The Crossroad Read Online Free

domestic matters. “Are you comin’ to Aunt Leah’s for the quilting frolic next week?” Rachel asked.
    “If’n I don’t up and kick the ol’ bucket. That, or they make the shun worse on me than ’tis already.” Lavina laughed a little, making Rachel feel even more uneasy.
    “I don’t think we oughta talk ’bout untimely deaths or shunnings,” Rachel was quick to say. “We best guard our lips.”
    “Well, now, I think you’re right, prob’ly.”
    “The Lord’s been showin’ me some things in the Scriptures that have pricked my heart here lately.”
    Lavina spoke up. “Talk has it your cousin’s spoonfeedin’ you her beliefs.”
    “I don’t have to guess who’s sayin’ those things.” Rachel knew, sure as anything, Mam and Aunt Leah were the ones, prob’ly. “It won’t be long and the People will know for sure and for certain. What I believe ain’t just from Esther … it’s deep in my heart, too.”
    “Your great-uncle would be shoutin’ for joy … if’n he could see you now—one of his own family standin’ up for Jesus right under Bishop Seth’s nose. Just goes to show … no matter how hard the ol’ enemy tries to stamp out the torch of truth, God always raises up someone to carry it along.”
    Rachel wished she could see the heavenly glow that surely must’ve settled over Lavina’s long and slender face. Why, she’d never in all her days heard the backward woman express herself so easily, so sensibly.
    Lavina rose and poured black coffee and served some homemade cinnamon buns. “I think you may be right ’bout spreading ’round some Christmas joy … up there in Reading.”
    Rachel’s heart leaped up. “So you do wanna visit Adele?”
    “Didn’t know it before this minute, but, jah, I believe I do!”
    Rachel didn’t know what had come over her father’s cousin, but she didn’t plan to question Lavina’s decision.
    “I’ll do some bakin’ to take along, then.” Lavina made a slurping sound in her coffee. “It’ll be ever so nice, seein’ the dear English girl again.”
    Dear English girl . Rachel had to smile at the remark. Of course, the older woman would remember Adele Herr as the young Baptist who’d come to fill in at the oneroom school those many years ago. “Adele seemed like such a nice lady when I met her back in September. But I think it was right hard on her, tellin’ the saddest story of her life.”
    They fell silent for a time, and Rachel relished the coffee bean aroma filling the kitchen.
    It was Lavina who brought up Adele’s letter again.
    “She’s been gettin’ letters—even postcards—from her friend in New York.”
    “Would that be … the journalist who came last fall?” Rachel carefully kept her tone matter-of-fact.
    “That’s who. Said Philip’s become almost like a son. And he’s goin’ to church again, readin’ his Bible, too.”
    “Well, I’ll be….” Rachel licked the frosting from her fingers.
    “Seems them two are becoming fast friends … since he’s the one who found Gabe’s postcard, ’n all.”
    “I’m not surprised, really,” Rachel replied. And lest she give too much away, she hushed right up. Wasn’t anybody’s business how often her mind traveled back to the early autumn days, when Philip Bradley had been a guest at the B&B.
    After they’d finished drinking a second cup of coffee and devoured more than their share of sticky buns, Rachel rose to wash her hands. She was more than grateful she’d come to Lavina’s today. Seemed to her the Lord was working in both their lives! Honestly, she thought it would be ever so nice if Philip Bradley would send her a letter. ’Course, the way Mam told him off on the phone that final day, the man would have to have nerves of steel to consider such a thing!

Three

    Kari opened the door nearly the instant his finger pressed the doorbell. “Uncle Phil!” she squealed, as though she hadn’t seen him in years. She threw her arms around his neck, and he leaned