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Page 176
concern when he had had that god-awful allergic reaction that morning.
But no matter how his libido or any other part of him responded to her, what they had heard from Jess had not convinced him that she was what she said.
Nothing was likely to do that. She had to be crazy, suffering from a delusion.
Or she could be just like Dixie, immersed in some as yet unrevealed plan to con him for all she could get. Well, he'd taken care of Dixie, heaven help him. He clutched the steering wheel so hard his fingers ached. Whatever Abby's intentions, they'd both be better off if she just left him alone.
Unaware of his bitter mood and apparently unable to hold back her effervescence any longer, Abby said, "I know you believe none of this, Mike, but my sister Lucy did keep journals on our westward journey. She had just completed her third volume when I left and was about to begin her fourth. I imagine it would contain recipes learned from Arlen, for surely it would chronicle their engagement and early married life. And that one, too, would tell me how the wagon train fared after my departure."
Now was the chance to throw cold water on her hopesif they were real. The likelihood of finding any missing journals in that old house was slight. Myra might have put them anywhere. She might even have kept them somewhere away from homea safe-deposit box overlooked in the disposition of her estate, perhaps. Or she

 
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