A Time to Heal(52)

He couldn't take his eyes off her. She wore a dress in a deep blue color, like dusk, and when she saw him her cheeks pinked up in embarrassment and she looked prettier than he'd ever seen her.

Her hair was tucked so neatly under that demure-looking covering she wore like all the other Amish women. Now he knew what her hair looked like streaming down over her shoulders and her back. He knew what it felt like to touch its softness, to smell the flowery sweetness of it.

His stomach tightened.

Deliberately he dragged his attention back to the present.

"I snuck up on Chris!" Annie told her proudly. "I 'sprised him."

Hannah smiled at her. "Time to go, liebschen."

Annie's bottom lip jutted out and she grabbed Chris's hand."I want to stay with Chris."

"No, we need to go." Hannah's tone was firm.

"Chris can come with us." She gave him a winsome grin.

"Annie, maybe Chris has plans."

He laughed and waved his hand at the books lying on the chaise lounge. "Yeah, I was reading my Bible since I hadn't checked out a church. I figured after I did that, I'd have a heavy date with my library book. And then maybe a nice little snooze on the lounge."

"I should have thought to invite you. I wasn't sure you'd be interested."

She was avoiding his eyes. He wondered what to say about last night. What could he say?

"Ah—where is it?" he managed to ask. "I didn't see an Amish church when we were in town."

"We don't have a formal building. Church is every other Sunday in someone's home. You'd be very welcome if you'd like to come."

Chris weighed what she was saying as he looked at her. He didn't want her to ask just out of courtesy.

"Are you sure it would be okay?"

"Schur. We have Englisch guests sometimes."

Annie jumped up and down. "Kumm with us, Chris."

Chris glanced down at his jeans and T-shirt. "But—"

"You're fine," Hannah told him. "We're Plain, not Fancy, remember."

"Give me one minute. I'll put on a better shirt."

"Hurry, hurry, hurry," Annie sing-songed. "We gotta go."

"Be right back!" Chris jogged into the house and changed his shirt.

When he came out, Annie was gone.

"Hey, where's my date?"

Hannah smiled. "It'll be Phoebe. Annie went to ride with her family."

He started walking with her across the field to the other house. "Phoebe, huh?"

Slanting a glance at him, she smiled. "I think Annie's a little young for dating."

Chris glanced around to make sure no one was in hearing range. "Phoebe isn't a little too old? You'd be . . ." he trailed off.

Just right lingered in the air.

"Yes, well, uh—look!" she said quickly, pointing at the buggy approaching. "Here she comes now."

Phoebe pulled up.

"I invited Chris to come with us."

"I see," the older woman said with a smile. "So nice to have you with us to worship, Chris."

"Thank you."

He turned to Hannah. "Ladies first."

"I'll take the backseat," she told him and her eyes twinkled with mischief. "That way you can sit up front with Phoebe."

Resigned, not knowing what to do, he watched as she climbed into the back and he got in the front. Phoebe, unaware of the electrical current between Hannah and him, got the buggy moving.

When they arrived at the home where the service was held, Chris found the church was just as Hannah had said it would be. He was warmly welcomed by the older couple who were the hosts, and the men he'd worked with shook his hand and invited him to sit in their row. Matthew and Joshua joined them a little later, and Chris saw Jenny with Annie and Mary.Annie brightened when she saw him and waved and grinned at him. He waved back.

At first it felt a little strange to be seated on a bench in a home instead of in a church, but the way that things were set up showed that the home had clearly been built with the intent to accommodate a large number of people. One wall was a sort of partition that folded back so that the benches could be brought in for seating.

Chris was surprised when the men and women sat on different sides of the room, and he didn't understand when Pennsylvania German was spoken. He was surprised when there was no musical accompaniment to the hymns. But he felt right at home because the lay ministers were so genuine when they spoke about a message they got from the Bible.

And when one of them began talking about a passage in Matthew, quoting, "Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," he found himself sitting up straight and listening hard.





"You didn't tell him, did you?"