A Widow's Hope by Vannetta Chapman

Author:Vannetta Chapman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2018-05-02T17:57:56+00:00

Chapter Nine

Friday dawned beautiful, cool and crisp. If she’d lived closer, Hannah would have walked to work. As it was, she said goodbye to her family and drove Dolly the few miles to Jacob’s place. She was still uncomfortable with the way things had ended between them the day before. Had he actually said he liked her? What did that mean?

Fortunately he wasn’t there when she arrived, so she didn’t have to worry about being embarrassed about the way they’d left things. She went straight to the office and was soon immersed in receipts and columns of figures and IRS categories. The morning passed quickly and her stomach began to grumble. She was about to pull over yet another box of receipts when she heard a whistle from out in the yard. She hurried to the door and saw Emily Schrock making her way toward the workshop, a basket over her arm and a smile on her face. Hannah hadn’t seen Jacob’s sister-in-law in years. In fact, the last time she’d seen her they’d been in grade school together.

“Tell me you have some cold tea or hot coffee in there.”

“I have both, and scones too—fresh blueberry.”

Emily was nearly as round as she was tall, and she always had been as far back as Hannah could remember. She was the traditional Amish woman, and probably could have starred in one of the local Amish plays. Quick with a smile, an excellent cook and, if Hannah remembered right, she had a whole passel of children. As Emily stepped closer, Hannah realized she was also expecting another child, though her baby bump wasn’t yet too obvious. It seemed Hannah’s lot in life to be surrounded by pregnant women.

“Come in the office. I finally finished cleaning.”

Emily let out a long whistle as she walked into the room. “Wow. You did all of this...this week?”

Hannah allowed the woman to enfold her in a hug.

“We’re so glad you’re here.”

“We?”

“Micah and I. We worry about Jacob, and the IRS audit... Micah was ready to hire one of the Englisch accountants in town.”

“He may still need to. I haven’t actually worked through all of his receipts yet.”

“And his books?”

“He doesn’t have any.”

“I suppose that’s part of the problem. I’m sure you’ll be able to fix it, though. I remember how you were in school. Math was your favorite subject.”

“Still is,” Hannah admitted. “It’s what I enjoy about quilting, the measuring and calculating.”

“And what I always make mistakes on. How about we go outside? The rocking chairs looked more comfortable than the stool you have behind your desk.”

Hannah readily agreed. As they walked back out into the fall sunshine, she asked, “How are you? I see you’re expecting again.”

“I am, and I dearly hope it’s a girl, though of course we’ll love whatever Gotte blesses us with.” She opened the thermos and poured two cups of coffee.

It was much better than what Jacob made in the workshop, and Hannah sipped it with pleasure, closing her eyes and enjoying the rich taste.

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