For Every Season by Cindy Woodsmall Read Free Book Online Page B

blaming me? Do you have any idea how frustrating it is that you messed up my life, and then you go on with yours as if nothing happened? And to add insult to injury, you avoid me as if I have the plague.”
    “Try joining the real world, the one where you understand why I’m avoiding you.”
    And suddenly she did know. He was avoiding her for the same reason she was avoiding him—to keep Jacob from having any reason to be more upset with them.
    Despite the flagging and Camilla’s explanation of what he was doing, she wanted Samuel’s answer. “Then why are you here?”
    He motioned at the flagging around the tree. “You’re arriving late some mornings, and—”
    “I’m what?” She looked through the woods, seeing flagging every ten or so feet until the forest became a blur of trees. “How would you know? You’re as absent lately as Jacob was when he was away.”
    But she could see it in Samuel’s eyes. He wasn’t absent. Somehow he knew when she arrived and when she left. Her heart pounded. She’d been confident that he had pulled her into his arms as a momentary temptation brought on through loneliness more than any real feelings.
    Was that not accurate?
    He tightened his hat onto his head. “Has Jacob said anything to you since that day?”
    “No. Not yet. When I saw you, I’d hoped you were bringing word that he wanted to talk.”
    “Even if he were ready, he wouldn’t tell me. He’s got nothing for me but anger. I know some of his hostility is because he’s mortified. Even after realizing I’d kissed you, he confessed that you mean the world to him in front of both of us.”
    Samuel’s brown eyes told her much more than he ever would. Jacob wasn’t the only one mortified. It was as if the earth trembled under her feet at everything Samuel felt.
    Anger drained as so many things about this man—things that hadn’t added up since the day they came to Maine to view the property—began to unfold. She used to complain, “I don’t understand you.” And time after time he assured her she didn’t need to. In her quiet time with God, He seemed to confirm that Samuel had a right to remain a mystery. Samuel had been back-pedalingfrom her for quite a while, hiding so much of his true self. He was considerate but closed off. Giving yet hiding his actions. A constant support but emotionally distant. He made sense now, and she couldn’t help but admire him for what he’d tried to do—fill in for Jacob while keeping her at arm’s length.
    All his efforts were dishonored in one heated moment.
    Should one mistake between friends or brothers define forever who they were to each other?
    She reached for Samuel’s hand. “Samuel—”
    A snapping noise made her turn.
    Jacob stood only twenty feet away, staring at her.

FIVE
    With the light from a lone candle guiding her, Iva quietly got on her knees and reached into the crawlspace behind the wall of her closet. She tugged on the straps of the carrying case that held her camera, easing it from its hiding place. Most who lived under this roof were asleep.
    She came out of the closet on her hands and knees, candle clasped between her thumb and index finger.
    “I can’t believe you still have your camera.” Her sister Minnie took the candle and set it on a nightstand.
    Iva stood, dusting dirt off her dress. She could hardly breathe for the discomfort filling the space between them. Her sister had disagreed with her buying it in the first place, and Iva had dared to hide it while their father sold piece after piece of their household to buy food. But she’d earned the money for it back when jobs weren’t so scarce, and she’d rather go without food than her camera. “Do you think it’s already daylight in Maine?” Time to get her sister focused on something else.
    “Probably.” Minnie rolled up a pair of black stockings and tucked them into Iva’s hand-me-down suitcase.
    Iva dusted off the top of the camera case. “I read that they’re about seven