For Every Season by Cindy Woodsmall Read Free Book Online

Camilla. “Because I’m seeing Jacob, but I’ve caught Samuel’s eye … I guess.” How did Samuel really feel about her? She rubbed her forehead. Why would she even ask herself that question? It didn’t matter, and besides that, she knew the answer. He’d had a moment of insanity.
    “Oh.” Camilla folded her hands, studying them. “That eases some of my concerns.” She placed her hands flat on the table and leaned in. “But it adds new ones. Before I share those, is it safe to assume one those two holds your heart?”
    She nodded. “Jacob.”
    “Is he the one you mentioned that you could get things straight with if you could talk to him?”
    Rhoda fidgeted with her thumbs. What would Camilla make of her response? “No. He’s hurt, and he’s harder to reach. You know?”
    “Afraid I don’t.”
    Rhoda tapped her temple. “He keeps so much of himself inside his head and heart, and I’m not sure how to clear the air with him. Samuel does too, I suppose, but at least he’ll stand his ground and argue. And if I could get a few minutes alone with him, I’d give him something to contend with.”
    Camilla chuckled. “Well, I guess that clears up all fears of either of them being aggressive with you. So Jacob, the one you’re dating, doesn’t want you anywhere near Samuel, who is the one you’d like to talk to.”
    “The one I’d like to yell at is more like it, but yes.”
    Camilla angled her head. “You care for both of them. You realize that, right?”
    “Of course I like them both but not the way you’re thinking. They’re as different as fall and spring.”
    “I always thought of those seasons as being similar.”
    “Spring is the start of growing season, and for apple farmers fall is the main harvest.”
    “So which man is the end of the wintry, barren season, bringing all its newness, and which one is the harvest with all its abundance?”
    Rhoda’s offhanded remark to compare them with seasons hadn’t been well thought out. “I … I didn’t mean it that way. For me, Jacob is both. He was my first love. My first courtship. My first kiss. My first hope of having a family of my own someday. But we haven’t been together long enough to reach any kind of harvest yet.”
    “Just remember this, and I’ll drop the topic: follow your heart. Don’t stay in a relationship because you think you should or because you believe you owe it to Jacob or even because you loved him first. I once heard it put this way: If you’re torn between two men, choose the second. If you had truly loved the first, there wouldn’t have been a second.”
    “There is no second love, Camilla. There’s only Jacob.”
    “Okay.” Camilla patted Rhoda’s hand. “I believe you, but even so, don’t give any one person too much of your power, Rhoda—not over your business or your personal life. A truly good man can handle you maintaining some control, whether that means earning your own money or keeping your canning business separate from Kings’ Orchard.”
    Camilla held feminist views, and that wasn’t the Amish way. Most Amish women married young, and if they had a job or income, they gave it up before their wedding day. But Rhoda’s situation was consistent with the rest of her life as an Amish woman—an oddity.
    Camilla’s cautioning words did make Rhoda realize one thing, however. If she was going to restore Jacob’s faith in their relationship, she needed a place to live and work that would keep her and Samuel from crossing paths a gazillion times each day and night.
    “Even if I liked your idea of acquiring and keeping a canning kitchen separate from Kings’ Orchard, there is no money for such a plan.”
    “But you’re open to the idea?”
    “Actually”—Rhoda fidgeted with her braid—“I think I am.”
    “Good. That’s where we start.” Camilla grabbed a pen. “How large does the kitchen need to be?”
    Did Rhoda hear a horse and buggy on the road? A desire to look outsidedrew her, and