Free Susanna's Dream: The Lost Sisters of Pleasant Valley, Book Two by Marta Perry Page A

“You did the best you could.”
    That sounded rather final, Nate thought. Wasn’t Susanna going to ask the bishop anything? Her seeming lack of interest made Nate uncomfortable.
    “Is there anything you want to ask?” he prompted.
    “Ja.” She fixed her gaze on the bishop. “I understand Lydia found out the truth first. I don’t understand why she didn’t tell me then.”
    “I fear you must blame me for that decision,” Bishop Mose said. “When Lydia came to me, I already knew how ill your mother was. I thought it might do more harm than good to tell you at such a time. What if it made Elizabeth’s last days difficult? I advised Lydia to wait. So if there is fault, it must come to me.”
    There was an uncomfortable silence. Finally Susanna seemed to realize she had to speak. “I don’t blame anyone. I guess it doesn’t really matter any longer. Now that I know—well, that’s an end to it. I don’t have to think about it anymore.”
    That was so patently false that Nate exchanged glances with the bishop. Susanna was hurt. He could understand that feeling. But didn’t she want to know her own sisters?
    Bishop Mose looked as if he were carefully sorting through the words he might say. “Nothing that happened was the fault of your sisters,” he said finally. “I hope you’ll give them a chance to get to know you.”
    Another long silence passed. Nate was developing an urge to shake Susanna, as if that would make her see things more clearly.
    “I . . . I’ll think about it,” she said.
    Bishop Mose nodded, as if that was all he’d expected. “I pray that God will guide your decision. And if you think of any other questions, you will come to me, ain’t so?”
    “Ja. Denke, Bishop Mose.” The words seemed wrung out of her. She got up. Not waiting for either of them, she hurried back into the shop, perhaps hiding her emotions.
    It looked as if he and Bishop Mose had done all they could do for the present. Nate rose, pausing to murmur his thanks to Bishop Mose.
    The bishop looked troubled. “Be sure she comes to me if she needs to talk about it, ja?”
    Nate nodded. “I hope I didn’t do wrong in pushing her to see you.”
    “I’m glad you did. Now, I think, we must wait and trust God to work this tangle out for the best.”
    Waiting had never been Nate’s strong suit—or trust, for that matter. He followed Susanna back through the shop and out the front door.
    He didn’t speak until they reached the sidewalk, when the vision of what he had hoped for from this meeting started slipping away.
    “Komm, Susanna. Aren’t you cutting off your nose to spite your face? You have two sisters who want to know you. You can have family to help and support you. What is wrong with taking what is offered?”
    Susanna tilted her head to look into his face, and her expression was one he’d never seen before. “Is that why you are being so helpful, Nathaniel? Because you think having this ready-made family will loosen my grip on the shop?”
    “No, of course not.” He tried to sound offended at the notion. Tried to sound sure of himself.
    Unfortunately, he knew in his heart that what she said was true.
    * * *
    If he really intended to cool things off with Chloe, Seth reflected, he probably shouldn’t be searching after her on Saturday. He’d been telling himself that his job was, as it had been from the beginning, to serve as Chloe’s translator to Amish life, but he had a feeling that excuse was growing thin.
    Still, excuses aside, he’d called her. And she’d said she was at the community market, held every Saturday at one of those fraternal lodge buildings that used to be prominent features in small Pennsylvania towns. This particular brick building, right on the main square in Oyersburg, had seen a variety of uses in recent years. The Saturday markets were especially popular, so he’d heard.
    The large room on the first floor, once used for fraternal social events, was filled with a