Free Winter’s Awakening by Shelley Shepard Gray Page B

and buggy is gone, how are you getting home?”
    “I’ll be walking.”
    Lilly’s eyes widened. “It’s quite a ways.”
    “It is,” Joshua agreed. “But I’ll be fine. I’ve walked farther in worse weather before.”
    “We can give you a ride, if you want,” Charlie blurted. “That is, if you ever ride in cars and trucks.”
    “We do. We can ride in vehicles, just not own them.”
    “Well, you want a ride with us? It’s no trouble.”
    Joshua made a sudden decision though there really wasn’t much of a choice to make. He could either spendthe next hour or so walking through snow or ride home in the truck’s relative comfort. “ Danke . I’d be mighty grateful. I just have to go lock up.”
    Lilly smiled at her brother. “No hurry. Take your time.”
     
    Lilly was aware of every single move that Joshua Graber made. From the contemplative way he studied them, to the easy movement of his body, lifting those heavy packages from the truck without much more than a small grimace.
    She caught him smiling in appreciation when they climbed in the cab of Charlie’s black truck, taking a moment to run a finger over the hood before getting in on the other side of her.
    When he noticed that she noticed, his cheeks reddened. “I was just thinkin’ about how much my brother Caleb would like to be in my shoes. He likes this truck very much.”
    Before Lilly could say anything, Charlie spoke up. “Hey, anytime he wants a ride, just let me know. I’ll give him one.”
    “I’ll tell Caleb. That will make him happy, indeed.”
    “Good.”
    Lilly turned to her brother in surprise. What was going on with him? Usually he never put himself out for anyone. And, last she’d heard, he hadn’t been in any hurry to be friends with their Amish neighbors either. Was he trying to make friends…or simply just trying to do the right thing?
    They bumped along the snowy road that had been recently salted. With each mile gained, the group of stores behind them began to fade behind the thick curtain of snow.
    Joshua seemed content to ride in silence, merely looking out the window. For his part, Charlie seemed relaxed, too. Usually he blared his music or complained about something. Now, though, whether it was because of the poor road conditions or Joshua’s presence, he drove without saying much.
    As they turned a corner and entered Old Ranch Trail, the broad street which both their homes branched off of, Lilly decided to speak. She was too curious about Josh to pass up the opportunity to learn more about him. “So I guess your family has lived here a long time.”
    “Oh, yes. Four generations now.”
    “And you’ve always had the store?”
    “No. We were farmers for most of that time. Things changed when farmland got expensive, though. My grandfather was always a master planner, and terribly shrewd, too. He started thinking that maybe our community didn’t need another set of struggling farmers as much as a store to see to our needs. Until we built this store, most folks had to drive to Berlin to get most of their necessities.”
    “And so you built that big building?” Lilly asked.
    “Oh, no. My grandfather built a smallish building at first. When business got good, he added on. My father added on, too.”
    Charlie turned Joshua’s way. “So…do you like working there?”
    “Well enough. It’s all I’ve known, and it’s what’s been expected of me.” Looking over Lilly to Charlie, Joshua said, “I hear you go to college.”
    “Yep. Well, I was in college before we moved. I’m working over at the dry cleaners in order to save up some money to pay for room and board.”
    “He wants to live in the dorm at Bowling Green,” Lilly added, thinking she was both literally and figuratively in the middle of the conversation.
    Drumming his hand on the steering wheel, Charlie nodded. “I went to a community college this fall, but had to stop when we moved here.”
    “Now that’s a shame.”
    Though Joshua didn’t