Her Brother's Keeper Read Online Free Page A

in the beds. Mamm had taken ill, and for a few days Ethan had come over after his shift at the lumberyard to help her. I miss you every single day, Ethan. As sadness threatened to consume her, she forced herself to remember that day as the happy time that it was. She prayed often that someday she’d find comfort in her memories and not get swallowed up by grief.
    She recalled the first time she’d seen Ethan. He was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt. They’d locked eyes from across the diner where he was eating lunch alone. Hannah rarely ate lunch in town, but a visit to the market for more flour had taken longer than Hannah had expected. If she hadn’t been craving the diner’s club sandwich and a root beer, she might not have met the handsome Englisch man who would one day propose to her. Nor could she have foreseen his tragic death and the hole it would leave in her heart. If Ethan hadn’t come to Pennsylvania to work on the project in Lancaster County, and been running late himself, their chance meeting might not have happened. The diner had been so crowded, Ethan was near her table, eating while standing up. There was an extra chair at Hannah’s table, and it seemed rude not to offer it to him.
    â€œI think that about finishes us up here,” Mamm said as she shook loose dirt from her hands and stood up. “Hannah, you should take Mary to Paradise and the surrounding towns this afternoon. So much to do in so little time.”
    She’ll be here a month. Hannah bit her lip and smiled. “Ya.” She turned to Mary. “Unless you want a day to rest from your travels.”
    Mary shook her head. “No, I’m fine with visiting town.”
    Hannah nodded, dreading having to put on a happy face. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe her cousin liked pizza. Jacob wouldn’t eat any type of tomato sauce, so Predisio’s Pizzeria was never an option on the rare times that her family ate out.
    â€œGut, gut,” Mamm said. “You girls go and have fun today. After lunch, I’m going to finish some sewing projects.”
    Hannah forced another smile before she headed in to clean up. A short while later, she hitched the horse to her spring buggy.

    Charlotte climbed into the topless buggy and reminded herself not to let on that this was her first time to travel this way. There was an air of excitement about the adventure, even though she was unsure if she wanted to be friends with her tour guide. But being friendly was the only way she was going to find out about Ethan.
    After a bumpy ride down the gravel driveway, they turned onto a blacktop road. Riding into the breeze was refreshing until the horse began to relieve himself. She cringed, but forgot about it when she saw them approaching a highway. Bracing herself, she hoped Hannah would be able to get them safely across the busy intersection. But instead of crossing to the other side, she turned left and took up a steady trot on a narrow lane to the right of the traffic. Charlotte held her breath as cars whizzed by, and she could feel the color draining from her face as she white-knuckled the dash in front of her.
    â€œWow,” she said as a large truck whipped past them.
    Hannah picked up speed, but turned briefly toward Charlotte. “It wonders me if you are all right?”
    Charlotte released the breath she was holding. “Sure. Yes. Ya . I’m fine.” She paused as she struggled to control her erratic breathing. “We just don’t usually travel on busy highways like this in our wagons.” She glanced quickly at Hannah, just as another big truck almost blew them into oblivion. “Buggies.” She kicked herself again. “We, uh . . . sometimes . . . we, uh . . . call them wagons.”
    Hannah didn’t react as she steered the buggy down a road on their right. “I thought you might like to visit the Gordonville Bookstore.”
    Charlotte didn’t care where