“Tommy Bellows?”
“Yes. Ugh—Tommy Bellows! A boy who went to the school across the road from mine. He made school prefect and cricket captain, and he always smiled in that thoroughly unpleasant way—as though he smelled something wretched but liked it. Tommy Bellows! The boy who ignored every very clear rejection I ever threw at him since primary school. The boy who smelled like too much aftershave and flirted incessantly with every girl he ever met, always with the same cocky grin he must have thought was dashing. Tommy Bellows!”
“Sounds like a charmer.”
“When I asked my father what possessed him to bring Tommy Bellows instead of his own daughter, he told me that the field was no place for a young lady. What I ought to do, he insisted, was finish my schooling and find a good husband with a reliable job. ‘Speaking of which,’ he added in his most knowing, fatherly voice, ‘this internship could help give that young Bellows boy a real leg up. He could have quite the career ahead of him.’ ”
“He didn’t.” Nellie put a hand to her mouth.
“He did. So that was that. The next day I ran away and found my own adventure.”
“I’ll say you did! Good for you! My goodness, I knew I was going to like you, Abbie. I just didn’t realize how much. Your daddy is going to have to read about you for once. See what I mean? Leaving the boys behind was the best move you ever made. Never look back, darling!”
“Thank you—that’s very kind. Really, though, there are some good men in the world, too. Charlie is nothing like Tommy Bellows.”
She reached across to my chair and held my arm gently. “Don’t get me wrong—I’m sure he’s a sweetheart. He’d probably treat you real well and keep you safe and happy. But do you want to be safe and happy, or do you want to be great?”
I didn’t know how to respond. She was affirming all the reasons I had freed myself of my old life and all that stifling stability, but her version didn’t exactly feel like freedom, either.
“You could be really great, too,” she said. “I can tell. I don’t know if you noticed, but even that windbag, Lamb, started talking to you like a human being out there. He couldn’t help himself. You’ve just got a special sort of something about you when you aren’t busy giving Officer Cutie-pie the doe eyes.”
I smiled weakly, and Nellie gave my shoulder a squeeze and stood. “Just something to think about, Abbie, darling. Get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I did think about it. I wished I could stop thinking about it as the sun began to rest on the tops of the trees, and I was thinking about it when Charlie came to ask if I would like a ride back to the cabin while Jackaby was finishing up.
“It is a lovely time of night for a ride,” he said. “Sunset in the valley is always striking.”
“I . . . No,” I said. “Thank you, but I really ought to stay and assist. I’ll head back with Mr. Jackaby when he’s ready.”
“Of course. Would you like me to wait here with you?”
I swallowed. “That’s all right. I think we’ll be fine, but thank you.”
Charlie looked ready to speak again, but then he just nodded. He bade me good night, and I could hear Maryanne’s hooves clopping away as I walked around the farmhouse to find Jackaby examining the goat enclosure.
The remaining kids had nestled in to rest in a corner of the pen beside their mother. I had never been much for livestock, but these were darling little things, all downy soft with fluffy little ears. They nuzzled one another sleepily, lying in a heap all together like puppies.
“They look cozy, don’t they?” I said, pulling my own coat a little tighter against the crisp breeze.