Orchard of Hope Read Online Free PDF Page A

door. “I don’t think I’ll need a doctor,” he said. “A couple of Band-Aids and I’m good as new. Or almost.”
    “Dad, this is Noah,” Jocie said. “He gave me a ride to town since my bike was pretty much out of commission and his was still rolling. And so I thought the least I could do was let him bandage up his head at our sink.”
    “I should think,” Jocie’s dad said as he stepped forward with a smile and held his hand out to Noah. “David Brooke. I’m sorry my daughter ran you down. Thank goodness she’s not old enough to get her driver’s license for two more years.”
    “She’s a terror on wheels, for sure,” Noah said, taking Jocie’s father’s hand. He was smiling. A real smile and not the laughing-at-the-world smile he’d been wearing most of the time since Jocie had bowled him over.
    Jocie breathed a little easier. She wasn’t going to have to run interference between her father and Noah the way she had with him and Zella.
    “Jocie said you’d moved in out on Hoopole Road. That’s a long way on a bike.”
    “And relatively uneventful until about a mile from town, if you can call this place a town.”
    “Noah’s from Chicago,” Jocie put in.
    “Then I guess Hollyhill does look small to you. It’ll take some getting used to,” her dad said.
    “I’m sure. On both sides,” Noah said.
    Jocie’s dad looked puzzled by that remark but didn’t ask what Noah meant.
    “Noah may be looking for a job,” Jocie said. “I told him he could have one of this week’s Banner s, but I don’t remember anybody advertising for help.”
    “No, but then some people don’t like to spend money on ads.” Jocie’s father looked over at the press and the pile of paper waiting for their next run. “What kind of job did you have in mind?”
    “I worked for a grocery store back in Chicago, stocking shelves, that kind of thing.”
    “Our grocery is a family affair. Got a couple of nephews working for them,” Jocie’s dad said.
    “Is everything around here a family affair? Jocie said she worked on the paper here.”
    “I just help out,” Jocie said. She didn’t want her father to think she’d inflated what she did for the paper.
    “I couldn’t make it without her,” Jocie’s dad said. “In fact, while Wes has been out, we haven’t been making it too good anyway. I might could use a little extra help, say two or three afternoons a week.”
    “You mean sweeping the place out, that kind of thing?” Noah asked.
    “I suppose the place could use a good sweeping, but I was thinking more along the lines of whatever needs doing from setting the type to blocking out ads to making deliveries or running errands.”
    “I don’t know how to set type or . . .” For the first time, Noah looked a little unsure of himself. “. . . what did you call it? Blocking ads.”
    “You can learn. So what do you think? You want to give it a try for a couple of weeks? I can’t pay much. I’ll have to check with Zella on that. She keeps the books. And it’ll only be until my regular hand, Wes, is back on his feet again.”
    “Is he sick?” Noah asked.
    “Remember the other totaled bike I told you about?” Jocie grimaced. “And the guy who ended up in the hospital?”
    “Now, Jocie. Wes doesn’t hold any of that against you. It wasn’t your fault a tornado blew a tree down on top of him. But he may hold it against us if we don’t get up there and get him out of the hospital. He’s had all the doctors and nurses he can stand for a while.” Her father looked at his watch.
    “I’ll go wash my face and hands,” Jocie said.
    “Good idea. I’ll show Noah how the press works while you’re getting cleaned up.”
    Jocie washed the sweat and dog slobber off her face as fast as she could. Then she ran her fingers through her shoulder-length brown hair and limped back to the pressroom. She didn’t want to miss anything.
    When she went back through the door, her father was saying, “So tell you