This is a continuation of the story 'Contemplating Mother', but can stand on its own. A man reminisces about his mother and their strange relationship from his teen years to adulthood. There may be a lactation theme, but denial is the point of the story. Nursing persists only as an excuse to indulge in more intimate pursuits.
Amanda is picking up the pieces of her life after an ill-considered marriage, moving across two states back to her girlhood home. Her brother Nick is trying to put his life back together as well, having put everything on hold to care for his dying mother for the last year. Together, they try to find the strength to continue on - and perhaps more.
Wyoming, 1878. When schoolteacher Angela Parker boards a stagecoach to meet a stranger who placed a notice in a Philadelphia newspaper, she carries two things: a satchel and a hidden return ticket. She never planned to stay. He never planned to beg. But Coulter Brooks doesn't want a captive — he wants a partner. And two weeks on the Wyoming frontier, under wide skies and honest stars, has a way of changing what a woman thinks she wants. A choice freely made. And kept.