Read Online A Place of Peace by Amy Clipston - Free Book Online Page B

dear, dear
freind.”
    “Ah!” He laughed. “Now, that’s a greeting. I’m doing gut.” His eyes turned serious. “I’m so sorry about your
mamm.
She was a
wunderbaar
woman. How are you holding up?” His expression said he truly cared.
    She cleared her throat, which was suddenly dry. “I’ve been better.”
    “Want to talk about it?” He touched her arm. “We can go somewhere private to chat. My front porch still has the best swing in all of Lancaster County.”
    “Not today, but maybe soon.” She gave him a sad smile. “It was really good seeing you, but I have to go. I need some time alone.”
    “I’ll let you off the hook for now, but I expect to hear from you within the week.” He patted his pockets and frowned. “I don’t have a card on me, but the number to my shop is still the same. I’d bet your
aenti
has the number.”
    Miriam touched his arm.
“Danki.
I’ll call you.”
    “Promise?” His expression was hopeful.
    “Promise.” She turned and hurried toward the street and toward the path leading to Edna’s house.
    Timothy glanced across the room again, and she was gone.
    Vanished into thin air.
    Was she a figment of his imagination?
    No, she wasn’t a figment; she was in the flesh, real. Miriam had been standing on the other side of the room with her cousin Abby mere moments ago. However, he had looked over at Naomi and then back at Miriam, and she was gone.
    He was certain he hadn’t imagined her, though. He could still envision her in his mind’s eye. She was as beautiful, if not more beautiful, than he’d remembered. Her skin was flawless, and her eyes, oh those deep, rich chocolate eyes, were wide with … innocence?
    Could she still be innocent? Lilly had said Miriam left to be with a man she’d met through a personal ad. For all he knew, she’d lived with the man and then decided he wasn’t for her. Bile rose in his throat at the thought of Miriam living intimately with another man.
    He swallowed a groan. Why was he jealous when
she
was the one who had left
him?
    But his assumptions could’ve been wrong. Miriam’s eyes were still the same. And those beautiful orbs gazed at him with an intensity he couldn’t forget and that sometimes haunted his dreams.
    Did that mean she still cared for him?
    His heart thumped with that silly hope.
    No, that wasn’t possible. If she’d cared, then she would’ve stayed and married him. She wouldn’t have broken all of those late-night promises they’d made while sitting on her father’s porch.
    “Timothy?” Naomi’s voice broke through his mental tirade. “What’s wrong? You’ve got that million-miles-away look on your face again.”
    “Sorry.” He cleared his throat and cut his eyes toward the back door. “How about we go for a walk?”
    He yearned to see Miriam again. He needed to know he hadn’t imagined her standing there, staring at him, causing his pulse to leap and his throat to dry.
    She shrugged. “Okay.”
    Weaving through the knot of mourners, Timothy led Naomi out the back door. While Naomi spoke to a friend, Timothy stopped dead in his tracks when he found Miriam standing in the grass talking to Zach Fisher. His stomach soured when Zach touched her arm. Miriam stepped closer to him, and they shared a quiet conversation. After more coy expressions, Miriam touched his arm and then started toward the road leading to Edna Lapp’s house.
    Had Miriam dumped her
English
boyfriend and returned to Lancaster County to begin a new relationship with Zach Fisher?
    Seething with anger, Timothy shook his head.
    What had Beth Anne been thinking when she said it was God’s will for him and Miriam to talk? How could it be God’s will for Miriam to break his heart all over again?
    How could Timothy consider speaking to Miriam when the mere sight of her flirting made him physically ill?
    Beside him, Naomi finished her conversation with one of her friends from the district. She turned back to him and tugged his arm. “Timothy?”