Something started ticking in Rose’s head, a sound as real as a clock.
The man watched his wife fill up the cart with spices. “Do we really need all those spices? You don’t bake.”
“I can give them as gifts,” the lady answered. She pushed the cart up the aisle and the husband trotted behind.
Rose looked through what spices remained on the shelves: cardamom, cloves, curry. No cinnamon. Cleaned out. She sighed.
The man and the lady stood in line to pay for their groceries. Rose wheeled her cart behind them, debating if she should ask the lady if she would mind giving up one of the containers of cinnamon. Just one. “The weather’s turning real sour, Lois,” the man said, peering out the storefront window. “We should get on the road. Might take us awhile to find a place to stay and it’s getting late.”
Tick, tick, tick. The sound in Rose’s head got louder.
“What are we going to do, Tony?” The lady’s voice took an anxious tone. “You know you can’t drive at night. And I’ve got a dreadful headache.”
Rose’s head jerked up. The ticking sound stopped in her head and a bell went off.
There was no place for visitors to stay in Stoney Ridge. Her mind started to spin. What if she started an inn at the farm? The basement of the farmhouse was finished off with drywall and had an exterior entrance. It was filled with her mother-in-law’s junk-that-Vera-called-heirlooms but it could be emptied out. And she could cook breakfast for the guests. Rose was a good cook. Even Vera had said so, and she wasn’t a woman given to handing out compliments.
But would the bishop let tourists stay at the farm? Maybe there was a rule about this kind of thing. Maybe that’s why there weren’t any bed-and-breakfasts in Stoney Ridge. But then, she thought, maybe it’s better not to ask. It was always easier to apologize later. Besides, Bishop Elmo seemed like a kind man. Surely, he would understand a mother’s plight. The church had been good to them, generous and gracious, but she needed to find a way to take care of her family.
Would an inn bring in enough cash to solve her ongoing cash shortfall? She doubted it. But it would certainly help.
She paid for the groceries with the wad of bills wrapped in a rubber band that she kept in her dress pocket. As she picked up the bags, her heart felt lighter than it had in months. The best cure for sadness was doing something. Her eyes searched the skies, finding a small opening where the clouds parted and blue sky showed through. “Thank you,” she said, grinning ear to ear. “Thank you for Plan B.”
She ran over to the car where the man and the lady were loading groceries and invited them to stay at the farm.
Suzanne Woods Fisher is the author of the bestselling Lancaster County Secrets and Seasons of Stoney Ridge series. The Search received a 2012 Carol Award and The Waiting was a finalist for the 2011 Christy Award. Suzanne’s grandfather was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Her interest in living a simple, faith-filled life began with her Dunkard cousins. Suzanne is also the author of the bestselling Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World and Amish Proverbs: Words of Wisdom from the Simple Life, both finalists for the ECPA Book of the Year award, and Amish Values for Your Family: What We Can Learn from the Simple Life. She has an app, Amish Wisdom, to deliver a proverb a day to your iPhone, iPad, or Android. Visit her at www.suzannewoodsfisher.com to find out more.
Suzanne lives with her family and big yellow dogs in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Books by Suzanne Woods Fisher
* * *
Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated World
Amish Proverbs: Words of Wisdom from the Simple Life
Amish Values for Your Family: What We Can Learn from the Simple Life
A Lancaster County Christmas
LANCASTER COUNTY SECRETS
The Choice
The Waiting
The Search
SEASONS OF STONEY RIDGE
The Keeper
The Haven
The Lesson
THE INN AT EAGLE HILL
The Letters
The Calling
The Rescue: An Inn at Eagle Hill Novella (ebook short)
THE ADVENTURES OF LILY LAPP (WITH MARY ANN KINSINGER)
Life with Lily
A New Home for Lily
A Big Year for Lily
A Surprise for Lily
Website: www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/revell/newsletters-signup
Twitter: RevellBooks
Facebook: Revell
The Rescue Page 5
