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joy of his return. But in the burst of light, there existed a single point of darkness.
    He could not claim her in courtship without her parents’ blessing—a couple who had lost their only son.
    And that loss would forever be linked to Josiah.

Chapter Five
    Josiah watched Anne’s path along the road until he could no longer see her, and even then stared at the bend in the road where she had disappeared from his view. His chest threatened to explode. He needed to tell her what had happened with Samuel—to make sure she understood. Though he was content with leaving well enough alone, he could not walk this line of uncertainty, knowing at any moment she might learn something that would change her feelings. If she did not yet blame Josiah, someone may have kept the story from her of what had happened that day. And if that truth came now, her feelings for Josiah could change entirely. Now that he’d found her again, he couldn’t bear losing her. Nor could he live with the unease of not knowing when—or if—his world might drop from under his feet.
    But telling her could be just as devastating. Would the news forever alter the glorious green hue of her eyes? He couldn’t bear to hurt her. He couldn’t imagine living with the knowledge that he’d stolen her light and joy.
    Again.
    Everything he had told her was true. He had left Salem to attend school—a rare opportunity to be celebrated, if not for the circumstances. The truth was his father, in his shame, had sent Josiah away. He wouldn’t merely dispose of his son—that would make his father look bad—so he had repackaged Josiah’s dismissal in the name of schooling. Josiah received a great education, but it had come at a cost.
    It was a debt from which he would never be free, for his father had died hating his son.
    Once Anne learned the truth, would she do the same?
    His decision to tell her of Samuel’s death carried its own burdens. Did he tell her now and risk the early bond they had forged, or did he wait until they had grown closer and subsequently risk a greater betrayal? He pondered little else as he trudged the road to the Scudder Inn, the bundle of tinder making the ruts infinitely more difficult to navigate.
    Upon his approach, unease seemed to drift from the eaves of the large structure, which stood in respectable condition despite the Goodman’s failing hands. The storm-darkened sky placed a somber hue over the inn. Josiah remembered the old woman in the parlor and, despite summer’s heat, he shivered. Anne’s mother said the woman did not speak, yet Josiah was sure she had tried to communicate with him. Who was she? He could not forget those brilliantly colored eyes, eerily bright on a gray, worn face that had verily seen more years than most. The woman disturbed him greatly, though he knew not why.
    But he did know that he did not want to be watched. As soon as was practical, he stepped from the road, cutting the woman from view as he rounded the house. He deposited the tinder in the covered box outside the kitchen, finishing the job just as the first fat rain drops fell from the sky. Josiah had only begun to ponder if the weather would send him indoors when rain began to pour in earnest. He ducked into the kitchen, the door shutting with a clatter at his back.
    The room ahead descended into silence.
    Goodwife Scudder and Anne stared.
    He tipped his hat at the goodwife. Despite his best intentions, his eyes lingered a bit too long on Anne—something that surely hadn’t gone unnoticed by her mother, whose scrutiny intensified. The woman’s gaze darted between Josiah and Anne, her brow increasingly furrowed with each shift.
    After an uncomfortable moment, Susannah Scudder addressed him. “Have you the tinder?”
    “In the box,” he said, casting a glance at the fire lighting the hearth. Uncomfortable heat radiated from its hearty roar, leaving Josiah eternally grateful a man’s work was seldom to tend to the cooking.
    The goodwife’s