Free The River by Beverly Lewis Page A

time with Daed and Mamm, a chance to enjoy all the attention the first evening back.
    And I’ll be fine with Uncle Abner and Aunt Naomi . . . besides, Naomi baked up a storm. Tilly recalled her uncle’s earlier remark and was heartened by the prospect of having supper with her kindly aunt and uncle instead.

    “Only one person ever led a perfect life,” Uncle Abner told Tilly as they sat around the table together later. It was just the three of them—Tilly and her aunt and uncle—though there was food enough for a feast. “You’ll keep that in mind, jah , Tilly?”
    She listened and believed, but her uncle couldn’t possibly know how difficult it was for her to forgive herself. Not just for leaving Lancaster County, or for taking Ruthie away, but also for being thoughtless the week of Anna’s drowning. No, she could never forget how she’d lost her patience with little Anna, and she had never breathed a word of it to anyone. Not even to Ruth.
    “Would ya care for more potatoes or anything else?” Aunt Naomi asked, looking at Tilly.
    “Everything’s delicious, but no thanks.”
    Uncle Abner tilted his head. “You don’t eat so heartily up in Rockport, do ya?” His grin was merry.
    “I’m not as plump as I might’ve been had I stayed around here,” she admitted.
    He laughed. “Well, we Amishmen prefer our women nice and round.” Here he winked at Naomi, who lightheartedly waved right back at him. “Mashed potatoes swimming in butter or topped with gut, thick gravy never hurt anyone.”
    Tilly wouldn’t say what she was thinking. She’d read an article about the ill effects of an overly rich diet, especially on the heart. She wondered if her father was still a heavy eater but decided that, since she hadn’t had the nerve to stay for supper over there, it wasn’t right to ask.
    “Well, and the farmers work off all those calories, don’t forget,” Naomi piped up, which brought another smile to Uncle Abner’s sunburnt face. “They need to start the day with a big breakfast, too.”
    “Better be ready come mornin’, Tilly,” Uncle Abner said with another wink.
    Having been on the opposite end of all that food, helping Mamm prepare the generous hot meal, Tilly remembered and smiled.
    The sound of the day clock ticking broke the silent pause.
    “So,” her uncle said, “I s’pose if we’d known it was goin’ to be just you and your sister over at your parents’ tonight for supper, your aunt Naomi and I might’ve offered to show up and eat over there with yous.”
    “Oh, now, Abner,” said Naomi. “You don’t mean it.”
    “I certainly do.”
    Tilly had to keep her smile in check. These two had always been entertaining.
    “You honestly would’ve burst into Sylvia’s kitchen uninvited?” asked Naomi.
    “ Puh! And why not?”
    “What purpose would that have served?”
    Uncle Abner reached for his tumbler of water, his eyebrows twitching as he drank. When he’d finished, he wiped his mouth on the back of his long-sleeved shirt and said, “If it made Tilly more comfortable, I think we just might’ve.”
    It warmed Tilly’s heart, and she wished for words to express her appreciation but felt weary. She thought of her drive around Eden Valley that afternoon and her unexpected encounter with Josie.
    “Keep in mind tomorrow’s a brand-new day,” Uncle Abner said, looking at her. “His mercies are new every morning.”
    Tilly agreed. “Melvin says all of my remaining siblings will be present at the anniversary gathering.”
    Aunt Naomi patted her arm lightly. “That’s what we’ve heard, too, my dear.”
    So maybe I’ll be safe, thought Tilly, wondering how Ruthie was faring with their parents.
    Rising, she helped clear the table before bringing over the big Dutch apple pie and placing it on the table. Naomi carried the homemade whipped cream and set it down smack-dab in front of Abner, who beamed.
    “This’ll fatten ya up, Tilly-girl,” he said, reaching for the spoon and