Home by Summer

by Amy Clipston

  “Ya. He says he can fix it, but he had to go buy supplies. He’ll be back.” Clara looked toward Jerry’s truck, where he was again talking with Ephraim and, this time, with Chris as well.

  Jerry said something to Ephraim as he nodded toward the house, and then he climbed into his truck. The pickup roared to life, and then he backed it down the driveway and soon disappeared down the road.

  “May I ask you something?” Clara said as she and Biena walked down the rock driveway.

  “Of course.” Biena smiled at her.

  “Why did Jerry leave the church?”

  When Biena’s smile faded, regret tightened Clara’s throat.

  “I’m sorry. That was too personal.”

  “No, it’s okay.” Biena’s smile was back, but it seemed to wobble a bit. “I don’t know why he decided to become English. My parents used to try to encourage him to join the church, but it always ended in an argument. When he moved out and started renting a room from our onkel, my parents stopped trying to change his mind. They wanted him to at least visit us, and he does. He also runs errands for mei mamm nearly every week to help her out.”

  “Oh.” Disappointment filled Clara’s chest. She’d last spent any time with him at a youth gathering when they were both seventeen. And now she hardly recognized the man he had become.

  “But he’s mei bruder, and I still love him.” Biena’s happiness somehow seemed forced. Clara assumed she was disappointed in his decision to be English too.

  They approached the stand, where Katie Ann Blank stood selling to two English women. One of the women looked at Clara and Biena and gasped. “Blanche! Look at those strawberries.”

  The other woman echoed the gasp. “They’re lovely! We have to take some of those home too.” She turned to Katie Ann. “How much are they?”

  Clara and Biena set the strawberries on the counter while Katie Ann quoted the price. After the women paid for their purchases, they thanked Katie Ann and left in a red SUV.

  Biena rubbed her hands together. “I’m ready to work.”

  “Okay.” Katie Ann laughed. “Do you want to help me with the stand?”

  “You’re not ready for a break?” Clara asked.

  “No.” Katie Ann waved off the question. “I’d rather be here than weeding.” She gave a little laugh, her cheeks reddening. “Is it bad to admit that?”

  “No.” Clara smiled. “I’d honestly rather work in the garden than sit down here at the stand.”

  “How about I help Katie Ann and you pick more strawberries?” Biena suggested.

  “Sounds great. Come and get me if you need me.” Clara waved good-bye and headed back to the garden.

  She had nearly filled another basket with strawberries by the time Jerry’s truck pulled back into the driveway. When her basket was full, she carried it toward the house, keeping her gaze trained on Jerry. He was squatting next to the spigot, and he seemed to be rebuilding it. She set the full basket on the porch and walked over to him.

  “How’s it going?” She pushed her prayer covering ribbons behind her shoulders.

  He looked up at her. “All right. I’m almost done.”

  With his sunglasses off, she had a full view of his cobalt-blue eyes. She’d forgotten just how blue they were. The urge to get reacquainted took hold of her. She grabbed an empty bucket, turned it over, and sat down beside him.

  “So how have you been?” she asked.

  “Gut.” He gave her a sideways glance. “How about you?”

  “Fine.” She needed to pull him into a conversation. “How’s your family?”

  His lips quirked. “I think you know the answer to that. You see them every other Sunday at church.”

  “Right.” She gave a little laugh as her cheeks heated.

  “How are your parents, Clara?”

  “Fine.” She shrugged. “Mei dat still builds sheds with his bruders. Mei mamm still has her seamstress business. They’re both still as ornery as ever.”

  He chuckled. “Glad to hear it.”

  “I heard you’re working for your onkel.”

  “Ya. I work full-time for mei onkel Saul and rent a room from him. I’m saving to move out. I haven’t decided if I’m going to rent a place or buy one.”

  “Why did you go to work for your onkel when you always worked for your dat’s farm?”

  “I guess I needed a change.” He shrugged. “Mei onkel offered me the job, and Dat told me to take it. He hired someone else to help him.”

  She studied his easy expression, searching for any sign of a lie. Did his father tell him to do that because his uncle isn’t Amish? She pushed the thought away. It wasn’t her concern.

  “Do you like being a plumber?” she asked instead.

  “Ya, sure. It’s challenging. I seem to learn something new every day, and there’s always something to be fixed.”

  “Oh.” She felt the urge to ask him if he had a girlfriend, but that seemed too personal and pushy. Still the question echoed through her mind.

  “I suppose you’re not married yet,” Jerry said.

  His directness caught her off guard, and her mouth dropped open.

  He laughed. “I’ll take that as a no.”

  “If I were married, I’d be too busy to spend my Saturday afternoon working here.” She gestured toward the garden.

  “That’s true.”

  She tilted her head. “How about you?”

  “Married?” He shook his head as he put the new spigot on. “No. I don’t even have time to date.”

  So that answered her question.

  “What about you?” he asked, his focus on his task.

  “I’m not dating anyone.” She gathered the folds of her blue dress in her hands as she watched him work. She wanted to know why he hadn’t joined the church when they were eighteen as she had, along with their friends. But asking something so personal would be even more rude and pushy than asking if he had a girlfriend.

  He finished fiddling with the spigot and then turned the handle. When water began flowing, she clapped.

  “Danki,” she said. “Let me pay you.”

  “That’s not necessary.”

  “At least let me pay for the materials.”

  “No. It really wasn’t a big deal.” He began packing up his tools. “I have to get going. Mei onkel called me earlier about an emergency job out in Strassburg.”

  “Oh.” She longed to find a reason to keep him there. What was wrong with her? “Are you coming back to help us with the garden?”

  “Maybe.” He stood and picked up his tool bag. “I guess I’ll see you soon.”

  “Okay.”

  As he walked to his truck, she realized she’d like to see him again very soon.

  “I saw Jerry Petersheim today,” Clara told her mother as she dried the supper dishes later that evening.

  “Really?” Mamm looked up from washing a platter. “Where did you see him?”

  “At Emma’s. He dropped off Biena, and then he stayed to fix Emma’s outside spigot.” Clara set a stack of three dinner plates in a cabinet. “I know he left the faith, but it still seems strange to see him dressed as an Englisher.”

  “Ya, I know. I’ve seen him around town.” Mamm rinsed the platter and set it in the drying rack.

  “He rents a room from his onkel and works for his plumbing business. He has a cell phone and drives a pickup truck. I was so surprised, since we were such gut freinden in school.” Who was she kidding? She’d had a crush on him for years and had even dreamt of dating him after they were both baptized. But that didn’t happen.

  “Unfortunately, some Amish people do make that decision.” Mamm shook her head as she turned her attention to washing a large serving bowl.

  “What was it like when your bruder left the church?” Clara asked.

  Mamm’s shoulders sagged. “It was terrible. My parents were so upset.”

  “Did they try to convince him to stay and join the church?”

  “Ya, we all did, but o
ur efforts just pushed him further away. As I’ve told you, he moved to Maryland and married a woman he met at work.” Mamm kept her gaze fixed on the bowl. “I still send him a Christmas card every year and hope he’ll respond. He hasn’t, but the cards have never been returned to me. I assume that means he still lives in the same haus.”

  “Do you think you could have eventually convinced him to stay in the church if he hadn’t moved away?”

  “I don’t know.” Mamm rinsed the bowl and set it in the rack. “Sometimes I wonder if I should have tried harder, but then again, I pushed him away as it was.”

  As Clara put away the dried platter, an idea filled her mind. What if she could find the right words to convince Jerry to return to the Amish church? He couldn’t be happy divided from his family. And maybe she could get to know him again in the process.

  CHAPTER 2

  Relief flooded Jerry as he stared at his mother’s shopping list and crossed off the last item. He was happy to do her a favor. She’d always bent over backward to take care of both his sister and him. But he despised grocery shopping and would rather be anywhere else than the market.

  He glanced at the lunch meat counter as he pushed his grocery cart toward the cashier. When his eyes fell on a young woman who looked like Clara, he stilled. She said something to the Amish man behind the counter and then laughed.

  Jerry grinned. Yes, that was Clara. He’d never mistake her laugh. He adored the sweet, rich sound that seemed to fill the room with warmth, and it tugged at his heartstrings.

  He leaned forward on the cart and continued to study her. She looked radiant in a cranberry-colored dress that complemented her gorgeous coffee-colored eyes and the dark-brown hair he could glimpse from beneath her prayer covering. She was always pretty when they were growing up together, but she seemed somehow different now—more mature with her long, slender neck and high cheekbones.

  He’d imagined the eager young men in her youth group would jump at the chance to date someone as beautiful, sweet, and funny as she was. A few of his friends had even confessed they wanted to date her after they were baptized.

  Jealousy was a bitter taste in his mouth.

  He mentally shook himself. Why should he care if Clara dated his friends? He’d met lots of pretty girls in the bars his English friends invited him to. Besides, he wasn’t even Amish. Any relationship with her beyond friendship was forbidden. In fact, she would be shunned if she dated him.

  Not that she would even be interested in him.

  In a flash, she turned toward him. He’d been caught.

  “Jerry!” She waved. “How long have you been standing there staring at me?”

  “Staring at you?” He straightened and clicked his tongue. “What makes you think I was staring at you? I was looking for roast beef, but you were blocking my way.” He pushed the cart toward her.

  She laughed, and he enjoyed the sound once again. “What brings you here today?”

  He pointed to the shopping cart. “Mei mamm gave me a list.”

  “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

  “I finished a job early, so I thought I’d be a dutiful sohn and see if mei mamm needed anything at the market.” He rolled his eyes. “I think she was waiting for my call.”

  “Well, that was nice of you.” She set a bag in the shopping basket hanging on her arm. “I had to get lunch meat and rolls to share at Emma’s today. It’s my turn to bring the snack.”

  “Let me take that.” He reached for the basket, and when his hand brushed hers, he felt a flare of heat. Had she felt it too? Her eyes didn’t show any reaction, so he must have imagined it. He set her basket in his cart.

  “Danki.” She walked beside him toward the cashier. “It’s hot out there today, huh?”

  “Ya.” He nodded. “It feels like summer.”

  “It sure does.” She fingered her black apron. Was she nervous? They never had any trouble talking at school or youth group.

  “Is Biena coming to help at the garden today?” she asked.

  “Ya. I’m supposed to drop her off a little later.”

  “Great. She’s gut help.” She paused for a moment. “Maybe I’ll get to see you for a minute or two when you drop her off.”

  “That sounds gut.” Did she want to see him as much as he wanted to see her?

  When they reached the cashier, Clara put her items on the counter and paid. Then she turned to him and gave him another wave. “It was gut seeing you.”

  “You too.” He smiled at her. “Take care.”

  “Hopefully I’ll see you later at Emma’s.”

  “Ya.”

  As she disappeared through the doors, he longed to ask her to wait for him. He quickly paid for his groceries and then hurried out to the parking lot. He loaded his bags into his toolbox and then motored across the lot, where he spotted Clara heading toward the road. Had she walked to the grocery store? If so, this was the perfect opportunity to spend more time with her.

  “Hey there,” he said through the cab’s open window as he drove alongside her. “Need a ride to Emma’s?”

  She touched her chin as if debating her answer, and her brown eyes sparkled with mischief. “Mei mamm told me not to accept rides from strangers.”

  “What if I tell you my name before you get in?”

  She laughed as he stopped the truck.

  “Please get in,” he said.

  “Fine.” She jogged around the front of the truck, wrenched open the door and climbed into the passenger seat before pulling the door shut. She glanced around the cab as she fastened her seat belt. “This is a nice truck. I like it.”

  “Danki.” He steered through the parking lot. “I bought it from mei onkel.”

  “What year is it?”

  “It’s a 1964 Chevrolet.”

  “Wow. It’s a lot older than we are, huh?” She ran her hand over the dashboard.

  “I needed a truck, and the price was right.” He pulled onto the road.

  “Why don’t we stop at your parents’ haus first and pick up Biena? Then you can drop both of us off at Emma’s.”

  “That’s a gut idea.” He turned toward the road that led to his parents’ house and glanced at her. “Why did you walk to the market instead of calling a driver?”

  The breeze from the open window caused the ties on her prayer covering to flutter over her slight shoulders. “It’s a schee day, and it’s not far from mei haus to the market and then to Emma’s. I couldn’t justify wasting money on a ride on a day like this.” Her smile faded. “You’re not going to charge me, are you?”

  “Are you serious?” he deadpanned.

  “No.” She laughed, and then her expression became almost pensive. “Tell me, Jerry. You told me you live at your onkel’s haus and work for his plumbing business, but other than that, where have you been for five years?”

  “Why? Have you been looking for me?”

  “No.” She shook her head, and he was almost certain she blushed. “I just wonder what you were up to. When I asked your family how you were, they said you were fine, but not much else. And I didn’t want to pry.”

  She asked about me? The notion took him by surprise for a moment, trapping his words in his throat.

  “So where were you hiding?” She leaned forward, her eyes almost flirty.

  “I wasn’t hiding anywhere,” he insisted. “I told you, I’ve just been living with my onkel and working.”

  “Huh. It’s funny that I haven’t run into you before now, although I saw you from a distance around town a few times.” She tilted her head. “We had a lot of fun in school, didn’t we?”

  “Yeah, we did,” he agreed with a grin. “You always made me laugh with jokes during class. We got in trouble more than once thanks to you making a funny face when we were supposed to be listening.”

  “Ya, but mei mamm didn’t think it was funny when we had to stay after to clean because Teacher Marian said we were ‘disruptive.’” She made air quotes with her fingers as if to quote the
teacher. “But we thought it was hilarious.”

  She looked out the window and then at him once again. “I always appreciated how you defended me on the playground when Roy Zook used to make fun of how I threw the softball or missed a hit.” She rolled her eyes. “He made recess a nightmare for me.”

  He frowned. “I never could stand him after that.”

  “But you took care of him, didn’t you?” She leaned over again, and he caught a whiff of her flowery shampoo.

  Why did the aroma make his pulse race?

  He did a mental headshake.

  “Didn’t you?” she repeated the question.

  He shrugged as if it weren’t a big deal that he had, in fact, found a way to stop the bullying.

  “What did you do?” She poked his arm.

  “I simply told Roy if he didn’t leave you alone, I would tell everyone in class about the time he cried like a baby after falling out of a tree when we were six.”

  Her grin widened. “What happened?”

  “You already know his farm is located on the same street as mei dat’s,” he began, and she nodded. “We decided to climb that big cherry tree in my yard. He fell out and skinned his knees, and then he sobbed for his mamm for nearly an hour. He made me promise I would never tell anyone because he was afraid his three older bruders would harass him.”

  He signaled and steered onto the long dirt road that led to his father’s place. “One day when he made you cry, I’d had enough. I followed him home and told him if he ever teased you again, I would tell the details of that day not just to his bruders, but to the entire class.”

  She gasped. “You didn’t!”

  “I most certainly did.”

  “This is why I declared you my best freind when we were ten.”

  He felt a strange stirring in his chest at her words. Why was he so emotional today?

  As if oblivious to his inner turmoil, Clara gazed out the windshield as his father’s brick, two-story farmhouse came into view. She smiled at him. “I spent a lot of time here as a kid. I still remember playing softball with you, Biena, and our freinden in your dat’s big field. We had so much fun.”

  “Yeah, we sure did.” He parked the truck by the back porch and pushed open his door.