To Love and to Cherish Read Online Free PDF Page A

only seventeen. You don’t get to decide—not yet.” She snapped forward and tried to snatch the phone away. He danced back, leaving her hand dangling in empty air. “Give it to me.”
    “No.”
    If she couldn’t discipline Josiah over a phone, how would she make him see reason on other, bigger things? She stood still and breathed. After a few seconds, she looked him in the eye and spoke very softly, so softly he had to lean forward to hear. “Then take it to the barn for now. I want you to have Sarah come and get it. Immediately.”
    The emotion faded from his face. He shoved the phone in his pocket and headed toward the door. A snippet of wire hung from his waistline. “What is that?”
    He glanced down. “Oh, that.” His face reddened again. He snatched the wire up and the flat box he’d carried in his hand at the Kauffmans’ appeared. “It’s an iPod. You are so out of it, sister.”
    She’d heard of iPods. She wasn’t so
out-of-it
that she didn’t know what it was. But she’d never seen the little electronic box that allowed peopleto listen to all those songs like they played on the radio at the restaurant in town. “You can’t listen to music on that thing. It’s forbidden.”
    Josiah shook his head, his expression full of disbelief. “It’s only music.”
    “It’s worldly. It’s obvious that it has led to feelings you shouldn’t be having, thoughts that are taking you to places you shouldn’t go. Take it to the barn with the phone.” She pointed at the door. “Now.”
    Muttering under his breath, Josiah shuffled toward the front door. His hand reached for the knob, then dropped. He turned back. “You know that verse that says,
This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it?”
    She nodded, even though she knew where the question was headed.
    “How’s that working out for you?”
    He disappeared through the door before she could answer. Thankfully. She had no answer. It seemed God had forsaken her. And now Josiah had chosen a road that could take him far, far away. Who could rejoice on a day like this?
    The enormity of Josiah’s actions stunned her. Luke couldn’t know. The elders couldn’t find out. Did her brother understand the kind of trouble he could get into? And the trouble he brought on her by putting her in the position of knowing about his sin? Miriam stood to lose the most. Would she be able to keep her promise to remain silent? Emma would understand if she didn’t. A broken heart and a violation of the Ordnung at the same time. It had to be wrenching for her.
    Emma bent over for a second, fighting lightheadedness. Josiah’s words had cut deeply. She had no husband or children because she’d been unwilling to leave her family and her faith. She’d done the right thing. Still, it seemed as if she were the one being punished, not Carl. She was stuck, unable to move forward because of his betrayal.
    “Are you all right?” Thomas stood in the hallway, his sharp features dark with worry. “Do you need to sit down?”
    Emma straightened and smoothed her apron. “I’m fine. I need to prepare for the viewing.”
    Thomas drew her toward the kitchen. “Your face is white. Sit—I’llbring you a glass of water. The men are placing the caskets. You have a few minutes.”
    He dodged Aunt Bertha, who carried some sort of casserole, and grabbed a glass from the open shelves. Emma took a quick look around. No Miriam. She was probably too overwrought to help in the kitchen. Emma prayed she had a friend she could confide in. Someone to help her through her pain, as Annie and Catherine and the cousins had done for Emma.
    Thomas handed the water to her without speaking. The lump in her throat might not allow her to drink it. The quiet in the kitchen permitted her to breathe in and out without fearing someone would know she was falling apart inside. She sipped the cool water and the lump eased a little. “Danki, Thomas.”
    He nodded, then shuffled from