I smiled. "I can, actually. But what did Wiley say to him?"

"Well . . ." she wiped her mouth. "Wiley didn't tell him anything in church, but when they got home, and found Timothy waiting on the porch? Wiley's shotgun had a whole lot to say."

"They got married somehow, though. He must have said something right."

"No," Pearl replied. "It wasn't him, it was Merriam. See, Wiley had a transportation business. Mostly trucks, but he had a small railway too. The company was going broke, and Wiley was about to lose everything, including his house, but Merriam went to Timothy and begged him to help her daddy-and you know what?"

"Timothy saved his business," I said. "He gave him the money."

"In a roundabout sort of way, yeah, he gave him the money. Wiley got all the business he needed from all the fancy places that just loved Doctor Brighton. Of course he never told Wiley about helping him out, but then Merriam had to go running her mouth off when Wiley wouldn't let Tim come get her one night, and she was yelling at her daddy about how much he owed Tim, and all he had done to save him. It was a nasty fight, but it was the last. Wiley gave up after that."

"I guess he didn't have much of a choice," I said.

"No, I reckon he didn't." Pearl looked at my empty plate. "You want more pie?"

"No," I smiled. "But I do have another question."

She smiled back with a heavy sigh. "'Course you do."

"Do you know what happened to the train?"

"Most likely rusted to scrap. In a heap somewhere out in the yard."

I sat forward. "It's here?"

"Somewhere out there, sure."

I stood up, overly excited by her news. "Show me, please. I want to see."

Pearl laughed at me. "Callum Andrew, you know how many acres there are on this property? The darn thing is probably buried under years of growth. It'd take a miracle to find that train. And even if you did, what in the world would you ever do with the thing?"

I paused for a moment. "Those are all very good questions, Pearl." She smiled at me, and then my phone started beeping. "Duty calls."

"Typical man," she huffed. "Eat and run."

I put out my hand for hers. "It was a pleasure Miss Pearl. Honest to God."

She shook my hand. "You better always be." And then she hugged me far too tightly for a woman so slight. "You come back any time you want. Don't get too many handsome young men knocking on my door these days."

I smiled at her. "You? No. I bet that's why the door is so worn out."

"The only thing worn out round here, Callum Andrew, is my feet." As Pearl walked me to the door she added, "But if that man Peter Everdeen ever came around, well, I might be able to say something a bit more scandalous."

I turned to her once I reached the porch. "Who is Peter Everdeen?"

"Oh you don't know him? He's got a sick kid up at Atlanta. Figured that's where you were a doc."

"I am, but it's also a big hospital, and I don't work in pediatrics."

"His boy doesn't stay in the hospital, but he sure is in and out of one quite a lot. Figured that you might have seen him because of that."

"If I have, I don't remember him, Miss Pearl."

Her eyes brightened. "Oh, you'd remember Peter Everdeen. He's quite something to behold."

I smiled. "Well if I see him, I'll be sure to put in a good word on your behalf. Tell him where to find the best apple pie, and company, in Red Pine."

"No wonder Everly loves you," she blushed.

My chest ached. "I have to get going. Thank you again."

"Hey," she called. "Peter Everdeen is also a rather handy fellow. If you really want to find that old train, he'd be the man up for the task."

"Miss Pearl?"