Peace (23 page)

As she got closer, she forced herself to look at the building with a critical eye. There were places where the building needed a bit of touching up. A fresh coat of paint. One of the windowsills needed to be replaced.

The landscaping around the front door was a little shaggy, a little overgrown. It needed some sprucing up, a little tender loving care.

Kind of like herself, she supposed. Now that she was twenty-five, she was tired of biding her time, waiting in vain for something to happen.

Perhaps it really was time to think about doing something different. Going somewhere new. For too long now she'd been everyone's helper and assistant. She'd watch her best friends get courted, fall in love, and get married. Most were expecting their first babies. Some, like Josh and Gretta, already had two children.

Yes, it seemed like everyone had moved on with their lives except for her.

And the sad thing about that was there was no need to stay in Sugarcreek any longer. She had plenty of money saved and even her parents' blessing to go find her happiness.

So why hadn't she done anything yet? Was she afraid . . . or still holding out hope that a certain man would finally notice her and see that she was the perfect girl for him?

That she'd actually been the perfect one for years now?

Pushing aside that disturbing thought, she slipped inside and prepared to offer her excuses to Jana Kent, the proprietor.

Jana was just inside the front door, standing by a pair of bookshelves, unboxing more of the knickknacks she'd recently started selling in an attempt to drum up a bit more business and profit for the restaurant.

Her boss paused when she walked by. “Cutting it close today, Miriam.”

Glancing up at the clock over the door, Miriam winced. It was ten after nine. Jana had long since given up on Miriam getting to work early or even on time. Now she merely hoped Miriam wouldn't be too late. “I know. I'm sorry.”

“What's today's excuse?” Humor lit her eyes, telling Miriam that while Jana might feel exasperated, she wasn't mad.

Usually, Miriam came with an amusing story or fib. Over the years, earthquakes had erupted, washing machines had overflowed, and ravenous dogs had invaded her yard.

Today, however, her mind drew a complete blank. “Time simply got away from me this morning.”

Jana looked almost disappointed. “That's it?”

Miriam shrugged weakly. “I'll come up with a better excuse tomorrow, I'm sure of it.”

“Miriam Zehr. You are one of my best employees and one of my hardest workers. You always offer to help other people, and you never mind staying late. Why is it so hard for you to get here on time?”

There were all kinds of reasons. Miriam wasn't a morning person. She seemed to always sleep in. But deep down, she feared it was her somewhat irrational way to rebel against the continual routine of her life. Sometimes her frenetic morning's journey to work was the biggest excitement of her day.

Inching away, she mumbled, “I'll go put on my apron and get to work.”

“Thank you, Miriam.”

Hurrying toward the back, she scanned the tables. Quite a few were empty.

And then she noticed He was there. Junior Beiler. All six-foot-two inches of brawn and blond hair and perfection.

Junior, the object of too many of her daydreams. The boy she had a crush on. The man she yearned for to finally notice her.

Miriam kept walking, trying not to look his way. Trying not to stare. But she did. And as she did, she noticed that he was staring right back at her. More important, she was sure that something like interest glinted in his blue eyes.

Feeling her cheeks flush, she darted into the kitchen. But the moment the doors closed behind her, she let herself smile.

Maybe today, at long last, something would start to happen in her life.

The moment Junior Beiler saw the kitchen doors swing shut, he grinned at Joe. “You were right, Miriam Zehr works here. I just saw her walk by.”

Joe looked around the restaurant dining room. “Are you sure?”

“I'm positive. She just went into the kitchen.” Drumming his fingers on the table, he murmured, “I hope she comes out again soon.”

Joe chuckled. “And when she does are you actually going to talk to her about what's been on your mind?”

“Absolutely.” Noticing that his buddy's expression looked skeptical, he straightened his shoulders a bit. “What's wrong with that?”

“Junior, you can't just go asking women about their best friends and expect to get information.”

“Why not?” It made perfect sense to him.

“A woman isn't going to give you information if she doesn't know you.”

Junior scoffed. As usual, Joe was making too big a deal over nothing. “I've known Miriam for years. We both have, Joe.”

“
Jah
, we went to school with her, that's true. And we're all in the same church district, too. But let me ask you this, when was the last time you actually talked to her?”

“I'm pretty sure I said hello to her at church last Sunday.”

Joe tilted his head slightly. “Did you? Or did you walk right by her like you usually do?”

For the first time, Junior felt vaguely uncomfortable. He was one of eight kids, and he was sandwiched between two girls in his family. Because of that, he'd learned a thing or two about the female mind over the years. “I might have only thought about saying hello,” he said grudgingly.

Joe looked triumphant. “See?”

Okay, Joe probably had a point. But his inattentiveness didn't mean he didn't like Miriam. He just had never thought about her much.

Until he realized she was best friends with Mary Kate Hershberger. Beautiful Mary Kate Hershberger.

Joe grabbed another hot biscuit from the basket on the table and began slathering it with peanut-butter spread. “I still think you should get your sister Kaylene to introduce you. After all, Mary Kate is Kaylene's teacher.”

“
Nee.
Kaylene is having trouble in school.” Lowering her voice, he said, “Actually, I'm not even all that certain Kaylene likes Mary Kate.”

“Don't see why that matters.”

“It just does.” His youngest sister was eight years old, and the apple of his eye. There was no way he was going to use little Kaylene in order to get a date.

“Why?”

Luckily, the kitchen doors swung open again, and out came Miriam. She had on a white apron now, and was holding a coffeepot in her right hand. Seizing his chance, he turned his coffee cup right side up, waited until she was looking his way, and motioned her over.

Joe raised his brows. “Impressive,” he muttered.

When she got to their table, her cheeks were flushed.
“Kaffi?”

“
Jah
. For both of us, please.”

After she'd filled both their cups, Joe gave him a little kick.

Thinking quickly, Junior asked, “So, Miriam, how have you been?”

She looked a bit startled by the question. “Me? I've been just fine. Why do you ask?”

“No reason. It's just that, well . . . I mean, I haven't seen you around lately.”

She looked at him curiously. “Where have you been looking?”

“Nowhere. I mean, I guess I haven't seen you anywhere but at church. And here,” he added, feeling like a fool.

Joe groaned as he took another bit of biscuit.

“Why were you looking? Did you need something?” Miriam asked.

His tongue was starting to feel like it was too big for his mouth. “Actually, ah . . . yes!” Seizing the opportunity, he added, “I've been wanting to talk to you about something.”

She set the coffeepot right on the table. “You have?”

“Yes. When do you get off work? Can I stop by?”

“You want to come by my house? Tonight?” Her cheeks pinkened.

“I do. May I come over?” 

“You may . . . if you'd like. I'll be off work at four.”

“
Gut
. I'll stop over around six.”

“Do you need my address?”

“No, I know where you live. I'll see you then.”

Miriam picked up the coffeepot, smiled shyly, then walked on.

When they were alone again, Junior picked up his coffee cup and took a fortifying sip. “That wasn't so hard.”

“That wasn't so
gut
.”

“Really?”

Joe leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “You, Junior, are an idiot.”

“What are you talking about? I'm going to go over to Miriam's house tonight and talk to her about Mary Kate. It's a might
gut
plan. Perfect.”

After making sure Miriam wasn't nearby to overhear, Joe hissed, “Miriam doesna think you're coming over to ask about Mary Kate. She thinks you're going courting. This is not good, Junior.”

Warily, Junior glanced in the direction Joe was looking and spied Miriam.

Noticed that she was standing near the hostess station. Her light brown eyes were bright. She was smiling softly.

Meeting her gaze, he felt his neck flush.

He had a sudden feeling that Joe was right. And that was not good. Definitely not good at all.

Also by Shelley Shepard Gray

Sisters of the Heart series

H
IDDEN

W
ANTED

F
ORGIVEN

G
RACE

Seasons of Sugarcreek series

W
INTER'S
A
WAKENING

S
PRING'S
R
ENEWAL

A
UTUMN'S
P
ROMISE

C
HRISTMAS IN
S
UGARCREEK

Families of Honor

T
HE
C
AREGIVER

T
HE
P
ROTECTOR

T
HE
S
URVIVOR

A C
HRISTMAS FOR
K
ATIE
(
NOVELLA
)

The Secrets of Crittenden County

M
ISSING

T
HE
S
EARCH

F
OUND

The Days of Redemption Series

D
AYBREAK

R
AY OF
L
IGHT

E
VENTIDE

Credits

Cover design by Mary McAdam Keane

Cover photograph © Andre Jenny / Alamy; border © by Woodhouse / Shutterstock Images

Author photograph by The New Studio

Copyright

This is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

P.S.™ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.

Excerpt from
Hopeful
© 2013 by Shelley Shepard Gray.

PEACE
. Copyright © 2013 by Shelley Shepard Gray. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By Payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Gray, Shelley Shepard.

Peace : a Crittenden County Christmas Novel / Shelley Shepard Gray. —first edition.

    pages       cm

ISBN 978-0-06-220452-3

I. Title.

PS3607.R3966P43 2013

813'.6—dc23                             2013016391

EPUB Edition November 2013 ISBN 9780062204530

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