forgotten. The aroma of the peaches, rich and sweet, filled her head, carrying her back to her mother’s kitchen and the easy chatter of women working together.
Helping Myra can peaches kept her hands busy, but it left her mind free to worry about what the evening held. Bishop Mose would be stopping by after supper to talk with her. Daadi had sent word over this morning, which must mean he’d already spoken to the bishop about her.
What would Bishop Mose ask her? And how would she explain herself to him? She needed his acceptance if she was to stay here. She forced herself to loosen her grip on the peach before she bruised it with her worry.
Myra sliced peaches quickly into a bowl of water treated with a pectin solution to keep them from darkening. “The Elbertas are the best ever this year, I think.” She darted a glance at Anna. “But you are not thinking about peaches just now. You are fretting about the bishop’s visit, ja?”
“How did you know?” In the week she’d been here, Anna had begun to discover that for all her outward shyness, Myra could go straight to the heart of the matter.
“Ach, it’s only natural, ain’t so?” Myra’s hands stilled on the peaches for a second, and then she clasped Anna’s hand in a brief, wet squeeze. “It will be all right. You’ll see. Bishop Mose will understand.”
“I hope so.”
But did she hope that, really? As she recalled, their district’s bishop, wise with years, had a way of knowing what was in your heart. She wasn’t sure she wanted him looking that closely into hers.
“I’m certain-sure,” Myra said, her voice warm with affection.
“Denke, Myra.” Anna’s heart filled with gratitude for her sister-in-law’s caring. “I appreciate your saying so.”
Myra took the next peach. “Ach, I just thought maybe you wanted to talk to someone about it, and I’m the only one here. Or you could run over to Leah’s, if you want. I can handle the canning myself.”
“That’s all right. I don’t need to see Leah.”
A chill settled on her heart. That was just as well, since it seemed Leah didn’t want to see her. For all her words of welcome and her warm hug, Leah had made no effort to seek her out for a private talk since her return. It looked as if Leah wasn’t ready yet to go back to being sisters.
She should try to look on the bright side of it. At least this way when she left, she wouldn’t be hurting Leah again.
Her heart twisted. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. If she could have found another place where Gracie would be safe, she wouldn’t have come here.
She had to protect Gracie, no matter what, so she’d do what was necessary. She would submerge herself and her daughter into the Amish world until it was safe to come out.
And then what? How many people would she hurt when she went away again? If she could stay here while keeping her distance from the others . . . Well, that wasn’t worth thinking about. It was next to impossible in a community like this. Nobody kept any distance, it seemed.
Myra lifted clean jars from the hot water bath, and together they began to fill them. The amber slices slid into the glass jars easily, making the glass seem to glow from within.
“Looks nice,” Myra said. “Satisfying.”
Anna nodded. “It does. I don’t know why I used to try so hard to get out of helping with the canning.”
Myra chuckled, smoothing a strand of hair back from her damp forehead with the back of her hand. “Ach, I was the same. Always thinking that Samuel had it better, because he got to work outside with Daadi.”
“I’m afraid I just wanted to get out of the work, period.” Her thoughts had always been drifting off far from the farm, as she recalled.
“It’s different now that the work is for my own family,” Myra said. “I like to see the jars all lined up on their shelves and know that we’ll be eating well all winter. And you, too. Your Gracie loves fruit as much as my Sarah does.”
Myra’s calm
Helping Myra can peaches kept her hands busy, but it left her mind free to worry about what the evening held. Bishop Mose would be stopping by after supper to talk with her. Daadi had sent word over this morning, which must mean he’d already spoken to the bishop about her.
What would Bishop Mose ask her? And how would she explain herself to him? She needed his acceptance if she was to stay here. She forced herself to loosen her grip on the peach before she bruised it with her worry.
Myra sliced peaches quickly into a bowl of water treated with a pectin solution to keep them from darkening. “The Elbertas are the best ever this year, I think.” She darted a glance at Anna. “But you are not thinking about peaches just now. You are fretting about the bishop’s visit, ja?”
“How did you know?” In the week she’d been here, Anna had begun to discover that for all her outward shyness, Myra could go straight to the heart of the matter.
“Ach, it’s only natural, ain’t so?” Myra’s hands stilled on the peaches for a second, and then she clasped Anna’s hand in a brief, wet squeeze. “It will be all right. You’ll see. Bishop Mose will understand.”
“I hope so.”
But did she hope that, really? As she recalled, their district’s bishop, wise with years, had a way of knowing what was in your heart. She wasn’t sure she wanted him looking that closely into hers.
“I’m certain-sure,” Myra said, her voice warm with affection.
“Denke, Myra.” Anna’s heart filled with gratitude for her sister-in-law’s caring. “I appreciate your saying so.”
Myra took the next peach. “Ach, I just thought maybe you wanted to talk to someone about it, and I’m the only one here. Or you could run over to Leah’s, if you want. I can handle the canning myself.”
“That’s all right. I don’t need to see Leah.”
A chill settled on her heart. That was just as well, since it seemed Leah didn’t want to see her. For all her words of welcome and her warm hug, Leah had made no effort to seek her out for a private talk since her return. It looked as if Leah wasn’t ready yet to go back to being sisters.
She should try to look on the bright side of it. At least this way when she left, she wouldn’t be hurting Leah again.
Her heart twisted. She didn’t want to hurt anyone. If she could have found another place where Gracie would be safe, she wouldn’t have come here.
She had to protect Gracie, no matter what, so she’d do what was necessary. She would submerge herself and her daughter into the Amish world until it was safe to come out.
And then what? How many people would she hurt when she went away again? If she could stay here while keeping her distance from the others . . . Well, that wasn’t worth thinking about. It was next to impossible in a community like this. Nobody kept any distance, it seemed.
Myra lifted clean jars from the hot water bath, and together they began to fill them. The amber slices slid into the glass jars easily, making the glass seem to glow from within.
“Looks nice,” Myra said. “Satisfying.”
Anna nodded. “It does. I don’t know why I used to try so hard to get out of helping with the canning.”
Myra chuckled, smoothing a strand of hair back from her damp forehead with the back of her hand. “Ach, I was the same. Always thinking that Samuel had it better, because he got to work outside with Daadi.”
“I’m afraid I just wanted to get out of the work, period.” Her thoughts had always been drifting off far from the farm, as she recalled.
“It’s different now that the work is for my own family,” Myra said. “I like to see the jars all lined up on their shelves and know that we’ll be eating well all winter. And you, too. Your Gracie loves fruit as much as my Sarah does.”
Myra’s calm
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