The Rebel by Marta Perry Page B

well.
    On second thought, maybe that solution wasn’t so perfect. Her cousin Rebecca was a generous, openhearted woman with a maternal streak a mile wide. Rebecca was more likely to be mothering Mary instead of turning down her help.
    Everything about Rebecca’s home was as welcoming as she was. Daffodils along the porch steps looked ready to burst into bloom, and the tulips were already several inches high. And Rebecca was setting out pansies in the planters along the edge of the porch, the cheerful pansy faces bobbing in the breeze.
    Barbie drew up at the hitching rail, returning Rebecca’s wave. By the time she’d hopped down and flipped the lines over the rail, Rebecca was there to sweep her into a hug.
    â€œBarbie, this is so nice. I wasn’t expecting you. Aren’t you working today?”
    â€œI have the supper shift.” She held her cousin at arm’s length, scrutinizing her.
    â€œWhat are you looking at?” Rebecca’s words trembled on the edge of laughter. Her eyes sparkled, and there seemed to be an extra bloom on her cheeks.
    â€œJust checking. Mamm says you’ve been looking especially glowing lately.”
    The color came up in Rebecca’s face. “Oops. And I thought I was hiding it.”
    â€œYou mean it’s true? You and Matt are expecting?”
    â€œShh.” Laughter bubbled out of her, her joy so obvious that it was as if she wore a huge sign. “No one is supposed to know. But I can’t help how I feel, can I?”
    â€œAch, Rebecca, I’m wonderful glad for you.” She pressed her cheek against Rebecca’s. Was that actually a tinge of envy she felt? Ridiculous.
    â€œDenke. I have been hoping, you know. I don’t want there to be too big a gap between the kinder. And to think a year ago I didn’t believe I could ever be truly happy again.”
    â€œWell, that just shows how foolish you were.” Barbie put her arm around her cousin’s waist as they headed toward the house. “Somebody like you was made for marriage and family.”
    Rebecca gave her a challenging look. “And what about somebody like Barbie?”
    â€œDon’t start,” Barbie warned her, keeping it light. “I hear enough of it from my mamm.”
    Rebecca chuckled, but she desisted. “Komm. We’ll go in and have coffee.”
    â€œI don’t want to interrupt. Let me help you finish the pansies first.”
    She eyed Rebecca covertly as they settled on the edge of the porch by the long planters. Rebecca looked so happy, so—contented. A year ago at this time she’d been overburdened with the weight of trying to raise her two kinder alone and make a go of the farm the way she thought Paul would have wanted. Then, grief had hollowed her cheeks and set worried lines between her eyes. Now she seemed to have come into the sunshine.
    Rebecca handed her a pansy, holding the root ball in the palm of her hand. Barbie set it into the planter, pressing the soil down firmly with the trowel. “Where’s Matt today?”
    â€œHe’s off with his onkel and cousin, helping them with a kitchen they’re doing. The homeowner wants a built-in breakfast area, so Matt is building it for them.”
    Matt’s furniture business was thriving, but he still managed to find time to help his family, to say nothing of farming the property with Rebecca’s father and brothers.
    â€œHe’s not going to have much space in his schedule to help with the guests, is he?”
    â€œHe says he will. And with my brothers pitching in and your help, we’ll manage.” Rebecca seemed to look inward for a moment, pressing her palm against her still-flat stomach. “But you can see why your help is so important now.”
    This was the prime moment to bring up having Mary work with them, but she didn’t want to.
    â€œGrossmammi is wonderful glad you’ve been spending so much time with her