Planted with Hope Read Online Free Page B

Mem’s voice behind them held a note of concern.
    Hope paused and looked over her shoulders. “ Ne , Mem. Please stay. Please enjoy yourself.”
    Mem nodded, but she didn’t seem happy. They continued on, Grace leading the way, motioning people to give them room. Before them the crowd moved to both sides, just like the parting of the Red Sea.
    When they were nearly out of the park, a hand touched her arm. Hope paused and glanced over her shoulder to see the young girl.
    Emma’s lower lip quivered. “Dat telled me to say that I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble.”
    Hope leaned down so her face was close to the girl’s. “I know you didn’t mean to, but please be careful from now on. I don’t want to see you hurt.”
    Emma nodded, and then gave Hope a quick squeeze, which was gladly accepted.
    â€œDat also said we can stop by later to see if you are all right.”
    Even though she did not look back, Hope could feel Jonas’s presence behind her. “Well, please tell your dat that isn’t necessary. I am fine.”
    Emma jutted out her chin. Determination narrowed her gaze. “But I caused trouble. I need to make sure… ”
    Hope sighed. How could she make the girl understand? The real trouble was the way Emma’s dat had looked at her—in a wayno married man should. That wasn’t anything she wanted to be a part of.
    â€œI’m sure I’ll see you around town. Maybe we’ll run into each other at the pie shop. I can show you the new flowers I planted. Will that work?”
    Emma nodded, but her lips curled downward in a frown. She clung to Hope’s arm as if Hope was her mother and she didn’t want to let go. Compassion filled Hope’s heart. Poor thing, she must not get much attention from her parents.
    Hope supposed not every young girl had what she had growing up—lots of love, lots of attention. Hope made a mental note to offer the young girl all the attention and affection that she could… just as long as her father wasn’t around. The type of look he’d given her would not get past her mem , Regina, or any of the other women. And then they’d try to solve the problem by finding Hope a suitable husband.
    The whole community prying into the matters of her heart was the last thing she wanted. Hope was someone who wanted to be left alone in the quiet of a garden. Someone who would rather be hidden than seen. Someone who felt perfectly happy with her own thoughts, her own plans.
    Hope walked home with determined steps, happy to never talk to Jonas Sutter again.
    Â 

    Sunshine Pie
    A pound of patience you must find
    Mixed well with loving words, so kind
    Drop in two pounds of helpful deeds
    and thought of other people’s needs
    A pack of smiles, to make the crust
    then stir and bake it well you must,
    And now, I ask you must try,
    the recipe of this Sunshine Pie. *

    * “Sunshine Pie.” California Cultivator and Livestock and Dairy Journal 20 (January 16, 1903):45.

Chapter Three
    There are three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who have no idea what happened.
    A MISH P ROVERB

    H ope sat down at the small desk in the bedroom that she shared with Lovina. Even though it was after six, the sun had not yet set. It just didn’t seem right, and the day didn’t feel like New Year’s Day. Yes, they’d served sausage and sauerkraut at the park—the traditional New Year’s meal among the Amish—but the day itself was all wrong. If she were in Walnut Creek right now there would be a fire in the woodstove. She and her sisters might be playing Chinese checkers—a favorite game since their childhood. Dat would be done with the chores in the barn, and there’d be the sound of buggy wheels traveling down the road in front of their house—evidence of young men going to call on their