An Amish Man of Ice Mountain (The Amish of Ice Mountain Series Book 2) by Kelly Long Page B

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    “He’s not forcing you in any way, is he?”
    “Who? Joseph?” Priscilla shook her head vehemently. “Not at all. I’m tired of running, to tell the truth, and my mama was Amisch . He’s just giving me a chance . . .”
    “A chance at what? Don’t you wanna know what his intentions are?”
    She watched the girl’s thin shoulders shake with a mirthless laugh. “I trust him. He doesn’t have any intentions, and I don’t want any, really.”
    Mary paced the confines of her office and could tell that the kid was itching to be gone. “Hey, I’m gonna give you some cash. You keep it for an emergency and you can consider it a loan, because I know you’re gonna be all huffy about it.”
    “I really don’t need—”
    “Hush!” Mary snapped, pulling on her big glasses and rooting in the desk drawer. “I keep a little petty cash around. Now, here’s an envelope. It’s five hundred dollars.”
    Priscilla stared at her, clearly speechless.
    “If you woulda told me the truth, I could have done more for you sooner. Remember that when you go. Tell the truth. Not all folks are as wacky as that ex-husband of yours.”
    The girl nodded and Mary sniffed and rose to come around the desk. She enfolded Priscilla’s small frame against her robust bosom and squeezed long and hard. Poor kid . . . probably hasn’t had a hug in years.
    After the embrace, she gave Priscilla’s shoulder a firm shake. “Now you take care, you hear? And take care of that young’un.”
    Priscilla nodded and left, and Mary stared at her office ceiling while she counted to ten, determined not to cry.
     
     
    “Are you out of your mind?” Edward demanded.
    Joseph concentrated on folding a shirt and put it in his satchel, despite the resulting ache in his side. “I’ll only be gone long enough to ask Bishop Umble to give Priscilla and Hollie safety—sanctuary—for a time.”
    “ Jah , right . . . and then you’re going to worry about her, and then you’re not going to be able to leave her, and then you’ll obsess over her, because you have chosen to fall in love with her—a runaway woman who probably wouldn’t know the truth from a—”
    His bruder’s words penetrated, and Joseph spun, grasping Edward by his shirt front.
    “Shut up.” He punctuated the words with hard shakes, ignoring the pain in his ribs.
    Edward rolled his eyes. “What are you gonna do, Joseph, Mr. Perfect Amischer ? Beat me up for telling the truth?”
    Joseph realized that he’d laid hands on his bruder , laid hands on another in anger for the first time in his life, and his arms went slack in an instant. He dropped his hands and sank down onto the bed. “Edward . . . I’m sorry. Forgive me. I don’t know why I . . .”
    “Forget it and listen to me.”
    Joseph lifted his eyes as Edward tugged down his shirt. “Look, Joe, it’s only that I don’t want to see you get hurt. And I’m the one who owes you an apology. I don’t know Priscilla or what she’s been through, but my point is that you don’t know either. And I’m running out of time here to convince you before I go.”
    Joseph studied Edward’s serious expression with a frown. “What did you say? Go? Where?”
    Edward sat down beside him on the edge of the bed. “Joseph, I’ve been offered a better job with the rigs and I’m going to take it. But it’s in Texas.”
    “What? How am I supposed to . . .” Joseph felt the weight of his bruder’s strong arm across his shoulders for an instant.
    “You—are not supposed to do anything but go home. I don’t need you to watch over me, and whether you want to admit it or not, you’ve gotten yourself tangled with a woman.”
    Joseph straightened his shoulders. “I am not tangled.”
    “Worse than a trout with one of Daed’s blue slicker flies, Joe.”
    Joseph felt a faint smile come to his lips at Edward’s analogy. “At least not that bad.”
    “Worse.” Edward laughed.
    Joseph nodded slowly. “What about Sarah?”
    “I’ve