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carrot bread she brought over yesterday.”
    “Gut. I’m going to make it and see if the bakery would like to carry it as a regular item. It was
that
good.” Jolene made pastries from home for the bakeshop four days a week, and she worked behind the counter about twenty hours a week in addition to cleaning a few houses. She baked at home to avoid being gone too much, because Ray still had some impulsivity issues from time to time. She didn’t know whether it was the lingering effects of having been struck by lightning as a child or simply a lack of maturity. Whatever the cause, she and Ray would get through this.
    Josiah studied the upstairs windows and then looked at the small barn. It was more of a shed really, but it served as a barn for their horse.
    She followed his gaze. “Something on your mind?”
    “Oh, uh, no. Not really.”
    She laughed. “You’re a really bad liar. The recipe was an excuse, wasn’t it?”
    “I intended to bring it by this evening on my way home from work.” He shrugged. “But, ya, it was my excuse.”
    “Why fib?”
    “Trying to protect you from too much worry.” His lopsided grin let her know
that
was the truth.
    Ah, so now they were getting down to the real issue. The way he was studying the house and barn, she wondered if someone from the town council had come to him with another request that they complete the painting of their home.
    They would finish, but it was a huge task to paint a clapboard house. She’d discovered that the hard way. Preacher Glen had offered to get a group of barn raisers together this summer to helpJosiah, Michael, and Ray finish the job. But she hadn’t accepted, assuring him other Amish families had far more needs than her family did. The Amish didn’t accept government assistance of any kind, didn’t have standard insurance to cover health or property, and didn’t limit the number of children a couple had, so there was no shortage of Amish families in need.
    She appreciated Glen’s offer. She’d known him all her life, she supposed, although her first real memory of him was attending his wedding when she was ten. She was also present six years later when he was chosen to be a preacher. He and his wife helped her navigate through the nightmare of losing her parents and Van.
    In turn, Jolene was there for them when, a little more than two years ago, his wife’s body succumbed to what had begun as breast cancer. By the time his wife was diagnosed, the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes and bones. Within a few months she yielded to death, leaving him brokenhearted and with five of the cutest little boys Jolene had ever seen. Jolene was one of many women who’d cooked meals and helped take care of his children.
    But one thing bothered her a little. Had Glen offered to get a work party together to paint her house because he wanted to spend time around her? She hoped not. As far as being well suited, they were capable of being good friends, but husband and wife? She couldn’t see that ever happening.
    Before she could ask Josiah again what was on his mind, a horse trotted onto the driveway, pulling a wagon driven by Naomi. “Hey!” She was breathless and clearly in a hurry, so Jolene and Josiah strode to her.
    Naomi gulped in air. “Lester’s in a tizzy. Apparently he called myphone shanty four days ago and left me a message to come cook and clean. Something about his great-nephew from Apple Ridge and volunteers from the Humane Society coming … or are there now. He’d wanted breakfast, lunch, and dinner too, but I didn’t get the phone message. He sent his grandson David to my place to see why I wasn’t at his house. David said Lester is upset because men have been there since daylight, working. They’re already hungry, and I don’t have any food for them.”
    Jolene held up a hand. “Naomi, breathe.”
    Some of this panic could be considered Jolene’s fault. She and Naomi had worked for Lester for the last ten years, but Jolene