Winter’s Awakening by Shelley Shepard Gray Page A

to wear a coat. “It’s sunny, though. Listen, I really need to getout of here. I turned in my algebra homework and don’t have any assignments due for three days.”
    “If you wait until this evening when I get home from work, I could go with you.”
    “I need some time alone. You know I’m not used to being home all day, every day.”
    Looking her over, he seemed to sense that she was at her wit’s end. “All right. But choose a family? Please?”
    “I’ll try, Dad.”
    She really did need to get away from the house. She especially needed to get away from that adoption book! No matter where she was, it seemed to appear in whatever room she was in.
    She needed to escape the questions and the prodding and everyone who acted like she was the dumbest person in the room. After throwing on her mom’s roomy black wool coat and blue scarf and mittens, she walked down her driveway. From the moment the cool, crisp air fanned her face, she felt more relaxed and almost like herself.
    Almost free. Chasing that feeling, she quickened her pace. In no time she was next to the hedge that divided their property from the Grabers’. She followed that to a well-worn path toward the river.
    The winter grass crunched beneath her thick winter boots, sounding vaguely like broken glass as she walked along. As she quickened her pace, amazingly, her heart rate seemed to slow. Farther down, she spied a doe.
    Lilly paused, eyeing the animal’s beauty. Her eyeswere black, and her fur was heavy and slightly shaggy, showing she’d grown a thick winter coat. Bit by bit, the deer raised her head and stared back at her but didn’t budge.
    Lilly stood as still as she was able, transfixed.
    “Ach, but she’s a fair sight, ain’t she?”
    With a start, Lilly spun around just as the deer darted off with a flick of her tail. “Josh.”
    “That’s me.” His lips curved up for a moment. “So, what are you doing out here?”
    “Nothing. I was just out for a walk. What about you?”
    He pointed to the west. “I was over at a neighbor’s. Mrs. Slabaugh is a widow and every so often Caleb and I go over and chop wood for her. That’s what I was doing this morning.”
    “And now you’re on your way home.”
    “I am. It’s quicker to return this way than to take a buggy.”
    “It’s nice that you chop the wood for that lady.”
    He shrugged. “She needs the help, plus her daughter is the schoolteacher. We figure it’s the least we can do since she has to put up with Anson all day,” he added with a teasing smile. “Since I’m walking, too, would you care for some company?”
    Unlike her father’s offer, his interested her.
    Why was that? Curiously, she eyed him. He was so different from Alec. Different from Charlie, too. Than any boy she’d ever met before. More polite. Less full of rowdiness and pride. But maybe she didn’t know himwell at all. Maybe on the inside, he was the same as any of them. Of course, it didn’t really matter.
    And, perhaps, she was different than she used to be. “Sure.”
    “I’ll walk you to the river. Have you been yet?”
    “No. But I’m game if you are.”
    “Game?”
    “You know, willing?”
    “Oh. Yes, I am willing. I’m game.” He looked at her shoes a bit doubtfully. “Will you be able to walk on the trails in those boots? They don’t look like they’d stand up to a harsh wind.”
    Lilly couldn’t help but be amused. What other boys asked about shoes? Holding up one of her feet she said, “Definitely. They’re Sorels.”
    The look he gave her was priceless, and no less than she deserved. Obviously her sales pitch on the expensive shoes was wasted on him. “Never mind. I’ll be fine. These kicks are sturdier than they look.”
    “Kicks?” That surprised a chuckle from him. “Ach. Maybe so. And, maybe you are sturdier than you look, as well.”
    “Maybe I am. Boy, that would make me so happy.”
    Joshua smiled then started off with little fanfare. Lilly jogged a bit to keep up