Falling to Pieces Read Online Free PDF Page A

a man here in Shipshewana who is a good realtor. I don’t have a phone, but I’m running some other errands while I’m here in town. I can see if he’s in. If he’s not, Jonas will know how to reach him. We’ll ask him to come and see you.”
    A small amount of hope surged through Callie for the first time in the last week, actually in a lot longer. If she could sell the shop, maybe she could use the money to go in some new direction.
    Callie brushed her hair down with her fingers. “I would appreciate it very much.”
    “It’s no problem at all. What else do you need?”
    Looking down at Max, Callie pulled in her bottom lip. “Any idea where I could buy a cell phone? I lost mine.”
    Deborah laughed again, the sound reminding Callie of springtime and hummingbirds and Texas. “We rarely use phones. When we do, we have phone shanties that are set up for the purpose of placing calls, or sometimes we have phone cards and go to the General Store here in town where there is a phone the owner lets us use.”
    “It’s really different here,” Callie said, scrunching her face up as Max turned in a circle and flopped on the floor between them.
    “Ya,
which is why we like it.” Deborah’s smile broadened. “If you walk down the street to the corner light and make a right, you’ll find a small grocer. An Englisher, Mr. Cooper, owns it. He may sell the disposable phones. If he doesn’t, he can tell you who does.”
    “You’ve been a wonderful help. Thank you so much.”
    “It’s no problem. We’re a small town, and we help each other. Now I have a favor to ask you.”
    Callie felt her insides tighten in a knot, but she forced a smile. “I’ll try.”
    “Allow me to leave the quilts here. I’ll pick them up in a few days.”
    Callie let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. It was a small favor, and one that wouldn’t complicate things in any way. It was the least she could do considering how much help Deborah had offered. “I suppose there would be no harm in leaving them here, but why?”
    “It’s just that I hadn’t planned on taking them back with me, and I need to pick up supplies while I’m here in town. My buggy will be full, and I don’t want to soil them.”
    Walking Deborah outside, she waved good-bye.
    She didn’t have many answers, but at least Max was fed and she knew where the grocery store was.
    It wasn’t much, but it seemed from the perspective of where she’d been while huddling under the covers that it would be a start.
    Jonas had begun to snore when Deborah slipped off her house shoes and crawled into bed. Pressing her cold hands against the small of his back, she wasn’t surprised when he startled awake.
    “What’s wrong? Who needs me?” Jonas sprang up, reminding Deborah of the way the
kinner
bounced on the seats in the buggy.
    “Nothing’s wrong, and I need you.” She laughed softly and pulled him back down under the summer quilt. “Now lie still and let me warm my hands.”
    “How can you be so cold? It’s summer.” His voice was gruff, but he took her small hands between his own, brought them up to his lips, and kissed them gently.
    “I was rocking Joshua until he fell asleep, and then I sat out on the porch a little while, thinking about the English woman.” She burrowed into his arms, into his warmth. “There’s a breeze tonight.”
    “Which is why you should be in bed.”
    “I was trying to puzzle it out though.”
    “Not another of your puzzles.” Jonas began to breathe deeply, and Deborah realized he was on the verge of falling asleep again. She placed her toes against his ankles, and he jerked his legs away.
    “Your feet are like ice, woman.”
    “Talk to me until I warm.”
    “You talk. I’ll listen.” He touched her face, ran his fingers down her neck, sent shivers zipping all the way down her spine.
    “I believe she’d like to stay—the look in her eyes when I asked her if she had family back home … Jonas, it cut to my