Tying the Knot Read Online Free PDF Page A

a wry smile. “After Dad’s death, it’s become her entire life. I barely talked her into attending my graduation.” She swirled her tea. “It felt surreal, anyway, since I have another quarter of internship left.”
    Edith opened the screen door. It squealed, bristling the hair on Anne’s neck. She gazed at the sunset as Edith’s arm wrapped around her shoulders and enveloped her with the smells of cookies and cotton and something Anne could only describe as love. She leaned into the hug.
    “Your mother needs a break.”
    Anne harrumphed. “She can’t escape Dad’s ‘unfinished work.’” She shook her head. “How hard can it be to shut the door to the church basement, sell the house, and head south to Arizona? If she really cared about me and Ellen, she’d ditch the inner city and let us sleep a night in peace.”
    Aunt Edith stayed silent. Anne knew her own words sounded harsh. But after her father’s accidental death under the wheels of a drunk driver’s car, she and her sister thought MaryAnn Lundstrom would have the good sense to throw in the ministry towel, cash her life insurance check, and buy a home somewhere that didn’t host regular drive-by shootings. Maybe not Arizona, but perhaps in the Minneapolis suburbs or in Deep Haven near Aunt Edith.
    Aunt Edith represented the gentle voice of reason and had spent countless summers harboring Anne and Ellen in her home in Minnetonka, a Minneapolis suburb located a satisfactory distance from the homeless shelter the Lundstroms operated. Now ten years after Aunt Edith and Uncle Maynard had moved to Deep Haven, she’d come through to rescue Anne again.
    “When do you start at the hospital?”
    “I have an appointment with Dr. Simpson Monday morning. He’ll be supervising my internship. He didn’t mention payment, but I’m hoping a stipend comes with the job.” She didn’t add that she also had her sights on the job of community nurse. Aunt Edith, her sensitive thumb on the pulse of the community, had told her that Jenny someone, current job holder, had supposedly entertained plans to retire—a timely event in Anne’s opinion. Anne hoped that if she impressed the board with her internship skills, she could slide right into that position. It might not be the cutting-edge ministry her father had wished for her, but it felt close. One didn’t need to live in the thick of crime and violence to bless the lives of one’s fellowman.
    “I’m sure Dr. Simpson will figure out something. He’s a nice man. You’ll like him.”
    Anne didn’t doubt Aunt Edith’s opinion even though the doctor had sounded brusque on the phone. Aunt Edith had a decade of Deep Haven experience in her corner. Anne hummed agreement.
    “He attends our church,” Aunt Edith continued, “and has a raspberry patch half the size of Lake Superior. His wife, Naomi, puts up hundreds of jars of jam and sells them at that new bookstore in town.”
    “The Something of Heaven place I saw on the way in? With the flowers along the porch?”
    Edith smiled, the lines around her eyes wrinkling. “The Footstep of Heaven. You’d like the proprietor. She’s a lot like you. Feisty and determined.”
    Anne playfully jabbed her aunt.
    “Her name’s Mona, and her husband is a best-selling author.”
    “Really? What does he write, books on how to smoke fish?” Anne chortled at her own humor.
    “It’s Reese Clark.”
    “Oh.” Anne winced. “The Jonah series.” The series about a drifter named Jonah was one of her bedtime favorites. “He lives here?”
    Edith’s eyes twinkled. “Yep. But his name’s really Joe. And he has a brother who lives up the trail at a home for the mentally challenged. It’s a strawberry farm.”
    Anne quirked an eyebrow. “What other secrets are hidden in Deep Haven?”
    “I’ll never tell.” Edith patted her arm. “Why don’t you come to church with us Sunday? Mona and Joe Michaels attend, and you’ll get a chance to meet Dr. Simpson before your