Free A Hand to Hold by Kathleen Fuller

passed by Zachariah leading his horse to the pump. When she reached her own horse, she turned and saw that Zachariah had moved the large silver tub from beside the shed and placed it under the pump where his horse was drinking water from it. He now stood beside his horse, petting its chestnut flanks and waving away pesky horseflies as he spoke, his voice so low she couldn’t make out the words. Ruth moved to her horse’s head and petted Casey’s nose as she watched Zachariah lead his horse back to the hitching post, take a feed bag out of his buggy, and attach it to the horse’s muzzle.
    “Want me to water your horse?” Zachariah leaned against his buggy, his arms folded across his stomach.
    “I can do it.”
    “I’m sure you can. I’m just offering to do it for you.”
    Ruth didn’t say anything for a moment. She struggled to reconcile the polite man in front of her with the irritating pest she remembered from school. His green eyes shined as he looked at her, the trace of a smile on his lips. Now she understood why the girls in school had found him attractive. But he definitely wasn’t her type.
    “I’d rather take care of Casey myself.” Once she untied the gelding, she led him past Zachariah’s buggy to the pump and gave him a long drink, then brought him back to the hitching post and gave him his feed bag.
    “Care to join me?”
    Ruth peered around Casey’s head and saw Zachariah sitting in the shade of the oak tree. He brought a sandwich to his mouth and took a bite. Giving her a closed-mouth grin, he patted the empty spot next to him.
    For a moment his offer seemed tempting. Not because she wanted to sit next to him, but because it felt good to be out of the schoolhouse for a while. But she couldn’t lounge outside, not when she should be working at her desk. “I have to put together an order for more school supplies. Many of them were ruined in the accident.”
    His grin faded, taking the sparkle that had been in his eyes with it. Shrugging, he said, “Suit yourself.”
    She turned and went back inside the schoolhouse. Her eyes took a few minutes to adjust after being in the bright sunlight. She sat down and set her lunch on her desk. Bowing her head, she prayed in silence before pulling a banana out of her lunch bag and peeling it open. She took a bite out of it, then slipped on her reading glasses and thumbed through a school supply catalog, trying to ignore the mess around her.

    Zach took another bite of the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he’d thrown together and tossed in his lunch cooler that morning. He’d gotten up extra early, remembering the talk with his mother and how he promised he’d change. He meant it too. Managing to be at the schoolhouse a little past dawn wouldn’t change his life, but it was a step in the right direction, one of many he hoped to make.
    He propped his forearm on his bent knee, then pressed his back against the trunk of the tree. He took another bite of sandwich and thought about Ruth. On impulse he’d invited her to sit next to him, and as soon as he had, he regretted it, knowing she would refuse. He hadn’t seen her smile once, although he had to admit there wasn’t much to smile about right now. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for her to relax a bit. Even as she swept, she’d had a white-knuckle grip on the broom. And he was puzzled by her reaction to him offering to water her horse. It was like she thought he doubted she could do it, and that wasn’t the case at all. Then earlier she’d asked if he was making fun of her. His mind wandered back to when they were in school. Had she always been this defensive? He didn’t know; his memories of school were pretty fuzzy. Probably because he’d spent as little time there as possible— physically or mentally. Well, he wasn’t about to extend any more offers to her. He wouldn’t set himself up for failure.
    Zach finished the last of his sandwich and headed for the water pump again. The midday sun enveloped