Rachel's Secret by B. J. Hoff

Author:B. J. Hoff
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780736924184
Publisher: Harvest House Publishers, Inc.

19

SAMUEL PLEADS HIS CASE

The hope, the fear, the jealous care,

The exalted portion of the pain

And power of love, I cannot share,

But wear the chain.

LORD BYRON

A week later Rachel was still trying to get used to being alone again.

After Gant moved into Dr. Sebastian’s house at the crossroads, Fannie had returned home, Gideon no longer dropped by except for a hurried cup of coffee, and of course the doctor wasn’t stopping in on a regular basis to check on Gant. So other than an occasional visit from Mamma, she had her house to herself again.

She had thought she would welcome the peace and quiet after all the distractions of the past few weeks. Instead, she found herself at loose ends. No matter how busy she kept, she missed the more harried pace, the lack of a predictable routine, the flurry of folks coming in and out.

She missed Gant.

The realization shook her so badly she almost dropped the basket of eggs she’d just collected. She half expected to see him perched on a chair at the kitchen table, looking up at her with that crooked smile as he helped Fannie with some aspect of her schoolwork.

But of course the kitchen was empty. No Gant. No Fannie.

No laughter or noise. No sound at all.

She set the egg basket on the counter by the sink and then went to look out the window. From here she could see down the road quite a ways, but the small white frame house, where he was staying, was still out of view.

What did he do with his days now? How did a man with an injured leg, alone in a house with no real work to do, spend his time?

He had stopped by only once. He’d come by the day after he moved out to pick up the clothes she’d laundered for him. At the same time, he’d tried again to pay “for his keep.” Rachel hadn’t taken his money the first time he’d offered, and she refused the second time as well.

She tried to explain that the Amish didn’t do for others with any expectation of payment. They helped because it was what the Lord God would want them to do, what He would expect them to do.

Gant had seemed frustrated with her refusal. She sensed that he was a man who was used to paying his way for everything and didn’t quite know how to respond when he couldn’t.

His confusion had almost been amusing.

She hadn’t seen him since. Nor should she want to see him. Her life was considerably easier with him out from under her roof. She had less work to do, fewer worried looks from her mother, and surely by now tongues had stopped wagging among the People about the outsider she’d taken in during the middle of the night.

She was still standing at the window when she saw Samuel Beiler coming up the road. As he drew closer, pulled up to the house, and stepped out of the buggy, she saw that

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