she carried the bucket of water out and dumped it on a rosebush that looked slightly wilted in the heat before she returned to the outdoor kitchen, where she helped her grandmother finish their meal preparations.
They were just slicing leftover pieces of roast from their dinner to serve along with pieces of cheese when Lucy glanced up to see three people walking toward them from the gate in the east fence her grandfather had shown to her and Theo earlier. It cut quite a bit of walking time off a visit to their closest neighbors’ place.
Lucy had recalled the names of Nate and Sarah Dobbins from letters her grandmother had written and conversations she had heard at Christmastime when her grandparents had come to visit for a few days, and when she and her family had visited the farm in May for Theo’s birthday.
Fantail hats, with round crowns and a brim that kicked upward in the back, shaded the faces of the two men, but Sarah Dobbins wore a cap that framed her friendly face and wide smile. She waved the hand that wasn’t carrying a basket, and Katherine returned the greeting.
The couple appeared youthful as they made their way toward the house. The man who walked with one hand around Sarah’s waist was likely Nate. The fellow behind him was taller and broader. Something about him, about the way he moved, seemed familiar.
Lucy swallowed a gasp and nearly choked on it when she realized the man with Mr. and Mrs. Dobbins was none other than Branch Barton.
“Oh, my stars above!” she muttered, and felt a desperate urge to sink onto the nearest chair.
“It’s Branch, Lucy!” Theo chanted, yanking on her hand. “It’s Branch!”
“Yes, it certainly is.” Lucy forced the words out of her suddenly dry mouth as Theo released her hand and raced toward their guests.
Branch, who’d been gazing at the herd of Red Devon cattle grazing on the pasture grass, turned at Theo’s shouts of welcome.
