Finding Her Amish Love. Rebecca Kertz

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СКАЧАТЬ eased her mind, and she allowed herself to relax.

      She woke to daylight filtering in through the window over the loft. She’d slept hard and well. She started to rise when she heard the main door open, then the sound of male voices that grew louder as men approached. Emma slunk low into the far corner of the stall and covered herself with straw.

      “Do you think ’tis a gut idea to build on to your house, Reuben?” a man said. “Surely it’s big enough. You’ll have no problem with church service. Missy and Arlin managed to fit everyone inside the house or the barn when they hosted here.”

      “I don’t know, Daniel. Our congregation is growing. I want to do my part.”

      “You can and you will,” the man called Daniel insisted. “Now what did you want me to see?”

      Emma froze, terrified, as their voices grew louder. She didn’t want them to find her. She wanted to get out without anyone seeing her, then go up to the house to politely knock on the door, not get caught sleeping in a barn stall.

      “Back here,” the man called Reuben said. “I thought you might want these for your harness shop.”

      The men’s voices were close, and Emma relaxed only slightly as the sound grew distant again.

      “Where did you get these?” the man called Daniel asked, sounding awed.

      “Picked them up at a mud sale last year. Thought I’d use them, but I find I don’t need them. Take them. If nothing else, you can hang them next to the ones you carry once you open up shop.”

      “Danki. If you’re sure you don’t want them.”

      “Nay, Ellie has been after me to get rid of them.”

      “I’ll use them,” Daniel said. “It won’t be long before I have enough money to rent a place.”

      “Once you open your shop, then what?”

      “Then I’ll see about finding a wife.”

      The other man laughed, but she couldn’t hear his response. Emma heard the sound of the barn’s back door opening and the conversation receding as the men stepped outside. She didn’t budge. She hadn’t heard the sound of the closing door. Heart thumping hard, she lay as still as she could. After several moments of silence, she thought it might be safe to leave. Relief that she hadn’t been caught overwhelmed her, making her feel giddy. Or was the swimming sensation she felt from lack of food? She hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning when she’d finished the last of the granola bars she’d bought in a convenience store.

      She sat up, then abruptly sneezed as a piece of straw tickled her nose. She stilled, listening for the noise of someone approaching. When all remained quiet, she started to stand, then froze as she sensed someone’s presence. She glanced toward the door and saw with mounting horror an Amish man staring at her over the half door of the stall. The man wore a black-banded straw hat, royal blue long-sleeved shirt and navy pants held up by dark suspenders. He had light brown hair and brown eyes. Their gazes locked. The frown on his face eased into amusement as he took in her appearance.

      Shame made her hug herself with her arms. She scrambled to her feet, aware of her ragged jeans and the faded green T-shirt under her jacket. When his eyes shifted upward as if seeing something in her hair, Emma instinctively reached up, felt straw and blushed as she pulled it off. When his gaze met hers again, she stared back at him, refusing to be intimidated. She wasn’t afraid that he would hurt her. Her only fear was that he’d call the police and she’d be sent back to her foster family, the Turners.

      “Did you have a nice sleep?” His deep, pleasant voice rumbled along her spine.

      Daniel, she realized, and wondered why it had been easy to recognize his voice. “Yes.”

      He eyed her narrowly, all signs of his amusement gone. “Who are you and what are you doing here?”

      “I came to visit someone who lives here.”

      The handsome man arched an eyebrow. “Who?”

      “Leah,” she said. She saw a brief flicker of recognition in his gaze.

      “Leah Mast?”

      Emma bobbed her head. “She told me I could come back to see her.” She bit her lip. “So here I am.” She eased across the stall a few steps toward the door, but since he was blocking her escape, there was no place for her to go.

      “There is no Leah Mast here.”

      His tone made her tense. “I don’t know her last name, but she has blond hair and blue eyes. A pretty girl.”

      “You know Leah.” He sounded doubtful, but the look in his eyes changed after she’d described her.

      “Yes. We met last year.” She studied him carefully. He was an attractive man, a fact she couldn’t help noticing. “Are you her brother?”

      “Nay.” He tilted his head. “Come out of there.”

      Fear washed over her as she shook her head vigorously. He looked nice, but since moving in with the Turners, she’d learned that looks could be deceiving.

      He frowned. “You believe I’d cause you harm?”

      “No,” she breathed, and she believed it, but she couldn’t be too careful. “I just need to see Leah. Can you get her for me?”

      “Leah no longer lives here,” Daniel said.

      All her hopes quickly disappeared. Feeling faint, Emma closed her eyes briefly and swayed. Her stomach hurt, and she felt dizzy. “Then I’ll go,” she said.

      He watched her carefully. “I can take you to her, if you like.” His smile appeared, but it was gone so fast that she wondered if it had been genuine. “She married and moved into Henry’s house. She’s Leah Yoder now.”

      She eyed him with misgiving. Dare she trust him? “Where is she?”

      “Not far. Leah and Henry run Yoder’s Country Crafts and General Store.” Daniel opened the door, and Emma backed into the other corner, hugging herself tighter. Concern entered his expression. “I won’t hurt you.”

      “I know.”

      “Then stop backing away from me.”

      She didn’t know what to say. Logic told her that he wouldn’t hurt her. He was Amish and religious, right? Then she recalled attending church with Bryce Turner and his family, and she knew people pretended to be Christian when they weren’t.

      Daniel Lapp studied the bedraggled girl in front of him with compassion. The fact that she described his cousin accurately eased some of the concern at finding her in the barn, but not all of it. Leah had lived here with her parents and sisters until each sister had wed and moved away, leaving their parents with a house that was too big for them. After his cousin Ellie married Reuben, the couple had switched houses with his aunt and uncle, her parents, Reuben’s smaller house a better fit for the older couple. The trade had worked СКАЧАТЬ