Page 87 of My Heart Will Find You

He was delighted about her trip. “Tell Zack to take the big Sony camera. I want hundreds of photos. See if you can find the place of the buffalo hunt.”

Etta started to tell him she didn’t know where thatwasmuch less where itis. But she just smiled and nodded. She’d do her best.

It was as she was throwing clothes into her carry-on that a thought occurred to her.What if I meetallthe people from the past in the present? What if Max is waiting for me in Garrett? Imustfind him!

16

As Etta put her bag by the front door, she reminded herself that she needed to call the airport about the big suitcase she’d left behind. Sitting beside her carry-on was a box she’d packed with food and drinks. With most places closed, they’d have to take their own food. Zack returned an hour and ten minutes after he left.

“You’re late,” she said, and he grinned. He had a camera bag that looked like it weighed as much as a side of beef.

She kissed Henry goodbye, then Zack told him that, yes, he’d take many photos and yes, he’d make notes. Etta added that she’d record her impressions. After they’d answered all Henry’s questions, they left.

Outside, at Zack’s Bronco, he made the mistake of asking Etta if she needed help getting in. After all, it was high off the ground.

She gave him a look that made him step back, then she got in easily.

Zack knew the way and they traveled south. It was Kansas, so there was farmland interspersed with big homes shaded by huge trees. Sometimes they passed derelict barns and houses.

“If you were Henry, we’d stop and take photos of those,” Zack said. “He’s working on a book of pictures titledLost Kansas.”

“Sounds like a good project. When will it be done?”

“If Henry does half of what he’s planned, he’ll have to live to be a hundred and twenty. But then he’d come up with more things to do so he’d need to be immortal.”

“That’s all right with me,” Etta said.

He smiled in agreement. “So tell me about yourself.”

As they drove, she told him about her father, sister, brother-in-law and Nola.

“And you all lived together in one house?”

She started to say the usual about how wonderful it was, but she stopped. In her dreams she’d had a taste of having her own family, and she finally understood why Alicia had readily agreed to move away.

“Sorry,” Zack said at her silence. “I didn’t mean to stir up anything bad.”

“You didn’t. It’s just that staying with Henry has made me think about things.” She didn’t add,Not to mention that traveling back in time has turned everything in my life upside down.

She wanted to change the subject. “Your ancestor who was saved by the doctor must have married.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“What was his wife’s name?”

“I have no idea. I know he lived to be ninety-six years old, but—Wait! I think my father once told me his wife was named Fred. I was a kid, and I thought that was a funny name for a girl.”

“Could it have been Freddy?”

“Like the girl you called to take care of Henry? That would be a big coincidence, wouldn’t it?”

“Lately, my life has been nothing but coincidences.”I wonder if Freddy and Rufus were a match that I missed?she thought. She’d always heard that ladies of the evening were sought after as wives back then, so maybe Rufus was looking for a bride. She wondered if they got together after she left. Freddy had been hired to work in the garden so she was there every day and so was Rufus. It made sense.

“You’re looking very serious,” Zack said. “Want to share?”

“I was thinking about the past. What did you have on your farm? Besides cows, that is?”

“No cows. I grew broccoli and corn and carrots. Lots of things.”

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