Where Love Dwells by Delia Parr

on. That’s why I want you to act as if everything Wryn has bought here at the General Store is perfectlylegitimate, just like you’ve done at the other shops. How or why Wryn decided to go on a little shopping adventure without permission is something we’ll handle privately, within our family,” she said, even though she considered Wryn to be part of Catherine’s family, not her own.
    He scowled. “I’d like to send her, bag and baggage, straight back to her mother where she belongs, whether Georgina likes it or not. Georgina got herself and Wryn into this predicament of theirs, and I have a good mind to let them get themselves out of it.”
    â€œWe may eventually have to do that,” Emma said. “In the meantime, let’s go inside. Maybe this time we’ll find Wryn hasn’t left yet.”
    â€œUnless she’s hurried off and moved on to the stationery store we passed on the other side of Main Street. Wryn has an obsession of sorts with writing,” he grumbled while he opened the door for his mother, setting off the bell.
    â€œGood. Then she won’t mind writing a very sincere, very lengthy letter of apology. One for each of us,” Emma suggested.
    Once Mark followed his mother into the store and shut the door behind him, he stopped for a moment and took a long look around. “It hasn’t changed. Not one bit. The tables are just as neatly stacked with goods and the glass in the display cabinets is just as clear. Even the curtain behind the counter is the same. I can almost see that old cash box right on the middle shelf below the counter where you always kept it,” he murmured.
    Emma smiled. “It’s still there. Or it was just a few months ago,” she replied.
    Indeed, it was only last fall that Mr. Atkins had purchased the General Store from the man Emma had sold the store to some four years ago. A single man with limited business experience, he had been overwhelmed by his new responsibilities.
    The store had quickly become a disorganized mess, as well as a haven where less-than-honest travelers, canal workers, and factory workers learned how easy it was to pilfer what they wanted instead of paying for it. Emma and Mr. Atkins had had a rough start to their own relationship due to a misunderstanding between him and Mother Garrett and Aunt Frances, but she now considered him to be a friend.
    Since then, much to Emma’s chagrin, as well as his own, he had also become the focus of matchmaking attention for Mother Garrett and Aunt Frances.
    To the surprise of nearly everyone in Candlewood, including the two determined matchmakers, Mr. Atkins had married Addie Doran last week after a very short courtship. A young widow with three young daughters, she had gone to work for Mr. Atkins in the General Store after the man he had hired to help him, Steven Cross, left to take a job at the piano factory with his brother.
    When the curtain parted and Addie stepped behind the counter, she greeted Emma with a broad smile. “I didn’t expect to see you today, but I did so enjoy meeting your niece. Wryn is a lovely, lovely young woman,” she offered as Emma approached the counter with her son. “Mark? Is that really you?”
    Mark smiled. “It’s me. How are you, Widow Doran? Mother wrote to tell me about your troubles. Please allow me to extend my condolences,” he said gently.
    â€œThank you, Mark, but I’m doing very well. And it’s Mrs. Atkins now,” she said as a blush stole up her cheeks. “How good to see you again. I’d heard you and your brothers were all coming home for a visit. Mr. Atkins just left to deliver the supplies to Hill House that your mother-in-law ordered earlier today,” she explained, turning her attention to Emma. “Did Wryn forget to get something you wanted?”
    â€œI’m not certain,” Emma replied. “Mark and I were on our way home, and I thought