Read Online Autumn Winds by Charlotte Hubbard - Free Book Online Page B

feet had brought me to this orchard. Just as well, too,” he added with an emphatic nod. “Nothin’ goes right in the heat of risin’ voices and pointin’ fingers.”
    Ben smiled at Miriam. She was cutting that fancy coconut cake while her girls went after more glasses and plates. It was just as well they were headed for the house, considering what he wanted to say. “Maybe I’m out of line, but I can’t see where Hiram’s servin’ the higher gut by tellin’ Miriam it’s God’s will that she marry him.”
    “That’s horse hockey,” Tom agreed. “It’s been a case of sour grapes with Hiram ever since the banker let an English fella buy Miriam’s bakery buildin’ instead of goin’ along with the bishop’s plans to own it.”
    “It’s all about ownership,” Ben agreed, “and nothin’ about love. That I could see.”
    He paused, wondering if his next thought might backfire. “I’ve got no business tanglin’ with your bishop, but I suspect that’ll keep happenin’ as long as I’m in Willow Ridge. Am I wrong to stay here?” he asked quietly. “Should I forgive and forget, and move on?”
    The way Miriam’s face fell—the way her wounded eyes sought his—was all the answer Ben needed. He held her gaze for as long as he dared, here in front of Micah and the preacher. He sensed these men wanted him here, no matter how Hiram Knepp felt about it.
    “Could be ya found your way here to Willow Ridge for this very reason, Ben.” Tom smiled at Miriam as she handed him his cake. “Sometimes we’re left to struggle with things, bein’ led all kinds of places and not knowin’ for sure where to go—or why. But we’re not fightin’ the gut fight alone,” he added confidently. “If it weren’t for my faith—and friends like the Lantzes and the Brennemans here—I’d have reached the end of my rope long ago and hung myself with it.”
    Ben smiled, enjoying the way Miriam’s face softened as she sliced off a large wedge of cake and handed it to him. “A little somethin’ to sweeten up your day,” she murmured. “I spent too much time on this coconut cake not to share it with my family and friends. Especially if Hiram’s gonna leave it beside the driveway!”
    “ Jah , I’ll have a big piece of that cake, Mamma!” Rhoda called out as she returned. She handed her mother more plates and then squeezed between Ben and Miriam to tighten their little circle on the quilt. “So what’re we gonna do about this bishop situation?”
    “Folks all over Willow Ridge are already talkin’,” Rachel remarked as she took her place beside Micah. Then she smiled at Ben. “Ya maybe didn’t know what ya were gettin’ into when ya fixed Mamma’s shop window. You’re kind of settin’ this little town on its ear, ain’t so?”
    Ben couldn’t help chuckling as both twins forked up huge bites of cake and stuffed their mouths at the same time. Amazing how they finished each other’s sentences and behaved so much alike, yet their distinct personalities came shining through their sparkling blue eyes as they looked him over . . . assessing him more closely, now that he’d taken a stand on behalf of their mother.
    “Like I was tellin’ your mamm after I blew into her bakery with that storm,” Ben began, “I’ve been lookin’ for better-priced land than can be found farther east. Wantin’ a place of my own for my farrier business and maybe to set up a mill on the rapids for my brothers, alongside the river near here.” He paused to cut a forkful of the moist white cake. “With all the corn and wheat I’m seein’, a mill could be a gut outlet for local farmers—and a way to branch into some of those specialty flours and whole-grain cereals that’re sellin’ so well these days.”
    “ Jah , that organic stuff’s all the rage now,” Tom agreed. “If I switched over to feedin’ certified organic grains, so my Holsteins could give organic milk, it’d sell for a pertier penny at that new whole