Sarah: Bride of Minnesota (American Mail-Order Bride 32) by Katie Crabapple Page A

with an arm around her shoulders. He introduced her to many of his friends, trying to ignore the guilt he felt for keeping her with him. She should be allowed to meet the women of the congregation so she could make friends, but — he wanted to show her off first. She was a beautiful, intelligent, hard-working woman. How could he not want to show all of his friends and acquaintances how special she was? Obviously she didn't mind, because she didn't protest.
    When they left to go home and have lunch, he drove from the church, a slight frown on his face, still a bit annoyed she'd chosen to spend the time before the service with their neighbor.
    Sarah could feel that something was wrong with Karl. She reached out, her hand going to his arm. "Are you upset with me?" she asked softly.
    Karl shook his head. "No, of course not." Really, he was upset with himself for being upset with her, so it wasn't completely a lie.
    "Are you sure? Because you seem upset." She didn't want to press him, but she wanted to take care of it if they had a problem. She couldn't bear it if they had a big fight over something just after their first time at church together.
    "The only thing that's upsetting me is you calling me a liar and saying that I'm really upset when I tell you I'm not."
    She felt as if she'd been slapped, taking her hand from his arm. She didn't know what she'd done to upset him, but she didn't dare ask again. He was acting much too prickly for her to get a real answer out of him anyway.
    She remained silent the rest of the way home, wondering what the right course of action was. He was angry, so she needed to know what she'd done, but she didn't want to make him angrier by pressing him on it. Silence seemed to be the only answer.
    When they got home, she hurried to the kitchen to heat up the stew. She didn't even know if he'd still want to go for a Sunday drive, and if he did, she wasn't sure she wanted to go with him with the mood he was in. She wasn't used to people giving her the cold shoulder, and she certainly didn't like it from her husband.
    Once she'd heated it, she went to his bedroom and knocked on the closed door. "Karl? Lunch is ready." She didn't wait for an answer but instead walked to the table and poured them each a glass of milk.
    He came out of his room and sat down at the table, and she felt like she needed to walk on eggshells around him. His anger seemed to be coming off him in waves.
    He took her hand and mumbled a prayer, and they ate their meal in silence. When she finished, she went to the sink and washed the few dishes. She could feel his eyes on her. "We don't have to go for a drive if you don't want to," she said, her voice soft and a bit timid.
    "You don't want to go?"
    "I do want to go, but if you don't want to go, we don't have to."
    He sighed. "I want to go."
    She nodded, not turning to look at him as she finished with the dishes. "I'll get a couple of quilts then, and we'll go."
    He watched her leave the room, wondering what her problem was. She'd seemed so happy before church, and she'd been upset since. The woman was moody, and that's all there was to it.
    When she came out of her room with the quilts, he took them from her, carrying them outside. He helped her into the wagon before running around to sit beside her. She industriously tucked both of the quilts around them, and she sat close to him to share body heat.
    He drove east toward the lake, planning to take a lakeside road north so they could see the lake on one side and she could see some of the Minnesota countryside as well. He pointed out the lake as soon as they were within sight. "That's Lake Superior."
    "It's beautiful!" She'd had no idea there was such a large lake so close to them. It made her miss Massachusetts, reminding her of the beautiful ocean she'd left behind.
    "I'm sorry," he said softly, changing the topic and surprising her.
    "For what?" she asked.
    "For getting annoyed with you at church today." He hated admitting what he'd