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Anthony licked his chapped lips. “Hot chocolate sounds great. Would you have any marshmallows to put on top?”

She grinned at him. “Alvin loves marshmallows in his hot chocolate. He also likes to eat them straight out of the bag,” she added with a chuckle. “Of course, I have to stop him before he ends up on a sugar high.”

“Makes sense. Most kids like to indulge in anything that’s sweet.” Anthony pulled out a chair and took a seat at the table. It sure felt good to be in out of the cold for a while. He figured the warmth here in Elsie’s kitchen would have him thawed out in no time.

“You don’t have to fix the shed roof by yourself,” Elsie said after she’d poured milk in a kettle and started heating it on the stove. “I’m sure Norman would be willing to help, and Mahlon too.”

“Actually, after looking things over, I came to the conclusion that it needs a whole new roof,” Anthony stated. “And I figured if I could at least get started on that today, it would be one less thing for your husband to worry about.”

“That’s very kind of you. I’ll go out to the phone shed and see if I can find a driver who’s free to take you into town today.”

Anthony shook his head. “Just give me his number and I’ll make the call on my cell phone. There’s no point in you going out there in the cold.”

“I don’t mind. Besides, I have a few other calls I need to make, so as soon as your hot chocolate is made, I’ll head out there while you warm up with your drink.”

Anthony could see by the determined set of the woman’s jaw that she was going out to the phone shed regardless of what he’d said.

So he gave an agreeable nod and waited patiently for the milk in the pan to heat.

He did, however, think it was a shame that this family didn’t have a phone inside their house and had to brave the elements to make phone calls or listen to any messages that may have come in.

Just one more thing about the Plain life that I don’t understand, Anthony thought, diverting his gaze from the stove to Rosa, who had just entered the room. Her face looked kind of pale, and her shoulders were slumped like a cake that had fallen. Anthony figured she probably wasn’t feeling well.

“I’m making hot chocolate for Anthony,” Elsie said, turning from the stove to face her daughter. “Would you like some too?”

“Jah, Mom. That sounds good to me.” Rosa took a seat at the table beside Anthony.

A few minutes later, Elsie handed them both large mugs full of creamy, fragrant hot chocolate. She also placed a bag of marshmallows between them and grinned.

“Thank you,” they said in unison.

“So now I’ll be off to the phone shed.” Elsie moved across the room, where several outer garments had been hung on wall pegs.

She removed one of the jackets and slipped it on, along with a pair of gloves she pulled from the jacket pocket.

“I’ll just put my boots on in the utility room and be on my way.

While I’m gone, I hope you two will enjoy your beverages, as well as your cherished time together.

” She gave a small wave, turned, and hurried out of the kitchen.

Rosa leaned closer to Anthony and whispered, “While my mom is at the phone shed, I want to talk to you about something important.”

The way Rosa clasped her hands together while biting on her lower lip let Anthony know that she must be worried about whatever she wanted to tell him. “Is there a problem?” he asked.

“Yes, there’s definitely a problem.” Rosa heaved a sigh. “While you were outside and I was resting on the couch, my mother came in and brought up a topic I did not want to talk about.”

Anthony took a sip of his drink, set the mug down, and tipped his head in Rosa’s direction. “What’d she say?”

Rosa repeated the conversation she’d had with her mother and frowned.

“I was hoping to prepare her for the day when we would announce that our marriage is over and that you planned to leave here to get a divorce. But I guess that wasn’t such a good idea.

” Rosa picked up her spoon and stirred the marshmallow around in her beverage.

“I never got any of that said, because I didn’t know what to say when Mom started making suggestions about our marriage. ”

“What kind of suggestions?”

“She thinks you might not be happy here because you don’t have a job, and she went so far as to suggest that you help out at my dad’s store.”

Anthony’s dark brows lifted higher than usual. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, and when I said that I doubted Dad would have enough work for you to do there, then Mom mentioned you trying to get a cooking position at one of the restaurants in our area.”

“What’d you tell her?”

“I said I wasn’t up to talking about it right then and went upstairs to rest in my room.

” Rosa clutched Anthony’s arm. “I never meant for my mother to try and fix our problems. I just wanted to give her a heads-up that things aren’t going well between us so that when we do make the official announcement before you take off, she wouldn’t be completely surprised. ”

“I see your point, and it was a good idea, but—”

“Sorry. I should have talked to you about it before I said anything to Mom. Maybe you would have had an idea as to what my response should have been when she started making suggestions.”

He shook his head. “How could I have known what you should say when I had no idea you were going to talk to your mother about us?”

Rosa thumped the side of her head. “You’re right. Don’t know what I was thinking.” She wasn’t sure from Anthony’s placid expression whether he was irritated with her or not. The only thing she knew for sure was that they needed to have their pretend breakup, and soon.