Chapter 99

Hope turned to look at Jimmy, her eyes wide with disbelief at his inquiry. "No, of course there isn't anyone else." Why was she being so defensive? Couldn't she have someone else in mind if she wanted to? She didn't owe him any explanations. The fact of the matter was, she couldn't even think of another person who might be the "someone else."

"It ain't Henry Morris, is it? Because I hear he's sweet on Fanny Winters."

"No." Even the thought of loud Henry Morris, with his big belly that shook when he laughed, made her nauseated. "It isn't anyone else, Jimmy. I told you. I just think we're better off as friends."

River turned the corner so they were headed down the street that went to her house, and she wished she could tell the horse to walk faster. "You know, Hope, there ain't a lot of single fellows left in this one horse town. Me and Henry and Nelson Smith, Seth Donahue, that's about it. Everyone else is either an old man or a young kid."