concern. "What do you need, Miz Warner?" they asked at once.

"I need you to eat this cobbler," she said as she handed the bowl to them. "And you can share it with anyone you want to."

"Even Clay?" one twin asked.

"Anyone," she repeated with a brisk nod.

"Thank you, Miz Warner," they said before walking away, holding the bowl between them, and taking

such small steps that she wasn't certain they'd reach their destination before nightfall.

She crossed her arms beneath her breasts. It wasn't much. It probably wasn't enough. Watching as the

twins approached the large wagon where a man sat alone, she suddenly felt as though nothing would ever

be enough.

Meg watched Helen pour water over the dirt Her four-year-old daughter, Melissa, plopped on the ground.

"Give her a mud puddle, and she's happy," Helen said as she sat beside Meg and Sally Graham beneath the shade of the tree.

"Dr. Martin said there's no reason Tom and I can't have lots of children," Sally said quietly.

Reassuringly, Meg took her hand. "I'm sure you'll have more children."

Sally blushed. "Tom is so good to me. I don't know what I'd do without him. I don't know how all you widows survived. You're only a little older than me, but you all lost your husbands."

Tom appeared with a glass in his hand and knelt beside her chair. "Here you are, Sally, honey. I brought

you some lemonade."

Tom's tender expression caused the loneliness to surround Meg. Only a few years difference in ages had carved out different lives for the women in the area. While Daniel bemoaned the fact that he'd been bom too late, she wished she and Kirk had not been bom quite so soon.

As though her thoughts conjured him, Daniel strode toward them. 'Tom!" he yelled.

With fire raging in his blue eyes, he glanced briefly at Meg before turning his attention to Tom. "Holland

took the twins to the river. While he's gone, some of us are gonna take down the boards he nailed up.

You wanna help?"

"Why are you gonna do that?" Tom asked.

"So he'll know he's not wanted and he'll leave."

"I think he probably figured out he wasn't wanted when we all walked away this morning. He's not

stupid."

"No, but he's a yellow-bellied coward. Hell, Tom, you enlisted as soon as you were old enough."

"Yeah, but my regiment never left the state. We just sat at the Louisiana border waiting for the Yankees

to come. They never did. I never even fired my rifle at a man."

"That ain't the point," Daniel said. "The point is you were willing to do your part. He wasn't."

"Tom's right, Daniel," Meg said. "Just let him finish his side, and he'll go home."

"Damn it, Meg, I think you're getting soft. Are you forgetting it was your husband and our brothers he

didn't stand by? I can't believe you gave him your cobbler."

"I didn't give it to him. I gave it to his brothers."

"Knowing full well they'd share it with him. I told you last night I wanted to do something to preserve the memory of my brothers. Well, this is it. You coming, Tom?"

"Nope, I won't help him, but I'm not gonna undo his work."

"Then we'll do it without you."

Meg watched her brother storm back toward the barn. She knew he harbored feelings of guilt because he hadn't been old enough to enlist alongside his brothers, but until today she hadn't realized the full extent of her family's hatred. If they discovered she'd spent time with Clay...

She closed her eyes, not wanting to think about what they might do. This land had too many trees growing on it.

Someone took her hand. Opening her eyes, she smiled at Robert as he knelt beside her.

"I wanted to ask a favor of you," he said. "I feel pretty useless now that the desserts are gone, and I no longer have to stand guard over them. It occurred to me that if I had someone to hold the nail, I could hammer it into place. I was wondering if you'd be willing to be that someone."

Chapter Eleven.

"Gawd Almighty!" Josh shrieked. "What happened to our wall?"

Clay came to a dead stop as though he'd just slammed against the wall he had erected earlier that

morning. The side of the barn they'd been walking toward looked as though no one had touched it all day.

He jerked off his hat and plowed his fingers through his hair. Taking the twins to the river so they could

cool off hadn't been such a good idea after all.

"We gonna go home now?" Joe asked.

Clay settled his hat on his head and narrowed his eyes. "Nope. We're gonna finish our wall."

Both boys released baleful sighs.

"You can work with Lucian if you want to," Clay said.

"Nah, we'll work with you," Josh said.

"In that case-" Clay knelt and placed a hand on each boy's shoulder. "Remember that rule we have

about no swearing until you're sixteen?"

The twins exchanged suspicious glances and nodded.

"Today's an exception. Until the sun sets, you can say any swearword you want as often as you want."

"We can?" Josh asked, excitement at the prospect reflected in his eyes.

"Yep."

"But we only know one," Joe said.

"Stay by my side," Clay said, "and I'll teach you a few more."

Meg looked through the opening in the frame at what had once been a partially completed opposite wall. She gazed beyond it to where Clay and the twins had come to an abrupt halt. Around her, the hammers fell into silence as everyone wailed to see how Clay would react The litany of go home raced through her mind. He had but to turn and walk to his wagon. Take the twins home, she thought Please take the twins home.

He knelt in the field. The next thing she knew the twins were whooping, hollering, and running toward the wall that was little more than air.

With a broad smile. Clay swaggered to the pile of fresh lumber, hefted a board, and carried it to the frame where the twins waited.

Of all the things Clay could have done, the last thing she'd expected him to do was smile. He drove the first nail into the board with such force that Meg felt the frame vibrate where her fingers were touching it.

Tom started whistling and put his hammer into action. One by one, other hammers took up the beat. "Well, I'll be damned," Robert said quietly. "I suppose we could build that wall," Meg said, tilting her head toward the wall where Clay worked.

Robert gave her a sad smile. "I'd rather be at Shiloh again than have this town's hatred directed my way. I have hopes of settling here, Meg, and having a family. I don't want my children playing alone."

An unspoken hope touched his eyes, and Meg knew he wanted his family to include her. He was young, strong, and resembled Kirk to such a great degree that she wanted to hold his promise in her heart.

He tapped the board he'd set against the frame. "Want to see if we work well together?"

Nodding, Meg knelt and placed her palm flat against the board to keep it in place. Then she positioned the nail. Turning her head slightly, she saw Clay settled in on the other side of the bam. His hat brim shaded his eyes, but she could feel his penetrating gaze riveted on her. She wanted to tell him she wasn't responsible for what they had done to his side of the bam. She wanted to tell him- She cried out as a sharp pain shot through her hand and raced up her arm. She saw Clay straighten and step through the opening in the frame. She closed her eyes, willing him not to come to her. If anyone knew how to handle a thumb that had been hit with a hammer, it would be Clay, but she couldn't explain to the people surrounding her why she wanted Clay's help instead of theirs. She couldn't even explain it to herself.

She opened her eyes and sighed with relief. Clay had returned to his side of the barn. She could see his knee jutting beyond the board he'd nailed in place. She knew he was squatting down, his back against the board, his head undoubtedly bowed as he fought not coming to help her. How had she come to know him so well in such a short time?

"Meg, I'm so sorry," Robert stammered. "I thought I was watching."

Cradling her hand, Meg forced a smile she didn't feel. "It's all right. It doesn't hurt that badly."

"Let's find Dr. Martin and make sure I didn't break anything." He slipped his hand beneath her elbow and helped her rise to her feet.

"I'm sure nothing's broken," she said, although she wasn't certain at all.

"Anyone seen Dr. Martin?" Robert asked as they neared the house.