Read Online A Simple Winter: A Seasons of Lancaster Novel by Rosalind Lauer - Free Book Online Page A

But her brother Adam was no closer to taking a wife than he was a year ago when he returned to the family. And if Adam refused to marry, then who would manage the women’s work in their household? All the cooking and cleaning, sewing and washing … not to mention helping with the milking.
    Oh, what would she do if she were forced to choose between this man she loved and her commitment to her family? Mary huddled under the blanket and bit her lips together in frustration; she’d considered the dilemma many times before, never able to puzzle out an answer.
    “What’s the matter?” Five said as he turned the buggy from the highway to a country lane. “You look like you’ve got the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
    The moment Mary saw the spark of concern in his blue eyes she tossed her worries away, casting them up to scatter with the stars and moon. “It’s nothing.” She glanced up at the three-quartermoon in the sky, so amused by the silly grin she could make out. “The man on the moon is smiling down on us. Do you see his face up there?” she asked, eager to change the subject.
    “I hate to break it to you, but there’s no man up there. Only dark patches on the surface. Craters and rocks.”
    She laughed. “I knew that.”
    “Of course, you can think that it’s a symbol of God’s face shining down on us, because that, I know, is a reality.”
    Warmed by the love in his eyes, Mary squeezed his hand. How blessed she was to have Five in her life. They would find a way to take care of her family so that they could wed. God would help them do the right and proper thing.
    “I never tire of looking at the stars with you,” she said. “How many years have we been courting now? Three?”
    “Soon to be four,” he said. “Though it feels like a thousand years.”
    “Why, John Beiler …” She pulled a hand out from under the blanket to tap the brim of his hat. “You make it sound as if we’ve been together so long that you’re beginning to think of me as a familiar old shoe.”
    As he held on to his hat, his deep, soulful laugh filled the night. “I didn’t say that. Though I do appreciate having comfortable boots on my feet. Never underestimate the value of a familiar old shoe, Mary.”

SIX
    hen Adam stepped outside to connect the hot water hose to the porch tub, he was struck by two things: the deep silence of the winter night, and the brilliant diamonds in the sky overhead.
    Such a clear night. He could make out Ursa Minor, the pattern of stars known as the Little Dipper. Dat had taught them how to spot Polaris in the night sky, the tip of the ladle’s handle. “If you can find your way north, you’ll never be lost,” he used to say.
    Now, watching the North Star throb like his own pulse, Adam wished his father were here to point up at the sky. Stars like this were meant to be shared, but everyone in the house was asleep.
    Past the crisscross of roads beyond frozen pastures, Mary and Jonah were off at a youth get-together, a bonfire for single Amish men and women. And beyond that, Remy McCallister’s green eyes and curly copper hair shone under these same stars in the city of Philadelphia. Since he’d run into her at the market today, her image had been emblazoned in his mind. Her smile. Her sympathetic eyes.Even the smattering of freckles across her nose. Goodness swirled behind those green eyes, though he sensed she hadn’t found a way to express that. Chances were he’d never see her again, but somehow it lightened his heart to think of her spending Saturday night under the same starry sky.
    He almost laughed as he attached the hose to the rig outside the mudroom. His big Saturday night plans—a bath—and he was looking forward to it. Although the house had plenty of space, the indoor plumbing was limited—something Adam planned to change. On a night like tonight, when his body was weary to the marrow of his bones, it would be very nice to have a hot water line that ran to an