Allison's Journey Read Free

day.”
    “Jah. Somebody has to keep the place open.” Aaron stared wistfully out the window. “I do like working here, but on a sunny morning like this, I’d rather be fishing than working.”
    “Me, too.”
    “So how are things at your place?” Aaron questioned. “Has Melinda taken in any new critters lately?”
    Gabe grinned. “Almost every week she finds some animal that’s either orphaned or injured. Just yesterday she found a half-starved kitten out by the road. The pathetic little critter had one of those plastic things that holds a six-pack of soda pop stuck around its neck.”
    “Will the kitten be okay?”
    “Jah. Melinda will see to that.”
    Aaron fingered Gabe’s broken bridle. “Guess there’s never a dull moment in your life, huh?”
    “That’s for sure.” Gabe’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Aaron. “When are you going to settle down and find a nice young woman to marry?”
    Aaron’s ears burned. “I’m not interested in marriage. I’ve told you that plenty of times already.”
    “Wouldn’t you like someone to keep you warm on cold winter nights?”
    “Rufus is good at that. He likes to sleep at the foot of my bed.”
    “ Puh ! No flea-bitten mongrel can take the place of a flesh-and-blood woman.” Gabe poked Aaron’s arm and chuckled. “Besides, think how nice it would be to have someone to cook,clean, and take care of you when you’re old and gray.”
    “It’ll be a long time before I’m old and gray, and I don’t need anyone to care for me.”
    “What about love? Don’t you want to fall in love?”
    Aaron stiffened. Why did Gabe keep going on about this? Is he trying to goad me into an argument? Or does he think it’s fun to watch my face turn red?
    “I know you’re dead set against marriage,” Gabe continued, “but if the right woman came along, would you make a move to court her even if you didn’t have marriage on your mind?”
    Aaron shrugged. “Maybe, but she’d need to have the same interests as me. She’d have to be someone who isn’t afraid of hard work or getting her hands dirty, either.”
    “You mean like your mamm?”
    “Jah. She and my real daed worked well together in the harness shop. She and Paul did, too.”
    “I wonder if your mamm misses working here now.” Gabe motioned to the stack of leather piled on the floor a few feet away. “I heard her tell my mamm once that she enjoyed the smell of leather.”
    “It’s true; she does. So did my daed. He loved everything about this harness shop.” Aaron picked up the bridle and ran his fingers over the broken end. “I love the feel of leather between my fingers. I’m hoping to take this shop over someday—when Paul’s ready to retire.”
    “Do you think that’ll be anytime soon?”
    Aaron shook his head. “I doubt it. He seems to enjoy working here too much.”
    “Maybe he’ll give the shop to you, the way my daed gave the woodworking business to me after Melinda and I got married.”
    Aaron squinted. “Are you saying I’d have to find a wife before Paul would let me take the place over?”
    “Not necessarily.”
    “My real daed wanted me to have this business. He told me that more than once before he was killed.”
    Gabe leaned against the workbench. “You were pretty young back then. I don’t see how you can remember much of anything that was said.”
    Aaron dropped the bridle, moved over to the desk, and picked up a pen and the work-order book. “I was barely nine when my daed’s buggy was hit by a truck, but I remember more than you might think.”
    “Like what?” Gabe asked as he followed Aaron across the room.
    Aaron took a seat at the desk. “I remember how the two of us used to go fishing together. I remember him teaching me to play baseball.” Before Gabe could comment, Aaron glanced back at the bridle and said, “How soon do you need your bridle?”
    “No big hurry. I’ve got others I can use for now.”
    “By the end of next week?”
    “Sure, that’ll be