"Amy."  Jo greeted her sister a little later with a surprised smile.  "I wasn't expecting you.  Everything's all right, I hope?"

"Oh, yes."  Amy waved a gloved hand as she stepped inside.  Everything was absolutely perfect.  "Everything's fine.  I simply forgot my handkerchief last night, and I thought I might see about spending part of the afternoon with Bess."  

Jo nodded.  "Yes, I think Nan actually mentioned something about finding a hankie in the hallway when she came down to the parlor.  It must of have been yours."  Her dark brows furrowed a little.  "I think Bess just went for a walk with the other children, but she should be back before too long.  Would you like a cup of tea while you wait?"

Hiding her disappointment, Amy nodded and smiled politely.  "Yes, thank you.  Tea would be lovely."  She turned to remove her wrap and, much to the surprise of Jo, another knock sounded.  

"I wonder who that could be?"  A curious glance accompanied Jo's rhetorical question, and while she moved to answer the door, Amy quickly offered to go and get the tea ready.  She seemed a bit eager about it, too, which struck Jo as rather odd for the youngest March.  But the abstraction was pushed as she prepared to greet whoever was standing out on the porch . . . 

"Austin."  Jo smiled and immediately stepped back.  "Won't you come in?"  At his nod, she closed the door behind them and offered to take his long coat.  "I hope we didn't completely do you in last night?"

He shook his dark head and chuckled, warm hazel eyes twinkling with remembered amusement.  "No, not at all.  It was quite enjoyable, in fact.  You have a lively bunch here."  

"That I do."  She laughed a little.  "Sometimes I almost can't keep up with them."  But her manners returned then and Jo glanced up at him.  "My sister Amy and I were just about to have a cup of tea.  Would you care to join us?"

"As a matter of fact, that it exactly what I was coming out here for."  Austin grinned, offering a slight nod of agreement.  "I had a few hours before my interview and I was going to see if I might treat you to lunch, or even dessert, in town, but now that you mention it, tea sounds quite nice."

"Well, then, I insist."

"Well, then," he said with a mock sigh, that boyish spark she remembered so well momentarily reappearing, "I suppose I have no choice.  My mother's number one rule was never to disappoint a lady."

"Well, then," Jo teased right back with a smile, "We can't disappoint your mother."
 

Amy's eyes almost popped out of her head.  Mister Austin Bracken!  So she had been absolutely right, it had been his carriage coming this direction.  Ooooh, but she was amazed at her own abilities sometimes.  This was positively delicious!  

Now just to do something with Nick . . . whom, oh dear, was starting to come in the back door!

Panicked, she forced her mind to think as she scurried around the kitchen, looking for something that she could have him do.  Something to keep him occupied while Jo and Austin spoke in the front hall, for there was every chance he might be asking to correspond with her—or better yet, perhaps he was skipping the courting phase altogether and presenting her with the ring?  

Oooh!

"Nick!   There you are.   Oh, thank goodness."  Amy pressed a hand to her heart and exhaled a sigh of feigned distress.  "There's a mouse in the kitchen—I think it's the same one Bess found in her room last night."

He looked puzzled.  "A mouse?  But I—"

"Oooh, there he is!  He just ran into the pantry.  Oh, Nick, get him.  Get him!"

"A'right, a'right, jus' calm down." Nick spoke calmly, attempting to assuage her fears before she started into an outright anxiety attack.  "Now where did ya see it?"

"In the pantry," she gasped, fluttering a hand in front of her face for dramatic effect.

"In the pantry…"  He moved inside the small closet and glanced around, searching the floor with extra care.  There was no sign of the varmint she spoke of, but knowing she would demand him to look again if she did not think he had looked well enough the first time, he spent more time searching around the items surrounding the bottom wall that ran beneath the shelves.  

While he searched, so concerned that she almost felt guilty for trapping him, Amy prowled closer and inched her fingers toward the knob.  As soon as he . . . 

"Amy, I—" he started to turn around.

"Right there, Nick!" she shrieked, jerking her hand away to point a frantic finger in one particularly dark corner.  "I just saw his til behind the potato bin.  Oh, Nick!"  

"It's a'right," he said again, breathing a small sigh.  "I'll get 'im.  Don’t'cha worry none."  

"Thank you so much.  I can't tell you how relieved I am . . . " Again, her hand moved toward the door knob.  "Really, sometimes I think Jo should get a cat—they really are so excellent for keeping out unwanted creatures." 

And then, much to her ecstatic delight, Nick kneeled down with his back to her.  Not daring to lose even a second, Amy quickly shut the door and reached for a chair one of the children had pulled close to the sink.  She hated to do this to him, but, well, could he fault her?  She was looking out for Jo's best interests, after all.  And a proposal was in order, she was certain!  They could risk no interruptions.

Ignoring his pounds of protest, Amy again scanned the kitchen, her eyes settling on a neatly prepared basket on the kitchen counter.  The picnic!  She had almost forgotten about it.  Oh, but this was getting better and better! 

Amy gathered it on her arm and, thrilled beyond belief, waltzed in the hallway.  Cupid was armed and ready to shoot!
 

"She's just back here in the kitch—oh, Amy."  Jo tripped to a halt just short of colliding with her incoming sister.  "Austin will be joining up for tea; should we sit in the parlor?"

"Good afternoon, Mr., Bracken," she greeted the man with one of her charming hostess smiles.  But she turned back to Jo before he could get a response out.  "Well, you know, I just ran in to Nick, and he said something came up in town that he's going to be detained for the rest of the afternoon.  

Jo's dark brows furrowed with concern.  "Detained?  But we . . . " she fretted the inside of her lip.  What of their picnic?  She had been looking forward to it all morning—since he asked her, to be certain.  

Austin frowned with concern, noting Jo's clouded features and the rather uncertain tone in her sister's voice.  "I hope nothing's wrong?"

"Yes, did he say anything about what it was?"

"No, no.  Well, something about needing extra grain for the horses?  He realized your were just about out and left in a hurry to go order some more.  He said not to expect him back soon, as he was not certain when exactly he would get back."

Jo pursed her lips but managed to keep her hurt and disappointed under control.  "Well, I suppose we shouldn't—"

"Oh, and he said for you to take this—" Amy held out the basket, "—and share it with Rob or someone.  But perhaps you two could take it?  I really should be on my way anyway.  We've a new maid starting and I really should be there when she arrives."

A hint of uncertainty danced along her brows and Jo cast Austin a brief glance.  "I suppose it would a waste to just leave it . . . " She gave a rather sheepish smile, "Have you had lunch, yet?"

"I have, so I'm disappointed to inform."  He lifted his shoulders in a shrug, a good-natured smile playing along his lips.  "But I'm always up for seconds."

Nick's sudden change in plans—along with the fact that he had not bothered to come and find her—bothered Jo.  Why would he not just come and tell her himself?  A nag at the back of her mind worried her, though.  He had evaded the house during the first part of the measles quarantine and only after encouragement from Nat had he allowed himself to help inside.  He had shied away because he was afraid, afraid of commitment and the possibility that he might get too close.  Was he doing the same thing now?  Again?  

It pained her, the disconcerting possibility.  But it was just a picnic.  There could always be others, and likely he had not even meant it to be something . . . well, extra special.  Perhaps that part of it had been put together in her own mind?  

At the same time, though, it would give her a chance to visit with Austin without the children having a chance to interrupt.  And it would be nice to catch up on the last ten years of their lives. 

"I suppose that settles it."  She glanced to Amy.  "If you're certain?"  At Amy's quick nod, Jo smiled briefly at Austin.  "Let me get my shawl, then, and we can head on our way."
 

With a devilish grin, Amy watched out the parlor window as Jo and Austin Bracken disappeared into the woods in search of a picnic spot.  This could not have been played out more perfectly that if she had hired on Cupid himself.  Oh, oh, but this was so exciting!  

She hurried to collect her wrap.  Wedding bells here they come!

She simply had to tell Meg.