First Love (Love Nibbles Book 2) Read Online Free

you two still puttering around?” Their mother bustled into the kitchen, tying on a fresh apron. She took the yeast sponge from the back of the stove and began stirring more flour into the mixture. “Mattie, go on outside and feed the dogs now.”
    Mattie tossed down her towel and was out the screen door in a flash. It closed behind her with a bang.
    Rachael gave her mother a wary glance. She wouldn’t send Mattie away without good reason. She had something she wanted to discuss, which usually meant she lectured and Rachael listened.
    Mother set aside her mixing bowl and picked up the dishtowel. She took a platter from the rack and began to dry it. “Your father told me you were with Joe Langdon in town the other day.”
    “He asked about Daniel’s wedding. I told him when it was.”
    “That’s fine. Maybe we should invite all the Langdons. But you know you shouldn’t be talking with a boy like that.”
    Rachael thought of the ice cream and Joe’s green eyes with a pang of guilt. “We were only chatting.”
    “You’re nineteen, Rachael. I was married at your age. You haven’t yet been baptized. Don’t you think it’s time you made that commitment and became a full member of our community?”
    “I’m not ready.” She scrubbed at the pan in the sink though it was long since scoured clean.
    “It’s time for you to consider your future. Several young men who would make fine husbands have expressed interest. You could begin your wedded life, start your own home and family, but first you must commit to your faith.”
    Rachael’s chest tightened until she could hardly breathe.
    “Will you pray on this?” Mamm demanded.
    “I already do every day. This decision is not easy for me.”
    “Why not?” She set down the platter and tossed the cloth to the counter. “Rachael, what are you waiting for? What are you hoping for? What is it you want?”
    The knot in her throat grew tighter and her eyes stung. She did not want to cry like a child but emotions churned inside her.
    “I don’t know,” she finally choked out. I don’t know what else there is? All I know is this!
    Her mother rubbed her back. “I don’t mean to upset you, but liebling , it’s time for you to take the next step into adulthood.”
    Rachael sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve before meeting her mother’s searching gaze. “I will think about it and pray about it, all right?”
    Her mother looked relieved as she picked up the drying cloth again.
    Rachael let out the wash water and rinsed the last pot. “By the way, Mattie and I are going to sleep out on the side porch tonight. Our room is too stuffy. Is that all right?”
    “Of course.”
     
    Chapter Four
    Mattie was sound asleep, snoring softly. She wouldn’t stir for hours.
    Rachael got up and tiptoed across the porch, closing the screen door carefully so the hinges wouldn’t creak. She raced for the barn where she’d hidden her clothes earlier. It was pitch black in the barn and she dare not light a lantern. She dressed in the dark, wishing the sleeves of her dress were puffy and short. She left off her apron and held her bonnet for a full minute before rejecting it.
    Then, in a flurry of rebellion, she unbraided her chestnut hair and combed it with her fingers so it flowed down her back. She wished she could check her appearance in a mirror, but there was nothing reflective in the barn and it was too dark anyway.
    Rachael exited the rear door of the barn and ran behind it across the yard and a portion of the field toward the road. The shrill song of crickets and tree frogs went dead silent as she passed. She didn’t stop running until she’d reached the Langdon’s grain silo. Gasping for breath, she walked around the curve of the tall building that would soon be filled with the fall crop of corn.
    On the far side, Joe’s gray shape in the deep shadows leaned against the silo. The glowing red tip of his cigarette sent a plume of smoke into the air. He cast it down and