An Amish Match Read Online Free Page A

why he hadn’t said anything when he’d noticed Timothy had a portable music device and earphones hidden beneath his shirt.
    Until he decided to be baptized and join the church, Timothy could have such items, though many members of the Leit frowned on their use at any age. Most kinder chose to be baptized, though a few like Leah’s twin brother turned their backs on the community and left to seek a different life among the Englischers .
    He stopped the family buggy, which was almost twice the size of the one Rebekah had driven away from the cemetery yesterday. Looking out the front, he appraised the small white house. He hadn’t been here since at least three years before Matilda died. Only now did he realize how odd it was that they had seldom visited the Burkholders’ house.
    The house was in poor shape. Though the yard was neat and flowers had been planted by the front door, paint was chipped on the clapboards and the roof resembled a swaybacked horse. He frowned when he noticed several bricks had fallen off the chimney and tumbled partway down the shingles. Even from where he sat, he could see broken and missing shingles.
    What had happened? This damage couldn’t have happened in the five months since Lloyd’s death. It must have taken years of neglect to bring the house to such a miserable state.
    He stroked his beard thoughtfully as he looked at the barn and the outbuildings. They were in a little bit better shape, but not much. One silo was leaning at a precarious angle away from the barn, and a strong wind could topple it. A tree had fallen on a section of the fence. Its branches were bare and the trunk was silvery-gray, which told him it had been lying in the sunshine for several seasons.
    Why had Lloyd let his house and buildings deteriorate like this?
    Joshua reminded himself he wasn’t going to learn any answers sitting in his buggy. After getting out, he lashed the reins around a nearby tree and left his buggy horse Benny to graze on the longer grass at the edge of the driveway. He walked up the sloping yard to the back door. As he looked beyond the barn, he saw two cows in the pasture. Not enough to keep the farm going unless Rebekah was making money in other ways, like selling eggs or vegetables at one of the farmers’ markets near the tourist areas.
    He knocked on the back door and waited for an answer. The door didn’t have a window like his kitchen door, but he could hear soft footsteps coming toward him.
    Rebekah opened the door and stared at him, clearly astonished at his unannounced visit in the middle of a workday morning.
    He couldn’t help staring back. Yesterday her face had been half hidden beneath her bonnet, and he’d somehow pushed out of his mind how beautiful she was. Her deep auburn hair was hidden beneath a scarf she’d tied at her nape. A splotch of soap suds clung to her right cheek and sparkled as brightly as her blue eyes. Her freckles looked as if someone had blown cinnamon across her nose and high cheekbones. There was something ethereal about her when she looked up at him, her eyes wide and her lips parted in surprise. Her hand was protectively on her belly. Damp spots littered the apron she wore over her black dress. He wasn’t surprised her feet were bare. Mamm and his sisters preferred to go without shoes when cleaning floors.
    Then he noticed the gray arcs beneath her eyes and how drawn her face was. Exhaustion. It was the first description that came to mind.
    She put her hand to the scarf. “I didn’t expect company.”
    â€œI know, but it’s long past time I paid you and the boy a visit.”
    For a moment he thought she’d argue, then she edged back and opened the door wider. “Joshua, komm in. How is Isaiah?”
    â€œHe was still asleep when I went over there this morning.” Guilt twinged in him. He’d been so focused on his own problems that he hadn’t been praying for his