An Amish Arrangement by Jo Ann Brown

Author:Jo Ann Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-10-16T18:51:18+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Sunni was paging through a picture book in the living room the following week, so Mercy kept Parker in the kitchen while she washed the dinner dishes. He complained about not having TV, and he couldn’t seem to find anything to do. Sleet tapped at the window, and she could scarcely make out the shape of the barn on the far side of the yard.

“Can you see where Jeremiah is?” asked Parker as he set a cup of cocoa on the table.

Mercy wasn’t sure what had happened in the barn the night of Parker’s arrival, but whatever Jeremiah had said or done had made a huge impression on the boy. At the same time Parker looked for any chance to spend time with Jeremiah, he resisted every request she spoke, and he treated Sunni badly, making nasty comments to her over and over or stepping into her way when she was trying to navigate the stairs.

She recognized the pattern she’d seen in other foster kids. They’d shared stories about how they disrupted a placement on purpose. Even then, she’d understood what they hadn’t said. When they had no control over their lives, being pulled from one foster home to another and maybe sent home to live with one parent for a while before being dropped back into the system, they’d decided to grab what control they could. They were determined to make sure the placement didn’t work, pushing their foster parents to the edge and past it with their antics. One girl she’d shared a room with for a couple of nights had put it succinctly, “I got rid of them before they got rid of me.”

However, he hung on every word Jeremiah spoke. She wondered if Parker had been close to a father figure in Korea. According to the reports Whitney had left for Mercy, Parker hadn’t transferred that respect to Mr. Kenton.

Yet the child admired Jeremiah and hopped to obey any request he made. She should be grateful the boy heeded one of them. Asking Jeremiah to step in made her uncomfortable because each time was a reminder that sometime, hopefully in the near future, one of them would have the farm and the other must leave.

But she knew it was more than that. She looked forward to every time Jeremiah came to the house or she ran into him in the yard. He’d had dinner and supper with them every day since Parker’s arrival, and he’d lingered into the evening. His calm presence stopped arguments between the two children before they got heated.

“No, I don’t see him,” Mercy replied when the boy repeated the question. Louder this time. “He’s smart enough not to work outside in a storm.”

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“No.” She ignored the regret that erupted in her at the simple answer.

“Why not?”

“He’s Amish, and we’re not.” It was the easiest explanation to give the boy.

How could she explain to a nine-year-old about the feelings she didn’t understand herself? The very thought of spending time with Jeremiah made her smile.

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