For Every Season by Cindy Woodsmall

businesswise and, in many ways, relationshipwise. We can’t even breathe for fear of angering you. But you can’t possibly make a decision about Iva without Samuel being in the room.”
    “Is that what you think? That you’re powerless?”
    She saw it in his eyes. Her words described how he felt. “You just gave away my bedroom. The farmhouse is my home. You haven’t even mentioned me returning. And then you offer my room to a perfect stranger.”
    “She needed a place to stay.”
    “And what about what I need, Jacob? Do you even have a clue what that is?”
    Samuel went to the door. “This is becoming personal, so I’ll go. But I’d like to remind both of you of something. Jacob, Rhoda did nothing wrong.” He turned the handle. “Rhoda, Jacob did nothing wrong. I don’t know what else to say.” He closed the door behind him.
    Silence hung in the air, and yet Rhoda heard condemnation loud and clear. If Samuel thought she was faultless, he was fooling himself. She remembered every second of being in his arms, and the feelings of those few moments haunted her.
    Jacob owned her heart, so why couldn’t she get her flesh free of that memory with Samuel? Without a confidant the mess might stay a confusing jumble inside her brain. Would it ever fade? Would it become one more grief she had to learn to live with?
    Jacob went to the file cabinet and began gathering items from it. “You don’t trust my opinion anymore?”
    She could ask him the same thing. Instead, she flipped through the mail.
    “Kumm on, Rhodes. We need Iva here.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I overheard some of what you said to Samuel about Nicole. And it sounded to me as if you’re jealous of her.”
    “What?” Her raised voice made hurt flicker through his eyes. She took a breath, determined to measure her tone as well as her words. “Even if that were true, and it’s not, I don’t see what that has to do with Iva.”
    “Then look again. If I try hard enough, I can make myself believe that your attitude about Nicole comes from your fear that an Englisch woman has an eye for a lonely Amish man. But what am I supposed to think now that you want to keep Iva away from him just as much?”
    “You’re supposed to realize I’m being practical. We know nothing about Iva. We can’t afford her. And her mother paid good money to send her to a community that doesn’t know her and may be desperate enough for help to let her stay. Your forte is math. Add up those facts, and tell me we should open up our lives to that.”
    “There are other things that need to be factored in.” He moved to the office door. “She came in facing this direction. You and I were directly in front of her. Leah was to her left, and Samuel was on the far side of Leah. Yet the only person Iva saw when she came in was Samuel. Their attention seemed glued for a bit, and maybe I’m seeing what I need to, but I think there were sparks.”
    She didn’t see any of that, but it was possible Iva was caught off guard by Samuel’s presence. Rhoda was when she first met him. Of course she was also frustrated and annoyed by him. “He doesn’t want her here either. You heard him.”
    Jacob strode back to her. “Of course not. He’s looking at it strictly from a business perspective.”
    “That’s the only one that matters where Iva is concerned.”
    He sat on the corner of the desk, facing her. “I don’t like that you’re so against her staying.”
    She put down the mail and leaned back in her chair. “You gave her my room, not just for a night or two, but in hopes she’ll stay. How do you expect me to react?”
    He angled his head, studying her. “Your feelings are hurt.”
    She swallowed hard, embarrassment creeping up her neck. “I’d hoped you’d invite me to move back home.”
    He drew a deep breath. “I know it’s been only a couple of days, but I like picking you up in the mornings and taking you home in the evenings. It’s the closest thing to a