A Clean Break (Gay Amish Romance Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Mother and his sisters spent in the kitchen.
    “I’ve never found a chicken pot pie that could compare,” Aaron said.
    Isaac dipped a fry into ketchup. “I never thought about it much, that there’s different food out here. After you left—” He stopped.
    But Aaron smiled. “Go on. You can say anything, Isaac.”
    “I tried to imagine where you were, and what you were doing, but I couldn’t.” He glanced up. “But you look almost just like I remember.”
    “Minus the Amish beard hanging off my chin.” Aaron grimaced. “That was not a great look for me.”
    “I mean before you followed church. You don’t have bangs, though.”
    “Nope. And I think my hairline’s starting to recede now that I’m pushing thirty, but Jen says it’s all in my head.”
    “You’re happy, though,” Isaac said. “Like when we were kids. That’s how I remembered you.”
    David tried to imagine Joshua as a man. He’d always seemed so grownup in David’s eyes, but they’d both been boys. He sat quietly and finished his last fries even though his belly was stretched already.
    Aaron smiled sadly. “I’m glad to hear that. I know the way I left was sudden. I wanted to say goodbye, but I was too scared. I didn’t want to fight with Mom and Dad, or let them convince me to stay even though I knew I had to leave. It’s strange to think of them as ‘Mother and Father.’ So formal, even for the Amish. I guess it’s a good thing I left before the move to Zebulon. Sounds like a lot of things changed after that.”
    “Yes.” David shifted on his stool and toyed with his crumpled Big Mac wrapper. “After what Joshua did… After he and the girls died, everything changed.”
    “No more rumspringa—not even the mention of it.” Isaac tapped his box of fries and the last few slid out. “But even Mervin secretly had a piece of English technology, and he almost always followed the rules. A Touch, it was called. We watched a movie on it and listened to music.” He sighed. “We were best friends our whole lives.”
    “It’s hard to leave people behind,” Aaron said quietly.
    David thought of Mervin that day in the barn, and the disgust creasing his face.
    “I’d already lost him anyway.” Isaac paused. “He…he found out about me and David. He didn’t understand. Could barely even look at me after that, let alone talk to me. But at least he kept it a secret.”
    What if Mervin had told them now? David forced the thought away. There was no sense in worrying about it.
    “I’m sorry, Isaac.” Aaron looped his arm over Isaac’s shoulders. “That must have been awful.” He shook his head. “God, how I wanted to take you with me, but you were way too young, and for all I knew you’d be happy as an Amish man once you were grown. But I hated leaving you. Running away in the night with a piece of paper the only thing to leave behind.”
    “You left more than that.” Isaac pulled the folding pocketknife from his jeans.
    Aaron’s eyebrows shot up. “I can’t believe you still have that!” He took it from Isaac and traced the simple edges.
    “I carry it with me most of the time. I still love to carve things. And now I’ve learned so much about carpentry from David.”
    “He’s a natural, that’s for sure.” David nudged Isaac’s knee with his own as warmth bloomed in his chest. Soon they’d be building things together again.
    Aaron blinked rapidly as he handed the knife back, and his voice was thick. “I’m glad to hear it. I can’t tell you how much it means to have you here. Both of you.”
    Isaac’s lip trembled. “I knew you’d help me. Us.”
    “We’re so grateful to you and your wife,” David added awkwardly, emotion suddenly dense in the air.
    “I can’t wait to meet her.” Isaac wiped at the corner of his eye and sucked the last of his soda through his straw loudly.
    Aaron chuckled. “Just remember she’s not like the women you know. She says exactly what’s on her mind, and she definitely