Hannah's Courtship. Emma Miller

cap and squeezed the brim between his hands, then put it back on his head and tugged it tight. “You sure you don’t want me to check that pony out?”

      “The pony’s fine.” First Susanna and now Albert. This was turning into the strangest afternoon, Hannah mused. She liked the man, found his company interesting and felt at ease with him, but she couldn’t imagine why he was acting so oddly.

      It seemed almost as if Albert wanted to say something but couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was like a father to Grace’s husband. Was there some trouble with Grace’s new family that she didn’t know about? Hannah’s eyes narrowed. And why was Albert so worried about Susanna? Was there more about Susanna and David than what he’d told her?

      “If you’ve something to tell me,” she said. “It’s best you just say it instead of beating around the bush.”

      Albert’s earnest face flushed.

      Bingo, she thought. But she didn’t urge him further. If there was one thing that she’d learned from being a teacher, it was that silence often brought more confessions than demands did.

      “There is something I wanted to ask you.”

      “Ya, Albert. What is it?”

      He leaned out the window. “Well, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about...”

      It was all she could do to keep from tapping her foot impatiently. “Yes, Albert?”

      “Alpacas,” he said.