Seasons of Sugarcreek 02. Spring's Renewal Read Free Page A

the opposite wall, she said, “You’re home late today.”
    “Am I?” Uneager to tell her mother about meeting Tim, she said, “I must have taken longer cleaning up the classroom than I thought.”
    “I’ve been watching the clock for thirty minutes.”
    Clara knew she had.
    For too many years, it had just been the two of them. Her father had died while plowing the fields only a few months before her sisters had gotten married and moved away. Next thing she knew, Clara was living alone with her mother. It had been a big change—perhaps too much of one for her mother. As the years passed, her health had fallen into a decline.
    Without ever discussing it much, everyone had just assumed that Clara, with her lack of future prospects, would stay at home to care for their mother.
    And so she had.
    Sitting down on the edge of a chair, Clara knew her duty: “How was your day?”
    “As well as can be expected. I had a headache off and on for most of the afternoon. Your tardiness made it worse. Promise me that you won’t be so late again.”
    “I cannot do that.” Realizing she sounded a bit harsh, Clara amended her words—and continued the lies. “It was necessary to do some extra work today. It couldn’t be helped. And I’m sure it will happen again. It is my job, yes?”
    Looking deflated, her mother nodded. “I suppose. And we most certainly do need your income. Why, I couldn’t survive without it.”
    Before Clara could say a word, her mother shakily rose to her feet. “Well, let’s make supper now. I am terribly hungry. How about we make some chicken and dumplings? That sounds like a good dish for such a dreary day.”
    It was on the tip of her tongue to tell her mother that it hadn’t been dreary out at all. In fact, the day had been a glorious one.
    She was tempted to point out that most anyone would suffer headaches by sitting in the dark, day after day. That her mamm would feel better if she went for a walk and tended to the garden.
    But the conversation that would follow would most likely drain the last of the sympathy she felt for her mother. And if that happened, then she would become depressed as well.
    So Clara didn’t dare say anything. She followed her mother to the kitchen, each step heavy with wishes that things were different. Praying for guidance. Again.
     
     
    Lilly Allen knew she was getting fat. Standing sideways in front of the tiny mirror in the women’s restroom in her waitress uniform, she examined herself from every angle. “You’re pregnant,” she whispered. “You’re supposed to be getting bigger.”
    But somehow she looked bigger everywhere , not just around her middle. Yep, at the moment, she looked chubby, not pregnant.
    And she was five months along.
    “I’ll feel better when I start to show,” she promised her reflection. Yep, she was sure she’d feel better when she was in maternity tops. And maybe she’d feel better when she stopped cramping so much, too.
    Lately, she’d been cramping a lot.
    Shaking her head, she strode out of the ladies’ room and went right back to work. Now that the harsh days of winter were almost behind them, the tourists had started flocking back to the Sugarcreek Inn in record numbers.
    Each day she waitressed, the time flew by. Lilly knew she was really lucky to have found a job that she was so well suited for. The tips were great, the other girls who worked there were nice, and the customers were fun. The only negative was that her feet and ankles were sore and swollen at the end of the day.
    Racing back to the kitchen, she handed Gretta a new order. “Three slices of chocolate crème pie and one shoofly, please.”
    “I’ll get in a jiffy,” Gretta promised with a smile.
    Standing beside Gretta, Miriam laughed. “Lilly, I think you could tell Gretta that the customers wanted ten pieces of pie and she’d be agreeable to it. She’s walking in a cloud, she is.”
    “I can’t help it.” Gretta shrugged. “I’m just so happy