Read Online [Kentucky Brothers 01] - The Journey by Wanda E Brunstetter - Free Book Online Page A

8
     

Paradise, Pennsylvania
     
    T imothy Fisher had just left the chiropractor’s for an adjustment in his lower back, when he decided to stop by Naomi and Caleb’s store to say hello before heading home.
     
    “It’s good to see you,” Naomi said from behind the counter, where she had been reading a copy of one of their Amish newspapers,
The Budget
. It was hard to believe she was forty-seven, because she looked like she was in her thirties. There wasn’t a speck of gray in her golden brown hair, and she could still see perfectly without reading glasses, which their younger sister Nancy often wore.
     
    “Good to see you, too. Have you been busy here today?” he asked.
     
    “We sure have, and this is the first chance I’ve had to take a break.” Her cocoa-colored eyes showed no sign of fatigue when she smiled. “Of course, it’s springtime, when the tourists start flocking to our area.”
     
    His brows furrowed as he leaned on the counter. “I know the tourists are good for business, but I wish they wouldn’t stare at us Plain People or snap pictures right in our faces.”
     
    Naomi shook her head. “Not every tourist does that, and I think those who stare are probably just curious about our lifestyle and the way we dress.”
     
    “I guess you’re right, but there are times when I’d like to pack up my family and move someplace where there aren’t so many tourists.”
     
    “You’re not thinking of joining Titus in Kentucky, I hope.”
     
    “The idea is kind of tempting, but I don’t think Hannah would agree to move. She likes it here, and she and her mamm are really close.” He rubbed his fingers along the edge of the counter. “Sometimes I think she and Sally are too close. Hannah goes over there almost every day, and she thinks she has to ask her mamm’s advice about everything she does.”
     
    Naomi stared down at her paper. Timothy figured she was either bored with the conversation or agreed with him about Hannah being too close to her mother, but was too polite to say so.
     
    “Titus left me a voice mail this morning,” he said, changing the subject.
     
    She looked up. “What’d he say?”
     
    “Said he’s not happy about the place Allen expects him to rent.”
     
    “What’s wrong with it?”
     
    “Just about everything, I guess. The roof leaks; the furniture’s torn and saggy; the walls need painting; the yard’s overgrown with weeds; and the place has
meis.”
     
    Naomi grimaced. “I could put up with a leaky roof and torn furniture, but I can’t tolerate mice.”
     
    “A few cats would probably take care of his problem, but you know my twin. He hasn’t liked cats since we were kinner and that wild cat bit him.”
     
    “He ought to be over that by now,” she said.
     
    “Titus doesn’t get over anything too easily. Why do yout hink he moved to Kentucky?”
     
    “He’s probably trying to get away from the pain of Phoebe breaking up with him, but moving away from a painful situation isn’t always the answer. When I left home many years ago, it was to try and forget the pain of leaving Zach on the picnic table.” Naomi sighed. “It didn’t do a thing to relieve my guilty conscience, though.”
     
    Timothy knew the story well. Even though he and Titus hadn’t been born when the kidnapping took place, they’d grown up hearing about how Zach had been taken right out of their yard after Naomi had gone into the house to get cold root beer for a customer. It turned out that the man who’d stolen Zach lived in Puyallup, Washington, and Zach had grown up there, not knowing his real family was Amish and lived in Paradise, Pennsylvania. By the time Zach found out about it and came to Lancaster County in search of his identity, Timothy and Titus were teenagers.
     
    “The past’s in the past,” Timothy said, smiling at Naomi. “What counts is what we do with today.”
     
    She nodded. “I just hope Titus learns that and will make the most of each new