Hannah's Joy Read Free

seen quick understanding in William’s face in their few conversations, even when he didn’t speak.
    “Ach, William’s bright enough, and the best thing that could have happened to him was going to work with his cousin Caleb in the shop. He’s got a gift with his hands, so Caleb says, and Caleb’s a master woodworker himself, so he’d know. The boy will maybe find a little respect for himself there.”
    “Not a boy,” Hannah murmured, taking the cup from Jamie, who was nearly asleep on her shoulder. She rubbed his back, cherishing the feel of his small warm body against her.
    “No, you’re right. He’s not.” Aunt Paula touched Jamie’s brown curls in a quick caress. “William seems younger than he is, no doubt because of the stutter.”
    Hannah nodded, moving toward the stairs that led up to the apartment above the shop. She would put Jamie in his crib and—
    “I’m nearly forgetting.” Aunt Paula’s voice lifted. “That’s what you were studying in college, wasn’t it? Before you got married, I mean?”
    “Speech therapy.”
    She’d gotten interested when she’d babysat for a family with a child who stuttered. The Davises had been so helpful, encouraging her and aiding her with loan applications so she could go to school. That had been her only goal, until Travis came along.
    But Travis had loved her. It had seemed meant to be, that they should love each other and get married and make a home together always.
    Always
hadn’t lasted very long. Just a few short years of moving from one army base to another. She’d been pregnant when his unit shipped out to Afghanistan. Travis had never seen his son, and she’d quickly learned that a mother with a young child and an incomplete education had very little chance of making a home of any kind, even with the military’s death benefits.
    “You could help William.” Aunt Paula, not able to follow Hannah’s thoughts, smiled broadly. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before. You can teach William, help him get over his stutter.”
    “No, no, I couldn’t,” she said quickly. “I’m not qualified. I never finished school, and besides—”
    “Well, you’re as near to qualified as William is likely to get,” Aunt Paula said briskly. “It would be an act of charity to help him.” She said it as if that were the defining argument, as it probably was to anyone brought up Mennonite, accustomed as they were to the idea of service.
    But Hannah hadn’t been Mennonite since she was a child, and as much as she’d like to help, her instincts told her it was a bad idea to get involved in William’s problems.
    “I really don’t—”
    “Just think about it.” Aunt Paula patted her shoulder. “You’ll see I’m right. It would be good for you, too, to make use of your education.”
    Hannah hesitated, but then she nodded. Agreeing to think about it was easy. Marshaling the arguments against it was more difficult.
    Especially since she didn’t want to use the strongest one—that she intended to go back to the outside world as soon as she could swing it financially.
    The familiar worry settled on her, darkening the sunny day. How long could she go on staying here, accepting Aunt Paula’s home and her help, without her aunt expecting Hannah to commit to her way of life?
    *   *   *
    “Paula had our coffee break all ready for us, ja?” William’s cousin Caleb pulled a cruller from the bag, spilling a little powdered sugar on the maple bench he’d been polishing.
    “You’d b-best not l-let K-Katie see you making such a m-mess,” William teased.
    “There, all better.” Caleb wiped the sugar with a polishing cloth. “Katie’s out talking to some of the sisters about plans for the fall charity auction. She’ll never know.”
    Katie Miller, who owned the quilt shop that was attached to Caleb’s cabinetmaking business, would be marrying Caleb this fall. It had been a long time since William had seen his cousin look as happy and