Page 31 of Sycamore Circle

“Of course not.” Though, wasn’t that what she’d been doing? Giving herself a grace period in case she changed her mind? “Where would you like to meet?”

He lowered his voice. “Will you let me pick you up? I’ll take you wherever you want to go for breakfast and then take you back home. Please?”

“Oh, all right.” She supposed him having her address would be okay.

His eyes lit up and a smile cracked across his face. “Thank you. Text me your address.”

He turned and walked out before she had a chance to change her mind. Maybe that was for the best? She didn’t know.

She wasn’t sure why she had agreed to letting him pick her up so easily. But maybe it didn’t matter. What did matter to her was that she was finally moving forward. At last, she was ready to put Tony and his dissatisfaction with their marriage behind her.

She was ready to trust again.

CHAPTER 11

The best part of Finn’s day always followed the worst part: telling his father that he was leaving. Dreading the confrontation that was about to take place, he walked to the barn feeling like he was pulling a lead weight behind him.

His father was where he always was in the early afternoons: standing in front of his workbench and oiling and cleaning their horses’ bridles, lines, and other assorted tack. His father loved keeping both the tack and the horses in perfect condition. Everything about the inside of the big old red barn soothed him—it was pretty much the only time their father ever looked content or at ease.

Usually, he looked permanently let down and irritated by life.

Finn made sure to make his footsteps land heavy when he entered. The noise would startle his father enough to get his head back to reality. If it happened quickly, Daed would recover before he came face-to-face with him.

They all knew to do this, even his little brother Caleb. Their mother had quietly demonstrated to all her children dozens of ways to make life with their father almost bearable.

For some reason, Finn’s daed couldn’t handle being startled. Not at all.

This time it took his father almost a full minute to notice Finn’s heavy steps on the concrete floor. He jerked, dropping the bit he was cleaning onto the barn floor. It clattered as it bounced, then slid a few inches.

Only after he picked it up and set it on the bench did he face Finn. “Jah?” As always, his father looked surprised—and a little angry—to see him.

“I’m leaving for work.”

“All right. Are you still at that diner where Mary’s at?”

“I am. I’m waiting tables at Lane’s.” They went through this every day.

“I don’t understand why you’re working there. You’re needed here.” He frowned. “You have chores. Did you forget?”

“I didn’t. They’re done.”

“Don’t expect your mother to leave a meal waiting for you. Leaving here is your choice.”

“I understand.” Well, he understood that his father wouldn’t allow his mother to leave out a meal for him.

“Where’s your mother?”

“Mamm is inside. Rachel and Lucy are helping her do laundry. Caleb and Eddie are still at school.”

“Fine.” His father studied him a moment longer before returning to the items on the counter. Grumbling under his breath, he picked up a rag and dipped it in lemon oil.

Finn turned away and headed out of the barn, then quickened his pace when he reached the drive, and then finally the main road. Only then, when their farm was fading into the distance, did he slow his pace and relax his shoulders. He was free.

From this minute until nine or ten at night, he was free of that pressure, and it was the best feeling in the world—even better than when he used to leave home to attend the Amish school (on account of him never being a very good student). He was good at sums and math but never reading. The teacher, a woman who likely meant well, but had no better idea about how to help him than his father, would constantly have him stay after school to try to redo all the work he messed up.

Now, though, he could read enough to get by and do almost any basic equation in his head. It was more than enough to do well at his job.

And he was doing well. He’d been there several times now and felt more confident with every shift he worked. His aunt Mary was encouraging too. She had even teased him, saying she was pretty sure that they were busier during his shifts. Her teasing embarrassed him, but it didn’t really matter. The only person he cared about seeing during those shifts was Chloe.

---