Christmas Gift for Rose (9780310336822) Read Online Free Page A

She’d removed her
kapp
, preparing to put on her sleeping handkerchief, when a knock sounded on the door. “Come in.”
    The door swung open and her fourteen-year-old sister Elizabeth stood there with a hand planted on her hip. “Dat asked me to check on you. I told him I thought you were sick … lovesick.”
    “You never were subtle, were you?” Rose couldn’t help but chuckle.
    Elizabeth neared, narrowing her gaze. She walked with heavy steps. There was nothing petite or dainty about Elizabeth. “Well, are you okay?”
    “
Ja
, I’m fine. Just tired, I suppose.”
    Elizabeth plopped onto Rose’s bed. “You say that, but it must be something more. I can see it in your eyes, Rose. You look afraid.”
    “No, not really. I have nothing to be afraid about.” Rose bit her lip, knowing her words were a lie. She just hoped Elizabeth couldn’t see it.
    “Maybe not, but you’ve been acting different ever since Jonathan Fisher came back from the war. I wasn’t joking when I told Dat you were lovesick.”
    Rose pulled the pins from her bun one at a time until her blonde hair spilled down her back. She refused to respond to that. What did her sister know?
    “I don’t know why you won’t let him see you. He’s driven by the last three days. He’s just waiting for someone to step out onto the porch and wave him in.”
    Rose spun around. “He has not …”
    Elizabeth’s headed nodded enthusiastically. “
Ja
, has too. Ask Mem. Ask Louisa. Ask anyone.”
    “You’re too young to understand.”
    “Marcus said you won’t see him because he became a soldier.”
    “He didn’t become a soldier. He became a
medic.
”
    Elizabeth fiddled with the string on her
kapp.
“Marcus said the Amish folks will soon forget about that, especially now that he’s back.”
    “What do you know?” she stated flatly. “You didn’t hear the bishop’s words. You didn’t see the looks that I received.Numerous women came up to me after church services and told me that I needed to forget about Jonathan—that there were many good Amish men who would make fine husbands. Their disapproval was clear on their faces.”
    “I know that if any boy looked at me the way Jonathan looks at you, Rose, I wouldn’t think twice about getting married. Doesn’t every woman want to be loved like that?”
    Without another word Elizabeth slipped from the room. What was she going to tell their dat? That the only thing wrong with Rose couldn’t be fixed by anyone in this house?
    Rose touched her fingertips to her cheeks. Could they really see her fear? Maybe she
was
afraid.
    Afraid of where giving her whole heart would take her?
Ja
.
    Afraid of where she’d end up if she turned her back to him? Yes, that was true too.
    Afraid of being alone? Always.
    And a new fear stirred: what was the secret Mem hid? Did she know something Rose didn’t? Did Mem have an answer to the uneasy feeling that crept over Rose like the dark, foreboding shadow of an unseen truth?

Four
    I T TOOK LONGER THAN NORMAL FOR J ONATHAN TO tend to his horse. He moved with sluggish steps as he unhitched the animal, brushed him down, and fed and watered him. Partly because his hands were frozen. He should stop taking the long route on these lumber deliveries. He should just face the fact that his choice had ruined his chance with Rose. No matter how many times he drove by she would not be interested in seeing him.
    He also carried the additional burden of seeing Harold Ault. He had not heard that the young man was back from the war, and now he knew why. How were Mr. and Mrs. Ault handling it? From what he saw, not well. Did they have hopes that their son would someday snap back?
    Jonathan hung the harness on the hook on the wall. He knew better. Even if the shell shock wore off, what Harold had seen would affect him forever.
    Jonathan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The whistles of the screaming mimis were present even in the silence. The smell of gangrene and trench foot.