The Harvest of Grace Read Online Free Page B

about it.
    What a fool she’d been. And she feared that her sister was being one also.
    Beckie moved closer. “Sylvia, please, open your eyes. I love him so much more than you ever did. Since you turned him down, I see no reason for you to stand in our way.”
    Sylvia fought to remain standing when all she wanted to do was sink to her knees and sob. “How could you do this to me? You’re my sister, and you know how I feel about Elam!”
    “I know how he feels. He loves me , Sylvia. And it’s clear that I love him more than you do.”
    Sylvia looked past her sister, wondering how Elam had managed to steal both of their hearts. Had he kissed Beckie too? Was Sylvia blinded by attraction? “How can you be so sure? I’m no longer sure he has any clue who he loves.” She hoped Beckie would hear that truth.
    Elam slid his hand into Beckie’s, and Sylvia thought she might die from the pain of it. “I asked her, and she said yes. It’s done.”

    The undeniable fact that they’d been seeing each other behind her back scattered the words inside her until she could find none to try to reason with her sister.
    The door to the milk house creaked as it opened, and her Daed came toward her.
    Sylvia motioned at the twosome. “How can you agree to this?”
    Her Daed gestured for Elam and Beckie to leave. “We’ll finish up.” He waited until they were gone.
    Tears ran down Sylvia’s face. “How could you be a part of this?”
    “I’m not a part of it any more than you are. I’ve talked to Beckie until I have no more words.”
    “Do you not have enough loyalty to me to refuse her?”
    “Sylvia.” Daed pulled out his handkerchief and passed it to her. “I couldn’t have stopped what happened.” He motioned for her to walk with him as he went to a horse’s stall on the far side of the barn and grabbed a bridle. “I can dictate certain things over her, but no parent can predict or prevent something like this. No matter who Elam ended up with, the damage was done before either of us knew what was happening. You have it in you to forgive and let go. Beckie doesn’t.” He bridled the horse. “You can help your Mamm forgive too. She’s fit to be tied, as your sisters will be when they find out.”
    Sylvia stared at her father, unable to believe his casual attitude toward Elam and Beckie’s traitorous behavior. “I can’t stay here and watch them marry.”

    “It’ll be tough. I know it will.” He put a saddle on the horse and began tightening the girth. “But before Daadi Fisher died, he did something that’s never been done before. He left a fourth of the family farm to a granddaughter—you. He bypassed every son and grandson to do it. You were grieving too deeply to know what all was happening, but for a while I thought there was going to be a feud over it. And I wasn’t sure the church leaders would allow it, but in the end they did. Don’t tell me you’d give up your inheritance over a man. I won’t believe it. Besides, if you don’t keep giving the dairy farm all you’ve got, you’ll own a fourth of nothing but bills.”
    “You’re not hearing me.” She nearly shrieked at him. “I can’t stay here.”
    “You’ve always said that the old place Daadi Fisher left you is too far from the herd for your taste. Let Elam and Beckie live there. It’ll give you some distance, as if they’re neighbors. You and I will run the herd and milk production. He and I will produce and harvest crops, keep the silos filled, and deal with the waste management. It’s a huge place, and if we handle things right, you won’t have to see him often. It’s far from ideal, but it’s the best I can offer.”
    She’d never considered living in the two-bedroom house Daadi Fisher had left her, but the idea of Elam and Beckie moving there made her sick.
    “Daed, I don’t care where they live. I have to get out. Why can’t you understand that?”
    Hints of anger shadowed her Daed’s face before he drew a deep