A Touch of Grace by Lauraine Snelling Read Free Book Online Page B

waited for all the others. “I Jesu navn …” They all joined him in the traditional Norwegian grace, ending with amen.
    “Sorry, I couldn’t say all that.” Jonathan reached for the bread platter and took the heel, which made Andrew send him a teasing glare, and then passed the platter on. “But I am learning. Mange takk.” He took the bowl of bacon-freckled greens from Samuel and looked to Grace. “If you could find the time, I would like to learn to sign also.”
    “In Norwegian?” Astrid’s comment made the others smile.
    “No, English.” Jonathan dished noodles and beef onto his plate. “If you can find the time, that is.”
    Grace nodded as she passed the bowls and plates past her, putting some on her own, but she really wasn’t hungry. Would it be proper to teach him sign language? Or would that just start up rumors about her too. She really didn’t want Mrs. Valders upset with her.
    Conversation flowed around her as the men discussed the afternoon’s work and which crops needed cultivating and who should go help with the fencing. Jonathan and Trygve were delegated to help Andrew fence and Samuel to help hoe and pull weeds in the gardens with the girls.
    Grace laid her napkin on the table and, rising, excused herself. It was a strain to follow the conversations today. To keep her hands busy, she dipped a bucket of water from the rain barrel and watered the tomato plants that were using the fence for a trellis. Several buckets later she felt a sudden release and sat down on the back steps to inhale. The day’s heat washed down inside her, spreading warmth. When she returned to the house, the men were gone again and Astrid was at the stove washing dishes.
    “Sorry.”
    “Are you all right now?”
    “Ja. I just needed space.”
    “You and my mor. Is there something wrong?”
    Grace hesitated. Would Astrid understand? Maybe, but she also had no use for romantic notions right now, and Toby was not a favorite after what happened with Andrew. “No, just the heat, I think.”
    Astrid quirked a brow at her. “Okay. I’ll start the pie dough. You go to the cellar for the canned apples. We’ll get these pies made and then go help Samuel.”
    “What are we making for supper?”
    “There’s enough stew left over. We’ll put biscuits on top and bake it. The pies will make it seem better. I wish someone would go fishing. Maybe a fish fry for Sunday supper.”
    Maybe Toby would come. Should I invite him? If only I had someone to talk to about whether I should go find him and talk to him or keep waiting for him to come to me . She’d had that wish more than once. Sophie would be the obvious choice, but she had enough on her mind at the present. Why do I care about him? Two misfits was the way she’d seen them through the years. Besides, he’d needed someone to care when he and Andrew got into it. Toby had teased the other children, but he’d never teased her. Instead, she’d found him backing her up more than once, never saying anything but being right there when someone hurt her feelings. He cared for her; she cared for him. Had he outgrown that and left her behind? How would she know if this was really love or just the silly dreams of a young girl, especially if she couldn’t even talk to him?

J ONATHAN FINISHED ADDRESSING the envelope and yawned. He could hardly keep his eyes open, but he knew his parents would be anxious to hear from him, so he shook his head and smoothed the blank piece of paper.
    Dear Mother and Father,
    I had meant to write to you before now, but there has simply been no time. Work starts before sunrise, and by the time we’ve eaten supper, I only want to collapse on my bed. Tonight I am putting that off long enough to write. They say telephones are coming here soon, but I am sure I will be back in New York before that happens. I have learned to milk cows, feed calves and pigs, repair harnesses, spade a garden, hoe potatoes—did you know that you have to mound the dirt up