Read Online The Matchmaker by Sarah Price - Free Book Online

perfect for Emma to focus on her quilting.
    Earlier that morning Emma had visited with the Blanks. While she normally visited on Thursdays, she had promised Hetty’s maem to drop off a schnitzel pie. She liked to bake pies early in the morning on Saturdays, the room still cool from the night air and the smell lingering in the kitchen for most of the day. But to spend the time making only one pie made little sense to Emma. So when she did bake pies, she always made extra ones to give to neighbors and friends.
    Given that she had already spent time visiting on Thursday, her stop at the Blanks’ house that morning was shorter than usual. She used the excuse of wanting to returnhome in order to work on the quilt so that neither woman’s feelings would be hurt that she didn’t stay longer. However, once she left their house, she took her time walking home, enjoying the heat of the sun on the nape of her neck. As she wandered down back roads, she paused to admire the green fields of the neighboring farms. It wouldn’t be long before the corn stalks turned brown and were cut for fodder, leaving bare fields to greet the winter months.
    By the time she returned home, it was almost noon. She had to hurry to make a light meal for her daed . Boiled potatoes and carrots accompanied the meatloaf that she had cooked earlier in the day. The two of them ate at the table, little conversation between them with the exception of Emma updating her daed about Hetty’s appreciation for the schnitzel pie.
    For the most part, it was a quiet sort of afternoon. The usual flurry of visitors was not expected at the house since Hannah had plans to join Gladys at a neighbor’s home for supper. Emma had hoped to see Anna, but learned earlier in the week that Samuel was intent upon visiting his cousin’s farm with his new wife. Without her favorite people around to entertain, Emma was quite content to sit in her chair by the quilting frame, putting the finishing touches upon the outer border while she half listened to her daed snore as he napped in his recliner chair.
    The clock had just struck two o’clock when she heard the sound of horse hooves and buggy wheels pulling into their driveway. Setting down the needle, she glanced out the window, but from her vantage point she was unable to see who had just arrived.
    “Are you expecting someone, Daed ?” she asked softly, turning to look at him.
    Jolted from his sleep, Henry grumbled for a moment as he gained his senses. He rubbed his face and sat up straight in the recliner. “What did you say, Emma?”
    “I asked if you are expecting someone, then? I hear a buggy in the driveway.” When he didn’t respond, still dazed from his slumber, she frowned and stood up in order to walk into the kitchen for a better view from the front window.
    “Who is it?” her daed called.
    She didn’t have to answer as the door suddenly opened and Gideon entered, removing his hat and placing it on the hook near the door. He grinned at Emma and called out a greeting to Henry.
    Immediately upon hearing Gideon’s voice, Henry brightened and shifted his weight in the recliner. “How right gut to see you, Gideon!”
    Emma remained speechless. She quickly glanced around the kitchen, saying a prayer of thanks that everything was neat and tidy. It would never do to have a visitor see anything less than a pristine kitchen. “We weren’t expecting you,” she managed to say.
    Ignoring Emma’s comment, Gideon crossed the room and properly shook Henry’s hand. “I was visiting friends down the road and thought to stop by for a Saturday afternoon visit.” He glanced at Emma. “If that pleases you, of course,” he added with a light-hearted tone to his words.
    “Always a pleasure,” Henry countered, the expression on his weathered face speaking of the genuine delight he felt at his friend’s surprise appearance. He gestured toward the sofa. “Sit for a spell, ja ?”
    “Don’t mind if I do.” Gideon took his