Unexpected Amish Protectors by Jo Ann Brown

Author:Jo Ann Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-11-29T21:00:47+00:00

Chapter Ten

That Sunday after the church service had ended, Lucas walked out of the Kuhns’ house and stretched. A lifetime of sitting on backless benches should have prepared him for the longer than usual service this morning. There had been a lot of announcements about events after the harvest, including an auction at the end of October to raise money to have a school built. The scholars had gathered last spring in a patched polytunnel behind Mattie’s farm shop, but it was time for a permanent building. Juan and Annalise had donated land for the school, and the community would provide the labor. The auction funds would help pay for the materials they already had on order.

He’d listened through the announcements for Aveline’s brothers’ weddings to be published, but Wes later told him that wouldn’t happen for another month. Lucas wanted to know the dates because, during the next fortnight of preparations, Aveline wouldn’t have any time to spend with Julie.

Was the little girl right that someone was watching her? He didn’t want to believe it, but Julie was honest about everything else. The fact also remained that Trace hadn’t appeared smart enough to figure the abduction out on his own.

Lucas hadn’t had a chance to ask Aveline if she had new insight into the enigma. Today would be a gut day to find out what she was thinking. Julie wasn’t visiting, so he and Aveline could find a quiet spot and discuss the situation. If you go off with her somewhere alone, everyone is going to talk. He shuddered at the thought. Changing his reputation was something he’d wanted to do, but adding to the already virulent whispers he and Aveline were walking out together wasn’t the way.

He almost laughed aloud. If the gossips had any idea how seldom he’d been alone with Aveline, they’d be shocked silent. Or almost silent, which might be the best anyone could hope for. He swallowed a chuckle. Was it possible the longest he and Aveline had been alone together had been when they’d been searching for her rambling water buffalo calf before finding Julie?

All yearning to laugh fled. He tried to tell himself it was for the best because he would have been a fool to risk his heart. Yet he was intrigued by the woman she was, not the woman gossip had painted her.

“There you are,” Juan said as he walked with care toward Lucas. Though his sight had mostly returned, he wore thick glasses and continued to use a cane to guide him on uneven ground.

His younger brother wasn’t alone. Their cousin Mark walked alongside Juan. Mark’s property abutted Lucas’s farm. Before planting their potato crop that spring, he and Mark had taken down the fences between a couple of their fields. Already, Lucas knew they’d be pulling out more after the harvest. He’d been amazed by the time they saved not having to turn their draft teams at each fence. They’d been able to continue the long rows without a break and gained at least a half dozen hills in each row.

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