Her Amish Chaperone by Leigh Bale

Author:Leigh Bale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-05-08T16:15:48+00:00

Chapter Nine

This was a mistake. The moment Caroline suggested she make a picnic and go fishing with Ben and the two orphans, she regretted it. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, and she’d gotten caught up in making plans. But now she wasn’t so sure. She had sympathy for Ben and the tragic events that had brought him here to Riverton, but she also wasn’t sure she should spend extra time with him. What might people say? She didn’t want them to think she and Ben were romantically involved. Because they weren’t. They never would be. But now it was too late to back out.

As promised, Ben picked her and the children up on Saturday, just after they’d finished their morning chores. She’d spent a lot of extra time talking and reading to both Seth and Mary each evening. And when she’d asked Seth about the pocketknife he’d brought to school, she’d been shocked to find out it had belonged to his father. When he’d accidentally dropped it on the playground at school and Caleb Yoder had picked it up, Seth had gone ballistic and attacked the other boy. For some reason Seth had felt threatened, even though Caleb was trying to return the knife and meant no harm. Now Seth felt horrible for what he’d done.

Aunt Hannah was relieved that Caroline had taken such an active role in Seth and Mary’s discipline. She was too busy with her own brood and didn’t know how to handle a rebellious boy like Seth. The situation was foreign to her, and she was happy to abdicate her parenting role.

Though the farmers expected a killing frost any day now, even the late-October weather wouldn’t cancel their fishing trip. The sun was shining bright, not a cloud in the sky. In fact, the warm day felt more like summer than fall.

“Is this all you’re taking with you?” Ben asked.

Standing at the back door, he hefted the large wicker basket where Caroline had stowed their picnic lunch—ham and cheese sandwiches, deep-dish apple pie and ruffled potato chips bought yesterday from the grocery store in town. It would be an extra special treat the children should enjoy since they didn’t get them very often.

“And that, too, please.” Caroline pointed at a folded blanket she’d laid on the kitchen table.

“I wanna go fishing, too.” Five-year-old Benuel sat at the table finishing his breakfast of eggs and toast.

Aunt Hannah turned from the stove. “Remember we talked about this? Ben and Caroline are taking just Mary and Seth this morning. Your daed will take you into town with him once his chores are done.”

The boy scowled and stirred his fork around in his eggs. Eight-year-old Joseph and ten-year-old Levi frowned from their seats nearby, too. Caroline knew her aunt had explained the situation to her children, but they still weren’t happy to be excluded. After all, most Amish children enjoyed fishing. It was a chance to escape the constant drudgery of work and do something fun.

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