A few more petals to stitch and she’d have her quilt top finished. She liked the cheery pattern of the flower baskets. She’d also liked the new pattern she’d seen taking shape in her life—the one in which she was friends with Quaid and was seeing him fairly regularly. Until that day in the storeroom. She pushed the needle into the design, butting it against the metal thimble protecting her fingertip.“My brother, Charles, has been spending a lot of time at The Western House Inn.” Hattie removed the feathered crown from her head. “He’s attending the meetings with Rutherford’s friend Mr. Cowlishaw, the leader of the wagon train.”Garrett Cowlishaw was also the capable handyman who had mended Jewell’s wagon and later come into the store asking about Caroline’s husband. He’d said he wanted to help her find the answer to Colonel Milburn’s fate, but that was nearly a month ago, and Emilie hadn’t heard from him again. Another man discouraged by her father?Hattie set her hat on the table beside her.
