A Simple Vow Read Online Free Page A

clocks undisturbed in his basement workshop during the day and sleep uninterrupted at night.
    “That’s a tall order,” Edith murmured as she gently laid the babies on the towel she’d spread across her bed. She tenderly smoothed their mussed brown hair. “You’ve got to help me with this, understand? We’ll go downstairs for your bottles, but you’ve got to stop crying.”
    As she stroked their cheeks, Louisa and Leroy gradually got quieter, hiccuping and sucking in short breaths. They seemed small for their age, their expressive faces puckered with concern as they gazed up at her.
    Lord, if I’ve ever needed Your help, it’s now , Edith prayed as she gazed at them. Bring me a sign, a solution. Anything to soften Dat’s closed, lonely heart.

Chapter Three
    Luke Hooley gazed around the crowded Grill N Skillet dining room with a sense of great satisfaction. While it was traditional for an Old Order wedding feast to be held at the home of the bride’s parents, he and Nora had insisted on hosting the event at Willow Ridge’s recently rebuilt and expanded café because it would be a real treat for their friends and family. Josiah Witmer had roasted two hogs, beef briskets, and countless chicken quarters, which he was serving along with the side dishes his sister Savilla had created.
    As Luke slipped behind the steam table to chat with Josiah, his stomach rumbled. “You two have outdone yourselves,” Luke remarked as the young man set out fresh pans of steaming mashed potatoes and creamed celery. “Everyone’s raving about your grilled meats, and the way you’ve offered the traditional wedding foods along with your specialties.”
    Josiah flashed a wide smile. “Can’t have pulled pork without some baked beans and slaw, ain’t so? But Savilla was right—folks are gobbling up the wedding ‘roast’ she made with chicken and stuffing, too. I suspect we’ll run out of the creamed celery before the second sitting of guests makes it through the line.”
    “We’ll have plenty of other food, though,” Savilla assured Luke. Her dark eyes sparkled as she set down a bowl of chunky homemade applesauce. “I was astounded when I saw how many different kinds of pies Naomi and the other gals made for us. And Miriam’s wedding cake is the prettiest I’ve ever seen.”
    Luke glanced toward the eck —the raised table in the far corner, where the wedding party sat—and had to agree that the tiered cake his sister-in-law had made was even grander than the one she’d baked for his and Nora’s wedding last winter. His brother Ben’s wife was out of the restaurant business now, raising their baby daughter Bethlehem, but she still enjoyed sharing her baking skills whenever she had the chance. Miriam’s former partner Naomi Brenneman kept the Grill N Skillet’s kitchen organized and running smoothly during the daily lunch and supper shifts, which had allowed the Witmers to expand into some catering, as well.
    “It’s just fabulous, the way you two have grown your business these past months—and attracted so many more folks to Willow Ridge for the rest of our shops, too,” Luke remarked. “When Ira and I opened our mill and store last year, we had no idea how busy we’d be, or how many regional farmers we’d need to hire to grow specialty grains for us.”
    “Not to mention your cage-free chickens and eggs,” Savilla said. “We’re really glad to have local suppliers for those because we know the eggs haven’t been sitting in cold storage somewhere—and the meat’s so fresh. Here—” She grabbed a golden-brown chicken quarter with her tongs and put it on a small plate. “This’ll tide you over until you and Nora come through the line for your dinner.”
    Luke laughed, tickled by her sense of humor and hospitality. “You don’t have to ask me twice,” he teased. “Nora’s having such a gut time visiting, it might be a while before we sit down.”
    As he ambled along the outside edge of the dining