Second Chances Read Free Page A

the things that she had grown to love about him. Neither aggressive
nor arrogant in his views, he would accept her decision without further discussion.
After all, what more could he argue?
    At the next crossroads he guided the horse so that the buggy turned around and headed
back in the direction from which they had just come. They rode back in silence toward
the Eichers’ home. There was nothing left to be said. When she stepped down from
the buggy at the same place where he had, just minutes before, retrieved her, he
bade her good-bye instead of good night. As he drove away, she watched until the
buggy disappeared in the distance, wondering how she would be able to live without
him in the bleak months and years ahead. It was not going to be easy, she pondered,
realizing she may have lost the only man that made her feel that special way.

Chapter One
    A NNA E ICHER SAT in the old rocking chair by the wood-burning stove, quietly quilting
as she listened to her father and her two sisters converse with Lydia Rothberger,
the elderly woman from the g ’ may who had taken on the role of dispensing maternal
wisdom ever since their mother passed away ten years ago. Lydia’s presence in the
kitchen was always welcome, even if she charged the air with a tight energy of propriety
and despite the fact that she had changed Anna’s life irrevocably with her advice
eight years ago—tearing Anna away from the only man she had ever loved in the process.
With each stitch that Anna pulled through the fabric, her dark eyes glanced up just
for a moment. No one noticed. They were too engrossed in their discussion, the three
other women focusing all of their attention on her father.
    “What will people think if we ask for aid? They will talk for weeks! Mayhaps months!”
William said, his hands raised just slightly in the air.
    Anna’s heart sank, the irony of the moment not lost on her: the very same fault that
her father had used to discredit the Whittmore family so many years ago had now
become his own fate. The deep wrinkles and dark circles under his eyes spoke of sleepless
nights and hard decisions. His long white beard, untrimmed and wiry, hung from his
wide jaw and covered the first two buttons on his dark blue shirt. Anna noticed that
it was dirty and she reminded herself to ensure it was laundered before he wore it
again. He looked first at Elizabeth and then at Lydia. “You know those people who
love the Amish grapevine. Gossiping and speculating, all of them.” He said the last
part with a dismissive wave of his hand.
    Anna bit her lower lip, too aware that the biggest contributor to that gossip-filled
grapevine was her own father. With a silent resolve, Anna tried to concentrate on
her work, knowing that the tiny stitches in the baby blanket she was quilting for
her younger sister Mary was the only input she would most likely make today. No one
cared what she thought about the possibility of her father losing their small family
farm, anyway. The affront did not bother her. Indeed, she was just as happy to stay
out of the heated discussion.
    Elizabeth shook her head, equally as distraught. “There must be another way; perhaps
to hire young men to farm the fields.”
    That suggestion invigorated William. A new look of optimism lifted the cloud of despair
that had rested upon his face. With great hope in his eyes, he pointed at his oldest
daughter while he glanced over at Lydia for her response. “ Ja ! That’s a right gut idea! Hire men to work the farm!”
    “William,” Lydia said, leaning forward and gently touching his knee. The gesture
was one of familiarity without intimacy.
    Over ten years had passed since Anna’s mother, Anne, passed away. When Anne married
William Eicher at an early November wedding, Lydia Rothberger stood by Anne’s side
as her attendant. The two women had grown up together in Sugarcreek, Ohio. Furthermore,
they had sat in the one-room schoolhouse, progressing through eight years of schooling.
At