A Place of Peace by Amy Clipston Page B

break?”
    Miriam shrugged. “I’m ready anytime. There’s no rush.”
    “I made some turkey sandwiches.” Beth Anne nodded toward the other side of the kitchen, where the office and the playroom/nap room for the children were. “The sandwiches are in the office around the corner. You can sit at the little table by the desk and eat if you’d like. There’s some ice water in the refrigerator.”
    “Danki.”
Miriam wiped her hands on a towel.
    “I should be thanking you,” Beth Anne said. “You’re doing a fabulous job. We’re so glad to have you.”
    “Kathryn isn’t,” Miriam said, staring at the pretty blonde across the kitchen talking to Lindsay. “She’s done nothing but glare at me all day. I wonder if this was a mistake.”
    “No.” Beth Anne shook her head with emphasis. “Kathryn means well. She’s just defending Timothy because you broke his heart. But she’ll come around and realize that the past is the past, and it was God’s will that you and Timothy didn’t marry.”
    Miriam’s eyebrows careened upward while her mouth fell open.
I broke Timothy’s heart? I think you have it backward.
    “I’ll talk to Kathryn,” Beth Anne said. “Don’t worry about her. Her bark is worse than her bite.” She waved toward the office. “Go on and enjoy your lunch. I’ll finish these cookies.”
    Miriam contemplated Beth Anne’s comment while eating her turkey sandwich and glancing through
The Budget,
the Amish newspaper. Beth Anne’s remarks didn’t make any sense. Why would she say Miriam broke Timothy’s heart when it was Timothy who had cheated on her?
    The questions were still twirling through her head when she cleaned the table and then headed back toward the kitchen. She stopped near the doorway when she heard a familiar masculine voice.
    Her heart thumped in her chest when she entered the kitchen and found Timothy standing with Elizabeth, Beth Anne, and the young woman from the funeral. With his back to Miriam, he forked a piece of one of her crumbly peach pies into his mouth.
    “Wunderbaar!”
he exclaimed. “Beth Anne, you outdid yourself this time. This is the best crumbly peach pie I’ve had in a very long time.” He chewed more. “I mean no offense, but this is better than the one you brought me the other night. I’m not sure what you did differently, but it’s sweeter.”
    Miriam’s eyes widened.
    “I didn’t make it.” A sly smile grew on Beth Anne’s lips as she met Miriam’s horrified gaze. “I can’t take credit for it,
Bruder.”
    “No?” He glanced at Elizabeth. “Then you must’ve made it. We all know you’re the best baker.”
    Elizabeth snickered. “There’s no need to flatter me, Timothy. You know I’ll give you one dozen whoopie pies to take back to your
dat.
And besides, I didn’t make the crumbly peach pies.”
    “Kathryn?” His voice nearly squeaked with disbelief. “She hates peaches. I can’t see her making these.”
    “It wasn’t Kathryn, nor was it your nieces. And you’re not going to guess.” Beth Anne’s grin widened, and Miriam fought the urge to run and hide in the office.
    Looking confused, Timothy set the plate on the counter. “You bought it at the supermarket?”
    Miriam held her breath and then glanced at the door. If she ran now, she could make it to her car and speed from the parking lot before she had to face him.
    “No.” Beth Anne gestured toward Miriam, standing behind him. “She made them.”
    Timothy turned toward the direction of Beth Anne’s nod. He faced Miriam, and his eyes widened to the size of saucers.
    Miriam’s cheeks heated and her pulse raced. She wanted to run and avoid another gut-wrenching staring contest like they’d shared at the funeral.
    “Miriam’s working for us now,” Elizabeth said. “We’re shorthanded at the bakery, and as you can see with peach pies, she’s a
wunderbaar
baker.”
    Timothy’s stunned gaze never left Miriam. She tried to smile, but her lips formed a pained