Free The Search by Suzanne Fisher Page A

declared his independence and had taken up barn living. She shed a tear for Blackie too. She missed her father, missed her home and her own bed. She even might miss Sallie and her boys a little. No, scratch that. But she did regret ever coming to Stoney Ridge. Even summer school looked more appealing than being stuck here, picking roses near a beautiful boy who hardly noticed her. She sighed, deeply grieved, and climbed back into bed, sure she would never sleep. She turned over once, and it was morning.
    As Bess walked out to the roses, she decided that she would avoid Billy as much as possible, picking roses in rows far from him. She bent down to examine a blossom.
    “Hey, what are you doing way over there?” Billy called out to her.
    She bounced back up.
    He picked up his basket and joined her in the row she was working on, making her heart turn in somersaults. “You were right about birds missing from the lake. I went back later last night, to see if I could hear any owls hooting. Nothing. What do you make of that?”
    What did she make of that? Looking into his dark eyes, she couldn’t make sense of anything. She couldn’t think of a single thing to say—she was that tongue-tied around him. He looked particularly fine today too, with his cheeks turning pink from the sun and his shirtsleeves rolled up on his forearms. The wind lifted his hair. He looked so handsome she wanted to reach out and stroke his cheek. Her spirits soared.
    Billy Lapp wasn’t making it easy for her to fall out of love with him.

    Jonah walked out to the shop in his barn, reviewing the facts for the hundredth time. He had tossed and turned last night trying to figure it out. What exactly had happened last night to lead Sallie to the conclusion that they now had an Understanding? He had dropped her and her boys off after church, and she had invited him to stay for dinner. There was nothing different about that scenario. He and Bess had often taken Sunday suppers at Sallie’s. He remembered saying that the house was awful quiet without Bess. Then, as he said good night, Sallie told him that she was just thrilled they had an Understanding. He was mystified. What had he said?
    The morning was so warm that he opened up both doors in his workshop to have air circulate through. As he slid open the barn door, a thought seized him. Sallie was so . . . overly blessed . . . with the gift of conversation that he often found himself not really listening to her. Maybe he was asking himself the wrong question. Maybe the question wasn’t what he had said. Maybe it was: what had he not said in reply?

    When Lainey heard the bakery door jingle, she looked up, surprised to see Bess. Her blond hair was covered by a bandanna knotted at the nape of her neck, just below her hair bun. She wore a lavender dress under her white apron and she was barefooted.
    “My grandmother has a craving for your cherry tarts and sent me down to get some,” Bess said, peering into the bakery counter. She looked up, disappointed. “But they’re all gone!”
    The store was empty and Mrs. Stroot had gone home, so Lainey grabbed the chance to encourage Bess to stay. “I was just going to whip some up. What would you think about staying to help?”
    Bess looked delighted. “I’d love to! Mammi is canning zucchini, and the kitchen is so hot that it’s steaming the calendar right off the wall. One thing I’ve learned, if I don’t make myself scarce, Mammi will find me some chores.” She followed Lainey to the back of the bakery.
    Lainey pointed Bess to the sink to wash her hands while she got out the flour and sugar and lard. She felt her heart pounding hard and tried to calm herself. It still seemed like a miracle to her, to think that her sister was right there beside her.

    Mammi was waiting out on the porch, arms akimbo, when Bess drove up the drive to Rose Hill Farm. Bess felt a little nervous because she’d been much longer than she said she would.
    “Where have you