The Keeper by Suzanne Woods Fisher

would be left alone? Her dad worried her mind the whole day. Did Rome really think she hadn’t thought all these things through?
    She stood and walked a ways out into the side yard. The house and fields were set on a clearing at a high point; below it were other farms. She pointed to a white farmhouse, tucked against a hill, with a willow-lined stream that wove in front of it like a ribbon. “There’s Beacon Hollow. My mother grew up there. Now her brother lives there.” She pointed to another house, far in the distance. “That’s Rose Hill Farm. My friend Lizzie lives there with her parents. Last winter, we had a work frolic and finished off the Grossdaadi Haus for Lizzie’s grandparents, Jonah and Lainey, to move into because Jonah needed to live in a one-story house—he has a bad back.” She pointed in the other direction. “If you look hard, you can see the glare of the sun off of a big pond. My cousin Mattie and her husband Sol live on that farm. You couldn’t get better neighbors than Mattie and Sol.” She turned back to him. “That’s the difference between you and me, Rome. I’m not alone. My future may not be what I thought it was going to be, but I’m not alone.” She tucked a loose strand of hair inside of her bandanna. “Besides, maybe Dad will get better. Maybe this new treatment will work.” She looked at Rome and read his mind. She knew he didn’t think that was very likely. Her father was weaker each week.
    “The children don’t know how serious this is, do they?”
    “No. There’s no need. Not now.” She looked at him. “And I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t say anything.”
    “I won’t. You can count on it. But I hope you won’t mind if I try to talk Amos into considering a transplant. I’ve known a few folks—Plain folks—who have had kidney transplants. One with a heart transplant.”
    “Feel free. But I thought you were moving on soon.”
    He lifted his dark eyebrows. “Oh—didn’t you hear? Fern set me up in the cottage.”
    Julia had returned home to an empty house last night and went straight to bed. “Here? That spooky old cottage near that stand of pine? But it’s . . . so run down.”
    “Fern and Menno and Sadie and M.K.—they spiffed it up after dinner.”
    “So you aren’t . . . moving on?”
    “I’ll be sticking around,” he said, smiling broadly. “Just for the summer. In exchange for some work around the farm.”
    Julia felt as if she’d swallowed a chicken bone.

    On an overcast Saturday morning, M.K. tagged along with Fern on an errand in town. Fern took her time at the hardware store, looking for a list of supplies Amos had given her. M.K. wandered off with a promise to return in thirty minutes. She walked down to the farmer’s market that set up in front of the Sweet Tooth bakery for a few hours every Saturday morning. She heard someone yell her name loudly, and turned to see Paul Fisher waving to her. He was selling fresh eggs at his family’s booth and motioned to her to come over.
    “Want to earn some spending money, Mary Kate?”
    “I’m always open to making money,” she said.
    “I need someone to man the booth for a spell while I run home and get more eggs. It’s busier this morning than I thought it would be.”
    Mary Kate was just about to say “Sure!” when Jimmy returned to the booth, chomping on a green apple. He glared at her as he chewed and she squinted her eyes back at him.
    “I’ll go back to the house for the eggs, Paul,” Jimmy said between bites. “We wouldn’t want Little Gullie to miss her afternoon nap.”
    Jimmy! So obnoxious! M.K. fought the urge to throw an egg right at his belly. Instead, she spun around and stalked off. She made her way through the stalls, looking at the fruits and vegetables that sat on the vendor’s tables. Carrots, spinach, lettuce, peas, cherries, a few peaches. None looked as good as what came out of Julia’s garden.
    She stopped to watch a small dog performing tricks for