Free The Heart's Journey: Stitches in Time Series #2 by Barbara Cameron Page B

along and make sure that I don’t do something foolish.”
    Naomi stared at her grandmother. “Well,” she said finally, “I did see you take a flying leap out of the store not so long ago.”
    Her grandmother pursed her lips, and then the crinkles around her eyes deepened and she chuckled. “I am quite the athlete, am I not? Who knows what I could do on the shuffle-board court!”

6
    B efore Ida left, she had a surprise for them.
    “My cousin is coming in on one of the chartered buses today,” she announced. “Everyone turns out to see who’s on a bus from up north. Sometimes they have a relative or friend, but even if they don’t, it’s fun to see the new arrivals and say good-bye to those going back home.”
    There was a knock on the door. “That’ll be Caleb,” she told Naomi.
    Caleb, her husband, had a surprise of his own. “I brought a wagon for you, Leah, if you’d like to come with us,” he said. “ Kumm , see how you like it.”
    Naomi helped Leah with her crutches and they walked outside.
    Leah laughed. “Well, it’s no coach, but it’s no pumpkin either.”
    Caleb had fixed up a small wagon—bigger than a child’s wagon, one that a small woman like Leah could fit in—and lined it with a pillow and blankets to make it more comfortable to sit in.
    “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” Ida told her. “Caleb just wanted you to have a chance to if you wanted. It’s one of the social events here, seeing who’s arrived.”
    “ Schur , I’m willing to give it a try,” Leah said and let Naomi and Caleb help her get seated.
    “Take or leave?” Naomi asked, holding up the crutches.
    “Leave,” Leah said without hesitation. “I doubt I’ll want to get out and walk around if there’s a crowd of people.”
    Caleb picked up the handle and began pulling the wagon along the sidewalk.
    They’d traveled just a few feet when Leah burst out laughing. “I bet I make quite a sight.”
    Ida’s laugh was rich and deep. “ Ya . But wait until you see how everyone gets around here. There are no horses and buggies so we use three-wheelers and bicycles and wagons like Caleb’s to get groceries. Neighborhood seems too small to do anything else.”
    She shot a glance at Caleb. “Until you go to haul some Yoder’s produce home. Then you’re grateful for the wagon, eh, Caleb?”
    Leah laughed. “Just pretend I’m a load of produce, Caleb.”
    Naomi smiled. It was wonderful to see how much her grandmother had cheered up. She couldn’t wait to tell her cousins.
    People were hurrying toward the spot where the chartered bus, its side decorated with a mural of a train, sat. If you were a little nearsighted, you could almost think a train had pulled in and passengers were stepping down from it.
    “My cousin from Indiana is on the bus,” Ida said. “I can’t wait to see her.”
    Female passengers wearing a variety of dress styles and kapps descended the steps, some of them carrying tired-looking children who blinked in the glare of the bright Floridasun. The men went to retrieve luggage from the belly of the bus.
    Greetings were exchanged and the visitors were escorted off to stay with relatives and friends or went to places they’d rented for their stay.
    Ida went off to get her cousin settled at her place and Caleb pulled Leah home in the wagon.
    “Hey, stealing one of my favorite passengers?”
    Naomi’s eyes widened as she saw Nick strolling up. Her heart lifted and the day seemed just a little brighter.
    Caleb turned and chuckled. “ Ya , and I’ll be taking her all the way back to Pennsylvania in my fine conveyance here when she’s ready to go home.”
    Nick reached out his hand and helped Leah up from the wagon.
    “Let me get her crutches,” Naomi said quickly.
    “No need,” he said, scooping up a surprised Leah and carrying her up the walk.
    Naomi fished in her pocket for the key and unlocked the front door. Nick set Leah down inside and handed her the crutches that