Summer of Secrets

Summer of Secrets

Seasons of the Heart
Book 1

Summer of Secrets

By
Charlotte Hubbard

1
“And what shall I bring for your dinner, Micah?” Rachel Lantz grinned at the broad-shouldered blonde seated at the back table of the Good Seasons Bakery Café. “We’ve got an order or two of Naomi’s meat loaf left, and Mamma’s chicken and noodles—and jah, those stuffed peppers ya like so well.”

Although he knew their daily menu by heart, he pretended to study the specials she’d written on the dry-erase board this morning. His hair showed a slight ridge from his straw hat, now hung on the nearby wall peg, and she felt the heat of his sturdy body after his morning of building cabinets with the other Brenneman boys in their shop. It was his steadfast strength that appealed to her, even if he took his sweet time deliberating over decisions. “I’m thinkin’ I had the hash browns Tuesday at lunch and Thursday for breakfast . . . hmmmm . . . kinda warm for those heavy slabs of meatloaf . . .”

Rachel stood as close to him as she dared, watching her twin sister Rhoda set two plates of the meat loaf in front of Bram and Nate Kanagy at a table across the way. “The stuffed peppers, then? Leah picked us a basket of red ones, fresh this morning. They look mighty gut, smothered in all that cheese.”

Micah glanced at his brothers, Seth and Aaron, who piled their plates high at the salad bar. “Jah, but I’d rather have a double order of hugs with a side of your kisses, Rachel. When can you dish me up some of those?” he murmured.

When his deep green eyes sparkled up at her, Rachel’s cheeks tingled. He’d finally proposed to her last week! Would they hint at their plans to marry at next weekend’s ice cream social, or maintain tradition and keep it a secret? No doubt the rest of the summer would pass by mighty fast if she had dresses and household linens to make—quicker than this carpenter decided on his lunch, it would seem! Yet how could she fault Micah for pondering his menu choices each day, when it gave him a few extra minutes to gaze up at her with such fondness lighting his handsome face? His older brother Seth sat down across the table and forked up a mouthful of cucumber and onion salad. “We’ve gotta get back to the shop sometime today, ya know,” he teased.

“Ah, but time means nothin’ to a fella stuck on the likes of Rachel,” Aaron, the youngest Brenneman, chimed in. “Sweeter than this wonderful-gut frog-eye fruit salad, she is. Like havin’ your dessert first.”

Rachel wound a string of her kapp around her finger, grinning despite the heat in her cheeks. That cold, creamy salad, made with tiny pasta BBs, was her favorite on a warm summer day, too—not that sharing this opinion would make Aaron stop teasing her.

From SUMMER OF SECRETS. Copyright © 2012 by Charlotte Hubbard. All rights reserved. Published by arrangement with Kensington Publishing Corp.