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me, I now have to deal with his partner, who may be worse.”
    Landon disappeared with the boxes, taking them to the moving van he’d drive to Maine.
    Leah’s face burned as she realized she’d insulted Rhoda. “I guess that sounded pretty mean, didn’t it?”
    “Probably a little.” Arlan shrugged and continued packing kitchen items.
    She left the work station, crossed the wooden porch, and went to the back of the moving van. A long, wide ramp led up to it, and she walked inside. “Landon …”
    He shifted one box on top of another, rearranging some of the items used for making large batches of jellies and jams. Although this twenty-six-foot truck could hold a lot, the largest portion of what they’d take to Maine wouldgo on two boxcars—one for livestock and one for carriages, farm equipment, and feed. Since they were the first Amish community to settle in Maine and they would face the winter before bringing in a harvest, their needs were staggering.
    As the preparations for the move progressed, Leah’s patience had grown thin, but she shouldn’t have said anything negative about Rhoda. If someone spoke unkindly about Leah in front of Arlan, he’d have either told them off or walked out. “Landon?”
    He didn’t acknowledge her presence in the truck. He’d been so nice since they’d met, even hugging her after the tornado. Truth was, his kindness caught her off guard. With the exception of Arlan and her relatives, Landon was the only guy who had ever been nice to her. Well, there were a few others, like Michael, but only because they hoped she would sleep with them. That sugarcoated manipulation had nothing to do with liking her or being nice. Unfortunately, it’d taken her awhile to figure that out.
    She wasn’t sure how Landon felt about her. Did he think of her as simply another worker under his longtime friend and boss, or did he consider her worthy of friendship in her own right? She couldn’t expect much more than that. Between having no education to speak of, dressing like a Puritan, and knowing zilch about—what did he call it?—oh, ya, pop culture, like movies, music, and technology, she was impressed he even bothered to talk to her.
    Landon glanced her way. “Hey. I didn’t realize you were there.”
    So he wasn’t ignoring her. She moved toward him with the box. “I think Rhoda’s blessed to have a friend like you.”
    He grinned. “Me too.”
    Leah chuckled. “Sorry about what I said.”
    He made a face. “I’m not mad. Did you think I was?”
    “Ya.”
    He took the box from her and put it on top of several others. He motioned for her to have a seat, and they sat across from each other and leaned against the sides of the van.
    He straightened his ball cap. “She’s driven. I don’t disagree about that. But that’s probably what makes our relationship work. I usually feel like a boat adrift on an ocean—no real purpose or destination. She never hesitates about where she’s going or what she wants to accomplish, and when I’m around her, I feel like I have direction too.”
    Leah straightened her apron. “I’m more like you, except I like drifting. That is, if I was allowed to. Samuel’s always been the most work-oriented one in the family.”
    “So do you feel like it’s bad news that they’ve teamed up?”
    “Not all the time, but I do when I want to fritter away a few days reading or whatever. It’s just that the Amish make everything harder than it has to be—whether it’s carrying a lantern from one room to another at night instead of flipping on a light or shipping carriages by train to Maine rather than owning a vehicle to get around in once we get there. The work involved in living the simple life grates on my nerves. And I’m especially sick of it right now, but I’m hoping this move is as worth it as Rhoda seems to think.”
    Should Leah dare to ask a question that had been hounding her for weeks? “Is she really able to see into people or see the