As she washed the breakfast dishes by Rosa’s side, her shoulders sagged. She was on the outside. Adam and Julia would be getting married in a few weeks. They would be husband and wife. They would live happily ever after. And Caroline would be the odd person out. She already felt it. The two of them spent most of the day working with horses together, while Caroline tried to make herself useful to Hannah in the house. Then they sat across from each other at supper, often conversing in hushed tones while other conversations went on around them. She felt like she learned more about Hannah since arriving than she had about Julia or Adam. Three weeks. That’s all she had left to figure out what to do with herself. Will’s new house would not be quite ready by the time Adam and Julia married. So the Colters and Larsons would share the cabin until the larger, more modern house was finished. There was no room for her. She couldn’t stay in Julia’s room anymore, because Adam would be there. While Hannah tried to make room for her in the living room, Caroline didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in the open room with no privacy for who-knows-how-long.
