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too.” Still, Cassie wished she could believe Elliott was back, for Laura’s sake. But he wasn’t.
    Elliott and his little band had been a crowd favorite from the earliest years of the festival, their toes tapping as they played and sang. He’d oftenswitch instruments between songs, going from fiddle to mandolin, or from mandolin to guitar. He could play—and build—all those instruments. Laura had been so proud of him. So loyal in spite of his problems. So crushed when he drowned. She’d be crushed all over again if she let herself start believing the rumors.
    Cassie rested her head on the table, her eyelids as heavy as her heart, and wished she were home with Drew. With no worries but the bills. The bills came in faster than the money, though. At this rate they’d never be able to start a family. Not in California, anyway.
    Somebody should have warned her that marriage wouldn’t be all moonlight and roses. Some days, as much as she loved Drew, marriage was the hardest job she’d ever had. But Laura probably envied her just for being married.
    Laura’s life hadn’t turned out as planned either. When they were sixteen or so, she’d thought she would go to UGA and come right back to Prospect to teach school. And marry Sean, of course. That was a given. That was the foundation of her other dreams and his too, until she went and broke his heart. But even if they’d married, they would have learned soon enough that the starry-eyed phase couldn’t last.
    “I’d better get out of here.” Her dad was juggling two briefcases and a travel mug. “Get the door for me, Cass? Say, one of my third-floor apartments will be vacant in a few days. I’ll give you the nickel tour before the new tenant moves in.”
    Not especially interested in the apartments in the renovated Halloran Building, she took a careful slurp of hot coffee before she spoke. “I’ve seen them before. Years ago.”
    “Yeah, but I like to show ’em off whenever I can,” he said with a grin.
    She opened the door for him and socked his shoulder. “You’re worse than Trevor with a new toy. Okay, fine. Let me know when.”
    Moments after he’d walked out, her phone rang. She braced herself for a too-cheery conversation with Tigger, who’d be calling to announce her ETA, but caller ID showed Laura’s number.
    “Hey, girl,” Cassie said. “Can you believe we’re both in town at the same time? We have to get together.”
    “Absolutely.” But Laura sounded rushed and abrupt. “I’m going out to the old cabin this afternoon. Will you come with me? I want company while I poke around.”
    “Sure. Tig’s coming over, but she can visit with my mom until I get back. Poking around won’t take all day, will it?”
    “It probably won’t.” Laura still didn’t sound quite like herself. “Wear jeans and boots, okay? There might be snakes. I’ll pick you up in a little while. Can’t wait to see you.”
    “Same here,” Cassie said. “We’re in the new house now. Just outside of town, remember?”
    “I remember. See you soon, Cass.”
    Cassie walked to the living room window that looked out on Prospect far below. Beyond the neat grid of downtown streets, beyond the new houses in the hills outside the city limits, lay the remains of the Gantt homestead. Laura hadn’t mentioned the purpose of her trip to the old ruin, but Cassie knew.

    Sean locked up the workshop and led Gary across the back lawn, past budding azaleas and a few late daffodils that the previous owners must haveplanted. “I’ll tackle the yard work as soon as I can,” Sean said. “Seems like spring barely got here, but summer’s already knockin’ at the door.”
    “The yard’ll look great in no time,” Gary said, slapping Sean’s shoulder. “All those perennials and flowering bushes will appeal to gardeners. Azaleas, rhododendrons, hydrangeas—you have everything, don’t you?”
    “I guess so.” But if they weren’t in bloom, Sean couldn’t tell one bush from