Hope Chest by Wanda E. Brunstetter Read Free Book Online Page B

going through. I’m hoping it will pass real soon.”
    “You said all three of your oldest have you worried. What’s going on with Joseph and Rachel?”
    Rebekah’s voice lowered another notch. “Joseph is carrying a torch for Pauline Hostetler, and he hasn’t got the courage to tell her that he cares. That’s made him kind of moody lately.”
    “I see. And Rachel? What’s her problem?”
    “I’m not sure about Rachel. She’s been acting strange for some time, kind of like a young woman in love, only she doesn’t have a boyfriend, so I know that’s not the case.”
    Mary Ellen bent her head and kissed the top of Amanda’s head. “If they could only stay sweet and innocent like this little girl, we grandmothers wouldn’t have so much to worry about.”
    Rebekah chuckled. “Jah, but knowing us, we’d find something else to fret over.”
***
    Rachel and her family had begun packing up to leave the Yoders’ place, when she noticed Silas had Anna cornered next to his courting buggy. Her sister didn’t look any too happy, and Rachel couldn’t help but wonder what was being said. She inched a bit closer, hoping to catch a word or two. Eavesdropping had become a habit, it seemed, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. Besides, it wasn’t like she was doing it on purpose. People just seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
    “I think it would be best if you’d forget about me,” she heard Anna say. “You really should find someone better suited to you.”
    Silas shuffled his feet a few times, turning his hat over and over in his hands. “Don’t rightly think there’s anyone better suited to me, Anna.”
    “If you think about it, you’ll realize that we don’t have much in common. Never have, really.” Anna shrugged. “On the other hand, I know who would be just right for you.”
    Me ... me ... Rachel squeezed her eyes shut, waiting to hear Silas’s next words.
    “Who might that be?”
    “Rachel.”
    “Don’t start with that again, Anna.”
    Rachel’s eyes snapped open. She had to give up this silly game of bouncing back and forth from hope to despair. It only proved her immaturity, which was exactly why Silas saw her as a mere child.
    “She likes a lot of the same things you like, Silas. Besides, I think she’s crazy about you.” Anna nodded toward her family’s buggy, where Rachel stood, dumbfounded and unable to move. She would probably never be able to look Silas in the face again.
    Silas didn’t seem to notice Rachel, for he was looking right at Anna. “As I’ve said before, Rachel’s not much more than a kinner. I need someone who’s mature enough for marriage and ready to settle down.”
    “Rachel is eighteen, soon to be nineteen, ” Anna said. “Give her a few more months, and she’ll be about the right age for marrying.”
    “But it’s you I love, Anna.” Silas’s tone was pleading, and if Rachel hadn’t been so angry at her sister for embarrassing her that way, she might have felt pity for the man she loved.
    “Rachel, are you getting in or not?” Dad’s deep voice jerked Rachel around to face him.
    “What about Anna? She’s still talking to Silas over by his buggy.” Rachel pointed in that direction, but Dad merely grabbed up the reins.
    “I’m sure Silas will see that Anna gets home,” Mom put in. “After all, you did mention that he’s sweet on her.”
    Rachel’s throat ached from holding back tears, and she reached up to massage her throbbing temples. Silas thought she was just a child, and he was in love with Anna. At the rate things were going, she might never get to use the things she’d put in her hope chest. She glanced Silas’s way one last time, then hopped into the buggy and took her seat at the rear.
    Joseph glanced over at her. “Why are you lookin’ so down in the mouth?”
    “It’s none of your business.”
    “I’ll bet she’ll tell me. I’m a girl, and girls only share their deepest secrets with another girl. Isn’t