Anna's Return by Marta Perry

Author:Marta Perry [Perry, Marta]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2010-05-25T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Are you still working on that old corn binder?” Samuel looked up at the sound of Joseph’s voice to see him leaning in the shop doorway. “As you can see. This time I’m going to get it working if I have to rebuild it from scratch. Should you be out here?”

Joseph moved a few more steps, listing a bit, and lowered himself to the wooden chair next to the desk. He was still hurting, clearly.

“Not according to your sister. She put me in a chair in the yard like she was putting a puppy in a pen and told me to stay there.”

Samuel grinned. “Myra’s getting a bit bossy, I’d say. Still, maybe you ought to go back out there and behave before she catches you. She might blame me.”

Although truth to tell, he was glad to have some company about now. It might keep him from reliving over and over those moments with Anna last evening. He kept catching himself staring into space with a silly grin on his face.

“Ach, it’s not going to hurt me to sit here a bit instead of out there in the yard. I’ll take the blame if Myra catches me.”

“That you will.” Samuel tinkered with a stiff bolt, finding that his stubborn imagination still refused to be diverted from the image of Anna’s face in the moonlight.

The why of it was simple, wasn’t it? Anna had been a lovely girl, one anybody would want to kiss. When she’d come back, a grown woman, he’d thought at first that she looked hard, with her English clothes and her tight, wary expression.

Changing to Amish dress had made her fit in, but it had taken time for the wariness to fade. She probably hadn’t even realized how her expression had countered her clothing.

Now it seemed that the bright, sassy manner and pert look of her teenage years had mellowed into a very appealing maturity.

Joseph’s chair squeaked as he moved. “Do you think Anna is settling down all right?”

The question, coming out of the blue, made Samuel instantly guilty. Did Joseph know about last night? How could he? Anna wouldn’t have gone in the house and said she’d been kissing him—that was certain-sure.

Samuel cleared his throat. “She seems contented enough.”

At least he thought that was true. They had all been too busy since the accident to do much sitting around and thinking, except for Joseph, who probably had too much time for that.

“Ja, she does,” Joseph agreed. “And she’s keeping busy, what with helping Myra and taking care of the boppli.”

“Then what has you so worried?” A thread of uneasiness went through Samuel.

“I guess I was just thinking about the girl she used to be, always running from one thing to the next, always so enthusiastic. She’s changed.”

Samuel sat back on his heels. Joseph’s thoughts were following the same trail as his, though not for the same reason.

“She’s grown up, is all. She probably took some hard knocks out there in the English world. That would change anyone.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.