Heartsong Hills by Wendy Rich Stetson

Author:Wendy Rich Stetson [Stetson, Wendy Rich]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Clean Romance; Small Town Romance; Amish Englisher Romance; Opposites Attract; Celebrity Romance; Emotional Romance; Rural Romance
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2022-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

“They’re here.” Nora’s voice wobbled, and she cleared her throat. She filled a glass and gulped lukewarm water. Despite chilly weather, the kitchen felt more like it did in midsummer than on Thanksgiving Day. The oven had been in use nearly nonstop for seventy-two hours. It hardly had time to cool before they heated it again for yet another dish. Though only six would share the holiday meal, she and her mother prepared enough food for three times as many.

With a start, Mamm closed the oven door. Leaning over the sink, she peered out the window, and the turkey baster slipped from her fingers and clattered among dirty dishes. “Ach du lieve.”

Her mother’s cheeks were red as tomatoes, and wispy curls gathered at her temples. Oh my goodness, indeed.

Hands on hips, Verna took a deep breath, puffed her cheeks, and let the air out slowly. Then she turned and marched to the door.

Footsteps pattered down the staircase, quick and light. “They’re here!” Rebecca’s jubilant voice bounced off the kitchen cabinets. “They’re here! They’re here!”

The latch clicked, and the door opened with a sharp squeal.

Nora swiped damp hands down her apron. How would this reunion go? Though she discussed the menu for the Thanksgiving meal at length, her mother made no comment regarding Jonas’s homecoming. By rights, he and his family shouldn’t join them at the same table. No matter the custom in Ohio, many members of their Pennsylvania church district wouldn’t receive a shunned relative inside their homes.

But this morning, at Mamm’s request, Samuel had toted the drop leaf table from the sewing room to the kitchen.

Without a word, Verna shoved it until a four-inch gap remained between it and the kitchen table. She threw a single long cloth over both, brushed together her hands, and returned to her sweet potato casserole.

Nora caught her brother’s gaze.

With a shrug, he had disappeared into the pantry.

Her mother, it seemed, planned to welcome Jonas the Ohio way. Through the kitchen window, Nora spotted Samuel striding from the barn, a broad grin lighting his face. He, too, looked ready to receive their brother with open arms.

Sour uncertainty turned her stomach, and she balled the dirty washrag. Did she really want to share a meal with Jonas and that woman? Her life was completely uprooted when he left. She hurled the rag into the sink, splashing sudsy water onto the counter. Swiping the mess with a sponge, she thought back to the miserable days following Rebecca’s hospitalization three years ago.

Over roast chicken one night in August, Jonas had declared his plan to leave.

Widowed, lame, and with a daughter to raise, she had no option but to join her mother in Ohio. An agonizing month followed in which she nursed Rebecca back to health and prepared to leave the only home she’d ever known. Her hip pain worsened by the day. As they closed the farm, she and Jonas spoke no more than necessary. During the endless van ride west, she couldn’t even look at him.

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