Johanna's Bridegroom and Plain Protector by Emma Miller & Alison Stone

Author:Emma Miller & Alison Stone
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Epilogue

Nine Months Later...

It was a wet March Saturday, too mild for a last blast of winter and too blustery for the coming spring. For two days, heavy rain had pelted the roofs and roads and fields of Seven Poplars, driven the livestock inside to seek shelter and sent Vs of wild geese flying north overhead, honking their plaintive cries.

The rain didn’t trouble the Amish community, as a whole. The farmers and their wives welcomed the downpour because it filled their wells and soaked the newly plowed fields. Soon, seeds would go into the fertile earth, and the moisture would ensure lush crops of grain, vegetables and hay. The children, however, cooped up inside for days, yearned to have the chance to burn up their energy. They wanted to shout without being told to lower their voices, play ball, climb trees and cast the first baited hooks and bobbers into ponds.

But the rain continued to fall, and heavy, gray clouds offered no hint of sunshine and no chance to enjoy what should have been a fun-filled Saturday, after a week of school. Or so Jonah and J.J. thought.

They didn’t know what their parents were up to. Enlisting Katy as a coconspirator, Johanna and Roland had made a plan for a great adventure. First, J.J. and Jonah were both blindfolded and led to the family buggy. Then, they were driven around—where, they didn’t know, much to a giggling Katy’s delight. The only hint as to what the adventure might be was the tantalizing smell of gingerbread, barbecued chicken, baked beans and knabrus that drifted from the back of the carriage.

“Where are we going?” J.J. asked for the tenth time.

Johanna chuckled. “We can’t tell you. It’s a surprise.”

“It’s a pic—” Katy squealed, covering her mouth with her hands. “A surprise,” she repeated.

“But when will we get there?” Jonah demanded. “We’ve been driving for hours.”

Roland laughed. “Hardly, but...” He reined in his roan and the buggy came to a stop. “We’re almost there.”

“Hurray!” both boys cried in unison.

“Hurray!” Katy shouted and then dissolved into giggles again.

Johanna waited until Roland had opened the double doors wide and then guided the horse and buggy inside the barn. “Don’t take your blindfolds off yet,” she warned. “You’ll spoil the surprise.” She knotted the leathers around the dashboard rail, climbed down and helped Katy out of the carriage.

Roland closed the doors behind them and lifted first Jonah and then J.J. down from the vehicle. “It is a picnic,” he declared, “but a special one.”

“How can you have a picnic in the rain?” J.J. asked, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Wait and see.” Johanna took J.J.’s hand and led him to the base of the ladder that led to the hayloft, while Roland did the same for Jonah. “Now, take off your blindfolds.”

Both whipped the bandanas off their faces.

“Aw, it’s just our barn,” Jonah said, turning around.

“Ya, just our barn,” J.J. echoed, dejectedly.

“Ne.” Johanna chuckled. “That’s what you think. It’s our special picnic spot where no other boy in Seven Poplars has ever picnicked before.

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