Free Amish House of Secrets by Samantha Price Page A

again?”
    When Silvie finished her mouthful of banana bread, she said, “She’s had two jobs, she didn’t like either of them, but now she’s working at the auction place. She says she likes it.”
    “That’s gut that’ll keep her out of trouble.”
    “I’m hoping it will.” Silvie laughed.
    An hour later Emma opened the front door of her haus. She had no idea what time Dorothy would arrive back and assumed she might be back around dinnertime that night. She looked into the cold box to see what she could make for dinner.
    She turned when she heard Growler behind her. “Hello, Kitty. What have you done today?” When she looked closer at Growler, she could see that his paw was bleeding. She looked behind him and saw that blood had trailed all over the kitchen floor. She bent down. “Let me see your paw.” Growler would not let her anywhere near his paw.
    “You home, Emma?”
    “I’m in the kitchen,” Emma said recognizing Wil’s voice. “Wil, it’s Growler, he’s hurt his paw.”
    Wil raced to the kitchen and bent down to take a look. Growler was no more interested in letting Wil pick up his paw than he was to let Emma pick it up. Wil sat on the floor and held Growler against his body and parted the long fur on his leg to see where the bleeding was coming from. “It’s not too deep a cut. I’ll just put some aloe vera on it, and it’ll be fine. Do you still have that aloe vera plant?”
    “ Jah , shall I squeeze out the gel?”
    “ Jah , squeeze out about as much as you can cover on two fingers, make it a gut dollop.”
    Emma rushed out to the garden and pulled some aloe vera leaves and squeezed out the gel and hurried back to Wil.
    Wil took the gel with his two fingers, while still holding onto Growler. “Good boy, Growler.” Wil talked to Growler in soothing tones while he pasted the gel on his cut.
    Growler growled a long, slow growl then leaped away from Wil. “Looks like he’s been in a cat fight.”
    Emma watched Growler walk towards the living room. “Are you sure he’s okay or should I take him to the vet?”
    “ Jah , he’ll be alright.”
    “I’ll have to keep him inside for a while. At least until he heals.”
    Wil nodded. “I’ll wash my hands outside.”
    Emma was pleased that Wil came just when he had. She was no good in a crisis. She wondered how she would be with kinner when they got hurt if she panicked when her cat was bleeding.
    Wil came back in the back door wiping his hands on an old towel. “Emma, I came to talk to you about something quite serious.”
    “What is it?” Emma asked. This was the first time they had come face to face after finding out that the sale of the house Wil tried to buy had not gone through.
    “I feel terrible about what happened with the house and you losing money. I will pay it all back to you.”
    Emma breathed out slowly and nodded, pleased that she would have the money to go ahead with a small business.
    “I could still buy the house if I borrow against my farm.”
    “ Nee , Wil, don’t do that.”
    “I will if you want me to. If you love the haus .”
    Emma shook her head. “It’s a nice haus , but I feel as though we are best to wait until after we’re married before we make a final decision. Didn’t you say you had inherited money?” Emma did not like to talk about money, but he had mentioned that he had inherited money. Surely he would not have made that up.
    Wil looked down. “I’ve loaned it to people in the community who were in need.” He looked back up. “You know I can’t ask for it back, don’t you?”
    “Of course I know. Nee , you can’t ask for it.”
    “Will you live at my haus though, Emma? Or shall I live here? Or do we live separately once we’re married until we have another haus ?”
    Emma was tired, and all his questions required thinking and she was far too weary. “I really don’t know. Can we talk about this later? I’m tired from the big trip I’ve just had and I’ve got to plan dinner