Page 28 of My Heart Will Find You

On the floor was a stack of newspapers.Triple ply, she thought. The heading read April 10, 1870. It looked like Henry had been accurate about the date.

Relieved, she went back to the house. Alice was eagerly awaiting her. She had the same lonely, needy expression Alicia wore when she’d been stuck in the house alone for a few days. It was exactly how she looked after their mother died and Etta said she was returning to university. Because of that look, Etta didn’t go.

She ran her hand over a palm in a big pot. “Your brother said Cornelia designed this room for you. I guess you two were friends.”

“We were.” Alice sighed. “She’s very entertaining, but she and Max fought all the time.”

“He showed me his ear.”

Alice smiled. “Cornelia does have a temper.” She gave Etta a sideways look. “I doubt if she was nice toyou.”

“No, she wasn’t. She needs a Ben to calm her down. Someone quiet like Henry.”

Alice’s eyes were wide. “You do talk strangely. I guess that’s all your education. Why don’t we get you some different clothes? Max likes pretty women.”

“I couldneverlook as good as Cornelia.”

“None of us can.”

They laughed together, then Etta spoke. “I’m more interested in you. You’re so isolated here. I know you sew and read but what else?”

Alice went to a chair on the far side. In a frame was her sampler with the Brontë quote. “I’m almost done with this.”

“Don’t finish it,” Etta said quickly. “It’s when we met. Leave it as it is.”So Martha can do it, she thought.

“All right.” She hesitated. “May I show you a secret?”

“Of course.”

The end of the glass house was so thick with foliage that the light was blocked. Alice slipped between two big palms and motioned for Etta to squeeze in beside her. Outside was the barn she’d seen earlier, and there was a horse trough.

“Nice view,” Etta said and started to turn away.

“Just wait.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes, then a couple of young cowboys led their horses out. They dipped their hats into the water and poured it over their bodies, wetting their shirts. They looked very, very good.

Etta gave a snort of laughter. “It’s a wet shirt contest!”

“What a perfect name. They have no idea they’re being watched.”

One of the cowboys was exceptionally good-looking and muscular. For a brief second, he cut his eyes toward the house.Like hell they don’t know.Etta pushed the palms aside and waited for Alice to leave the show and sit down.

“Your brother said someone who worked for you ran off with his head wrangler.”

“That was Julie. Max was really angry.”

“He liked her?”

“Oh no, that was when he and Cornelia were together. Max liked Joe. But Julie saw him at the horse trough, and that was the end of her. She was gone the next day. I got a letter from her, and they’re in California in the mountains. It’s a hard life.”

And now pretty Alice was drooling over the wet cowboys. Etta couldn’t imagine her with her limp trying to survive in the mountains. There was no electricity here. There wouldn’t even be roads in the mountains. Or protection from bears and other predators.

Etta wondered if this was her purpose here. Was she to do what she’d told Henry and find a Phillip for Alice? Get her out of this pretty prison? “Between us, is there someone you like?”

Alice ducked her head shyly. “Well...there was a man. I went into town with Max. In the buggy. He let me off at the dressmaker and picked me up there.”

Inadvertently, Etta glanced down at Alice’s foot, hidden under yards of silk. It was Etta’s guess that Alice wasn’t to be seen limping down the dirty streets. Was that her preference or a decree by her brother? “And?” Etta said encouragingly.

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