Joyful (28 page)

Authors: Shelley Shepard Gray

BOOK: Joyful

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“Please, Lord,” he quietly prayed. “Please, just give me a little bit of a break, wouldja? 'Cause I could surely use some help here. Make this woman not be too terrible. My
kinner
have already lost their mother. They don't need a sourpuss babysitter, too.”

As the cold wind brushed against his cheeks, he lifted his eyes to the heavens and gave a fierce look. Then, as Ruth's horse pawed at the dry, hard ground restlessly, he hurried over to help. “Hello,” he called out.

Just as Ruth Stutzman deftly hopped out of the buggy. Their eyes met. After the briefest of pauses, she smiled.

Martin blinked. And then, to his embarrassment, he blinked again, just as if he'd never seen a woman before.

Ruth Stutzman was young. And pretty, too. She had dark, wavy hair and pale, crystal-blue eyes. A smattering of freckles danced across her nose and the palest of pinks brightened her cheeks. She was of medium height and blessed with the kind of curves he'd always imagined women should have but always tried hard not to think about.

Maybe because she'd caught him so off guard. Or maybe because he was sadly out of practice when it came to conversing with pretty women, he blurted the first thing that came to mind. “You are nothing like I expected.”

Raising a pair of finely arched eyebrows, her smile turned into a full-fledged grin. “Isn't that something? I was just thinking the same thing about you.”

Martin was not sure if that was a compliment or not. And because he was so confused about his reaction, he turned away and grabbed hold of the horse. “It's too cold for your horse to be out here for long. I'll take him into the barn.”

“I've got a blanket for him in the back of the buggy. Would you like me to cover him for you?”

“Nee.”

She stared at him, obviously waiting for him to finish his thought. To explain himself.

But he did neither. He simply stood still, holding the gelding's reins. He had never been a man of many words.

But suddenly, well, absolutely not a single one came to mind. Not a single, solitary one.

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Snowfall

also by shelley shepard gray

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Seasons of Sugarcreek series

W
INTER
'
S
A
WAKENING

S
PRING
'
S
R
ENEWAL

A
UTUMN
'
S
P
ROMISE

C
HRISTMAS IN
S
UGARCREEK

Families of Honor

T
HE
C
AREGIVER

T
HE
P
ROTECTOR

T
HE
S
URVIVOR

A C
HRISTMAS FOR
K
ATIE
(
NOVELLA
)

The Secrets of Crittenden County

The Days of Redemption series

D
AYBREAK

R
AY OF
L
IGHT

E
VENTIDE

Return to Sugarcreek series

H
OPEFUL

T
HANKFUL

R
EDEMPTION

credits

Cover design by Mary McAdam Keane

Cover illustration by Ricky Mujica

copyright

This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

P.S.â¢ is a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers.

JOYFUL
. Copyright Â© 2014 by Shelley Shepard Gray. Excerpt from
Snowfall
Â© 2014 by Shelley Shepard Gray. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

FIRST EDITION

EPub Edition July 2014 ISBN 9780062204516

ISBN 978-0-06-220450-9

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