Free The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald Page A

he is very kind – much too kind to me, that’s for sure – but he keeps himself to himself. Which my father and Robert never did. They also died young, the both of them.
    I hope you’ll forgive me if I tell Caroline that you have a Bible and that you’ve read it. I don’t think she’s someone who appreciates taking a literary view of it. She leads our poor minister William Christopher by the nose and she would take control of God too, if He came down and set foot in Broken Wheel. Though, of course, when it comes to God perhaps someone should. I hope that this conversation can stay between the two of us, if ever you happen to meet Caroline?
    With kind regards,
    Amy Harris

Comfort in
Bridget Jones
    â€˜ THERE ARE PLENTY of nice places to visit around here.’
    Jen’s voice struck Sara’s ears like a cheerful hammer.
    â€˜We’ve got a river, for example. A nice late-summer picnic maybe? I’ll tell Tom to bring some typical Iowan food with him so you can have a nice time together while you get to experience the best of Iowa’s food and nature.’
    â€˜No.’
    Sara covered her face with one hand. She had a headache, she was hung-over, and she had already made a fool of herself in front of Tom once.
    She had woken up cold and stiff on Amy’s bed, with the sharp edges of the book of photographs digging into her back and four Lee Childs as a pillow. She rubbed her cheek. She should probably have checked to make sure none of the embossed lettering from the
Gone Tomorrow
cover was imprinted on her face.
    â€˜He can take you to a forest fire.’ Jen was dressed in a salmon-pink, Jackie Kennedy-style dress, and looked shamelessly fresh. ‘I know the Association for the Preservation of Oaks was planning on organising one.’
    â€˜Wh … A forest fire?’
    â€˜It has something to do with the undergrowth,’ said Jen. ‘Controlled, of course. But it must be exciting to see. Tom can give you a ride.’
    â€˜No,’ she said again. Then she froze. She raised her eyes from her cup of coffee and took in Jen’s eager face, her early visit, her countless suggestions – all of which seemed to revolve around Tom.
    She sat up straight with the shock. She had read enough books to suspect that Jen was trying to pair her off with Tom.
Her
.
    â€˜Walk in the woods?’ Jen asked hopefully.
    Sara laughed. ‘No,’ she said.
    What were they thinking? She was ordinary and Tom … well, Tom wasn’t. She always tried to be a fair person, so she made an effort not to judge him for it. But the fact remained, she was instinctively suspicious of a fit body. So often, they seemed to be entirely incompatible with other qualities, like intelligence or kindness or even basic politeness.
    But then again, she was also well aware that an ordinary appearance by no means guaranteed charm either.
    She stopped smiling. Oh God, imagine if they had suggested it to
him
? Was that why he had picked her up yesterday, forced against his will, part of some crazy plan cooked up by Jen and, presumably, Andy? Andy did seem like the kind of person who would come up with something like that. No wonder Tom had been so stand-offish. She really wished she hadn’t called him nice now.
    There was only one thing to do. Change the subject.
    â€˜Have you found anyone I can pay the rent to?’ she asked, which immediately made Jen look unhappy.
    George had started stopping by the house every morning, to see whether Sara needed to go into town or run any errands. He was taking his role as chauffeur very seriously.
    Today when he arrived, she was sitting on the porch, reading.
    She lowered the book and looked up at him as he sat down next to her.
    â€˜What’re you reading?’ he asked.
    She held up the book. ‘
Bridget Jones’s Diary
.’
    He nodded as though the name sounded familiar.
    â€˜Coffee?’ she asked. ‘With milk and