A Dry Creek Courtship. Janet Tronstad

an average face. Her Harold had been the handsomest man around Dry Creek, with his thick black hair and clear blue eyes. In contrast, Charley had looked very ordinary with his sandy hair and moss-green eyes. Even if he had a moustache, a woman’s gaze would slide right over Charley in a crowd. But that’s because, Edith realized, most people didn’t look at the bones in his face. Charley’s whole face showed his strength. His jaw was firm. His cheekbones were set high. His hair was graying now, but he was clearly ready to take her part in any trouble she had.

      “You’re a good friend,” Edith said. “A good friend.”

      Charley knew he should smile. He forced his lips into making an attempt. It was a sad day though when a woman looked at him as directly as Edith had and all she had in mind was friendship.

      “We go back a long way,” Charley said.

      He wondered how Edith could still be so in love with Harold after all the man had done. It was true he had been a charmer, but he’d been gone a long time. Charley finally understood why she had been unhappy in those days long ago. She’d never said anything to his wife; he was sure of that. But she’d no doubt been miserable. How could Edith have been so loyal to a man who was unfaithful to her?

      It was because she was a saint, Charley decided. Harold hadn’t deserved her, that much was certain. Here she was still trying to protect his memory. If Harold were alive, Charley would have had some words with him behind a barn somewhere.

      Not that it would help the woman sitting across the table from him.

      “If I can do anything,” Charley said.

      Edith nodded. “I’m just a little worried about Elmer.”

      “I could talk to Elmer if you want. He’s got a big mouth, but he wouldn’t say anything to hurt you.” Especially if it was pointed out to him that there would be consequences.

      “If you can do it without telling him anything. I mean, just in case he doesn’t know.”

      Charley nodded. “Leave it to me.”

      “You’re a good—”

      “Not a problem,” Charley interrupted. He didn’t want to hear once again that he was a good friend. He’d been trying for months to find a way to be more than a friend to Edith. He’d even stopped going by her place at mealtimes, not wanting her to think he was only interested in her cooking. His wife had told him that Harold used to say he’d married Edith for her cooking. Charley didn’t want to make that mistake—no woman should be told that.

      Not that Charley had a list of romantic things to say instead. Of course, he’d done all he could to show he cared about the car she drove. And he was getting her some chokecherries. So far, though, neither of those things had made her look at him any differently. He couldn’t be doing worse if he tried.

      “Is there anything else I can do?” he asked.

      Charley saw the hesitation on Edith’s face.

      “Anything,” he repeated. He wasn’t opposed to facing down someone besides Elmer if there was anyone else she was worried about.

      Edith was silent for a moment. “You could help me look right.”

      Charley looked at her. That floppy hat of hers had left a red crease across her forehead after she took it off. Her hair was twisted in some way he didn’t understand. Her face was pink with embarrassment. “You look fine.”

      “I don’t mean now,” Edith said. “I mean when I meet her.”

      “Oh.”

      “I’ve always thought she must have been beautiful.”

      Charley was almost wishing there was someone he could beat up for her. He hated to see her looking so vulnerable again. “She couldn’t have been more beautiful than you.”

      That surprised her and then made her frown.

      “I’m not asking for a boost to my morale. I want some real help,” she said.

      “Shouldn’t Doris June give you that kind of advice?” Charley thought his neck might be sweating.

      The kitchen door opened and Charley had never been so happy to see Linda, and that included the time he’d been up all night taking care of a sick horse and Linda was bringing him the first food he’d seen in twenty-some hours.

      “Toast,” Linda announced as she put the plate in front of Edith.

      “And biscuits,” she said, setting the plate of biscuits in front of Charley.

      “Now, does anyone need jelly?” Linda beamed at them.

      “What kind of jelly do you have?” Charley asked. He knew she had over a dozen flavors and he was happy to have her slowly list them all to him. Charley asked for the last flavor, orange marmalade, simply because it was the last flavor she mentioned and he needed some time to gather himself.

      “See?” Edith said when Linda went back to the kitchen to get the jelly.

      “What?”

      “See how many kinds of jelly there are in this world? We don’t need chokecherry. We can have grape.”

      “I’m going to get you those chokecherries,” Charley said. “Just give me a little time. I haven’t even had a chance to drive out to the Morgan place.”

      “I don’t want to be a bother.”

      Charley grunted. “Then get your jars ready to make jelly.”

      Maybe making jelly would get Edith’s mind off this Jasmine woman. At least, he hoped so.

      Chapter Four

      The next morning, Charley went by the hardware store as he usually did. Elmer didn’t show up at his regular time, so Charley decided to go over to the church for a bit. He told himself he was only going there so he could finally move those old hymnals from the back Sunday school room to the shelves by the pastor’s office. He’d meant to do it yesterday, but his morning had been spent with Edith and it took most of his afternoon to get her enough chokecherries from that coulee out by the Morgan place.

      Charley was a little nervous about going to the church when no one but the pastor was there. He’d never been one of those people who felt the need to have pastoral counseling about everything they did in life and he wasn’t going to become one now. If he happened to run into Pastor Matthew while he was at the church, though, and they just happened to have a conversation, that would be okay.

      Charley felt a man should know his own mind without having to talk with someone else. Still, he needed to move those hymnals and the bookshelf was just outside the pastor’s office.

      Charley didn’t want to disturb Pastor Matthew, of course. That’s why he carefully held the hymnals so they wouldn’t fall to the floor and startle the pastor. If the pastor happened to look up and see him walking past though, no one could count that as an interruption.

      “Charley,” Pastor Matthew called out as Charley walked past the open doorway. “I’ve been meaning to check with you. Did you catch up with Mrs. Hargrove yesterday? How’s her car running?”

      Charley told himself it was only polite to turn back and stand in the open doorway to answer the pastor. No one liked to have to yell back and forth to have a conversation. “I sure did. She was out trying to get some chokecherries.”

      “She makes a good jelly. I always look forward to the jar she brings us at Christmas. Glory uses it to make thumbprint cookies. They’re the twins’ favorite.”

      Charley swallowed. He hadn’t even known about the cookies. “I ended up getting the last of the chokecherries at the Morgan place. There weren’t many, but I found enough.”

      “That’s good. The harvest dinner is coming up and her biscuits and jelly are the hit of the evening.”

      Charley