A Time to Heal(21)

"What?" Matthew asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You looked like you started to say something, then stopped."

"I was just thinking about something Hannah said."

Matthew winced. "I'm afraid to ask. Hannah speaks her mind."

Chris laughed. "I'll say. She said getting me to talk felt like pulling teeth."

Matthew laughed. "That's Hannah." He paused. "Actually, the same could be said about Jenny. She says she's naturally inquisitive because of her background as a reporter. But I think all women want us men to talk more."

"And listen more."

"Ya."

"And be more sensitive."

Matthew stared at him, aghast. "Englisch women say that?"

"Jenny hasn't?"

"Nee. No."

"Maybe you've been more sensitive than me."

Their eyes met and Chris felt like they took the measure of each other. Then Matthew shocked him by laughing.

"I don't think anyone can accuse me of that," Matthew told him.

He didn't seem like the kind of man Chris had thought he'd be: stern, authoritarian, overbearing.

On the other hand, even though Chris didn't know Jenny all that well, he couldn't have visualized her married to such a man as that. He imagined few Englisch women would want a man to control them, especially a woman like Jenny who had traveled around the world.

Of course, sometimes the kind of men some of the women he knew picked surprised him.

"Chris?"

He realized he'd been lost in his thoughts. "Sorry, just thinking of something."

"How long do you plan to stay?"

"I hadn't thought about it. Maybe a week. I didn't make any firm plans when I set out."

"You have no set time you have to be back home?"

Home. It hadn't felt like home when he went back there. So he'd decided to hit the road so he could think.

"No," he said slowly. "No set time. My brother and my dad seem to have things working well without me. I needed some time to myself. Time that I wasn't stuck in a hospital, I mean."

Then he realized why Matthew might be wondering.Although the man appeared to be friendlier toward him today, maybe the suspicion lingered.

He hesitated for a moment, then decided to plunge in."Look, Hannah seemed to think that I might have come here to steal Jenny from you."

Matthew burst out laughing. "I'm sorry," he said when he had to take a breath. His eyes were actually tearing from laughing so much.

Taking a handkerchief from the back pocket of his broadcloth pants, he wiped his eyes. "I guess she gave you a time today, didn't she?"

"She's not the quiet Amish miss I expected," Chris admitted."That should teach me about stereotypes."

"Well, I can assure you that my sister didn't speak for me. I have no worries that Jenny can be stolen."

He tucked the handkerchief back in his pocket. "If there's no need to go back soon, I wondered if you'd like to help me here for a while. One of my part-time workers just told me he needs surgery."

Surprised at the question, Chris didn't know what to say.

"Why don't we go inside, have some coffee, and talk about it? I don't expect a man to just suddenly change his plans."

"I didn't really have anything as concrete as plans," Chris told him. "I only thought ahead as far as to find a room."

He looked out on one of the harvested fields again. This land pulled him. He couldn't deny it. "I've missed farm work."

"Let's have some coffee then and see if Phoebe brought over one of her pies. She always does when Jenny has to be away."

"Pie." Chris found his feet moving. "Pie sounds good."

He followed Matthew into the house.





"What do you mean, he's staying?" Hannah stared at her brother. "Chris is staying?"

"For a while. To help out while John recovers from his surgery."

He picked up the lid of the frying pan and peered inside."Mmm. Pork chops. But there's no applesauce on top."

Hannah sank into a chair at the kitchen table. "Don't worry.I'll add it when it's time."

"It was nice of you to take him to see the area today. He said he had a good time."

"He did not."

"What? He said he had a good time."

"Really?"

"You sound surprised."

Hannah realized that her brother watched her. She got up and stirred the contents of one of the pots on the stove.

"He doesn't talk much," she said.

"I noticed that. He kind of reminds me of the way Jenny acted when she first came here."

Matthew couldn't have surprised her more.

"Ya?"

Matthew nodded. "They've both been through so much. It's affected them. Maybe it will all their lives."