*Juliet*“Come on, little one,” I coo, gently scooping my still napping daughter into my arms. Julia gives an irritable moan, then begins a tired hiccupping cry. Patting her on the back and rocking, I tuck her against my shoulder and soothe, “Ooh, I’m so sorry. I know, you’re not ready to get up yet. It’s oka—.”“Juliet!” Sam calls from downstairs. “We need to leave now or we’ll be late!”Rolling my eyes, I heave a sigh. “For pity’s sake, Sam, it’s just a game. You’ll be there early to warm up anyway.”“Juliet, I swear, if I have to come up ther—.”Rounding the corner at the top of the stairs, I drape a light blanket over Julia as she sucks her thumb, then give him a pointed glare, staring down my nose

*Sam* My eyes are still gritty and my nose and throat sore from the blowing smoke and ash and fighting the township fire yesterday, but I collect the paper at the end of the drive and read the front page story on the veranda while Juliet’s still upstairs, getting ready for church. “Fire Destroys Township’s Historic Main Street” by Margie Brennan “A massive fire destroyed nearly three-quarters – the entire west and majority of the east side – of the Main Street historic businesses and buildings on Saturday. “Approximately 13 businesses burned down in the fire, including the Coady Bank, the newly renovated opera house and theater, Reid’s General Store, Dunn’s Drugstore and Medicines, the three-story men’s clothing and boot shop and the ice cream parlor, both owned by D.F. Palmer, three ladies’ dress shops, the Pet

*Sam*Carrying Julia’s baby bag on one arm and the puppy tucked under the other, Juliet unlocks the mudroom door when we get home, calling over her shoulder as Julia darts down the veranda towards the porch swing. “Julia, come inside now.”“Swing!” Julia shouts back, as if in explanation.Removing the keys from the knob, Juliet calls again, “No, not right now. Come inside.” As she opens the door, the most delicious savory smell drifts out, assaulting both our senses, and breathing deep, we take it in gladly. My stomach seconds our assessment with a loud rumbling growl.Along the veranda, Julia’s stopped, but her little face is screwed up in angry rebellion and she actually stomps her foot, balling her little fists when Juliet tells her ‘no’. It’s all I can do not to laugh. Knowing how

*Sam*“To getting to ‘yes’!” Stew raises his pint in the air and my brothers and I clink ours against it, Randall beaming brightest of us all. “I still can’t believe she said yes. Took you long enough, Randy.”“The timing’s not my fault,” Randall replies. “Debi wasn’t quite so easy to convince that leaving the city for life on a farm was the thing to do. You three got lucky.”“To getting lucky!” Stew toasts, drunkenly, laughing as we all heartily chime in on that one. Our raucous table draws attention, and at the end of the bar behind us, Basil and Jack Mueller turn on their stools, and raising their shot glasses, toast to Randall too.As the summer’s worn on, life’s resumed a new normal. Several of us men work on a regular basis rebuilding the Main Street shops for those merchant families who opted to remain. There’s been little progress figuring out who started the fire that wiped most of it out, but it has been determined that it was deliberately set.Which painted a bullseye on Jun

*Sam*The dining room is bustling with fellow passengers, accomplished ladies and fine gentlemen, graciously nodding to one another as they pass on the way to or from their seats. At the head of one table sits the middle-aged florid-faced captain, smiling courteously as passengers are escorted to their tables, occasionally rising to escort a dowager to her seating and smile condescendingly at the younger unattended misses.The tables are already spread with a substantial amount of food—washed fruits, some peeled by the kitchen staff or plucked from their stems, hot breads and delicate saucers of molded pats of cream butter, interspersed with tiny settings of sugar and cream, low bowls of various sauces and crystal goblets of iced water beside flutes for champagne. Along the periphery of the lavish room, ice sculptures set in extravagant floral arrangements full of hothouse orchid and lily blooms finish the decorations, their soft fragrance drifting lightly in the air as if scenting the