Caring for Her Amish Neighbor by Jo Ann Brown

Author:Jo Ann Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-05-18T15:59:41+00:00

Chapter Ten

The next three days dragged whenever Annalise was at Juan’s farm. He’d become more reticent than usual, not asking about his livestock. Even Evie couldn’t bring him out of his doldrums.

She struggled to keep her dismay from slipping into her voice as she helped him relearn how to use his kitchen. It became obvious he had no interest in what she was trying to teach. His answers were terse, and he shrugged off her fingers when she guided his hands.

Only the fact he had an appointment with Dr. Armstrong at week’s end kept her from contacting the doktor’s office and sharing her concerns that Juan seemed to be falling into a deep depression. It’d been planned that she would drive him to the appointment, and she hoped Juan wouldn’t change his mind about that. By Wednesday afternoon, she’d decided she was going to see Dr. Armstrong with him whether Juan wanted her to or not. Someone had to let the doktor know what was going on.

When Juan pushed his chair away and stood, Annalise dropped a spoon and it clattered on the floor. She bent to retrieve it as he said, “I’m not waiting any longer.”

“Waiting for what?”

He went on as if she hadn’t spoken, “You can komm with me, Annalise, or not. It’s up to you.”

“Komm where?”

“My curiosity about what happened with that tractor has been keeping me awake night after night. I can’t wait any longer to figure out why it exploded.”

For once, she was relieved he couldn’t see her expression, because it had to be a mixture of anticipation and trepidation at the thought of him traversing the barnyard. “You’ll need your heaviest work boots.”

“I thought the debris had been gathered up and stored in the shed.”

“Most of it, but you can—” She corrected herself. “I see slivers of metal in the grass when the sun hits them just right. I’ve picked up and tossed a bunch. I’m sure there are plenty more.”

He walked to the closet with an ease he hadn’t had a week ago. Getting his boots out, he sat on a nearby bench to pull them on.

She opened the door and stepped aside for him to go out first. “I’ve told Evie not to go into that area.”

“How do you keep her out? She’s as headstrong as...”

“As me?” she suggested when his voice trailed off. “I know I can be stubborn, but I won’t apologize for doing what is right for my family.”

“I’m not asking you to. I’m curious how you convinced Evie to listen to you when she loves to explore every corner of the farm. She’s always telling me how the sheep are doing or the chickens or asking me when the potatoes will blossom.” His brows lowered. “You do know the little fruits grown by the potato blossoms are poisonous along with the potato plant’s leaves, ain’t so? You’ll want to keep Evie and the dogs out of the fields then.”

“Especially Mei-Mei. That dog will eat anything. Even dandelions. It doesn’t matter to her whether they’re yellow or gone to seed.

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