Second Chance Proposal. Anna Schmidt

Чтение книги онлайн.

      Chapter Two

      The day had been unsettling to say the least. After her encounter with John, Lydia had barely been able to concentrate on the lessons she tried to teach the children. After they had eaten their lunches she surrendered to her complete inability to concentrate and let Bettina teach the little ones. In the meantime she gave the older students assignments they could do on their own. Then she sat at her desk studying her Bible in hopes that God would send her answers to the questions that crowded her mind.

      At the end of the day she hurried home, thankful that the rain had let up and that John Amman had not waited for her outside as she had feared he might. Perhaps he had come to his senses and walked back the way he came. He clearly thought she was married and, given the shunning, surely no one in town would have told him the real story. She could only pray that this was the case. It was unimaginable to even consider living in the same town with John after all this time, after everything that had happened between them.

      “Impossible,” she muttered as she climbed the porch steps to her house. She was eager to have a quiet supper and settle in for the evening to correct work she had collected from the students. That would surely calm her nerves. She would retire early and pray that John Amman would not haunt her dreams.

      But as she reached for the doorknob, the door swung open and there stood her sister Greta, her baby daughter riding her hip while her two boisterous sons—only a year apart—raced from the kitchen to greet Lydia. “Tante Liddy,” they squealed in unison as they threw themselves against her.

      She set the large basket that she used to carry books and papers to and from school on the table inside the front hallway and bent to give the boys a hug. “This is a surprise,” she said, glancing up at Greta.

      “I have news,” Greta said in a conspiratorial whisper. “Boys, go finish your milk,” she instructed as she led the way into the front room. “You should sit,” she instructed as she shifted the baby in her arms.

      This could be anything, Lydia warned herself. Greta was given to melodrama, and even the simplest news could seem monumental to her. Lydia sat in her rocking chair and reached for her niece. Greta handed her the child, clearly relieved to sit down herself. She was nearly eight months along in her latest pregnancy, and she sank heavily into the nearest chair.

      “John Amman has returned,” Greta announced. “Gert Hadwell told Hilda Yoder that he just walked into the hardware store this morning as if he’d last been there yesterday.” She waited, her eyebrows raised expectantly. “Well?”

      Lydia would not sugarcoat the facts, especially with Greta.

      “I know. He was at the school when I arrived this morning. He had started the stove to warm the building.”

      “Well, what happened? What did you say? What did he say? Where’s he been all this time and why didn’t he ever write to you and why come back now? Is he staying?” All of the questions Lydia had refused to voice came tumbling from her sister’s lips. Greta covered her mouth with her fist. “But, of course, you couldn’t say anything. He’s still under the bann.”

      “Of course. How could I have any information about whether or not he plans to stay?” But he had said as much as he walked away from the school.

      “Oh, he’s staying. He’s taken the rooms above Luke’s shop. Gert sent Roger to arrange everything with Luke earlier today.”

      So close? The distance between Lydia’s house and Luke’s building was less than fifty yards. “Well, there’s your answer,” Lydia murmured, and wondered at the way her heart lurched at the news that he had found a place to live already. That they were to be neighbors.

      “If you ask me, there’s more to this than it seems,” Greta pressed.

      “What do you mean?”

      “What if he’s come back for you?”

      Lydia stood and bounced the child as she walked to the window that looked directly down to where the blacksmith shop sat and where even now John might be standing at the kitchen window of the upstairs apartment looking at her house, watching for any sign of her. “Don’t be silly,” she said briskly. “It’s been years. If John has come back to Celery Fields, it’s because he needs a place to work and live.”

      “Then why not go north to his family’s farm?”

      Because he was never a farmer.

      With a sigh she turned to face her sister. “You’ll have to ask him that question, Greta.”

      “Well, I just might,” Greta replied. “Of course, I’ll wait until he’s seen the bishop and makes his plea for forgiveness on Sunday. But if he has any idea that he can just come back here after all this time, after no word to you for years, and...”

      “Let the past go, Greta,” Lydia warned. “Be happy for the Hadwells. I’m sure Gertrude is beside herself with joy. John was always her favorite nephew.”

      “I am happy for them,” Greta said petulantly. “It’s just that...” She frowned.

      “It СКАЧАТЬ