Read Anna's Return for Free Online Page B

away,” she said. “If you’ve heard he’s angry with me, I’d rather know.”
    “I see you still want to have all the answers, Anna. Just like you did when you were little.” His lips curved slightly.
    “Actually, I thought I had all the answers, as I recall.” She’d been so sure of herself once.
    Samuel gave a small sound that might have been a chuckle. “Ja, I thought I knew a bit about life before I jumped the fence. It didn’t take long out there to show me how dumb that was.”
    “I know the feeling.” She made the admission before she stopped to think that she didn’t want to confide in Samuel. Or anyone else, if she could help it. “But about Levi—”
    “You’re as persistent as a horsefly, Anna. I don’t know, but surely Levi and Barbara wouldn’t be having everyone here to greet you if they were mad at you, ain’t so?” Samuel’s reasonable tone began to sound a bit strained.
    “They would if Daadi wanted it.” They’d respect his judgment outwardly, even if they disagreed. “Let me guess. It’s Barbara, isn’t it? She never liked me.”
    Samuel glanced at her face. “You didn’t give her a lot of reason to like you, now did you?”
    “Maybe not.”
    She’d been a rebellious teenager then. Barbara had been only too ready to give advice, and she’d been just as ready to resent it. Just as she resented the fact that Samuel seemed able to see right through her.
    “Leave it,” Samuel said, his voice gentling. “We’re here. Everyone will get used to having you back. Things will be just like they were before.”
    He pulled up to the hitching rail, and the buggy stopped.
    Samuel was right. They were here, and it was time to stop worrying and face everyone.
    But he was wrong, too. Because things would never go back to being the same. They couldn’t.
    Samuel dropped to the ground before she could move. He took her arm in support as she stepped down, Gracie in her arms.
    “It will be all right,” he said, his hand warm and strong against her sleeve. “You’ll see. They’re your family. You can trust them, if you can trust anyone in this world.”
    Before she could respond to his unexpected support, she was swamped by a crowd of young nieces and nephews, all clamoring to see their new cousin. Head spinning, Anna tried to sort them all out. The children, at least, were glad to see them.
    “Ach, what a noisy bunch of kinder.” Daadi waded through the flock of grandchildren. “The boppli is sleeping. Can you not see that?”
    But even as he spoke, Gracie stirred, lashes fluttering, and opened her eyes. She looked around wonderingly. With her cheeks rosy from sleep and her blond hair curling damply against her neck, she looked like a baby doll.
    “She’s near as pretty as my baby sister.”
    It took a moment for Anna to count up ages and realize that this tall young girl was Elizabeth, Leah’s stepdaughter.
    “Elizabeth, you’re nearly a grown-up woman now, aren’t you?”
    Elizabeth’s naturally serious expression relaxed in a smile. “I was eleven my last birthday, Aunt Anna. Can I carry Gracie? I help my mammi with Rachel all the time.”
    At a slight nod from Daad, Anna passed Gracie over. “She might be a little cross,” she warned. “She just woke up.”
    But Gracie seemed entranced with her big cousin. She caught hold of the string of Elizabeth’s prayer cap, and the girl grinned. “That’s just what Rachel used to do when I held her. She’s two now, so she doesn’t like to be held so much, you know.”
    “Come along,” Daad said. “No need to stand here when there’s folks waiting to greet you.”
    Anna took a breath and hoped she didn’t look as nervous as she felt. “I guess not.”
    They started toward the house, Elizabeth bearing the baby proudly. Her younger brother had Myra’s Sarah by the hand, chattering away to her, and Levi’s two boys were already racing each other to the porch, their little sister trotting after them.
    The porch, and the