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“You don’t have to hit every hole in the road, you know,” Hannah said, her voice broken as she tried to maintain her balance
in the bouncing truck.

“Anytime you want to start drivin’ yourself into town, you just let me know,” Owen answered with indifference, as he purposefully
steered the truck toward an enormous hole at the edge of the road. When the wheel struck, it was as if they had been caught
in an earthquake; Charlotte clung tenaciously to the door frame, fearful she might be tossed outside. “If I were you, I’d
keep my comments to myself. Otherwise, you can drive yourself.”

“But you know that I’ve never learned to drive,” Hannah argued. “Besides, the truck’s needed on the ranch.”

“Then put a cork in all the complainin’!” he barked. “You’d think you’d be grateful!”

Charlotte was both shocked and horrified by just how openly Owen disparaged his sister, especially while someone else was
present. Though she had met him for only a moment the night before, it was hard to believe he was related to someone as outgoing
and friendly as Hannah. Squirming in her bouncing seat, she found it impossible to sit quietly by as Owen belittled Hannah.

Clearing her throat, a touch of sarcasm in her voice, Charlotte said, “Thank you for taking us into town, Owen.”

“See?” Owen said, turning to Hannah. “She knows what to say!”

“Maybe your sister would be more willing to give you a kind word here and there if you didn’t throw everything back in her
face,” Charlotte interjected, resentment toward Owen twisting in her gut.

“Must not have much along the lines of manners up there in Minnesota,” he retorted, his green eyes never wavering from the
dusty road. “That is, unless something got lost on the trip.”

“Don’t pay him any mind.” Hannah laughed, ignoring the rude and demeaning way in which he had spoken to her. “If there’s one
thing Owen has always been good at, it’s arguing!”

Owen frowned. “I hope you remember how funny all this is when I’ve driven off and left you in Sawyer.”

Biting her tongue to keep from adding fuel to the fire, Charlotte fumed while she stared out the window. Though the landscape
tried to grab at her divided attention, full of long, open views the likes of which she had never before seen, she paid them
little mind. If Hannah hadn’t spoken up, joking about Owen’s words, there was no telling what Charlotte would have replied.

He’d best not take that tone with me ever again!

“It’s a lot different from Minnesota, isn’t it?” Hannah asked, following Charlotte’s gaze but not understanding its meaning.

“More than I would ever have imagined,” Charlotte
answered truthfully. “I guess I’m used to a place with lots of trees.”

“It’s a far cry from where we come from in Colorado, too. There, just about everywhere you look is as pretty as a picture,
full of snowcapped mountains, towering evergreens, and gurgling streams around every corner. And that’s to say nothing about
the flowers and animals!”

“It sure sounds beautiful,” Charlotte said. “So then why did you come to Oklahoma?”

“Well… it’s because…” Hannah struggled. “Because…”

“If Minnesota was so damn nice, then why in the hell did you leave?” Owen interjected.

For an instant, Charlotte thought about going into detail about the decision to leave Carlson, her family, and the only life
she had ever known behind, but something stopped her. “I suppose it’s because I wanted to see somewhere else,” she answered
simply.

“ ’Bout the same reason for us, Charlie.”

“What did you call me?” she asked incredulously.

“Charlie.” Owen smirked. “That’s your name, ain’t it?”

“I’ll have you know that… isn’t my name.”

“Hey! Look here!” Hannah shouted. At first, Charlotte thought that she was trying to break up the building argument between
Owen and herself, but instead Hannah leaned across Charlotte’s lap and pointed excitedly out the open window. “What’s that?”

Curious, Charlotte looked to where Hannah was pointing. There, just outside the limits of Sawyer, she saw a
huge commotion. Men pushed and pulled on enormous poles, raising the bright blue and white fabric of a tent, occasionally
hammering down a stake; the end closest to them was already straining toward the sky. Another man rhythmically turned a wrench,
tightening the bolts on a barrier that looked as if it would run around the entirety of their working area. Other men were
hefting large, rectangular sections of smooth wood from the back of a truck and carefully stacking them beside the tent. One
man ran to and fro, shouting orders and encouragement.

“Must be the circus coming to town,” Owen observed.

“That’s not what it is,” Charlotte contradicted him. “It looks like they’re putting up a roller-skating rink.”

“Really?” Hannah asked enthusiastically. “I’ve always wanted to try skating.”

“How do you know what they’re doing?” Owen frowned.

“One used to come to Carlson, every summer.”

“She’s right!” Hannah yelled, still craning her neck out the window. Nearing where the men worked, they saw that a sign had
been put up announcing the coming of
THE BLUE TENT ROLLER RINK!

“Huh.” Owen shrugged.

“Did you ever go skating?” Hannah asked.

“Sure, there’s nothing to it.” Charlotte smiled. “Not if you don’t mind falling a time or two.”

“We’ll have to go!” Hannah cried. “We’ll just have to!”

Owen grumbled in his seat.

While Hannah pushed across her lap for a better view of Sawyer’s new attraction, Charlotte decided to sneak a quick look at
Owen, only to be completely surprised to find him already staring at her! Though her immediate instinct was to look away in
embarrassment, something in his eyes refused to let her do it, holding on to her gaze. Because of the harsh things they had
said to each other, she would have expected his eyes to be full of anger and annoyance, but what she read in them more closely
resembled intrigue… maybe even interest. Charlotte couldn’t help but recall how he had looked at her the night before, stopping
just before he reached the door to turn back to her; though it had been too dark to see for certain, she imagined his expression
had been much like how he looked at her now. Unbidden, her heart began to beat faster. Finally, he returned his gaze to the
road and the moment between them was ended, leaving Charlotte to her confused thoughts.

Owen brought the truck to a sudden halt in front of the grocer’s, stamping down on the brakes hard enough for the tires to
skid. Charlotte got out with Hannah right behind her. The door hadn’t even completely shut behind them when Owen hit the gas
and was off again.

“See you later, Charlie!” he hollered out the window before heading back the way they had come, leaving a cloud of dust in
his wake.

Chapter Six

C
HARLOTTE STRUGGLED TO KEEP UP
with Hannah as she led the way up and down Sawyer’s Main Street, poking her head into every open doorway and introducing
her new friend to each person they met. From Charles Cower, the heavyset butcher, to Anna Rodgers, the redhead sitting behind
the cash register of the Five and Dime, everyone welcomed Charlotte warmly, happy that she had arrived safe and sound.

Good folks is good folks, no matter where they call home.

John Grant’s words to her just after her arrival in Sawyer echoed in Charlotte’s thoughts with every new face. Man or woman,
young or old, well-to-do or struggling to make ends meet, all of them brightened up just a bit upon first meeting her, helping
to ease what little of her nervousness remained.

It was nothing short of amazing.

But in the end, the most remarkable thing to her was the way Hannah carried herself; regardless of the fact that
she
too was a recent arrival in town, she acted as if she had lived in Sawyer all her life, giving a warm hug here and some good-natured
sass there, all with a smile. Everyone they met seemed to love her.

Somehow, I doubt that Owen is thought of as highly as his sister…

Sawyer’s school sat in the shadow of the town’s water tower, only a stone’s throw from Main Street. Farther out, heat shimmers
rose up from where the road fronting the school disappeared down a hill before finally heading toward the surrounding countryside.
Standing two stories tall, sturdily constructed of dark bricks, it looked brand-new, despite the
BUILT IN 1912
chiseled into a stone near the roof. Even the flagpole looked as if it had recently received a fresh coat of paint.

It was all just as Charlotte had imagined it would be.

Standing in front of the same building in which she would soon teach children to read and write, to add and subtract, and
even how to find faraway places on a map, Charlotte couldn’t believe she was about to achieve her dream. She had often wondered
what this moment would be like, gazing at
her
school, and she found that for all of her dreaming, the experience was more than she had anticipated. For all of the long
years she had prepared, studying at her teaching college, planning and practicing
for the opportunity she would find in Oklahoma… that time had arrived.

Stepping up to the front door, she gingerly ran her fingertips along the rough brick wall, savoring its touch and its radiating
warmth. Though she would have enjoyed the chance to go inside and take a closer look, especially to get a glimpse at her new
classroom, the door was locked.

“Maybe you’ll be the one who can explain something to me,” Hannah said.

“Explain what?”

“That.” She pointed, calling Charlotte’s attention away from the school.

“Oh my,” Charlotte answered.

In the lot to the right of the school was a two-story home that initially appeared innocent of any special mention; painted
a crisp white, it had a porch that ran the length of its front, lower floor, supported by thick wood columns painstakingly
cut to resemble beveled marble. Tall, weather-withered evergreens stood silent watch, the ground beneath them littered with
a mat of brown needles. From the street, a stone walkway split a row of trimmed hedges and led the way across the lawn, ushering
a visitor to the steps and front door beyond. It looked just like many of the other well-maintained homes up and down the
street. Beneath the overhang of the pitched porch roof was a sign reading:
THE LOWELL FUNERAL HOME
.

“Right… right next to the school?” she muttered.

“That’s what I don’t understand for the life of me!”
Hannah exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation. “What do you suppose the reason could be? To frighten the kids into
behaving, I just bet!”

“That can’t possibly be it,” Charlotte disagreed.

Hannah just kept on, ignoring what had been said to the contrary, her voice imitating a matronly old teacher as she cackled,
“You best sit down and behave, Elizabeth, or else I’m going to march you right over to the funeral home and you’ll have to
sit in the corner with all of the caskets!”

“I wonder which one was here first,” Charlotte said. “The builder of whichever came second made a really strange choice, don’t
you think?”

“Speaking of really strange,” Hannah replied, her eyes lighting up mischievously, “wait until you meet the woman who runs
the funeral home. I’ve met just about everyone in Sawyer, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that she’s as odd as a
two-headed calf! Talk about eccentric! When you finally encounter Constance Lowell, and you most certainly will, I promise
you’ll never forget it!”

“You’re making me nervous,” Charlotte admitted.

“For good reason,” Hannah smirked, “seeing as how you’re neighbors.”

“What’s she like?”

“I’m not telling. You’re just going to have to find out for yourself.”

“I thought you said that everyone in Sawyer was friendly.”

“Oh, she’s a friendly-enough person; it’s just that… well, she’s… she’s just cut from a different cloth, if you know what
I mean.”

Charlotte wanted to learn more about this mysterious woman, but to her, Constance Lowell sounded much more interesting than
frightening.

Having successfully sown the seeds of confusion in Charlotte’s thoughts, Hannah excused herself and headed, a bit late, to
her job at Carlton Barnaby’s law office. Before leaving, she suggested a place to eat and further explained what passed for
sightseeing in Sawyer.

“What time will you be finished with work?”

“At four o’clock,” Hannah explained, “so don’t forget to be back in front of the grocer’s. Owen will be picking us up and
he hates to have to wait. I know exactly how difficult he can be!”

“I’m beginning to know just what you mean,” Charlotte muttered.

Charlotte spent the afternoon getting further acquainted with Sawyer; retracing her steps with Hannah, she took her time to
take it all in. When her feet began to hurt, she decided to take a rest and have a bite to eat.

Milton’s Diner sat between the hardware store and the doctor’s office. Facing the street, its green awning fluttered gently
in the listless breeze. Following Hannah’s advice, Charlotte took a seat at the lunch counter and ordered an egg sandwich
and a tall glass of iced tea. While she ate, the
waitress standing behind the counter, a snappy young girl named Emily who had an annoying habit of twirling her curly hair
about one finger, regaled Charlotte with stories of the first settlers to arrive in Sawyer. It wasn’t
that
interesting, but she managed to nod her head between bites.

I bet people don’t come here for the conversation.

After dropping off a letter for her sister, Christina, at the post office, Charlotte glanced up at the clock above the bank
and saw that it was nearly time for Owen to come for her and Hannah.

When Charlotte arrived at the designated spot, Hannah was nowhere to be seen up or down either side of the street. Concerned,
Charlotte again checked the clock, but found that their ride was actually a few minutes late.

The smallest tremor of unease coursed down her spine at the thought of Hannah not arriving as intended. After the way he had
spoken to her on the ride into town, Charlotte didn’t care to spend time alone with Owen.

BOOK: Dorothy Garlock - [Tucker Family]
10.34Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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