Rosemary Opens Her Heart: Home at Cedar Creek, Book Two by Naomi King

having his romantic
     notions discussed by all the women in his family. But if he left now, his sisters
     would only tease him more.
    “Rosemary’s a very nice young woman,” Aunt Abby finally said. “I really enjoyed getting
     to know her and Beth Ann. It’s not an easy row to hoe, living with Titus after his
     wife and son have died,” she pointed out. “I suspect Rosemary’s having a tougher time
     of it than she lets on.”
    “And from what I could tell while she was putting Katie down for a nap,” Barbara joined
     in, “Rosemary needs time to figure out what comes next. She and Joe had bought a piece
     of land between her mamm’s place and Titus’s, and they were having plans drawn up
     for their new home when Joe died. She has a lot on her mind right now.”
    Rosemary owned a piece of land? Matt considered this as he scraped the last of the
     sweet raspberry filling from his bowl. What if she planned to go ahead and build that
     house? Did that mean she intended to live out her life as a widow, raising Katie in
     Queen City?
    It was awfully soon to be wondering about such details, since he’d only exchanged
     a few words with her yesterday, hardly the basis for making any long-range plans.
     And her response to him had been anything but encouraging. Maybe he should take the
     hint and forget about her…
    But Matt couldn’t get her pretty face out of his mind. Despite the way she had laughed
     and played with Katie, he had sensed a deep loneliness in her…a need for the same
     warmth and caring she was so good at giving to others but didn’t know how to accept
     for herself.
    The sound of dishes being stacked brought him out of his thoughts. “Guess I’d better
     see to my bottle babies,” he said, referring to twin lambs whose mother had died.
     “And I need to figure out which wagon to use for hauling those two yearlings over
     to Titus.”
    As Matt stepped into the afternoon sunlight, he smiled at the perfect springtime day.
     Robins were hopping in the yard, gatheringdried grass for nests, while overhead he heard wrens warbling. A thick border of bright
     red and yellow tulips swayed in the breeze in front of the house, and as he walked
     toward the sheep barn, his horse, Cecil, nickered at him from the corral. It would
     soon be time to sharpen the blades on the rotary mower and clip the lawn—just as it
     was almost time to wean this crop of spring lambs from their mothers.
    Even as his flock’s needs were foremost on his mind, Matt glanced at the phone shanty
     by the road and headed in that direction first. Maybe Titus had left him a message.
     He had a feeling the fellow from Queen City wouldn’t let much time get by before he
     prepared a place for his two new rams…and just maybe he would phone the Yutzy place
     again. It was silly, hoping to hear Rosemary’s voice, yet Matt grinned. He was twenty-two
     and he’d lived happily at home all his life, but maybe it was time to change that
     situation.
    His heart skittered when he saw the red message light blinking on the phone. He slipped
     into the small white building and sat in the old wooden chair at the table supplied
     with a notepad and pens. He reminded himself that customers might have left orders
     for the Cedar Creek Mercantile, Treva’s Greenhouse, Graber Custom Carriages—or someone
     might have called any of the Lambrights or the Grabers. Yet in his heart, he hoped…
    Matt pushed the Play button. Sure enough, the first two messages were for James Graber
     from companies in Kansas City and Orlando, inquiring about his prices for special
     touring carriages. A lady had called from Clearwater to see if his dat had any bulk
     pectin in the mercantile for making jelly from the grape juice she’d kept in her deep
     freeze over the winter.
    Then a familiar voice came on with a chuckle. “This is for Matt Lambright, and this
     is Titus Yutzy calling from Queen City,” he said as Matt listened eagerly. “I’m gonna
     ask you