Brush of Angel's Wings Read Online Free Page B

gut . Hadn’t it? She had even felt lately that their strained relationship was on the mend. But now—how could he dismiss her so easily?
    Rachel slipped through the kitchen door, keeping the screen door from slamming behind her. She swung the milk bucket up and placed it on the counter with ease—something she could not have done two years ago.
    Mamm glanced over her shoulder from the stove. “Gut mariye.”
    â€œVass iss gut?”
    Mamm moved away from frying the peeled potatoes. A deep frown settled over her face as she swept Rachel’s stray hair away from her eyes. “What are you upset about?”
    â€œWhy is Jordan Engles here?” The words escaped her mouth sounding harsher than she had intended.
    Mamm’s typical smile was slow and steady in coming. “Jordan is helping your daed ready the fields for planting.”
    Her father had talked of wanting to clear more acreage to farm, but she assumed the two of them would prepare the land.
    â€œ Daed needed help and asked Jordan. Since he’s new to the community, he has more availability than the other young men.”
    Rachel hated the truth in Mamm’s statement. She took a ladle along with some tall glasses and poured fresh milk into each one. No matter how careful she was, she could never seem to do it without slopping it down the sides and making puddles on the counter.
    Her mother scraped the potatoes off the bottom of the cast iron skillet and flipped the raw side into the grease.
    â€œ Daed knows I wanted to work with him.” She took a cloth and swiped at the spilled milk.
    Mamm added a heaping spoonful of lard to a second cast iron fry pan. “You’re twenty and nett a child.”
    â€œJah.” And this year she was stronger. She could control the plow easier and not tire in the heat as quickly. If anyone was going to replace James, it should be her, not an outsider. Sure, Jordan might know a few Deitsch words from his mother, and he dressed like one of them, but he remained detached from the community.
    â€œYou need to spend less time in the barn,” Mamm said stiffly, cutting off any further discussion. “It’s time you put into practice your cooking and sewing skills.” She handed her the basket of eggs from the counter. “When you finish with the milk, you can fry these eggs for your daed and Jordan.”
    Rachel groaned under her breath. Didn’t she know enough about cooking? If the kitchen wasn’t so stuffy and confining, maybe she’d like to cook. And maybe she didn’t have the culinary skills to please the palate, but at least she could cook well enough to stay alive. She’d spent a good deal of every summer canning vegetables from the garden. And sewing too. What more did a girl need to know other than how to darn socks and patch pants? True, her stitches were not evenly spaced, but they served their purpose. Why did it matter when the boots covered one’s socks and hid stitching imperfections? Daed hadn’t once complained.
    Mamm poured vinegar into a bowl. “ Kumm , the eggs must be washed.”
    Rachel washed the eggs, then carried them to the stove. The first egg she cracked too hard and the runny yolk broke and splattered into the grease. The next one slipped into the pan with its yolk intact. It didn’t break until she attempted to flip it. She left them for a moment to put the glasses of milk on the table. By the time she’d returned, the eggs had a small layer of burned crust on one side. But they were still edible, jah ? She set those aside for Jordan. With the next two she took extra care as she cracked their shells and when she flipped them over. She peered at them while they sizzled in the pan. The yolks were probably cooked a little too long, but she supposed they would be runny enough. Those she reserved for her father.
    â€œHere they kumm .” Mamm stepped away from the kitchen window and wiped her hands