A Love Undone by Cindy Woodsmall Read Free Book Online Page B

the perimeter of the corral, shaking each fence post and rattling the railing. This particular pen covered an acre. As he continued to work his way around it, he saw a few Amish and Englisch men and women in the yard with plates of food and coffee, eating and chatting. The backdrop for the tables and meandering people was pastures and tame horses with one sprawling white dogwood in full bloom. He remembered the fields and fences well from a few childhood visits, but had that dogwood always been there?
    An Amish woman walked toward him, toting a tray. When she got close enough, she held it up. “Lester asked me to bring you coffee and Danish.”
    Andy looked at his filthy hands. He couldn’t eat, but surely he could at least gulp down a little coffee. He wasn’t a fan of Danish pastries, but he’d surely like something in his stomach.
    Once she was near him, she moved the edge of the tray to her hip and balanced it with one hand before picking up a pint-size, clear container. “Hand sanitizer will fix that, at least until you can wash up with soap and water. Hold out your hands.” She waggled the container over the grass, away from the tray of food.
    He did as she said, but he’d been working around the clock for days without the benefit of a bath. “This kind of dirt needs lye soap and scalding water.”
    “Maybe.” She poured gobs of the clear liquid into his hands. “But this will do. Just rub your hands together as if it’s soap and water.”
    The smell of alcohol overpowered the aroma of the coffee. The sanitizer landed on his hands as a clear liquid, but it dripped fromthem as if it were muddy water. She squirted more into his hands, and he rubbed it on his arms. She then passed him a wet, white hand towel. Before he used it on his hands and arms, he scrubbed his face with it. When he saw the grime on the white towel, he tensed. “Sorry.” With the damage already done to the towel, he went ahead and wiped his hands and arms.
    Her expression didn’t change, but he was sure he detected some humor in her eyes as she took the towel from him. “It’s my fault for bringing you a white one.” With the towel dangling from her fingertips, she held out the tray.
    He took the cup of coffee and Danish. “Denki.”
    She nodded and backed up several feet. A good Amish woman kept a physical distance from any man she wasn’t related to. He ate a bite of the blueberry Danish. “Wow,” he mumbled, looking at it, “maybe it’s because I’m so hungry, but that’s better than I expected.”
    “Good.” She dropped the towel onto the tray. “Lunch will be ready in ninety minutes, and we’re getting your room set up now. Lester said your bedroom is to be the one on the second story. At the top of the stairs, turn left, and it’s the door facing you at the end of the hall. It has its own bathroom and a view of the corral and barns. Do you have luggage of some sort we can put in there for you?”
    “Just a backpack I shoved clothes into days ago. What little is in it is now dirty.”
    “We can take care of that too. Just put whatever you want washed in a pile outside your bedroom.” She studied him from his feet up, but he kept his attention on the horses, pretending not to notice. “I have a brother about your size. I’ll get you some of his clean clothes until we get your stuff washed and dried.”
    “I appreciate it.” He was sure he smelled like dirty horses, and he probably looked more unkempt than the feral horses since he hadn’t shaved his upper cheeks or mustache in four mornings. He had a lot to do today, but he sure would like to shower, shave, and change before he crawled into bed tonight.
    “Just set the mug on a fence post when you’re finished, and I’ll get it later.” She started toward the house.
    But Andy remembered several other things he needed. “Excuse me.”
    She turned. Her coolness wasn’t surprising. This was typical of nonrelated, adult Amish with the opposite