Footsteps ascended the stairs, and a moment later her dat appeared in the doorway. “Got time for a break?”
“Schur.” She set her quilt down and followed him downstairs to the kitchen.
“House is too quiet these days,” he complained as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
“I’d think you’d enjoy it,” she told him as she put the kettle on. “The three of us made a lot of noise through the years. When we weren’t racing around the house we were arguing.”
He chuckled. “I loved every minute of it.”
“Soon Mark will be walking, and then he’ll be running around.” She dug cookies out of the cookie jar, spread them on a plate, and set it before him.
Jacob reached for a butterscotch cookie and bit in. “Can’t wait. He’s growing like a weed.”
Before she sat down, Rose Anna gave the big pot of soup simmering on the back of the stove a good stir. It was her dat’s favorite—potato with chunks of ham. She saw him glance at it. “It isn’t quite ready yet. If you’re hungerich, I could fix you a sandwich.”
“Nee, it’s just that it smells so gut cooking. The cookies’ll do me until lunch.”
She poured herself a mug of hot water and sat to dunk a teabag in it. How different he was from John, she couldn’t help thinking. So many women her age seemed to look for a mann like their dats.
Hers was sweet, caring, steady.
John was the opposite: headstrong. Sometimes broody. Worked at any number of jobs but didn’t seem certain about a career—or life path.
He was nothing like her dat.
But maybe that’s what she liked. John was exciting to her—not quite a bad boy but one who had always stood out from the other boys even from a young age. Amish kinner were taught to conform for the good of the community, not the individual. But he didn’t believe in . . . conforming as much as his two bruders had. When he was young he was always up for a dare, always willing to test the limits. As an adult he spoke up more, seemed to care less that their dat didn’t approve of him. And while his bruders had reconciled with their dat and returned to the family, to the church, he’d refused.
That gave her pause. She wondered if he was enjoying his time in the Englisch world a little too much. What if he wasn’t just doing rumschpringe but making the transition to staying in the Englisch community?
“Where did you go?” her daed asked, giving her an amused grin.
She frowned. “Sorry. Just thinking.”
“Must have been serious stuff.”
She shrugged. “Not really.” She glanced over at the door to the dawdi haus. “You know, it’s quiet around here not just because Lavina and Mary Elizabeth are married but because Grossdaadi is away.”
“Ya. I miss my checkers buddy, too. But it was gut for him to get away from the weather for a bit, and maybe it’ll cheer him up a little being with his friends in Pinecraft.”
“It’s hard not to see him and Grossmudder every day.”
He patted her hand. “She loved you dearly. But she’s with God now, and we have to be happy for her.” He perked up. “That’s your mudder home already. I’m going out to put the buggy up.”
The kitchen door opened a few minutes later, and her mudder came in, bringing with her a chill breeze.
“I thought you wouldn’t be back for another couple of hours.”
“Ya, I got everything done that was needed, and Fannie is lying down for a nap.” She took off her bonnet and coat and hung them on the pegs by the back door.
Rose Anna got up, poured a cup of coffee for her mudder, and set it on the table for her. “Daed and I were just talking about how quiet the house is these days.”
“True.”
She propped her elbow on the table and rested her chin on her hand. “Well, who knows, the two of you may have your old maid dochder on your hands for years to come.”
Linda gave her a fond smile. “Seems like another of my dochders said the same and she’s now married.”
“Mary Elizabeth,” Rose Anna said with a nod. “I remember her telling me she was going to sew an Old Maid’s Puzzle quilt, but she didn’t end up doing it.”
“Nee, she got too busy making plans to marry Sam a short time later.”
Rose Anna sighed. “I get your point.”
“You’ll never guess who I saw on my way home.”
“Who?”
“John.”
She sat up, alert. “Where?”
“At the Zimmerman farm. You know, the Englischer’s horse farm.”
“What was he doing there?”
“Exercising a horse. He’s beautiful.”
“He is.” Then Rose Anna realized her mudder meant the horse. She reddened.
Linda laughed. “It was a beautiful black stallion that was taking every bit of his rider’s wits to control.”
“John loves horses so much.” She sipped her tea thoughtfully. “I didn’t know he was working there.”
“I thought you might be interested.”
Rose Anna smiled inwardly. Ya, she was interested. She’d have to check it out soon. Very soon. It would be another likely place she could run into him.
Deliberately this time.
The clink of spoon against cup made her look over at her mudder. “What’s the smile for?” Rose Anna asked suspiciously.
“I can almost hear the wheels turning in your head,” she said with a grin. She finished her coffee. “Well, I’m ready to sit and put my feet up and get some sewing done. How about you?”
8
The gut thing about driving a buggy was that they looked alike. At least they did in one Amish community.
So Rose Anna was able to drive past the horse farm a number of times over the next two weeks. She didn’t know how else to figure out when John worked without raising questions from whoever she asked.
But it was hard to find reasons to be leaving the haus early in the morning, which is when she figured he was most likely working. Her dat mucked out stalls and fed their horses early in the morning and again before supper. She left early for her quilting class twice the first week and didn’t see him exercising any horses outside. And there was no sign of his truck.
She was beginning to wonder if her mudder had really seen him but then, at the end of the second week, she happened to be out driving with Mary Elizabeth, and there was the pickup truck parked by the farm’s barn.
“What are you looking at?” her schweschder asked her as she gave the farm a long look.
She thought she managed a careless shrug. “The horse farm.”
Mary Elizabeth leaned out the window. “Isn’t that John’s pickup truck?”
“Is it? Why would he be there?” she asked innocently.
Her schweschder gave her a suspicious look. “Gee, maybe because he’s working there.”
“Really?”
“Ya, Sam told me.”
“Well, Sam didn’t tell me.”
“Nee, but maybe someone else did. The Amish grapevine is alive and well, after all.”
Rose Anna lifted her chin and stared straight ahead. “I wouldn’t know. I don’t gossip.”
Mary Elizabeth just laughed. “Oh, you love nothing better.”
“I do not.”
“Do, too.”
“Do not.”
They looked at each other and dissolved into giggles. “By the way, Daed says the house is too quiet lately. Maybe you and Lavina could come over and we could run up and down the stairs and argue and such.”
“I’ll see if Lavina and I can come over and do that. But I’d have thought he’d enjoy the peace and quiet.” She tilted her head and studied her. “Aren’t you annoying enough on your own?”
“I’m his favorite.”
Again Mary Elizabeth erupted into laughter. “Keep it up. I’m not arguing with you.”
“Ya, you are.”
“Nee, I’m not.”
“Ya, you are.”
They looked at each other and once again began gig
gling. “I’ve missed you.”
“Me, too. Maybe since you’re not a newlywed anymore we could see each other a little more. If you can tear yourself away from your mann.”
“It’s tough. He’s kinda cute,” Mary Elizabeth said, her eyes twinkling. “It’s taken a lot of time to get the farm in order. It sat for a long time without anyone taking care of it.” She frowned. “You remember what it looked like when Sam and I bought it and started fixing it up.”
Rose Anna nodded. “Mice in the kitchen. Snakes in the basement. Bats in the attic.” She shuddered. “The bats were the worst.”
“I agree.”
“Sam never minded that David got the family farm because he was the bruder who came back when their dat got the cancer, but I knew Sam wanted to own a farm so much. We were so blessed to be able to buy it from Sarah Fisher with the bishop’s help. Land is so expensive in Lancaster County these days.” She paused and glanced at Rose Anna. “I wonder what John will do if he ever decides to come home.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen John in ages.”
“I thought you said you had a plan—”
“I don’t think John enjoys farming as much as David and Sam,” she said quickly.
“Did he say that to you?”
“Nee, it’s just my impression.”
“Well, he’s coming on Saturday to help Sam.” She cast Rose Anna a sidelong look. “Maybe you’d like to come help me clean and paint an upstairs room.”
Rose Anna studied her. “I guess I could do that.”
She pulled into the driveway of Sam and Mary Elizabeth’s farmhouse.
“Coming in?”
“Nee, I need to get home. Mamm’s still a little under the weather with her cold, so I’m cooking supper.”
“It’s hanging on, isn’t it?”
“Seems to be. Same thing is happening to others who caught it. Quilting class tomorrow?”
“Schur. Pick me up?”
Rose Anna nodded.
“We can drive by the horse farm, and you can act like you’re not looking for John.”
“Very funny.”
Mary Elizabeth smirked. “I thought so.”
She escaped, laughing, before Rose Anna could smack her arm.
The front door opened and Sam came out. He waved to her. Rose Anna waved back. She watched the way he waited for Mary Elizabeth with such love written on his face. Rose Anna wasn’t jealous . . . but oh, she wished that John looked at her that way . . .
Thinking of him, she found herself retracing her route. Maybe he was still at the farm. Maybe he’d be outside as she passed, and she could figure out some way to talk to him.
But when she passed by, his truck was gone. Sighing with disappointment she found a driveway further down the road so she could make a U-turn and head home.
Her dat was in the barn when she arrived. Winter was slower, quieter for farmers so they caught up on equipment repair, planned for spring planting, made furniture, or worked some other job.
“Is it wishful thinking that I smell spring in the air?” she asked.
“Nee, you’re right. I smelled it, too. I saw crocus peeking up in your mudder’s flower garden in the front yard.”
“She’ll love that. I’m going inside and starting supper.”
“What are we having?”
“It’s a surprise.”
“That’s your favorite thing to cook, ya? Or the result?” he teased.
“I think it’s liver and onions, come to think of it.”
He made a face. “Tell me you’re joking.”
She laughed. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
When she entered the kitchen she wasn’t surprised to see her mudder already there. She turned from putting a pan in the oven. “Did you have a gut day?”
“I did. But I guess you forgot I promised to cook supper?”
“I’m feeling gut.”
“What are you making?”
“Meatloaf.”
“I just told Daed I was making liver and onions.”
Linda chuckled. “You didn’t.”
She grinned. “I did. How long do you think it will be before he comes in to see what’s cooking?”
Linda thought about it. “He should have been in here by now.”
The back door opened, and Jacob walked in.
They burst out laughing.
“What?” he asked them, looking from one to the other. “What?”
***
John was getting a soft drink in a convenience store when he heard his name called. He turned and saw one of his Englisch friends. “Hey, Simon.”
“Haven’t seen you in a while.”
“Been busy working. You know how it is.”
“No, actually I don’t. Just got laid off again.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned against the refrigerated cases in front of them. “Say, there’s a party at Adam’s tonight. You going?”
“I don’t know. I’m pretty tired after work. Running two part-time jobs right now.”
“Aw, you turning into an old man?” Simon asked, elbowing him and chortling.
Sometimes he felt like one. It was so ironic. When they’d first left home and moved into an apartment together, his bruder Sam had done nothing but nag him about using his newfound freedom to go to parties and drink beer. Now he was so tired when he came home he ate supper, did a little repair on the place as part of getting the rent break, showered, and went to bed.
John paid for his soft drink and moved aside. Simon put his suitcase of beer on the counter and pulled out his wallet. It was stuffed with bills. Simon’s parents must still be helping him out.
They walked outside.
“You remember Adam’s address?”
“Yes.”
“Some chicks will be there. You remember Becky? She’s been asking about you. Anyway, think about it. And bring your own beer.”
“I’ll think about it.”
He drove home, showered, and pulled on old jeans and a t-shirt and went into the kitchen to rummage in the refrigerator. He pulled some leftover spaghetti and meat sauce from the refrigerator and nuked it in the tiny microwave that had come with the apartment. Every night he ate alone, and usually it didn’t bother him. Sure, he missed Sam. The three brothers had maybe grown even closer than those from other Amish families because they’d had such a difficult father.
He forked up a bite of spaghetti and thought about how he even missed the time he’d lived back home. He had moved back briefly when he couldn’t afford a place of his own after Sam got married.
Not that he missed his father and his endless criticism.
There just had to be more to life than work and sleep, didn’t there?
So he finished up his supper, tossed the paper plate in the trash, and contemplated the offerings on the tiny television that night.
And found himself changing into his one good shirt and pair of jeans and heading out to buy a six-pack of beer.
Adam opened the door to his apartment, one arm around his girlfriend. “Hey, John, long time no see,” he shouted over the hard rock blasting from a nearby speaker.
The small apartment was crowded with about a dozen people. John recognized a few of them and stopped to say hello on the way to putting the beer in the refrigerator. There was nothing in the refrigerator but beer and a couple of Chinese takeout containers. Before he put his beer in it, he detached a can, popped the top, then made his way back into the crowded living room.
“How’s it going?” seemed to be the most popular question. John sipped the only beer he intended to have since he was driving and hoped he sounded reasonably intelligent discussing sports. After all, he’d only been following Englisch sports for a short time on television.
Simon had promised there would be women. Well, he referred to them as chicks, but John wasn’t calling them that. But Adam’s girlfriend was the only woman in the place so far.
Then the front door opened, and three women walked in
giggling. One of them was Becky. She looked over, and their gazes met as she set a grocery bag on a table and took off her coat with a provocative shrug. After tossing it on a chair and picking up the grocery bag, she made her way over to him
She wasn’t like any Amish women he knew. Her hair was a short, spiky, scarlet color and she wore more makeup than any Englisch girl he’d ever seen. Tonight she wore a low cut black top with a tiny skirt and shiny boots.
“Hey there, Gorgeous,” she said, leaning in so he could hear above the music. Her lips brushed his ear. “I was wondering if I’d see you again.”
He felt a blush creep up his face and hoped it didn’t show. “I’ve been working.”
“You know what they say about all work and no play.” She ran her fingers up and down his sleeve. “Well, maybe you Amish guys never heard that.” She pulled a bottle of vodka from the grocery bag. “I’m going to go fix myself a drink. Want one?”
“No, thanks. I’ve got my beer.”
She returned with a plastic cup and took some deep gulps, then reached for his beer and took a sip of it. “Shooters,” she said with a giggle.
“Let’s find someplace quiet to talk.” She grabbed his hand and led him into the kitchen. Later he wondered if it had been a good idea to go there. It was close to her bottle of vodka—too close. She filled her glass again and took more sips from his can of beer.
“How is your job going?” he asked her.
“Okay. Boring. I hate retail. Customers can be so rude.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Sure you don’t want some?” She held out her cup.
“No, I’m driving.”
“I came with Yolanda so I can have a few, enjoy myself.” She frowned as she glanced over his shoulder. “Uh-oh.”
“What?”
“I think she just left with someone. Oh well, you’ll give me a ride, won’tcha?” She gave him a tipsy smile.
“Sure.”
They tried to talk, but the noise level kept rising as more people arrived. And then John thought he smelled something funny. Becky noticed it, too.
“Someone’s got some weed. They should share,” she said with a pout.
He tossed his beer in the wastepaper basket. “That’s it. I’m leaving. If you want a ride, you need to come now.”
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