Love Inspired June 2014 - Bundle 2 of 2: Single Dad Cowboy\The Bachelor Meets His Match\Unexpected Reunion (52 page)

“Pizza,” David said. “We wanted pizza.” He shook his head. “
Mam
gonna be mad at me.
Ya.
” He nodded his head. “Really mad.”

“I was so worried. Come on,” Hannah urged. “Let's get off this road before we're all killed.” She held tight to Susanna, unwilling to let her go now that she'd found her. Adrenaline still pumped through Hannah's veins, and she felt vaguely sick to her stomach.

“Good idea,” Albert said.

Together, they walked back to Hannah's lane. Once away from the blacktop, she loosened her grip on Susanna's arm and merely held her hand. “Albert,” Hannah said, “how did you find them?
Where
did you find them?”

“Half a mile on the other side of the Kings' place,” he said. “I was coming back from a call. A cow having twins was in a bit of trouble. Two pretty little heifers, both right as rain once we got their legs untangled and got them delivered. Anyway, I was just on my way home when I saw Jonas's courting buggy in the ditch and these two standing there beside it.”

“A car came,” Susanna wailed. “It scared Taffy. She jumped in the ditch.”

“The buggy rolled over on its side,” Albert explained. “A wheel is broken, but the carriage seems okay. I was more concerned for Susanna and David.”

“Not David's fault,” Susanna stoutly defended. “He drove good. The car beeped and scared Taffy.”

Hannah rolled her eyes. “David drove?”

Susanna nodded.

They continued to walk up the long drive. “But, Daughter, you snuck out of the house.”

Susanna shook her head. “
Ne.
I didn't.”

“You did,” Hannah said. “Did David come to the farm and hitch Taffy to the buggy?”

“
Ya,
” Susanna said, but David was shaking his head. “Hush,” Susanna ordered, shaking her finger at him. “You
said!
”

Confused, Hannah glanced at Albert, who shrugged. “I couldn't get a straight story out of them, either. They were both crying when I got there. The pony was tangled in the traces.”

“It was God's mercy that you found them,” Hannah said. The pony belonged to her daughter Miriam, but she stabled it at the home barn so that Rebecca and Hannah had the use of it. They were all very fond of Taffy, and the thought that the animal could have been badly injured or killed by Susanna's carelessness made Hannah angry. “I'm disappointed in you, Susanna,” she said sharply. “Very, very disappointed.”

Susanna hung her head. Tears ran down her cheeks and she wiped at them with dirty hands, but Hannah wasn't feeling sympathetic.

“What you did was wrong and dangerous,” Hannah chided. “You, David or Taffy could have been killed.”

“We...we wanted pizza,” Susanna mumbled. “You never...never let us go get...get pizza.”

“I like pizza,” David declared.

The sound of an approaching horse and buggy caught Hannah's attention. “That's got to be Rebecca,” she explained to Albert. “Where's your truck?”

“I left it on the side of the road by the buggy.”

Hannah nodded. “I can send Charley and Eli to get the buggy in the morning.”

“No worry,” Albert said. “I called Tony's Towing.”

“But that will cost dearly,” Hannah said.
Did she even
have
the money for a tow truck?

“Don't worry about it.” Albert gave her a reassuring grin. “Tony owes me for stitching up his Labrador's hind leg last week when he got it caught in the screen door. There won't be a charge. He'll have the buggy back in your barn within the hour.”

Rebecca reined in Blackie, and Susanna pulled away from Hannah to run and tell her sister about her adventure. David stood patiently where he was, waiting for Susanna or someone to tell him what to do.

Hannah glanced back at Albert. “You walked right past David's house. Why didn't you leave him there?”

Albert tugged off his ball cap and looked sheepish. “He wouldn't go. Susanna wanted him with her, and I thought maybe you'd be uneasy about me bringing her home alone. You know, how it would look to the community...”

“How it would look? When you saved both of them from who knows what? Albert, you may not be Amish, but we trust you. You'll never know how grateful I am that it was you who came along when I needed you most.”

“I suppose it was meant to be,” Albert offered slowly. “His plan. I'm just glad I could help.”

Rebecca climbed down out of the buggy, and Hannah quickly filled her in on what had happened. “We'll tie Taffy to the back and take her to the barn, and put Susanna to bed,” she continued. “Albert and I are going to walk David home—”

“No need for you to put yourself out.” Albert started to lead the pony around to the back of the buggy. “I can take David home.”

“
Ne,
Albert,” Hannah replied. She gave Susanna a gentle push in Rebecca's direction. “I need to come. David's mother has to know what he was up to. I don't think she'll be any more pleased with this night's mischief than I am.”

Copyright © 2014 by Emma Miller

ISBN-13: 9781460333792

UNEXPECTED REUNION

Copyright © 2014 by Carolyn J. Greene

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