Harvest of Blessings Read Online Free PDF

“Atlee’s got the Glick stubborn streak, too. When he graduated from eighth grade, he started workin’ at Zeb Schrock’s auction barn, like he couldn’t get away from Preacher Gabe or the farmin’ life fast enough. Went to auctioneer school so he could take on a partnership with Zeb,” she explained. “And with the Schrocks bein’ Mennonites, Gabe considered Atlee’s career choice a slap in the face.”
    Ben thought about all these details as they crossed the county blacktop. “So who was Millie’s dat ? I get the feelin’ he either had nothing to say about these events, or that he ducked his responsibility.”
    “That was another subject Gabe refused to discuss.” Miriam shrugged. “Could be that Nora wouldn’t tell who he was, to protect the boy from her dat ’s anger. But truth be told, I was surprised when Nora got—She made gut grades. Got a little lippy as a teenager—like a lot of us did—but far as I know, she wasn’t datin’ anybody steady. It was a mystery. A sad chapter in the lives of the Glicks.”
    “A mystery,” Ben echoed in a lighter tone. He slipped an arm around her shoulders. “God works in mysterious ways, pretty girl.”
    “We know all about that , ain’t so?” Miriam asked as she grinned up at him. “Last year at this time, who would’ve believed I’d be married to the likes of you , Bennie, much less carryin’ your baby?”
    “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, Miriam. Have I told ya lately that I love ya?” Ben bussed her temple and then stopped on the shoulder of the road to kiss her full on the lips.
    Miriam felt color spreading across her face. Her younger husband’s expressions of affection still made her feel as giddy as a girl, and more blessed than she could ever have imagined. “Not since, oh, maybe noon,” she teased.
    “I can’t say it too often, how you’ve turned my life around,” he murmured as he gazed into her eyes. “We can only hope that if we two love each other so much, so that all the world can see it, maybe other folks will catch on and be just as open about their feelings. Hidin’ our light—or our love—under a bushel wasn’t what God intended.”
    “Maybe it’ll be you who helps Gabe and his family accept that idea, Preacher Ben. You’re a gut man and I’m proud of ya.”
    As they approached the Brennemans’ yard, Miriam listened to their friends’ laughter drifting on the breeze. She delighted in the smiles of so many folks who’d been a part of her life nearly forever. “If Nora’s really back, we’re gonna need all the love we can muster. A big pot’s about to boil over, and a lot of folks might get scalded—and I see the fella who needs to know what’s goin’ on.”
    Miriam waved her hand high above her head to catch Tom Hostetler’s attention. He was coming up the road from his farm with a pull cart, bringing bins of his homemade ice cream to serve with the wedding cake outside the Brennemans’ shop.
    “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you two lovebirds were slippin’ away for some spoonin’,” Bishop Tom teased as he met up with them.
    “We could say the same about you and Aunt Naz, the way ya gawk at each other,” Ben countered with a chuckle. “But we drove Gabe home just now—”
    “Along with Lizzie and little Ella,” Miriam continued urgently, “and we found Wilma out of bed and in quite a state. She was carryin’ on about how Nora had leaned over her bed and gazed into her face—”
    “ Nora? Why would Nora come back after all these years?” The bishop scratched his silver-shot beard. “Do ya think Wilma was in her right mind?”
    Miriam let out a little laugh. “We haven’t seen Wilma so perky in a long time. She was so excited, thinkin’ her girl had come to see her—but of course Gabe reminded her and Lizzie that they were still not discussin’ that subject. And about that time Millie was at the kitchen door, askin’ who Nora was.”
    “Uh-oh. Atlee and