The Amish Outcast's Holiday Return by Lacy Williams

Author:Lacy Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2021-08-12T16:28:40+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Zach was carting folding chairs down to the basement as the Beilers cleaned up after the party. When he returned upstairs after the last trip, Grace’s mamm was ushering Isaiah and Elijah upstairs. Sarah and Violet had disappeared. Mr. Beiler was sitting at the dining table with a cup of kaffee and his Bible open.

And Grace was waiting in the front room with Zach’s coat. Time to go.

He said good-night to his boss and strode toward her. As he neared, he saw she was wearing her coat, too.

“Will you walk down to the barn with me?” she asked.

His stomach did a slow flip. Had she somehow figured out his Christmas surprise? He nodded.

Seeing Tiffany again had given him closure on the relationship that hadn’t lasted past his indictment. He felt nothing for her.

In contrast, just stepping out of the house and falling into stride beside Grace—they weren’t even touching—had his pulse racing.

Their boots crunched through the frosty winter grass. A slender moon rose over the horizon, and it limned her skin with silver.

One glance from her and he could fall into her eyes. Heat flushed his face, and he forced his gaze away, forced himself to look at the barn. “Do you need me to cart some pots to the daadi haus?”

“No.” She smiled a soft smile. “There’s a surprise for you out here.”

“A surprise?” For him? “Really?”

“Jah, really.” She tilted her head toward him. “You seem shocked. More than a little surprise like this deserves.”

He was shocked. “It’s been a long time since anyone has made a surprise for me. Probably my mamm when I was a kid was the last one.” His teachers in middle school and high school had been too busy, with heavy workloads, to notice a lonely kid like him.

Grace reached the barn door first and turned so that she partially blocked his way. He could’ve moved away, but found he didn’t want to look away from her compassionate gaze.

“I’m sorry, Zach.”

He stuffed his hands into his coat pockets. “It wasn’t your fault.” It wasn’t anybody’s fault, really, that he’d been stuck with an uncle who didn’t want the burden of raising a kid.

“Things have been so much better for me since coming back here.” And Grace was a part of all of it. Because of Grace, he’d formed friendships, had a job, experienced beauty. Every time he saw that plant in his bedroom window, it made him think of her. He was so grateful for her that he couldn’t form words. He hoped she knew.

The silence between them seemed to swell with anticipation.

Since the night she’d helped him bake and he’d almost given in to the impulse to kiss her, he couldn’t get Amos’s suggestion out of his head—he should invite Grace to walk home with him from the next singing.

But Grace was popular. What if...? What if there was someone special?

The thought made his stomach roil. There was only one way to find out.

“I have been wondering,” he started haltingly, “if there’s anyone—”

Her curious gaze unmanned him, and he broke off.

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