The Saddle Maker's Son Read Online Free

Not with Levi Byler’s brood crowding the benches interspersed with Abigail and Mordecai’s combined bunch. Susan liked having a full table and a full house. The chatter and the way food disappeared faster than a coyote after a chicken made her feel content. She smiled to herself as she poured kaffi in a huge earth-colored mug and added a splash of milk fresh from Mordecai’s latest addition, one dairy cow named Buttercup.
    All the company would put Mordecai in a good mood too. Her brother liked commotion as much as she did. She needed him on her side to convince Jeremiah to let Lupe and Diego stay until things could be figured out. However long that took. Until that hollow, hunted look disappeared from the little boy’s face. He’d polished off two bowls of ham and beans and three pieces of cornbread at supper.
    She’d rather they stay here in the King home, not the home of folks she hardly knew, but that would be up to Mordecai. Letting Levi take them to his house had been a mistake. She hadn’t had time or inclination to argue, what with her scholars hanging on every word and Levi standing there looking so . . . so what?
    What was it about the man that made her lose her normal gabbiness? She couldn’t figure out how Levi, Tobias, and David could look so much alike, yet so different. All three were tall and broad chested, like triplets. They had hair the color of toast well done and eyes that color of green that reminded her of fresh sprouts of grass peeking through the dirt in early spring.
    The younger boys, Milo, Micah, and Liam, must look like their mother, with their blond hair and blue eyes. Levi’s face had lines around his eyes from squinting in the sun, or laughing, and streaks of gray highlighted his beard. But that wasn’t what made him look different from his sons. It was something in the way he carried himself. As if a burden she couldn’t see weighed him down. Sadness he attempted to hide cloaked him as surely as if he wore Joseph’s coat of many colors.
    Though she’d never had to carry that burden herself, Susan had seen it before. In Mordecai after his first fraa died. And then in Abigail when she first arrived from Tennessee, a widow in need of a mann for herself and her five kinner. The two had managed to shed their lost air and sadness in a second season of love. Now all seemed right in their world.
    Contemplating Gott’s goodness, Susan picked up a platter of peanut butter cookies—not as good as pecan pie—but they would help soften up Jeremiah. Jeremiah, Mordecai, and Will, the three who would decide little Lupe’s and Diego’s fate.
    She turned and there stood Levi Byler, calloused hands tucked around his suspenders, a bemused look on his face that said he’d been there awhile.
    She jumped and dropped the kaffi cup. And the platter of cookies. Hot kaffi splattered in all directions, including on her apron and bare feet. “Ach!”
    Levi’s eyebrows arched. He strode forward, stopped, and knelt by her mess. “Sorry.”
    Susan’s hands fluttered to her chest and she heaved a breath. “You scared me.”
    “So I gathered. Hand me a towel.” His tone remained soft and distant. “Mordecai asked about kaffi for Jeremiah. Abigail and Rebekah took the kinner outside to organize a game of volleyball, so I came around to see if you might get it.”
    “There was kaffi.” She couldn’t contain a chuckle as she knelt across from him. “And cookies.”
    “That’s a shame. Reckon you could make more?” Levi didn’t join in her laughter. Contemplating the soft gruffness of his voice, she reached for the platter, which somehow had remained unscathed in its rapid descent. Her hand grazed his fingers. His hand shot back as if he’d touched a skillet on the stove. He stood before she could speak, towering over her, his expression bleak.
    “I’ll bring in the kaffi in a jiffy.” She tried out a smile. He didn’t return it. “There are plenty of cookies.”
    He nodded and