Hearts Made Whole by Jody Hedlund

dark eyes flashed. “I’m old enough to have a beau if I want one.” She straightened and pushed back her shoulders, which only served to emphasize her womanly curves, much fuller and more rounded than Caroline’s.
    Lately, Tessa had been a little too encouraging with the few men she met at church or in town. She’d smiled at them too brightly, too invitingly. And Caroline hadn’t liked the reaction of the men. They hadn’t been able to pick their chins up off the ground and stop their drooling. Tessa was still innocentand unaware of the effect she had upon men. But sooner or later, if Caroline didn’t protect her sister, she was bound to get into trouble.
    â€œBut you’ve only just turned eighteen.” Caroline kept her voice low and controlled. “You’re still very young.”
    â€œI suppose you want me to end up an old maid like you.”
    This time Caroline couldn’t keep from rolling her eyes. Tessa’s line of reasoning was irrational. At twenty, Caroline didn’t consider herself an old maid. And just because she wanted Tessa to be careful didn’t mean she wanted Tessa to wait forever. Yet Caroline knew from past experience that it was pointless to argue with Tessa when she was in one of her belligerent moods.
    â€œI don’t want you to go down there and flirt with the new keeper, Tessa. He doesn’t need to be bothered by such silliness. And that’s all I’m going to say about it.”
    â€œIt’s not silliness to talk with a man,” Tessa shot back. “Most girls my age are getting themselves beaus now that the boys are coming home from the war.”
    Caroline pinned her with a sharp look. “You don’t need a beau. Especially not now, not when our lives are in upheaval.”
    â€œSo I suppose it’s perfectly okay for a ‘young, unmarried girl’ like you to take breakfast to a stranger?”
    â€œAt least I don’t giggle and flutter my eyelashes at every man I meet.” With an admonishing last look, Caroline started toward Ryan. Tessa’s dark gaze bore into her back, until the slamming of the front door told her that Tessa had gone back inside.
    Caroline’s footsteps squeaked in the dew on the grass, and as she neared Ryan, her insides creaked with strange jitters. She supposed all the talk of courtship and beaus had made her self-conscious now.
    At the sight of her, Ryan stood and stuffed his injured hand into his pocket. In the bright morning sunshine, his eyes were clear, the haze that came from the medication gone. The brown in them was as warm and kind as it had been yesterday when he was talking with the twins after the incident at the well.
    But this time he didn’t smile. He simply stood and watched her, the backdrop of the lake and the sunshine causing him to glow. There was a quality about him, a vulnerability that made her want to be sensitive and patient with him. He didn’t need her censure. He probably got much more than he needed from himself already. What he needed instead was someone to encourage him and believe in him.
    Maybe she wouldn’t be with him for more than a few days, but while they were together, she could show him a little more kindness, couldn’t she?
    She held the plate out to him. “Tessa saved you a little breakfast. And some coffee.”
    His eyes lit with hunger at the sight of the food. “Please tell her I appreciate it.”
    While he ate ravenously, she picked up his discarded shirt. “This would come cleaner on the washboard with a bar of lye.”
    â€œProbably,” he said between mouthfuls.
    â€œTomorrow’s washing day. If you bring your clothes over to the house, I’ll scrub them with the others.”
    He swallowed a big bite and then stopped eating. He looked at her with a seriousness that made her pause. “Thanks for the offer, but I’m leaving tomorrow.”
    â€œLeaving? What do you