Once the girls in town see he's back, he'll have to hide in the outhouse to avoid them, she thought with satisfaction. The entire county is marriage-crazy right now. As soon as Johnny comes marching home a girl snatches him up and marches him to the altar.
While she was caught up in her thoughts, Carl, Margaret, and Charles had been discussing the small changes in town. Edith glanced up as a familiar name caught her ear.
“A dam?” Charles asked. “For a sawmill? Where on earth did Malcolm McGill find a place on his land to set up a dam? If he tried he'd flood out his entire property. It's all meadowland. Crystal Creek doesn't carve a deep enough valley to make a dam practical until it is well into our side of the property line.” He drummed his fingers on the table, the remains of his meal
