Suspendered Sentence by Bradford Laura

Author:Bradford, Laura [Bradford, Laura]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2015-03-02T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

She locked the back door of Heavenly Treasures and waved to Annie as the girl disappeared around the corner of the shop in a pair of bargain-basement blue jeans and an oversized long-sleeved shirt. Part of Claire wanted to call Annie back, wanted to demand the teenager switch back into the light blue dress and apron covering that fit more naturally than the newly donned evening wear, but she didn’t.

Annie needed to experience the world from a slightly different vantage point than her father’s buggy allowed. It was a rite of passage, a way to be sure.

Still, Claire worried. Despite the tough, I-don’t-care attitude the girl had exhibited twenty-four hours earlier, Annie was fragile. Whether or not the girl was truly strong enough and savvy enough to stay away from the pitfalls of the English world remained to be seen.

“Hey there, I was hoping I’d catch you before you headed to the inn.” Jakob half walked, half jogged up the alley to greet Claire with a warm hug. “How was your day?”

She stepped back, slipped the shop’s keys into her coat pocket, and did her best to rustle up the smile he deserved. “I hired a new employee and I actually think she’s going to work out just fine.”

“Now that’s fantastic news,” he said before addressing the latter part of her sentence. “But you had doubts?”

“She’s only sixteen. When she came into the shop asking about the job I’d told Esther I wasn’t ready to fill, she didn’t necessarily project the image of someone who wanted to do a whole lot of working. And her attitude? Not good.”

“And today?”

“She worked hard all day long.”

He fell into step alongside her as they turned and made their way down the alley and onto the sidewalk that lined Heavenly Treasures’ side of Lighted Way. “And the attitude?”

“A ruse to get noticed.”

“Sounds like a teenager,” he joked. “What’s her name?”

“Annie.”

“A junior at Heavenly High School, I imagine?”

Stopping just shy of the road, Claire leaned against the clapboard exterior of her shop. “No. Annie is Amish.”

Any momentary surprise she caught on Jakob’s part vanished just as quickly. “Oh? Which family?”

“She’s Bishop Hershberger’s youngest daughter.”

He walked a few feet away and then retraced his steps back to Claire, the tone of his voice difficult to read. “Then she won’t be acknowledging me when I stop by the shop to see you, that’s for sure.”

It was a wrinkle she hadn’t considered. Then again, maybe it wasn’t . . . “She’s on Rumspringa,” she offered as a counterpoint.

“She’s still Atlee’s daughter.”

“Which might be the exact reason she does speak to you,” she mumbled before lifting up the bottom of her left boot and resting it against the shop.

“You lost me.”

“Remember what I said a few minutes ago? About Annie’s attitude being a ruse to get noticed?”

Jakob nodded, his gaze fixed firmly on hers.

“The person she’s trying to get noticed by is her dat.”

“Oh. That changes things . . .” Jakob turned and leaned against the building beside Claire.

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