Jacob's Return by Annette Blair Read Free Book Online Page A

the newspaper much, does he?”
    Mild words. “Not at all.” She thought for a minute. “Maybe some of my students will still want to earn a few cents. Or, I could make copies when these two nap—”
    “Hah! I hope you don’t expect them to nap at the same time, or for long.” He kissed the top of Aaron’s head. “Or at all, some days.”
    “Last Sunday, I tried to keep them awake so I could play with them,” Rachel confessed sheepishly. “But they fell asleep anyway.”
    “Ya, well, if you want them to stay awake, then that’s different. Better find another way. Just in case. Are you talking about buying that old Gutenberg that Atlee’s great-grandfather brought to America about a hundred years ago? Ruben and I were fascinated by it when we were boys. It needs parts for certain, but it might work. It’s a simple enough machine, and it served our ancestors well.”
    “That’s what Atlee says.”
    “But will he sell it? He never lets go of anything. I think he’s still got the first tooth he ever lost.”
    Rachel laughed. “He was pretty sick a while back. I brewed sassafras tea from Grossmutter’s recipe and made him Rivel soup, then I went every day to make certain he ate. When he got better he said he owed me. I said, ‘Sell me the press,’ and he agreed.
    “He should have given it to you.”
    “Jacob, this is Atlee Eicher we’re talking about.”
    “Ach, right. How much?”
    “Twenty five dollars. I don’t have near enough from my paper, and Simon won’t spend a dime from my teaching money on it. I don’t think there’s anything he wants more than for me to give up the paper.” Except maybe children, she thought.
    “How much do you make teaching?” Jacob asked.
    “One hundred dollars a year.”
    “I’ll pay you two hundred, double like I said, and I’ll buy Atlee’s press and keep something back each month toward its cost. I’ll charge you what I pay Atlee plus whatever it costs to fix. That way you’ll know you earned it fair and Simon won’t think I’m giving you something I shouldn’t.”
    Jacob’s generosity should not surprise her, but she had to swallow before she could speak. “I get the best deal.”
    “No, I do,” he said. “I get the best woman to care for my babies, and they love her plenty.”
    Rachel smiled, more pleased by the compliment than she supposed she should be. “I’ll walk to Abe’s later and give him my resignation. The school board can find somebody else to teach the last week before summer break. But, Jacob, Atlee said he’d sell me the press, not you. And you know how he can be.”
    “I can handle Atlee.”
    Rachel grinned. “This is a good plan, Jacob.”
    “If it makes you happy, it certainly is. I’ll talk to Ruben about helping me move and fix it. Bet Atlee’s got some hopping good cider left. After a jug, he’ll sell me the press, don’t worry.”
    Rachel pinched him.
    “Ouch! What was that for?”
    “Don’t come home singing that song about the woman on the dock and the sailor who—”
    “Rachel Zook, mind your tongue!”
    “I only ever heard you sing it. Fifteen years old you were, I think, and drunk from somebody’s cider.”
    Jacob chuckled. “Ah, yes. And bold from so much cider, I kissed you for the first time.” He drank her in just then and knew he would love her forever. “Wish I’d never stopped.”
    Birds chirped. Bees hummed. Leaves rustled.
    “You’re going to have to find yourself a wife soon.”
    Jacob wondered how long he could put it off. “Will you help me?”
    “Me? Sure. But why?”
    “I guess nobody knows what kind of woman I want for a wife better than you do, Rache.”
    “Why do I?”
    “We’re too far from the creek for you to be fishing, Rache.”
     

Chapter 4
    Rachel remained silent while Jacob told Simon at supper that he’d asked her to quit teaching to care for the twins. “Emma and Aaron love her. They need her. She’s been so good for them.”
    But Simon sat, silent as her,