Even though Lucinda saw Aurelian at church on Sundays, whenever he came to the diner during the week, and the few times he'd come to call at the boarding house, it wasn't enough. She missed him. Now that they were officially courting and she had someone to talk to and look forward to spending time with, she always wanted more.

So after waiting until the lunch rush had thinned out, she'd asked Clara for the rest of the day off since Thursdays were quiet days at the diner and marched over to the livery to rent a horse. She'd almost put on a pair of Francis's old trousers for the ride, but had decided Aurelian would be surprised enough, so she'd settled on her normal skirt. It was more difficult to ride in, but it was more proper. As if she cared about propriety.

The almost five mile ride to the Redmond farm seemed longer by herself than it had when she'd ridden with Aurelian, but it was at least faster than walking. She glanced up from underneath her hat and smiled at the sky. Indians were only a distant thought in her head, and she didn't expect to get caught up in anything related to the trouble between Lost Lake and Evergreen.

What would happen to Aurelian if things ever came to a head, as they must do someday? And what would happen to her, if they were married by then? Well, they'd cross that bridge when they came to it.

As her horse trotted up to the farm, she lifted a hand to her eyes to shade them, scanning the horizon for Aurelian. It was the middle of the day so he was bound to be outside working somewhere. She felt a sudden flash of guilt for visiting unannounced. What if Aurelian was working on something important?

She rose up in the stirrups, cupped her hand over her mouth, and hollered, "HELLO THE FARM!" Gracious. Who knew her voice would carry so far in the wide open space? It just begged to be yelled into.

Wayfarer

"Hello, Wyatt." Lucinda smiled at the boy, although she did peer into the shadowy barn to see if Aurelian would be coming out after his son. When he didn't appear, she brought her attention back to Wyatt.

"Well, thank you. She's a beauty, isn't she? But she's not mine. I rented her for the day." She stroked the horse's neck and grinned down at Wyatt. "Hold the reins for me while I get down?" Tossing the reins to Wyatt, she slid out of the saddle and onto the ground.

"There we go." She stuck out her hand to Wyatt. "How are you this fine day?" It was important to her that Wyatt like her, because she'd be spending even more time with him than with Clara. And if Wyatt didn't like her, he certainly wouldn't be prone to listen to her even if she was firm like Clara had advised.

One thing Lucinda had liked about Wyatt from the beginning was how good-natured he was. He'd greeted her politely and enthusiastically each time they'd met, and it seemed he was always willing to help out. Like now, as he held her horse's reins while she dismounted. But he didn't seem to want to shake hands.

Lucinda's eyebrows quirked as she frowned in confusion, but it quickly became clear that Wyatt had a very good reason for not shaking hands. As she glanced down at his clothes and boots, an understanding smile crossed her face.

"I see. We'll forgo formalities, then," she said with a chuckle as she withdrew her hand. "Shall I come with you to put my horse away? I'll watch where I step."

If she was going to marry Aurelian, she'd have to get used to being around livestock again. She liked animals anyway, but wasn't wearing shoes that she wanted to spoil by getting completely dirty at the moment. A little bit of dirt or mud was fine, but she wasn't going to go slogging around in a pig pen.

"Please unsaddle her. I hope I will be here for at least a few hours." Lucinda grinned. It would be a pity to have rented a horse for the full day just to turn around and head back to town right away.

She began walking alongside Wyatt toward the barn, already gathering her skirts up in one hand. She didn't want to get manure on her dress, but she did want to begin to learn things she'd need to know for life on the farm, like saddling and unsaddling horses. "Did your father take a lunch with him? I can fix up something and go take it to him if he didn't." She paused. "I assume he's out in the field somewhere?"

There wasn't any reason she couldn't wait at the house for Aurelian, but if he was within walking distance it would be nice to keep him company for a while. Of course, maybe Wyatt could use company too. Young boys needed people to talk to. And as Clara had said once before, Aurelian wasn't the biggest talker. He could carry on a conversation all right, but he wasn't a chatterbox.

"That does sound like him," Lucinda agreed. "Do you think he'd like if I took food out to him?" That would be one thing that would change if they got married. Aurelian would have a lunch every day and he would take a break to eat it. She'd see to that.

She watched approvingly as Wyatt very capably unsaddled her horse. He was a good boy. And she was pleased and surprised Wyatt asked her if he could go swimming finishing taking care of the horse. She paused for a moment, wondering only briefly if this was some sort of prank. But the boy's words had the ring of truth to them, and his reference to Clara made Lucinda think that a swim would be all right.

"You may," she said after a moment, smiling at him. "Why don't you try to get some of the...um...muck...out of your clothes too?" That might have been going overboard. Men didn't do laundry, and Wyatt was a man, albeit a very young one.