A Simple Hope: A Lancaster Crossroads Novel by Rosalind Lauer Read Free Book Online

seemed to reach into the future.
My road
, she thought, not sure where itwould lead. Still, it was a lovely road, smooth and steady. And the green, growing life surrounding it gave her hope. She would work things out with Mom when she got home. And Phil? Well, that wouldn’t be so easy if he didn’t want to help himself. But maybe Mom would help her convince Phil to get help.
    Up ahead on the right was a little farm stand—a small white shack with a sign that read FLOWERS & PIE FILLING. NO SUNDAY SALES. It was tidy, with flowers and jars set out on the counter. Shandell was wondering about the Amish people who ran it when Gary pulled off to the side of the road and rolled to a stop in the gravel near the white hut.
    “It’s closed,” Shandell said. That was too bad, because she wouldn’t have minded seeing some Amish people again. They were kind of brusque and blunt, but they didn’t gush or waste words. She had gotten used to their uniform clothing—the way all the women parted their hair in the middle and pinned it back under a kapp. All the women wore brightly colored, loose dresses and the men could be seen in black pants, colored shirts, and black felt or straw hats. Although they kept to themselves, there was something intriguing about them, as if they knew a secret path to peace that they couldn’t share with outsiders like her.
    “Let’s see what they got,” Gary said, cutting the engine.
    She shot him a suspicious look, but he ignored her, leaving the car door open as he strode ahead. She followed him over to the counter, which was nearly covered in neat rows of potted yellow daffodils and fragrant hyacinths. The crowded blossoms of the pink, purple, and white hyacinths reminded her of fireworks exploding in the sky. Only these had a deliciously sweet scent.
    Gary moved out from behind the counter and circled round to the back of the stand.
    “What are you doing?” she asked.
    “Just checking. There’s nobody here.”
    “I told you, they’re closed. They’re probably in one of these farmhouses, eating dinner.” With their family. Longing blossomed in her chest, but she tamped it down. She would be home soon enough. Right now, she just needed to keep Gary on track.
    “We should go,” she said, “unless you suddenly have a yearning for hyacinths.” She turned to the jars on the side of the counter. “And cherry pie filling.”
    He rubbed his ear, considering. “You know, I think I do need some flowers.”
    He lifted up the entire carton of hyacinths.
    “You’re kidding, right?”
    “Nope. These are a deal at a dollar apiece. We’ll take them home to butter up your mother.”
    “Wow. That’s kind of sweet, Gar.” It had probably been years since anyone gave her mom flowers, and once these were planted in the yard, they would come back year after year. She softened as he carried the flowers to the car and placed them in the trunk.
    Shandell calculated what they owed. Basic math came easily to her; it was the multistep procedures that lost her. She lifted the lid of the little gray cash box. “That’s twelve dollars,” she told him. “You just leave the money in this box.”
    He grabbed two jars of cherry pie filling. “Since we’re here, might as well take these, too.”
    “Then that’ll be twenty, even.”
    She imagined the pleasure of the Amish people when they noticed the big sale tomorrow. The thought of it made her smile, too.
    But that faded when she heard Gary cackling behind her, on his way to the car.
    “Get in the car, girl. You don’t pay for stuff when you can get it for free.”
    “But it’s the honor system,” she insisted, wheeling around to face him. “You can’t steal that stuff.”
    His laugh was giddy. “Oh, yeah? Watch and learn.”
    “Come on, don’t do this. It’s wrong and … and you don’t even need it. Come on, Gary, just leave the money.”
    “I’m not leaving these people a nickel. Honor system, my ass. They don’t need my money. They