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“Good morning, Mr. Foster!” Hanna giggled as Lady continued her silly antics.
“Good morning, Hanna.” He eyed the bag she’d dropped beside her. What the hell was in there?
“I’m afraid I don’t have any new letters from Eli. He’s probably waiting until Annabel has the baby so he can write with good news. But if you’d like to come in and write him a new letter, you’re more than welcome.”
The sadness in her expression when she glanced up tugged at his heart. Something was wrong. Seriously wrong. He ached to rush forward and gather her up, bring her inside, and hold her while she told him of all her troubles. He cared for the sweet young woman, and hoped she wasn’t as miserable as Eli had been on the farm. He knew her father was a difficult man who expected near perfection from all those who lived under his roof.
“Come on, Lady, leave the poor girl alone. It’s not like I don’t give you enough attention.” At his command, the dog raced onto the porch, her tail still wagging and her big pink tongue hanging from her mouth.
Hanna grabbed her bag and rose to her feet. When her gaze flickered over him, the sadness in her eyes transformed to uncertainty. He had the distinct feeling she was about to ask for something.
Help.
Could it be true? His heart raced. Was she following in Eli’s footsteps and leaving her family behind? Dare he hope?
He winced. His reasons for wanting her to leave her family were dark indeed.
Fantasies involving her writhing underneath him during the throes of passion visited him on sleepless nights. Sometimes during the days too.
Despite his fantasies though, he simply wanted her to be happy and healthy, whether she was tucked in her bed on the farm or… elsewhere.
“Come on inside, Hanna. It’s only going to get hotter today. I’ll get you a cold drink.”
“Thank you, Mr. Foster.” She breezed past him, her dark blue dress grazing his leg as he held the door open.
Excitement surged through him at the close contact, and he tried to tamp it down. As he turned to face her, he glimpsed an errant strand of golden hair poking out of her black kapp, running down the side of her neck. That, along with the vision of her flushed face and pretty blue eyes, nearly caused him to come undone.
She was too pretty.
Too young and ripe and, most of all, tempting.
It was official. Ben Foster had a one-way ticket to hell.
Christ, she was young enough to be his daughter.
“Come have a seat at the table.” Careful not to touch her, he guided her to the kitchen and pulled out a chair. Head bowed as more pink stained her cheeks, she placed her bag on the floor next to the chair, sat down slowly, and folded her hands in her lap.
Ben busied himself by pouring two glasses of iced tea. A million questions buzzed through his mind. Certainly Hanna wasn’t here to check her correspondence with Eli. Though she was generally on the shy side, her demeanor was off balance today. Besides that, she’d never visited him in the morning before.
He delivered her drink and sat across from her. An awkward silence stretched between them as they sipped the tea. Her face remained flushed so prettily, and another strand of hair had fallen from her kapp. With each breath she took, her chest heaved up and down, drawing his gaze to her breasts, which were unfortunately well-hidden underneath the plain dress. In his imagination though, he pictured her firm, pale mounds, and hardened, dark pink nipples clearly.
He shook away the image and placed his glass down, leaning forward to peer directly in her eyes. “What’s happened, Hanna? Are you all right?” He surveyed her face for bruises, knowing her father had a heavy hand, or at least he had with Eli. To his relief, he saw no hint of bruises, fresh or fading.
She blinked a few times and set her drink down. “I-I’ll be nineteen next month.”
Nineteen. Christ Almighty. Young, innocent, and Amish. Yep, not only did Ben have a one-way ticket to hell, but he had a seat reserved in the first-class section.
“Is that a problem?” he asked, trying to ignore the stirring in his loins. “You turning nineteen? You getting married soon or something?” Jealousy rippled through him at the possibility.
She inhaled deeply and smiled when Lady curled up at her feet under the table.
“My daat thinks I should have joined the church already. He’s been asking me almost every day about it.”
“You left.” He regarded her with wonder and respect. Most girls who didn’t want to join the Amish church would’ve done so anyway. None of them had much of a choice. It was a matter of survival. With no education beyond the eighth grade and no immediate job opportunities, leaving was a near impossibility. Yet Hanna had done just that.
“I did,” she finally said, reaching down to scratch Lady’s ear. “I told my daat I’d decided not to join the church.” She shrugged. “It happened this morning and I know I’m already dead to him. Sarah even refused to say good-bye to me. She turned her back and refused to look at me, and she’s the most open-minded of them all. I didn’t bother telling Abram and Jacob good-bye. I knew they would treat me the same as Daat and Sarah. It makes me very sad. In other Amish families, the children who don’t join the church are not written off as outcasts. Their decision is respected, and they are still usually able to visit with their families. But my father…” Her voice trailed off and she pressed her lips tightly together.
“Eli came to me like this one day,” Ben said. The memory of a sixteen-year-old Amish boy came rushing back. Eli had shown up on his porch with a black eye and a swollen jaw, asking if Ben had any work for him. Against his better judgment, Ben offered Eli some work and a place to stay. It was supposed to be temporary, but he’d stayed for two years. The longer he stayed, the more Ben wanted to help him. After Eli earned his G.E.D., he’d left with the wages he’d painstakingly saved to find his place in the world, a young man of eighteen years. He’d done well for himself, too, and Ben was incredibly proud of him.
