Homespun Christmas. Aimee Thurlo

I stepped in and calmed things down. On the way out she made me promise not to tell Will. She didn’t want him to know she was short on cash, and she thought it would only add to his stress.”

      “Will’s a proud, angry man and if he ever finds out you kept this from him, he’s going to be pissed.”

      “Tough. I did what I had to do. No regrets.”

      Joshua didn’t want to argue the point, but his gut told him that Daniel had made a big mistake not telling Will.

      “I’m doing some work for Betty, so I’ll keep my eyes open and try to figure out what’s got her on edge,” Joshua said, then gave Daniel a long look. “Sounds to me like you still have a thing for her.”

      “Not anymore. I’m just a friend.” Daniel met his gaze. “Like you and Myka.”

      Joshua nodded slowly.

      * * *

      IT WAS CLOSE TO five and, alone again, Myka sat at the kitchen table and finished a peanut butter and apricot jam sandwich.

      She was just about to fix herself a second one when Sophie knocked on the back door, opening it partially in the process.

      “Okay to come in?” she asked.

      “Of course.”

      “I wasn’t sure if Joshua had come back or not, now that everyone’s gone.”

      “He left around one. I think Daniel’s over at his place right now.”

      “So what’s going on between you two? Give me all the juicy details,” she said in a conspiratorial tone.

      Myka chuckled. “There’s nothing going on.”

      Sophie shook her head. “I saw you two outside earlier, and you were kissing. Looked kinda romantic to me.”

      Myka sighed. She should have known. In Independence, everyone knew everyone else’s business—especially when they lived next door to each other.

      “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, but I had to come over and tell you that I approve wholeheartedly.”

      Myka laughed. “You do, do you?”

      “Myka, girl, you need something more in your life than your sheep, yarns and managing an online store. You deserve it. Have fun and stop overthinking things.”

      “You know that Joshua will be leaving as soon as he can, right?”

      “Yeah, sure, but so what? He’s here now.”

      Myka shook her head. “Flings aren’t for me.”

      “You want marriage?”

      “What? No! That’s not what I meant.”

      “So why not enjoy the moments you have together like you did today? Later on, when you find someone new, you’ll have a baseline for comparisons.”

      “Come on, Soph,” she said, laughing. “It’s not like I’m buying laundry detergent.”

      Sophie winked. “True, but a little comparison shopping never hurts,” she said, then added, “plus, it’s fun.”

      “Forget it,” Myka said. “Changing the subject, would you like a sandwich? I’m still hungry.”

      “Nah, you go ahead. I have to go back home. I just came by to warn you. Bertie heard that Mayor Allen will have more bad news for us at the town hall meeting tonight. Word is, if enrollment continues to decline at our elementary school, the state department of education will shut it down. That would mean bussing the kids thirty miles to a school in Painted Canyon.”

      “It all goes back to what I’ve been saying. We’ve got to find ways of creating work here so families won’t have to move away,” Myka said.

      “Grandma Medeiros was at the post office when Bertie told Fran what was going on. Grandma M. suggested that we all take a closer look at selling our crafts through your online store. She said that if we turned it into a cooperative, like an internet farmer’s market, it might slow the exodus.”

      “That’s not far from what I’d proposed, but we’d need to be a lot more organized. We’d operate from one website and share expenses and profits proportionately, not just supplying items on consignment.”

      “If that’s what you all decide to do, I can help with the details,” a familiar voice said from the other side of the screen door.

      Myka spun around in her chair and saw Joshua standing there. “You scared me half to death!” she said, holding her hand over her heart.

      Sophie’s eyes were like saucers, and she was breathing hard. “Me, too, guy. Wear a bell next time.”

      He smiled. “Sorry, ladies,” he said, coming in. “I just stopped by to ask if you knew any local history buffs. Dad had quite a collection of books and documents. I’d like to give them away to someone who’d appreciate them,” he said. “There’s a lot of information on Silas Brooks in particular.”

      “Find out anything about that will he supposedly revised? I know he left his mansion to the town, but what about all the other properties?” Sophie asked.

      Joshua was going to comment when they heard a car pulling up outside, then another. Myka went to the front window. “What’s going on? There are four cars out there, including Grandma Medeiros. She never leaves the market except during lunch.”

      Joshua stood behind her. “More cars are coming down the street in this direction.” He watched as people climbed out of their vehicles and came up the walk. “Something’s going on. They look like women on a mission.”

      “Maybe this has to do with the cooperative Grandma Medeiros suggested,” Myka said. “Stick around, Joshua, okay? My experience is limited to a small online store, but you’ve run a business with real flesh-and-blood employees.”

      Before he could answer, they heard footsteps on the porch. “Here we go,” Myka said.

      She opened the door to four women she’d known most of her life, then stepped onto the porch and waited for the others who were still arriving. “Come in, everyone,” she said. “Just move the boxes aside and find places to sit.”