The Rescued by Marta Perry Read Free Book Online

Wondering where the little boy has gone that I used to tuck into bed at night.”
    Barbie deserted the potato salad to give Judith a quick hug. “You’ve been a fine mother to Joseph.” Her eyes sparkled suddenly. “I wonder how long it will be before Rebecca adds another boppli to the family.”
    â€œIt’s too soon to talk about the possibility of another baby,” Judith chided, but she couldn’t help thinking about it, too.
    â€œMatthew’s already acting as a father to Rebecca’s two,” Barbie said. “For sure they’re going to want more children.”
    Barbie was probably right, but they shouldn’t be speculating about it. “We need to be starting to get things lined up for the wedding, not wondering about babies. Lots of couples will have started their planning a year ago, most likely, and every Tuesday and Thursday after fall communion will be jammed with weddings.”
    â€œI’m making lists,” Barbie said, adding some fresh parsley to the top of the bowl to brighten up the potato salad. “Folks are so happy for them that they’re lining up to help. Maybe one afternoon next week we should get together with Rebecca to talk.”
    â€œGood idea. Rebecca will have ideas of her own, especially since it’s a second wedding.” Judith glanced out the kitchen window. The boys were tossing a ball around with Joseph, with even little Noah grabbing for it, missing, and then running after it as fast as his legs could carry him. The boys obviously wanted to be outside to see the first guests arrive—the little ones more excited about it than Joseph, even. But Isaac was nowhere to be seen.
    Her heart gave a lurch. Isaac had to be there to greet the family. It would look so odd if he wasn’t. She bit her lip. Poor Isaac. She was trying to understand his feelings, but it washard when he wouldn’t talk about them. She had tried twice since Joseph had blurted out the truth of when the farmhouse burned, and all she’d gotten in return was a stony, forbidding expression.
    Joseph had known, and Isaac’s own wife hadn’t. Did Isaac even realize how strange that was?
    Barbie slid the potato salad into the gas refrigerator. “By the way, what vocational class is Joseph taking? I was going to ask him, but I didn’t get a chance.”
    â€œVocational class?” Judith echoed the words, turning to stare at Barbie. “What makes you think Joseph is taking a vocational class?”
    â€œIsn’t he?” Barbie tilted her head to the side. “Really? You know we have a bulletin board at the bakery with all those workshops and courses listed, and Joseph was in the other day, studying it as if it was the most important thing he’d ever seen. I noticed he took one of the folders away with him, so I just assumed he was taking something. Lots of the young ones do, once they’re finished with eighth grade.”
    Barbie spoke of the “young ones” as if she were decades older than they were instead of eight or nine years.
    â€œI don’t think he’s mentioned anything about it. Anyway, why would he be wanting to take a class? He knows the farm will be his one day. Isaac is already teaching him what he needs to know to run a dairy operation.” Somehow, even as she said the words, doubt crept in.
    Barbie shrugged. “Sometimes kids have ideas of their own. I surely did when I was that age.” She grinned. “Maybe I still do, come to think of it.”
    Judith suppressed the urge to say that Joseph couldn’t. Ofcourse he could. Just because he didn’t talk about it, that didn’t mean he wasn’t thinking about it.
    â€œHe was probably getting the folder for a friend of his, that’s all,” she said.
    She tried to believe what she was saying. Isaac was already irritated enough over Joseph’s daydreaming and inattention to his work. If he thought Joseph