Chapter 7

“It doesn’t seem to make sense, does it?” She smiled wryly. “John slipped away that Wednesday night after prayer services to talk to him, so of course I followed. I stayed hidden in the shadows of the trees and managed to overhear their conversation. ‘You don’t want me, John,’ Josh said. ‘I had no choice. Pa caught me coming home the other night. I don’t know how—I’m always so careful, but—’ He shook his head and shrugged. ‘Whatever. Pa said I smelled of sex, and when I tried to tell him he was wrong, he went wild and took his belt to me. When he was finally done, he told me I’d be marrying Lily Beth.’”

“So Josh needed a wife, and Lily Beth needed a husband. How did Uncle John react to that?” If it were me, I’d have taken my lover and left town.

“John looked pale, even in the moonlight. All he wanted to know was if Josh had named him as his sex partner.”

“What did Josh say?”

“Of course he hadn’t, and did John honestly think Josh would do something like that to his best friend?”