LITMIR.BIZ

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chuckled and handed her a list of instructions, then left them.

      “See? Bump on the head. Told you. Now, hand me my clothes. Please.”

      “Here I was hoping for a quiet night at the house while they kept you.”

      “No, you weren’t,” Rosie said confidently. “You know you wouldn’t have gone home.”

      Katie handed her the clothes she’d worn to the hospital and held her arm when she got off the gurney and swayed a little. Once Rosie was dressed, Katie called their driver and got them a ride home.

      She found Rosie in the garden the very next day.

      “The doctor said you were to rest,” Katie told her sternly. She’d looked for her sister all over the house, calling and calling her until she’d thought to check the garden.

      “This is restful.” Rosie lifted her face to the sun, enjoying the warmth after being stuck inside most of the morning.

      “The doctor meant inside the house, and you know it.”

      “I feel fine.”

      Katie wanted to stamp her foot. “You’re behaving like a kind.”

      “You’re nagging,” Rosie said mildly. “I’ll be fine. I just wanted to come out here for an hour or two.”

      “Then you’ll go inside? And you’ll stay there until I come home from work?”

      “I—”

      “Don’t say a word about going in to work. That’s absolutely not going to happen. And if you argue with me I’m calling grossmudder.”

      “You’re acting like you’re my mamm.”

      Katie threw up her hands and stomped back into the house. She walked into the kitchen, washed her hands, and began packing a snack for work. It was the first time she could ever remember going, to work without Rosie. She wasn’t comfortable leaving Rosie alone, but she told herself that being here wasn’t enough to make Rosie stay in bed anyway. Maybe she could ask their next-door neighbor to check on her.

      She went upstairs to take her shower and as she unpinned her kapp, she found herself staring at her image. Maybe she was worrying too much. The doctor wouldn’t have sent Rosie home if she needed a nursemaid. Rosie had said the double vision had stopped and so had the headaches.

      She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was past time to be getting into the shower and dressed for work. Rosie wouldn’t be at the store that afternoon, so she’d better be ready to do the work of two.

      ***

      Rosie sat back on her heels and watched Katie stomp off toward the house. She sighed. Katie meant well, but she just didn’t think she could stay inside the house another day.

      Then again, an hour outside had made the headache return. “I think this might not have been a gut idea,” she muttered to herself. Pulling a handkerchief from her pocket, she wiped the perspiration from her forehead. She’d give it a few minutes and then go inside. That way Katie wouldn’t think she’d persuaded her to do what she wanted.

      A few minutes later, Rosie glimpsed movement out of the side of her eye. Blackie had slithered out into the open and lay on the ground a few feet away, silently observing her.

      “I’m sure you just heard that,” Rosie said as she plucked some weeds and threw them to the side. “I know she’s worried about me, but sometimes she makes a bigger deal about being a few minutes older than me than she should.”

      Rosie sat back on her heels. “I think this might not have been a gut idea.” She wiped at the perspiration on her forehead again. It felt hotter out here, and her head had started hurting.

      The garden had always been her haven . . . where she felt most herself. It had scared her how suddenly things could change. One minute she’d been thinking about having the house to herself and doing some mending and the next she’d woken up to being loaded into an ambulance.

      Her head had hurt badly enough to make her stay in bed for two days, but today she’d just wanted to be outside in the fresh air, plunge her hand in the rich soil, and see how her fruits and vegetables were growing.

      Now that she’d had some time out here, she saw that she was overdoing. She brushed the dirt from her hands and prepared

       to stand when she heard a buggy pulling into the drive. Turning, her eyes widened when she saw Jacob get out of it and stride

       toward her.

      “I wasn’t expecting to see you out here.” He opened the gate and strode toward her.

      Puzzled, she stared at him. “It’s my garden.”

      “I heard that you were in the hospital earlier this week.”

      “It was just the emergency room.”

      “Saul said you have a concussion. Should you be out here working?”

      “It’s not work. I love it.” But she was wondering if she could get to her feet without embarrassing herself. She felt a little dizzy.

      He brought his hand out from behind his back and held out a small bouquet of daisies. “I guess if it was just the emergency room you don’t need these?”

      No one had ever given her flowers. “Well, I do have a concussion.” She took them and smiled. “Danki.”

      She stood and swayed a little with the movement. His hand shot out and caught her by the elbow. “Are you allrecht?”

      “Fine. I think I might just have stayed out in the sun a little longer than I should have.” She glanced at him. “Please don’t tell Katie I said that. She’ll say ‘I told you so.’ ”

      He kept his hand under her elbow as they walked toward the porch. “I have a sister who does that. Katie won’t hear it from me.”

      They made it to the porch and safely up the stairs.

      “Do you need to go inside?”

      “I think I can sit out here for a few minutes if you don’t need to get going.”

      “I came by to see you.”

      She smiled as she sank into a rocking chair. “That’s very nice. Are you settling in well at your new home?”

      “Just fine,” he said as he sat in a chair beside her. “One day when you’re feeling better, I hope you’ll visit and give me some advice on organic farming in this area.”

      “Well, I think Abram will be of more help, but I’d love to talk to you about it.”

      Katie came out and looked surprised to see Rosie and Jacob sitting there. “Jacob, I didn’t know you were here.”

      “Just got here.”

      “Rosie, you look a little flushed. Maybe you should go inside and lie down.”

      “I will in a few minutes.”

      Now Katie was staring. “You will?”

      “Ya.”

      “I thought she’d argue with me about going into work,” Katie told Jacob, looking baffled. She straightened. “Can I get you something to drink?”

      He looked at Rosie. “If it’s not too much trouble, I’d love something cold.”

      Katie nodded. “I’ll bring you and Rosie some iced tea. Rosie, shall I put those daisies in some water for you?”

      She held them out. “Danki.” As Katie took them from her their eyes met, and Rosie saw the question in them. Katie knew Rosie had never received flowers. Neither of them had.

      After her sister hurried into the house Rosie turned to Jacob. “You didn’t give me up.”

      “Told you I wouldn’t.”

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