he did after he discovered her gone. But what did it matter? Besides, she didn’t
want to have to look at him. I only need to see that hateful creature one last time,
through my sights, right before I pull the trigger.
Anyway, she knew exactly what he was going to do – run from the cabin to
the barn and back and then stand in the yard chewing his disgusting, smelly beard and scratching his head, looking like the imbecile he was. There was only
one thing a man like him could do – run home to tell his wife.
Olivia longed for a cup of coffee, but didn’t dare light a fire. She climbed back onto her mattress and watched the sky, thinking about what she was going
to do the next morning. Finally she deemed it late enough to comb her hair, put
on a dress, and go bid farewell to Mr. Kincaid. It felt wonderful to get her aching
feet out of her work boots.
Jeremy must have heard the wagon coming. He opened the door and came
onto the porch and down the steps to greet her. Unshaven, he wore buckskin
pants, a plain brown linsey-woolsey shirt, and moccasins.
“Well, hullo neighbor.” He took hold of the team’s harness. “This is a nice surprise.”
“Hullo Jeremy.” Olivia wound the reins around the post and climbed down.
“I’ve come to say good-bye – I’m on my way to Detroit and then back home.”
“Back home? What happened? No bad news I hope.”
“No, nothing like that. Mourning and I just decided that farming isn’t quite what we expected. And Fae’s Landing …”
“Not a nice little town with lace curtains in the windows.”
“Something like that.”
“Where is the good Mr. Free?” Jeremy asked as he led the oxen toward his
barn, looking behind him as if expecting Mourning to leap out of the back of the
wagon.
“He left a while ago. Let’s see, it must be two, no, three weeks –”
“Left? You mean you’ve been all alone over there for three weeks?” He
stopped walking.
“Now you sound like Iola. I just came from their place. Went to say my good-
byes to them, and she went on and on –”
“Well, she’s right. I don’t know what Mourning was thinking, leaving you on
your own. He should have waited until you were ready to leave too.” Jeremy left
the team at the trough and pulled the barn door shut.
“Oh, I insisted he go. There’s a logging camp near home and they always do
their hiring in the summer. Besides, I wanted some time on my own, to think about what I’m going to do now.”
She followed him onto the porch. Sheets of paper filled with cramped writing
covered the table.
“I just finished a new article.” He nodded at the pages. “You’re welcome to
read it while I get us some coffee. I was just about to make some.”
He disappeared into the cabin and she idly gathered up the papers and began
to read. She glanced up when he came back out, bare-chested and with a towel
draped around his neck. He set the coffee pot on the stove top and raised the straight razor he held in his other hand.
