Autumn Winds by Hubbard Charlotte

Author:Hubbard, Charlotte [Hubbard, Charlotte]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2012-07-31T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

The next week and a half before the wedding sped by for Miriam. She was filling orders for several homecoming events at nearby colleges, so she felt grateful that Naomi, the Schrocks, and Lydia Zook were taking charge of the wedding meal. Ben was finishing the farrier work he’d promised to nearly every family in Willow Ridge, so she didn’t see as much of him as before. Had he called Polly Petersheim, or at least taken her phone number? That piece of paper was no longer in the phone shanty.

She felt a little blue when Ben was ready to leave for Pennsylvania, the Saturday before Rachel’s wedding. He’d hired a local driver, Englisher Gregg Hatch, to take him back to Lancaster so he could return to Missouri with his brothers and their belongings. Along about two thirty, after the café had closed, Ben slipped into the kitchen with his duffel bag. His smile seemed as hesitant as the one she felt on her own face.

“Sure appreciate you keepin’ Pharaoh while I’m away,” he murmured. “If it all goes like clockwork, I’ll be back with Luke and Ira by Wednesday mornin’. Lookin’ forward to the wedding on Thursday, ya know.”

Miriam smiled, wiping her hands . . . or was she grabbing her towel to keep from clutching at Ben? “It’ll be gut to have your brothers here—and to have ya back, Ben,” she added quietly. “We’ll keep ya in our prayers for a safe journey.”

A horn beeped outside as Gregg’s van pulled up. When Miriam went to fetch the bakery box she’d set aside for him, Ben was right behind her. He turned her in his arms, kissing her full on the mouth. “I love ya, Miriam,” he murmured. “Not even gone yet and already I miss ya. Take care while I’m gone.”

He snatched the white box and headed for the door without looking back, as though he felt just as bereft as she did. Miriam waved to Gregg from the café door and then watched the white van disappear down the county blacktop.

When she turned, Mary Schrock was standing in the doorway between their two shops, where the shared restroom was. “So Ben’s off to Lancaster, is he? Pretty excitin’ to know he’ll be back with a whole new family business for Willow Ridge.”

“Jah,” Miriam agreed. She blinked back unexpected tears—chalked them up to the wedding being so close now—and returned to the haven of her kitchen. “Ira and Luke are supposed to have all their seed stock loaded, along with their clothes and everythin’ else they’re bringin’, by the time Ben gets there,” she said. “They’re gonna put it all in a long livestock trailer so they can bring a few horses, too. I guess their driver’s got a big pickup.”

“It’s quite a move for them, halfway across the country. But then, younger fellas think of that as an adventure.” Mary joined her in the kitchen, taking up a towel to dry the few dishes in the drainer.

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.