“With Bastian?” Anne prodded.
I gave my attention to my task. I took the large spoon from Anne and continued stirring the oatmeal myself. “Uh, yeah. He stayed behind too.”
Anne raised an eyebrow. “Was he helpful?”
I snorted. “Hardly. He’s actually pretty annoying.”
Anne chuckled. “He’s nothing like his brother then.”
That gave me pause. “And what’s his brother like?”
Did Anne just blush? I peered at my friend curiously. “Anne—”
“It’s time to serve,” Minnie interrupted. “Go on, this stuff is heavy.”
Anne and I rolled our eyes but walked out to the dining hall, our arms laden with food. One at time we served our family.
“Many blessings,” each of them said as I spooned oatmeal into their bowls. Anne followed with trays of wholegrain toast.
We came to Pastor Carter’s table. Mother’s eyes were narrowed as she regarded me, but she made sure to thank me. The appearance of a loving mother.
“Smells lovely, Sara,” Pastor Carter said as I spooned his food into his bowl. “I hope you found what you needed by the cliff this morning.”
I couldn’t help but look at Bastian. What was Pastor talking about? I bowed my head dutifully anyway. “Yes, Pastor,” I demurred. He touched my hand, murmured a prayer, and I was then permitted to move on.
I felt shaken. I didn’t know why. Pastor’s words rattled me for some reason. When I got to Bastian I went to spoon oatmeal into his bowl when he held his hand up, stopping me.
“I can do that. You don’t need to wait on me,” he insisted, reaching to take the spoon from my hand.
“No. This is my job. I’m supposed to do it,” I argued, taking a step back. I felt Pastor and Mom’s eyes on me. I smiled. Sweet and simple. “Please. I like doing it. It is my duty to serve my family. We all must be humble in the eyes of the Lord,” I said blandly. I scooped the oatmeal and slopped it into his bowl with a loud splat before he could say anything else.
“Thanks,” Bastian said. But he didn’t seem happy about it.
Anne put the toast down in front of David. He looked up at her. She looked down at him.
She touched his shoulder. Very briefly. His hollow cheeks seemed to flush.
There was definitely a moment happening.
But no one seemed to notice but me.
Which was good.
Love wasn’t a choice we could make for ourselves.
Our fate was the only dictate of our future.
Anne needed to be careful.
There were some lessons we could never forget.
My heart pounded painfully in my chest.
Or we’d have to live with the consequences.
“Hey, Sara, where are you going?”
I was just coming out of the dining hall when Bastian caught up with me. I had cleaned up from lunch and was planning to tend to the garden for a bit before my one-on-one meeting with Pastor Carter.
