Page 54 of My Heart Will Find You

“I just need to bank the fire.”

“Take your time,” Etta said. She saw Nola in the back. “Is this your daughter?”

“Yes. Nellie, come out here and say hello to Mrs. Lawton.”

“She can come too,” Etta said. “My sister-in-law would like to meet her.” That seemed to surprise them both, and they stared at her in silence.

“I have to go,” Etta said. “My husband is waiting for me. We’ll be back to pick you up.” She hurried away, her smile so big her face was cracking.

Now she just had to tell Max about delivering Phillip to his sister. After this was done, maybe they could spend the afternoon at the river. She smiled at the thought.

10

“A what?” Max practically yelled. “My sweet, innocent sister with a brute like that? I’ve seen him! He’s a monster.” They were standing by the buggy. Etta had put the paint box in the back and told him they were to pick up the blacksmith and his daughter. And oh yeah, Alice was going to marry the man.

“Phillip is a very nice person. He can fix anything. People like him.”

Max was glaring at her. “So what are you going to do? Invite him to dinner? He’ll eat with a wrought-iron fork. Or his hands.” His lips tightened. “You arenotgoing to marry my sister off to a blacksmith.”

“You’re a snob. An arrogant, judgmental snob. Just because you own a few acres, you have no right to think you’re better than he is. Phillip is a good man.”

“He’s not right for my sister.”

“He is exactly right for her. Phillip is a sociable person. He has a zillion friends. Alice needs someone like that.”

“No.” Max seemed to think that ended the matter. He turned away from her.

But Etta put herself in front of him. “You just don’t want a virile hunk like him touching your little sister. You want her with a quiet, brainy guy like Bert, don’t you?” She suddenly realized what the real problem was. She took a step back. “If Alice marries an actual man, she’ll move out and you don’t want that, do you? That’s utterly selfish!”

He cocked his head at her. “And I’m different from you? Your sister and her husband and their kid and your father lived in a house thatyouruled. And now that your family is broken up, you dream up ways to put them back together. Why don’t you live your own life and not other people’s?”

Etta was too angry to reply to that. She walked away from him. This whole thing was a dream.

Herdream so she didn’t have to put up with someone yelling at her.

“Wake up, wake up,” she said. “Go back to Henry andstaythere.” Or maybe Henry was a dream too. Maybe she’d wake up and be at home with her whole family. She’d be cooking for all of them, getting Nola ready for school, and reminding everyone of their appointments and schedules.

Suddenly, she stopped walking. She was standing near one of Garrett’s saloons, and she could hear laughter from inside. “Iaman old maid,” she said. “Iamliving other people’s lives.”Even in her dreams, she took over other people’s lives.

When she turned and looked back, Max was standing exactly where she’d left him, waiting for her to decide what she was going to do.

She suddenly realized that she didn’t care if this was a dream or reality. It was here and now and she was going to take it for as long as it lasted. She ran to him and he opened his arms to her.

He pulled her to him, then moved them both to privacy in the shadows of a building.

“I’m sorry,” she said. Her arms were so tight around him she could almost hear his ribs crack. “Forget the blacksmith. It doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter.” His face was buried in her clean hair. “You’re trying to help. And you’re right. Alice and I have always been together. She is all the family I have left.”

“And you were right about me.” Etta started talking fast. “When my sister got married, I was a mess. It’s because of me that they moved into our big house. It was wonderful, but then she got a job in California and Dad and I were alone. I was going to see them this summer to try to get them to move back. But my flight was canceled and...” She was crying.

Max stroked her hair and held her. “You and I will have to make our own family. We’ll have a dozen children. If you still can, that is.”

Instantly, her tears stopped and she pulled back to look at him. “Are you asking if I’m too old to have children?” Anger was rising in her. “In my world, I’m the perfect age. I can—” She saw the laughter in his eyes. He was teasing her. “With all the horse riding you do, I’m not sure you’re capable of stud service.”

He looked shocked, offended. “I’ll have you know that—” He stopped, then laughed. “Now that’s my Etta.” He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, then pulled away. She was leaning toward him. “I suggest we turn everything over to a higher power.” He released her and started walking.

Etta was close behind him. “You mean...?”

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