Anna's Return by Marta Perry Read Free Book Online Page A

thoughts.
    Unlike him. She’d come back, he supposed, because she wanted to raise her child here. He’d come back because he had to.
    That was the difference between them. He’d never know, not for certain-sure, whether his commitment was solid. Or whether, like his father, he had it in him to let everyone down.
    “So, Anna.” Barbara broke into a conversation about the right time for harvesting the pumpkins. “Why didn’t you marry the boppli’s father?”
    Silence fell around the table, broken only by an indrawn breath or two. Barbara had the reputation of saying things other people didn’t dare, but this time she’d outdone herself.
    Anna had paled. A ridiculous longing to protect her swept through Samuel. She wouldn’t want to answer a question like that here, in front of everyone. But wouldn’t it be better to get it out, once and for all?
    Please, Lord . . .
    “Barbara, I thought better of you than to ask that. Anna’s reasons are between her and God. The bishop will speak to her about it, not you.”
    Elias’s voice was as severe as he’d ever heard it. Even Levi, who usually went along with his brash wife, seemed to shrink away from her.
    It was true enough, what Elias said. But . . .
    Trust them, Anna. Trust. I didn’t, and I’ve grieved ever since.
    “I . . . I didn’t mean . . .” Barbara had turned brick red at the rebuke.
    “It’s all right.” Anna seemed to straighten where she sat, as if preparing herself for a trial. Her hand caressed the boppli’s head. She shot Samuel a glance. “Samuel reminded me that I should trust you. And I do.”
    She sucked in a breath. “There was never a question of marrying the baby’s father. Gracie is mine—has been since her birth mother put her into my arms, but I didn’t bear her. Gracie’s mother was my dearest friend. I made a promise to her when she was dying that Gracie would be my daughter. She is, and she always will be.”

CHAPTER FOUR
    Anna held her breath, looking at the faces around the table. She shouldn’t have blurted it out that way. What had happened to her resolve to let them believe Gracie had been born to her?
    She couldn’t do it. When it came right down to it, she couldn’t lie to them. Ironic, after all the lying she’d managed to do during her rebellious rumspringa. That girl seemed pretty far away now.
    Still no one spoke. They were waiting for Daadi, she knew. She couldn’t read anything from his expression, and her heart grew cold. The others—well, there she saw doubt and questions.
    Her gaze collided with Samuel’s, and she looked away quickly. He shouldn’t be here for this. It was private, between her and her family.
    Except that maybe they weren’t her family any longer. If they couldn’t accept that Gracie was her child, she’d have to leave.
    The thought was there, in her mind, when her father finally spoke. “You must tell us more, Anna. Help us to understand.”
    Convince you I’m telling the truth, you mean? The quick, defensive words were there in her mind. A few years ago they’d have spilled out of her mouth, but she wasn’t that headstrong teenager any longer. She needed their help, and she’d have to submit to whatever they asked.
    Submission. The word left a bitter taste in her mouth. That was the core of Amish life she’d always found impossible to accept.
    Times change, so the saying went. More likely, time had changed her. She could accept anything for Gracie’s sake. She wrapped her arms around her daughter, feeling Gracie’s head pressing against her heart.
    “I was going to school in Chicago and working as a waitress to pay my way.” She chose her words carefully, needing to make them understand a world they’d never known. “Another of the girls working there needed a roommate, so I moved in with her.”
    They wouldn’t be able to picture the rundown, dirty building or the cluttered apartment. Or imagine the triple locks on the door.
    She took a breath. “Jannie, my