Page 40 of My Heart Will Find You

He blinked at Etta’s nonchalance, then nodded yes.

“She seems to be well-liked,” Etta said.

“She’s happy and she makes us, uh,themfeel good.”

He’d answered her unasked question, if he’d been a client of Freida. It appeared that he had. She wasn’t sure, but his face seemed to turn red.

“I’ll take them with me when I go get the vegetables,” she said.

He turned to her. “And you need two hundred horses?”

It took her a second to know what he meant, then she smiled. “Mechanical horses, yes. A big truck would be nice. I could—”

Suddenly, she felt dizzy. She put her hand to her forehead.No, no, no, she thought.I can’t wake up now. I have things to do. I have to match people together.She looked up at him. “I have so much more to do,” she whispered. Then her knees gave way under her.

When Etta woke up, she didn’t open her eyes. She knew she’d see Ben’s room, then she’d go downstairs to Henry. There’d be days in his beautiful old house, and she’d probably never return to the past. Never again see Alice. Nor her husband.

“Are you awake?” came a soft, male voice.

Henry.She didn’t open her eyes. The bed was so very soft. She hadn’t experienced an 1870 bed, but it was probably made of wood.

“Want some water?”

That voice! Slowly, she opened her eyes. She wasnotin Ben’s room.Notlooking at Henry. “Max,” she whispered.

He gave a one-sided smile. “Not calling me Mr. Lawton?”

She started to sit up, but you can’t do a crunch when wearing a corset. She fell back down and looked around. It was a bedroom but one she’d not seen. His? It was as bare as a monk’s cell. There was a tall pine wardrobe, a plain chest of drawers, and a wooden chair.

When she turned her head, she saw that he was stretched out beside her, fully dressed, not touching her. “I guess I fainted. Again.”

“Women do.” He put his hands behind his head and looked up at the ceiling. “Last time, I thought you’d died.”

“I did, in a way.”

He didn’t look at her. “To get away from me?”

“No. I didn’t want to leave. And I don’t now.” She ran her hand over the coverlet. “This bed issoft. I thought there was nothing in this state that wasn’t as hard as iron.”

“My mother plucked the bellies of geese and filled the mattresses. She said it helped her deal with my father. It spoiled me.”

“So you kept it up.” She needed to get up. She still had so much to do.

“I sent Alice and Freida with Rufus to get your vegetables.”

She rolled to face him and lifted her head on one hand. “You let Alice leave the house? With a... What did you call her? A painted cat? And who is Rufus?”

“Old guy. Red shirt.”

“Ah yes. I remember him. Nice man. Bet he’s all of forty years old.”

Her words were a challenge, but he didn’t comment on them. “The preacher’s coming tomorrow morning.”

“How did you achieve that?”

With barely concealed pride, he told her that he’d hired the preacher, and had invited the lawyer to dinner. “I swear that I can herd a thousand cows but not be this exhausted.” He looked at her. “How’d you know the preacher knew about numbers?”

Caught!Etta thought. So now what? She would tell Max that he’s not real? That he’s only part of her dream? Or did she tell him she was a time traveler, then describe cars and planes and computers?

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