Free Harvest of Hearts by Laura Hilton Page A

a smile. “Jah. That would be wunderbaar. I’m getting the pie crusts made now. You could start on the fillings.” She moved the recipe so that Shanna could see it, too. “You remember where everything is kept?”
     
    Shanna gazed around the room—spotless, except for the table. “Jah, unless you rearranged.”
     
    Mamm shook her head. “We’ll make six pecan pies, and about the same of apple and cherry. Plus extra bread and cookies.”
     
    Shanna tilted her head. “How much have you done already?”
     
    Mamm gestured at the table again. “I’ve barely started. I’m going to be baking all week.” She hesitated and moved the recipe away. “On second thought, you never were able to get the fillings to set right. I’ll let you try on a day when they’re not for the sale.”
     
    “Wise.” At least Matthew wasn’t in the house to overhear Mamm talk about her lack of culinary skills. She could manage some recipes well enough, but pies were something she’d never mastered. “Then, I’ll get started on the cookies. What kinds do you want?” She hadn’t made cookies since leaving home. Hadn’t baked at all, really, unless she counted the Duncan Hines brownies she made in the microwave whenever she craved chocolate. But that powdered stuff wasn’t real chocolate. Scary, if she stopped to think about it. She usually tried not to.
     
    “Whatever kind sounds gut to you. We’ll need to replenish our cookie jar, too. That Matthew, he likes his cookies.”
     
    Daed preferred pies. That never kept Mamm from keeping cookies on hand.
     
    “We have plenty of peanut butter, oatmeal, raisins, chocolate chips, and molasses,” Mamm said, working her wooden spoon around the bowl.
     
    Shanna retrieved a mixing bowl and Mamm’s recipe box. “Oatmeal raisin sounds gut.”
     
    “Englischers like their chocolate.” Mamm dumped the contents of her bowl on a faded floured towel and then reached for the rolling pin.
     
    “I’ll make chocolate chip, too, if I have time. I have a date tonight. Nate is supposed to pick me up around three so we can go into the city.”
     
    Mamm peered at the battery-operated clock. “You won’t have time for both, then. But I appreciate the help you can give me.”
     
    “I need to refresh my baking skills, anyway.” Shanna started thumbing through the recipe box and pulled out the card for peanut butter cookies. Maybe she’d make those first.
     
    “Just be careful you don’t burn them. No one likes black cookies.”
     
    Shanna grimaced at the gentle reminder of the last time she’d helped Mamm bake. Hopefully, she had matured since then and could be counted on to focus.
     
    Focusing shouldn’t be too hard, as long as Matthew stayed out of the kitchen.
     
    She glanced out the window toward the shop, where Daed, her brothers, and Matthew would be working on furniture. Nothing moved. All she saw was the barn, the shop, and the fields beyond. She turned her attention back to the recipe and reached for the flour.
     
    Two hours later, Shanna tucked a few strands of hair back beneath her kapp, then used the oven mitts to pull the last sheet of cookies out of the oven. She carried it over to the table to cool for a moment, then began using a spatula to transfer the cookies to the wire rack.
     
    Mamm peered out the window. “A blue car just pulled in. Ach, that must be your friend. Nate, you said?”
     
    Shanna looked down at her Amish clothes, and the black apron covered in flour. She’d meant to be done earlier so she could shower before Nate arrived. He’d never let her live this down.
     
    She straightened her shoulders when she heard the car door shut. A few seconds later, the porch steps creaked, followed by the sound of a hesitant knock on the door.
     
    Shanna lifted the last cookie from the tray.
     
    Mamm wiped her hands on her apron. “Come in!”
     
    After a moment, the door slowly opened. Nate peered in, his eyes going to Shanna. They widened. Then, he