Love's Abundant Harvest Read Free

just didn’t answer.
    Caleb jumped out of the barely moving wagon, and Manny hopped down onto the moist
dirt road after him. A drizzle of icy rain had covered the land overnight, but the
morning sun was melting it away.
    “I’m right behind ya, Caleb.” As soon as he had his rifle in his hand, he heard a
gunshot and jolted back as the sound traveled down the field, followed by a scream.
    “Caleb!” Manny ran to the edge of the road where Caleb stood with rifle in hand,
his eyes staring farther down the road. Manny followed his gaze to an Amish woman,
but he couldn’t make out her face. She held on tightly to a rope with a horse by
her side—his horse, Sweet Pea.
    Manny took off running and didn’t stop until he got to her. He slid on the gravel
road, coming to a stop, and instinctually reached for the woman’s hand. “Are you
all right?”
    She flinched and pulled away, but then nodded quickly and brought her hand up over
her cheek. “The shot, it surprised me.”
    “I’m sorry, we didn’t see you there.” Manny had met the woman before, but he didn’t
see her around much. Their community was large enough that a number of different
groups met for church, so he thought he should introduce himself. “I’m Manny Keim.”
    “I know who you are.” Her eyes lifted, but she kept her head down. Dark strands of
hair whipped around her thin neck, and her soiled black dress was wrinkled, probably
testimony to a busy day working on the farm.
    He took the lead rope from her and rubbed Sweet Pea’s side to calm her down. “How
did you end up with my horse?”
    “Found her running wild around our place.” She almost smiled when she glanced at
Sweet Pea. The horse seemed to have that effect on people.
    “We’ve lost some livestock due to that coyote.” Manny looked away and to the field
where Caleb was walking. “Have you had any trouble with the coyotes around your place?
Sam’s farm, right?”
    “ Nee , maybe you should make stronger coverage for the animal enclosures.” She glanced
over toward Manny, revealing her left-side cheekbone and skinny frame—too skinny
for his liking. He wondered whether she’d been ill. It couldn’t be that they didn’t
have enough food on the table; Sam’s place was always thriving. Then he thought back
to what she’d said and chuckled.
    “I happen to have solid coops for the chickens and adequate fence lines for the
larger stock . . . ” He held a grin as he explained, but she stepped back and slowly
shook her head. His voice tapered off and drizzled away like the water on the frosty
ground when the sun beat down on it.
    She turned to her right side and then looked down at her worn boots. “I’m sorry.
I didn’t mean anything by it. I just hate to see anything get hurt.”
    He turned back to see that she had looked at Caleb and then turned away. “ Jah , me
too.” An awkward moment passed, and he was pleased to think of something to say.
“Do you need a ride?” The more he looked at her, the longer she stared at the ground.
“It’s no bother.”
    She glanced over just long enough to see him walking back to the wagon. “ Danke , but nee .”
    “ Hallo there, Lucy. Haven’t seen you for some time. How’s Sam?” Caleb rested his
hand on his hip, huffing out small breaths.
    Manny felt bad for not helping him, but not only did he not want to have anything
to do with what just happened, he had also become intrigued with this woman standing
in front of him practically swallowed whole by the big dress she was wearing. She
seemed timid, but firm in what she thought. He suspected she just didn’t express
it often, which was why it captured his attention that she’d spoken out to him concerning
his animal enclosures and the coyote.
    “Fine, danke for asking, Caleb.” When she glanced up at Caleb, Manny saw the darkness
in her eyes—something darker than the deep brown of her pupils.
    When she noticed him staring at her, she shifted her weight, keeping her hand