Free Mammoth Secrets by Ashley Elizabeth Ludwig

night. He’s not convinced that new pastor’s gonna serve Mammoth well. Not at all.”
    “That right?”
    “Ideas. Plans. Schemes. Why folks can’t just let well enough alone is beyond me. It’s enough that the riffraff are showing up again.” She flopped a hand toward the broad swath of grass that served as the fairgrounds. “I thought a nice, widowed pastor would be just the thing—maybe even catch the eye of one of our young, single ladies. Like yourself.”
    “Hmm.” Eden cast a fleeting thought toward the strapping, tall pastor. Nice enough to look at, but not at all exciting, or adventurous.
    “Anyway. Mr. A and I aren’t the only ones thinking of not attending. That’s all I’m sayin’. Goodnight, Eden.”
    Mrs. A puttered up the hill in the fading light of day. Was it true? Were folks that fickle? They’d had a taste of getting their way ousting the previous pastor for his eccentricities, and now they were gunning for a sensitive guy who lost his wife? What would this idiotic town think of next?
    Eden strolled into the store to the back wall and the squares of gold PO boxes. She keyed hers open and smiled at the airmail envelopes. The address for the foreign offices were so long, so complicated, it was no small wonder she’d gotten a base wrong here, a barracks number wrong there. Too soon for her soldiers to notice, though, of course. Didn’t it take a few weeks to get mail overseas? It’s why she insisted on writing letters longhand, not email, not instant messaging. There wasn’t any romance in electronic communication. It was all about seeing their handwriting styles, to see what kind of men these really were. And why, out of all the men she’d sent letters to, she’d chosen these two, Eli and Anthony, to correspond with.
    Eli. He was strong, confident, brazen, and brash. Tony, on the other hand, made subtle, sweet attempts at romance. So unsure, so charming. She’d been unable to choose between them, and in the end had decided not to decide. She’d continued her love letter relationship with both. Her gut speared and fell to her shoes, imagining Anthony reading her response to Eli. Her only hope was finding some way to explain before—
    “Evening, Edie.” The pharmacist interrupted, his nose-perched glasses gleaming in the incandescent light
    “Hey, there, Mr. Hackleberry.” She folded the unopened letters into her purse, juggled the pie box, and turned. “D’ya have anything for Papaw and Nana? I’m headed up that way.”
    He turned to the alphabetized rack of plastic baggies, grabbed several from the D loop, and handed them over. “Just have your grandma drop by Monday and pay the tab.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Lots of mail for you, there.”
    Eden laughed. “For now.”
    “Not trouble on the front lines, I hope.” He shot a worried look. She’d heard the stories time and again of his trips overseas, his time in Vietnam, again in the first Gulf war.
    “No.” She sniffed a smile. “More on a personal level. See you tomorrow?”
    “I’ll be there.” Mr. Hackleberry ran a hand over fringe of white hair. “I figure our new pastor needs all the support he can get.”
    She headed out for a swift walk home. Her thoughts sifted back towards the two soldiers who’d been romancing her from Afghanistan.
    Each one touched places in her heart that hadn’t been awakened in years. What a mess she’d made. Too selfish to let go of either, even though her soul sparked with guilt. Now, with the great letter swap, she had a tiger by the tail. She was pushing thirty, unmarried, and likely to remain that way as she’d just spoiled the best chance at love she would get. Eden walked to the carport and blew at her bangs. She unearthed Anthony’s letter. She couldn’t open it. Not yet.
    She opened Eli’s envelope instead. His coarse script looked hurried, just a few lines, and most of it crass innuendo. What had she seen in him? Was it the fact he bragged about his future as a lawyer? He