Then he nodded.
“I’ll look.”
They stopped at the general store before leaving town.
Rosalie needed flour, salt, and lamp oil.
Gideon waited outside with the wagon.
The moment Rosalie entered, conversation quieted.
She pretended not to notice.
Mrs. Caldwell, the shopkeeper’s wife, approached the counter.
“How is married life?”
“Well.”
The older woman’s eyebrows lifted.
“Well?”
Rosalie placed flour on the counter.
“Yes.”
“Gideon isn’t… difficult?”
Rosalie understood what she meant.
“No.”
Mrs. Caldwell seemed almost disappointed.
“He doesn’t frighten you?”
“No.”
“He rarely speaks.”
“He doesn’t need to.”
Rosalie paid for the supplies.
As she turned away, a familiar voice came from behind her.
“Well, look at you.”
Merrick.
Her brother leaned against a shelf, looking as though the morning had already included whiskey.
