Her Secret Amish Match by Cathy Liggett

Author:Cathy Liggett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-09-14T20:25:58+00:00

Chapter Ten

Oblivious to the never-ending bustle of the lumberyard, Jake fed another piece of white oak into the thickness planer, his mind still reeling from the dreadful events of the night before.

Hard as he tried, he couldn’t suppress the bile rising in the back of his throat every time he thought about Eli’s find and the harm that could’ve been done to him—and to his girls. Nor could he shake the anxious feelings reverberating through him as they had when Lily was still alive. Back when her addiction had taken over their home and lives. Back when he’d had to warn Sarah, who was barely four then, about the pills she’d discovered in Lily’s apron pocket while trying to help him make soup for her listless mamm.

And now, to think what had happened the evening before could change his and Hannah’s relationship tore at his very soul. To know that she was hurting...

Pain squeezed his heart as he recalled how they’d hardly glanced at one another when he’d left for work in the morning. As they’d crossed paths at the back door, they’d barely uttered a word.

Tormented, he grabbed another hardwood board and forcefully tossed it up on the machine. In doing so, he wished with all his might that life could be like a piece of wood that he could easily guide through a planer.

After all, hardwood comes from an oak tree that endures all kinds of conditions and a multitude of seasons, just like us, he mused. Its trunk and limbs become marked and bruised. Yet in the end, the planer does its job. The wood gets sized just right, and each nick and blemish is stripped away.

Engrossed in his thoughts, he lifted the finished board as it exited the planer, and rubbed his hand over its smooth, unmarred surface. As he did, he was reminded once again why he’d moved himself and his children. He’d hoped he would be rid of anything that tarnished his children’s lives. He wished for a new future, a fresh start.

Yet, even being back in the house he’d grown up in, a place where he’d experienced happy memories, sometimes he couldn’t sleep. He’d lay awake wrestling with his conscience, feeling remorseful about the way he’d handled Lily’s problems.

Then Hannah had come along, and her presence had made such a difference in their lives. Truly, it felt as if everything around him had been cleansed, renewed. The kinner’s spirits were lightened. And the friendship the two of them shared seemed stronger than ever.

Until last night.

A tap on his shoulder jarred his thoughts. Turning, he saw Saul Hammond. Shifting his goggles to the top of his head, he pulled out his earplugs.

“Hey, Saul.”

“You’re whipping through those boards mighty quickly, Jake. Be careful,” his coworker warned. “You don’t want to scrape your hands or wrench your shoulder.”

“I’m gut,” he said, barely glancing Saul’s way. He started to turn back to his work when Rosie suddenly appeared at their sides.

“You both need to join Seth in the break room,” she said tersely without any of her usual banter or smiles.

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