Anna’s mouth hung open. Bender?
Joe nodded to Jacob, then briefly glanced at Anna. “How have you been?”
“Wonderful, as you can see by my beautiful fraa and kinner. How about you? What are you doing in Pennsylvania? Did you finally get tired of old Bishop Burkholder?” Jake asked with a chuckle.
Mammi gasped.
“Trust me, Mammi, if you only knew him.” Jacob clarified, “Strictest bishop I ever heard of.”
“We shouldn’t speak disrespectfully about our elders,” Mammi reminded with a pointed glare. “No matter how strict they are.”
Jacob ducked his head in apology. “Sorry.”
Harvey spoke up unabashedly. “Well, I can’t see no reason not to start eatin’.”
As Jacob said the silent prayer, Anna couldn’t help but dwell on Joe. So many questions filled her mind. She wished she could request a private audience with Joe – or Joseph – right this instant. He was Amish? Why hadn’t he ever mentioned it to her?
She now realized that she really didn’t know him at all. At least, not like she thought she did. No wonder he had so much character. She should have recognized it right away. As she thought on it, things finally began to add up. Like how he knew exactly how to handle a horse and buggy. Or that he was familiar with yumasetta and loved whoopie pies.
Apparently, the fact that he was homeless had thrown her for a loop. Which led her to another question: where was his family? And how did he end up on the streets?
How many secrets does Joseph Bender have? She wondered as she eyed him from across the table.
Even so, Anna couldn’t help the excitement that built up inside her. Perhaps there was a chance for her and Joe. It almost seemed too good to be true. Joe is Amish!
<><><>
This is exactly what I didn’t need, Joseph thought. Not that he wasn’t happy to see Jacob. No, that part was wonderful. But now Anna knew that he’d once been Amish. No doubt, by the curious way she was looking at him at present, Anna would want to know the truth of his past. All of it. He wasn’t certain he was ready to share, but some things in life seemed to be inevitable.
After the dinner dishes had been washed, and the others had gone to bed, Anna beckoned Joe to the kitchen table. All was quiet in the house except for the fire crackling in the woodstove.
“Would you like more coffee?” Anna offered.
“No, thank you.” He studied her as she took the seat opposite him. Joe waited patiently for Anna to express herself. He knew she must have a plethora of questions.
“How come you never told me?”
He shrugged. “There’s nothing to tell. I used to be Amish, I’m not anymore.”
“You make a horrible liar, Joseph Bender.” Anna’s reproving eyes met his.
Joe sighed. “Where do you want me to start?”
Anna reached for his hands and clasped them in her own. “How about the beginning?”
Joseph nodded, then began his story.
“I don’t know if you ever heard the controversy about the orange safety triangles?” he lifted his eyes in question.
Anna nodded. “That was Swartzentruber Amish, right?
Joe offered an affirmative nod. “Well, I guess it kind of started with that. I’d put one on my buggy, but they were verboten. The bishop and elders had decided that we, as a district, weren’t going to conform to the world. That meant no orange safety triangles.
“Anyway, that was what put me on the black list the first time. The second time was Mary, she was my aldi.” Joseph searched Anna’s eyes to see whether she’d want him to continue or not.
Anna bade him on.
“Mary and I had been courting for a while. She was a quiet type and didn’t share her thoughts much, but I was fine with that. I figured that if she had something to say, she’d say it. Well, one night, I’d gone to her bedroom like I usually did.” Joe stopped when Anna’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry, but this is necessary if you want to know the whole story.”
“Did you…” Anna’s voiced stopped short of asking the question he knew was on her mind.
Joe shook his head. “No, I respected Mary. I wouldn’t…I mean, I was certainly tempted to, but no. We never had a physical relationship.”
He watch as Anna released a nervous sigh.
“They do allow bed courtship in my old district.” Joseph continued, “Anyway, this particular time I’d gone into her room, Mary’s brother was there. I’ll never forget the look on Mary’s face. It was a mixture of embarrassment and fear. Anna, Mary’s brother was defiling her.” It hurt to say the words and his blood still boiled at the thought. “I was so shocked and angry. In hopes of her brother changing his behavior, I told him we were betrothed and that we’d be married in six months. Do you know what he said to me?”
Anna shook her head and he noticed tears in her eyes.
“He smirked and said, ‘Well, I guess that means I still get six months with her.’ If I ever thought I might be able to take someone’s life, it was then. It took every ounce of composure I had not to strike Mary’s brother. But I knew that if I allowed myself the pleasure, my anger would become insatiable and I’d kill the man.
“Mary was embarrassed. She didn’t want me to go to the bishop, but I had to. I thought that surely something would be done about it. From there, it seemed like things just got worse. Sure, the elders ordered her brother not to go near her, but do you think he listened?
“I finally took matters into my own hands. I think Mary hated me for it, but I just couldn’t stand by and see her being taken advantage of. I went to the Englisch authorities. At first, they didn’t want to do anything either. It seemed like they were real wary of getting involved in Amish matters. But I kept bugging them about it until they could no longer ignore me. I desperately wanted to see her brother put behind bars so he wouldn’t hurt Mary or anyone else again.
“I tried to keep Mary away from the house as much as possible, so we’d go riding in my buggy a lot. Well, one night when we were out on the highway a car came around the corner. He wasn’t going too fast, but he’d said that he just didn’t see the buggy. I know he would have seen us if I’d had the orange triangle on my buggy, I’m almost certain of it.
“Anna,” Joe took a deep breath. “Mary died in that accident. We were so close to going to court, but the case ended up being dismissed because Mary was no longer there to testify.
“Do you know who the elders were angry with? Me. Do you know who ended up being excommunicated over this whole matter? Me. They said I could be accepted back into the fold if I repented. If I repented? No way. I wasn’t going to do it.”
Tears now streamed from Anna’s eyes and pooled on the table in front of her. “Oh, Joe. I’m so sorry. What they did was wrong.”
“Now, you and I can’t be together because of it.” Joseph wiped his frustrated tears on the sleeve of his shirt.
Anna shook her head. “Our bishop is different. We are not Swartzentruber, we are much faster.”
Joe’s mouth lifted a little on one side. “I noticed.”
“I’m certain that if you tell the story to Bishop Hostettler, he’ll understand. I don’t think he’ll uphold the Bann.”
Joe sensed Anna’s excitement, but he didn’t want to get her hopes up. “I don’t know, Anna.” Joseph’s face then brightened as though lightning suddenly struck. “Does this mean you want to be with me now – that we can date?”
Anna nodded.
Joe stood up from the table and moved around to Anna’s side. Anna stood to meet him and he pulled her into his embrace. He gently stroked her back and held her tight for several minutes. He never thought he’d be given this opportunity again. “I might want to kiss you,” he admitted.
She smiled up at him and replied, “I might want to kiss you back.”
That was all the invitation he needed. Joseph bent his head and brought his eager lips to Anna’s. Only in his dreams had he ever believed this would happen, but here was Anna, i
n his arms. He couldn’t help but breathe a silent prayer of thanks for God’s providence once again.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Anna couldn’t erase the smile from her lips. She’d dreamt again last night. It was the same dream she’d had before, but this time she recognized the man’s face. It was clearly Joseph’s. Chills had traveled up her spine and arms the second she awoke. And now, as she tried to concentrate on the customers in the store, they’d returned. She felt so giddy, as though she could run out into the snow and turn cartwheels.
Joe had dropped her off this morning and said he had errands to run in town again. This time she’d agreed to have lunch with him. She did wonder what business he had in town, but she didn’t want to be nosy. She’d asked a couple of questions, but all his answers had been vague. It seemed Joseph still held some secrets he was not willing to reveal.
Anna glanced around the store. Where did all these people come from? There had to be at least twice as many as yesterday.
“Excuse me, Ma’am.”
Anna looked up at the forty-something Englisch woman in front of her. “May I help you?”
The woman nodded and pointed to Mammi’s Christmas quilt. “Is that one of the quilts that will be discounted during your After-Thanksgiving Sale?”
With a puzzled look, Anna asked, “After-Thanksgiving Sale? I’m sorry, I don’t know what–”
Linda quickly approached. “Anna, I’m sorry to interrupt but will you go help the customers over in the corner? They’re asking questions about your faceless Amish dolls and I thought you could answer them more accurately than I can, since you make them.”
“Yes, but this woman was asking about a Thanksgiving Sale?” Anna referred the lady to Linda.
“After-Thanksgiving Sale,” the customer corrected. “I was wondering if that quilt was going to be on sale.”
Linda shooed Anna away to help the other customers while she waited on the woman. Anna wondered what After-Thanksgiving Sale the lady had been talking about. She hadn’t heard anything about a sale from Linda. No doubt the lady probably got them mixed up with one of the other stores in town that participated in some Black Friday sale. But they’d never participated in that madness.
Anna glanced up at the clock and noticed it was almost noon. Where had the day gone? She approached the other customers near her handmade dolls. “May I help you?”
“Are you the one who makes these adorable little dolls?” a woman asked.
“Yes.”
“I see you only have four here. Do you have any more in the back?”
“No. That is all we have available,” Anna replied apologetically. “But I could make more if you need them.”
“I was hoping to purchase a set for each of my granddaughters. I’ll need at least five sets.” The woman smiled. “Can you make them with blue and green clothes? Those are my favorites.”
Anna mentally counted how long it would take her to make them. “When do you need them?”
“I’ll need them for Christmas, but I’d rather not wait until the last minute.” The woman opened up her purse and pulled out her cell phone. Anna waited patiently while watching the lady tap the phone’s screen several times. “My calendar,” the woman explained. “Is two weeks enough time?”
“Two weeks will be fine.”
“That’s wonderful. Where do I pay for them?”
Anna looked up to see Joe standing at the register ringing up customers. She smiled and walked the customer over to the counter. “This man here can help you.”
Joseph winked at Anna. “Linda put me to work. I guess we can do lunch later, jah?”
Anna smiled at Joe’s use of Pennsylvania Deitsh. It seemed he’d been speaking it more lately and it warmed Anna’s heart. “Jah.”
“It looks like more customers just walked in. You’d better go help them,” he suggested, while receiving the customer’s payment.
Anna nodded and walked toward another group of inquisitive customers. This is crazy! I’ve never seen so many people in here before.
<><><>
“Whew! I thought the customers would never stop coming,” Anna said as she took a seat next to Joe behind the sales counter.
Linda rotated the key in the lock and finally turned the sign to CLOSED, thirty minutes after normal closing time. “I think that was the best day we’ve ever had!” Linda said enthusiastically.
Joe winked at Linda behind Anna’s back. “Just wait until the After-Thanksgiving Sale. I bet we get even more customers.”
“Whoever had the idea to come up with that was brilliant,” Anna smiled.
Linda’s eyes widened. “Oh, Anna, I didn’t tell you. Your grandmother’s quilt sold.”
“It did? Really?” Anna glanced over at the quilt still hanging in the window. “Why is it still here then?”
“The lady already paid for it, but she won’t pick it up until Friday. She didn’t want to take the chance of missing it. I went ahead and gave her the sale price,” Linda said.
“Sale price? What is the sale price?” A worried frown crossed Anna’s brow.
“Six hundred-fifty dollars.” Linda smiled.
Anna’s jaw dropped. “What? That’s the sale price? But that’s more than what we were asking for in the first place!”
Joe perked up and smiled. “Go look at the tag.”
Anna rushed to the quilt and turned the paper hang tag around. “This says Thirteen hundred dollars!” Anna looked at Linda in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
Linda began, “I had a marketing genius come into the store a while back. He offered to do a free promotion for me. When he looked at the items in our store, he noticed many of them were underpriced. The gentleman agreed to do some research and price our items according to our competitors’ prices.”
“But we don’t have any competitors,” Anna reasoned.
“We do online. Quilts like your grandmother’s sell for up to two thousand dollars, so six hundred dollars is a really good deal.” Linda glanced down at the clipboard in her hand. “Which reminds me. You said your grandmother has more quilts, right?”
Anna nodded.
“We’re going to need them,” Linda said. “Can you bring in at least four?”
Anna’s brow shot up. “Do you think we might sell that many?”
“Who knows? But I’d like to be prepared just in case.”
Joe piped in. “I think that’s a good idea.”
Linda turned to Joe. “Do you think you can come back and work on Friday? We’re going to need all the help we can get. Besides, I think the female customers enjoy seeing a man in the store. I can tell Anna does,” she teased.
A beautiful blush darkened Anna’s cheeks when she caught Joe’s smile.
“We’d better get home, Anna. We don’t want your grandmother to worry,” Joe warned.
“Can you two come in an hour early on Friday? I’d like to rearrange the store a little bit and find places for your grandmother’s quilts,” Linda requested.
“Jah,” Anna agreed. “I can’t wait to tell Mammi about her Christmas quilt!”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Aaron opened the wooden cabinet above the bathroom sink and removed the small hand-mirror. It was essential that he look his very best tonight if he stood any chance of getting Anna back. After determining he hadn’t missed any stray facial hairs with his razor, he ran a comb through his locks to be sure they weren’t unruly.
He thought of his visit to Anna’s yesterday. Her cousin Jacob seemed pretty nice and didn’t balk at allowing him to help around the farm. They’d had a very valuable conversation, Aaron had thought. However, he was extremely disappointed to hear that Anna had taken in not one, but two loathsome beggars. How dare those grown men take advantage of two single women who were scarcely making it themselves. Anna and her grandmother didn’t need two extra mouths to feed, especially with Anna’s cousin visiting.
In learning of his real name, which Jacob unwittingly volunteered, Aaron had
uncovered some pretty interesting facts about Anna’s favorite homeless man. He would be none too happy to share them with her. Aaron couldn’t wait to see the look on the loser’s face when he divulged his information in front of Anna’s family. Surely, he knew far more about Joseph Bender and his past than Anna was aware of.
Aaron came up with a plan last night after combing the internet at the library all afternoon. He had a trick or two up his sleeve – hopefully, ones that would present himself as the hero once Bender was out of the picture for good.
He had the feeling that Mammi was going to try to deter him from coming today, so he was sure to tell her how much he was looking forward to it. He praised her cooking abilities and offered to do several chores around the house just so she wouldn’t have the heart to tell him not to come. Thankfully, it must’ve worked because Anna’s grandmother had kept mute on the subject, although he sensed her discomfort when he mentioned that he’d be seeing her when he returned for Thanksgiving dinner. He wasn’t bothered by it, though.
No, the thought of seeing Joseph Bender squirm under Anna’s watchful eye would be all the satisfaction he needed. A slow smirk slithered across Aaron’s clean-shaven face.
<><><>
When dinner preparations were well underway, Anna beckoned Mammi to the spare bedroom where she’d moved her quilting frame. She didn’t want to forget to bring more quilts to the shop tomorrow as Linda had suggested. Just the thought of selling one more quilt thrilled Anna to the bone; she couldn’t imagine selling several in one day. The sale from Mammi’s Christmas quilt along with her normal paycheck would be enough to cover their mortgage payment this month, but it would still leave them short on the property tax bill. But like Mammi said, God would provide for them somehow.
A Secret Encounter (Amish Secrets--Book 2) Page 9