Pocketful of Pearls by Shelley Bates

dust cloth and a can of spray cleaner, praying that nothing would occur
     to stop his going. He still had not visited her room, and her fatalistic side waited for God to strike one last time.
    When he came down at last, he had his suitcase in hand. She hardly dared to breathe.
    “Ah. Dinah.” He put the suitcase down in the hall by the front door and came into the dining room. “I’d like to speak with
     you.”
    He sat in his usual chair. She sank into a chair two places down, and balled the dust cloth between her hands.
    “So. You’ll be on your own, will you?”
    “Just for a few weeks. Until Mom is able to come home.”
    “What will you do?”
    She did not lift her eyes. What did he mean? “What I always do. Look after the animals. Do the books. Keep the house ready
     in case it’s needed for the Lord’s work.”
    “I’m glad you’re still thinking about that. I’ve wondered at the depth of your willingness to serve, lately.”
    Oh, how she hated him. “I’m always willing to serve . . . God,” she managed.
    “Are you? Even now?”
    Now? Oh, no. No. Be wise as a serpent and gentle as a dove.
“Yes, now, except that I’m expecting Mr. Nicholas any minute. I’m supposed to go over the paperwork for the grazing rights
     with him.”
    “Mr. Nicholas.” Phinehas’s tone was thoughtful. “It looks bad, you know, Dinah.”
    “What does?” She lifted her eyes.
    “You alone, with only the hired man for company. Sleeping here.”
    “He sleeps in the barn. And he’s no threat to anyone.”
    “I wasn’t thinking he would be a threat to you. Quite the opposite.”
    She blinked at him for a moment, trying to understand what he was getting at.
    “What do you think God’s people would think of you and Mr. Nicholas all alone out here?”
    “I expect they would think he’s our hired man.”
    Phinehas shook his head in sorrow. “We hope that God’s people would think the best of each other. But there are always the
     cynical few, like the prophet Jeremiah, who see that the human heart is deceitful above all things. Wouldn’t you agree?”
    “Most people in Hamilton Falls think well of me,” Dinah choked.
    “I would hope so. But we don’t want to give them any reason to do otherwise, do we?”
    “No.” He was going to override her choice to hire Matthew, to take it away just as her father had taken away her choices and
     overridden her decisions all her life. The hatred was a stone under her ribs, pulling her chest toward the table.
    “Your aunt and uncle—who mean well, I know—have acted against my counsel. I’m going to think and pray on this matter. There
     must be a solution that will enable you to serve your God and King without stirring up any whispers among the worthy people
     here.”
    She should have known God didn’t really have his back turned. He’d just been waiting for her to feel a little bit secure,
     a little bit hopeful, and then he would gleefully whip the rug out from under her feet. The landing was going to hurt. She
     knew it.
    “Good-bye, Dinah.” Phinehas got up and reached for her concealed hands, sliding his under the rim of the table and gripping
     her inner thigh. “You’ll be hearing from me.”
    Her stomach turned over with a sickening thud, and he released her. She stood in the doorway and waved as he drove off, not
     because she wanted to, but because she had always done so and it would look odd if she didn’t.
    Then she snatched her jacket off its hook by the back door and pushed past a surprised Matthew, who was coming up the steps
     for his lesson in leases.
    “Dinah? What—”
    She ignored him and took off for the back side of the barn at a dead run.

    SHE HAD ALREADY disposed of her breakfast by the time Matthew caught up with her. After burying the contents of the white plastic bucket,
     she stood the shovel against the wood rail of the composting box and straightened.
    “What did he say to you?” Matthew felt slightly out of breath; he had a