Read Online Plain Peace (A Daughters of the Promise Novel) by Beth Wiseman - Free Book Online Page B

house to do so. Finally, someone seemed to have an interest in her, someone incredibly handsome and nice. She’d adhered to all of her grandfather’s rules over the years—mostof them, at least—and she’d never given her grandparents any real trouble. It wasn’t right for him to treat her this way.
    She snuggled beneath the sheet, wondering how she would manage to get away for her date. She’d barely gotten settled in and was enjoying a nice breeze blowing through the opened window when she heard a rustling outside.
    Raccoons . She’d been battling with them in her garden for over a month. The sneaky little fellows seemed to have a special fondness for strawberries. Sighing, she slowly sat up, though there wasn’t much she could do right now. Tomorrow she’d have to put more mothballs around the fence edges. The mothballs seemed to deter them. For the most part.
    She yawned as she got out of bed and walked to the window. She peered across the yard toward her lush garden filled with strawberries, tomatoes, hull peas, celery, peppers, and various other vegetables. Her grandfather had installed a solar light—the only kind he would allow—out by the garden to dissuade the critters from going over the fence. It was bright enough for her to see movement, but she couldn’t tell if it was the raccoons or maybe a deer trying to poke his nose between the wire mesh. Their home was far from the main road, and although her grandfather only grew hay on a few acres, their five-hundred-acre spread was home to lots of wildlife. Anna loved watching the deer dart across the open field, especially when they had little ones in tow, but she wasn’t fond of them eating her vegetables.
    She blinked a few times and tried to get her eyes to adjust to the hazy movement beneath the solar light, which was only at its brightest after several days of full sun. The skies had clouded up the last few afternoons, so the light was dim, and she couldn’t tellwhat critter was stealing from her. She walked back to her nightstand, bumping her leg on the corner of the bed, then felt around in the drawer until she found a pair of binoculars she kept for this very purpose. She had to know what she was battling and if she needed to secure her garden even more.
    Careful of the bedpost, she felt her way back to the window and raised the binoculars to her eyes. She moved them around until she was centered on the garden, then she turned the dials until the area came into focus.
    She gasped when the intruder came into view.

6
    N OAH S TOLTZFUS , MD .
    Noah picked up the nameplate on his desk and stared at it. He’d worked hard to become a doctor—at great personal cost. And over the past few years, he had almost felt like he’d redeemed himself for leaving his people. Apparently the new bishop didn’t agree.
    He set the nameplate back on his desk and leaned back in his tan leather chair, wondering if today would be as quiet as yesterday . . . and the day before that . . . and the past few months before that.
    “Dr. Stoltzfus?”
    Noah raised an eyebrow and sat taller when he heard Francine’s voice. “Yes?”
    “There’s someone here to see you. Alice Turner.”
    Noah remembered the woman. That wasn’t hard since they’d only had six patients last week, but Alice stood out for other reasons. She’d come in without an appointment and refused to see the doctor, just kept asking Francine what she could take for an earache. Eventually Noah had emerged from his office and convinced the woman, who was obviously in a lot of pain, to let him look at her ear. Even then she’d protested, insisting she couldn’t pay for his services. In the end, Noah had given her some antibiotics and eardrops that he had on hand in the office and hadn’t charged her anything.
    “Should I bring her back?” Francine was asking.
    “Sure. That’s fine.” He didn’t have anything else to do at the moment. He eased his chair back and stood when he heard footsteps