Free Keys of Heaven by Adina Senft Page B

think he likes me, Sarah?”
    Sarah pushed her shoulder off the door frame and crossed the room to give her a hug. “It would be impossible not to.”
    “You’re just saying that because you love me.”
    “I’m saying it because it’s the truth.”
    “But you practically tricked him into driving me home.”
    “If a man didn’t want to in the first place, he couldn’t be ‘tricked’ into doing anything. I just gave him an opportunity, and he took it. What else did you talk about?”
    At last Amanda calmed her agitation enough to smile. “Silly things. He doesn’t believe that chickweed can be good for anything but feeding to chickens. I told him some of the things you do with it, but he still wasn’t convinced.”
    “You should sneak some into the salad tonight and see if he notices.”
    Sarah smiled inside at Amanda’s laughter. This was the girl she knew, not the anxious, tense person who was so unsure of herself that she could hardly enjoy a ride without worrying about being teased about it.
    “I certainly will. That will teach him.”
    They went down to supper then, and Amanda was as good as her word. And when she told Silas what she’d done, his laughter made everyone around the table smile and exchange interested glances.
    Even Zeke didn’t spoil the mood by making a joke or teasing Amanda to distraction.
    It wasn’t until later that night, after Sarah and Caleb had said their prayers together and she’d gone to bed, that she opened her eyes wide in the summer dark as a thought struck her.
    Amanda and Silas had talked all the way home.
    Was it her imagination that every subject seemed to have something to do with her?
    Sarah shook her head at herself. That couldn’t be. And she had better do some serious praying on the subject of pride.

Chapter 9
    O n Monday, after she and her sisters made breakfast, and then she helped Mamm do the week’s laundry, Priscilla arrived at the Rose Arbor Inn a few minutes after eight thirty. Thank goodness one of the Byler uncles had been going into town and had offered her a ride; otherwise, she’d have been nearly half an hour late. She was going to have to fetch her old scooter out of the barn, if Dat didn’t relent soon, so she’d have a way to speed up the trip.
    “Good morning, Ginny.” With a glance into the dining room, which was empty but set for breakfast, she knelt by the storage cupboard to get out the basket of cleaning supplies. “Has everyone gone for the day?”
    “Oh, no,” Ginny said. “The Parkers aren’t even down to breakfast yet. The weekenders I had in the other four rooms left yesterday afternoon, so you might as well get started in the Wild Rose Room.”
    That was what Ginny called the attic, which had been opened up as a family suite and had a queen-sized bed as well as two bunk beds and a twin.
    “But first, have a sticky bun. I just took them out of the oven.”
    “I’ve already had breakfast, but thank you.” She didn’t want to be here when Justin came down. If she was up on the third floor, and had any luck, he would have finished breakfast and gone out for the day before she was finished in the Wild Rose Room.
    “A sticky bun isn’t breakfast. Come on. I know you love them.”
    Priscilla wavered. Ginny made the best sticky buns in the county, rich with cinnamon and pecans and melting sugar. And the floors weren’t creaking with footsteps going back and forth upstairs. Maybe just this once. “Ohhh…all right.”
    Which meant that the minute she sank her teeth into the luscious bun, sneakers padded down the stairs and Justin walked into the dining room. In the next second, he spotted her sitting at the prep table in the kitchen.
    She should have gone up to the third floor as soon as Ginny had mentioned it. This was her punishment for indulging the lusts of the flesh. At least the kitchen was gated off. He could talk to her, but he couldn’t come through and invade her space.
    “Good morning, Justin,” Ginny said.