The Proving

by Beverly Lewis

  “I also came over for another reason, to be frank,” Josiah said, breaking the stillness. “It’s long past time to clear the air.”

  Mandy hadn’t expected this.

  He kept his face forward, hands in his pockets. “All those years of our friendship—yours and mine—I cared for ya, Mandy.”

  Why is he saying this now? She frowned, not wanting to look at him. She hadn’t forgotten how he’d been so devoted. Almost like a sibling.

  Josiah stopped walking suddenly and was several paces behind her before she realized it.

  She turned. “What is it?”

  “It’s high time I apologized for what happened between us,” he said, looking sheepish. “You see, I was pursuing Arie Mae even before you caught us together that one night.” He sighed. “It wasn’t right, yet I didn’t know how to tell you, Mandy. I was immature . . . and afraid of hurting you . . . and ruining our friendship.”

  “Well, that explains a lot,” she said, wondering why he thought it would make her feel better. Yet she had to admit that it felt freeing, somehow, to talk this out with him.

  “I really bungled things up—I shouldn’t have led you on, Mandy.” He drew a long sigh. “It’s bothered me all these years.”

  “Water under the bridge now,” Mandy was quick to reply.

  She glanced toward his and Arie’s farmhouse, grateful for Josiah’s desire to make things right. “I was gone much too long,” she said almost as an afterthought.

  “Arie Mae missed you somethin’ fierce,” Josiah said. “She was worried sick ’bout you, ’specially after her letters came back unopened. She pined for you even after we were wed.”

  Mandy considered this as they made their way out of the cornfield to his property.

  “With all of her heart, your sister loves ya. Once your years away started adding up, it got to the point that Arie Mae would’ve done anything to get you to come back home,” he said. “Anything.”

  As they walked past Josiah’s corncrib, Mandy heard the low whir of a small airplane overhead, pushing against the humid air. Climbing the back porch steps, she was reminded of the night of sweet baby Amanda Mae’s birth. “I want to cheer up Arie, if I can,” she told Josiah, who held the screen door for her.

  “Just seein’ you—bein’ with ya—will be enough,” Josiah replied, motioning for her to go inside and upstairs to her sister.

  “I was afraid I’d offended ya,” Arie said, sitting in the rocking chair in her and Josiah’s bedroom to nurse her baby.

  Mandy laughed softly, trying to reassure her. “Nothin’ to fret over.”

  Arie smiled as Amanda Mae continued to nurse. “I’m glad ya came.”

  “Josiah was worried ’bout ya,” Mandy said, wanting her to know.

  Nodding, her eyes met Mandy’s. “We’ve walked some rough paths, you and I, but no matter how I feel now, I don’t want you to think I’m upset about your choice to sell the house.” She paused and blinked back tears. “But I’ll be sad.”

  “Arie, I understand,” Mandy said. “I’m still deciding, honest I am.”

  Arie sighed loudly. “And I really don’t mind where ya put the new bed, either.” Gently, she patted Amanda Mae’s little back. “It was your idea to create the bridal suite . . . and it’ll be your house to sell, if ya do.”

  “I’ll visit . . . I promise. And often.” I don’t have to be Amish to be a close sister, Mandy thought. But I do to be courted by Karl. . . .

  That seemed to sit a little better with Arie, who raised the baby to snuggle against her shoulder. “Maybe you’ll change your mind yet,” she said, eyes glistening. “I can hope . . . and keep prayin’.”

  Mandy hugged her, and when the twilight began to fall, she said she needed to head home. Arie Mae nodded, telling her that she planned to come Monday as usual to make breakfast for the guests.

  “Only if you’re up to it, all right?”

  Arie agreed, and Mandy hoped Josiah might sit now with his wife and tell her all that he’d talked about on the walk over. Knowing Josiah as she did now, he surely wouldn’t want any secrets kept.

  Mandy sat down with Arie, Kate, and Betsy that Monday to go over a list of instructions for Trina and Gavin’s wedding reception, much of it based on the careful directions Trina had sent by mail. Following a morning wedding that would include both of the couple’s parents and siblings, Mandy and her staff would serve a hot brunch in the breakfast room, including wedding cake and some sparkling punch.

  Mandy counted up the number of guests in her head. “We should be able to seat everyone,” she said. “And, let’s see”—here she surveyed Trina’s short list of items Gavin had requested for the meal—“it looks like Arie Mae and Kate will be makin’ a special wedding egg bake that day.”

  Kate and Betsy exchanged glances, and Arie Mae rolled her eyes. “A wedding one, jah?” Arie said, grinning. “What’s in that?”

  This brought a merry moment, as Mandy, especially, had to laugh.

  Cousin Kate suddenly frowned. “Ach, wait . . . we’re forgetting the guests who are already booked. Where will they eat breakfast?”

  Mandy paused to consider that. “The wedding brunch could take place in the gazebo,” she suggested. “What ’bout that?”

  “Perfect!” Arie Mae said. “But you’d better ask Trina, just to be sure.”

  “Josiah and Karl could set up some tables out there,” Mandy said. “The gazebo’s plenty big enough for a small wedding party.”

  “There’s really not much else to be done,” Kate said, munching on a carrot stick.

  “The wedding’s less than two weeks away,” Mandy said, thankful the new bridal suite was ready and furnished.

  “Will we need a few cut flowers, maybe?” Betsy asked.

  “Oh, nice idea,” Mandy said. “How ’bout some from Mamma’s butterfly garden—Trina so loves that.” She heard Amanda Mae waking up in the sitting room. “Arie says it will be the first-ever wedding on the premises,” she noted as her sister excused herself to go and get the baby.

  “Maybe the gazebo is somethin’ you’ll want to offer in the future—an ideal spot for a romantic breakfast or dinner,” Kate said, practically grinning.

  The future? Mandy thought. Everything seems to hinge on that.

  Already she had been checking around for a good real-estate agent.

  Arie returned with bright-eyed little Amanda Mae in her arms, then offered her to Mandy, who took her eagerly, a lump in her throat.

  Only a little more than two months left . . .

  Chapter

  42

  The afternoon before her wedding, Trina arrived with Gavin. Quickly, she set down her purse to give Mandy a big hug.

  Mandy laughed merrily. “Goodness, I wasn’t expecting that, but it’s gut to see you again, too,” she greeted her, then shook Gavin’s hand. “Come on in,” she motioned. “I have something to show ya. Tomorrow night, you’ll both be stayin’ just down the hall here,” Mandy said as she waved for them to follow.

  Puzzled, Trina followed Gavin and Mandy into the private family side of the inn, wondering if perhaps Mandy had run out of rooms again. Surely not, she thought, not relishing the idea of spending her wedding night in Arie’s old room. Not even for old time’s sake!

  With a beaming smile on her face, Mandy opened the door to what had been her mother’s former bedroom, and stepped back to let Trina and Gavin look inside. “Surprise! A bridal suite . . . just for the two of you.”

  Trina shook her head and grabbed Mandy’s hand to pull her into the large space, replete with ecru-colored window curtains over the green shades and a grand king-sized cherrywood bed with a gleaming headboard and footboard. “Look at that gorgeous quilt,” Trina told Gavin. “It’s the Double Wedding Ring pattern, right?” she asked Mandy.

  “You’re right. How’d ya know?”

  “Oh, my sister has been educating me about all things Amish since I returned from Gordonville. Janna’s so excited about finally getting to se
e the B and B at tonight’s wedding rehearsal.” Trina recalled her sister’s delighted squeal when she had learned the wedding would be at Butterfly Meadows.

  Mandy smiled. “I think by now you could tell her a thing or two about the Amish, jah?”

  Trina nodded and glanced at Gavin, who had walked over to the suite’s sitting area, which had a nice-sized white sofa dressed up with blue and green throw pillows. “I had no idea this was here,” he said.

  “Well, it wasn’t until just a few weeks ago,” Mandy said, explaining how she’d gotten the idea after Trina called about having the wedding there. “The suite you always stay in was already booked, but I didn’t have the heart to say anything.”

  “You’re amazing—that’s what,” Trina said, turning in a slow circle to take in the lovely room. To think Mandy had gone to all this trouble for them! “We’re honored to be the first couple to stay here.”

  Mandy gave her hand a squeeze. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Gavin left to go to the car for Trina’s bags, and while he was gone, Trina told Mandy how happy she was that their landmark celebration would be held near the butterfly garden. “God has orchestrated everything so perfectly,” she said, hugging Mandy again. “He certainly knew what He was up to when He brought me here.”

  “And ya won’t mind not havin’ electric?”

  Trina giggled. “Gaslight will be perfect . . . like the old days.”

  They headed next door to Josiah and Arie’s home, where Mandy had arranged for Gavin to spend his last night as a single man, since the inn was full. And as soon as he’d settled into their spare room, Gavin suggested he take Trina to the restaurant where they’d had their first date. Oh, did she ever love this man!

  On the morning of Trina’s wedding, Mandy got up early and strolled around the perimeter of the yard, thankful for the warm winds that had come in the night, and for the daybreak as bright and as pleasant as any early September Friday she recalled from her childhood. She looked about her at the familiar surroundings—the still-vibrant butterfly garden; the charming gazebo where a festive brunch would soon be laid out; the neat piles of wood stacked for winter, thanks to Karl—and felt that she was being drawn into a living portrait. Mamma would be so pleased, she thought.

  The small wedding near the butterfly meadow was a private one, so Mandy could only guess what vows might be spoken by Gavin to his bride, who wore a gown of lacy white. The couple made a handsome pair as they strolled hand in hand to the gazebo for their first meal as man and wife.

  When the brunch was served, Mandy was happy to let Arie Mae receive all the accolades for the meal, deserving as she was. Mandy helped serve, taken with the newlyweds’ fondness for each other. She was so glad that Trina had found contentment at last, a sentiment Janna had shared, as well, when Mandy met her before the ceremony.

  At Arie’s insistence, the next morning, during the regular breakfast with the other guests, Mandy sat beside Trina and Gavin and was served chocolate chip waffles and scrambled eggs, crisp bacon, fresh fruit, and pan-fried cornmeal mush with sausage gravy.

  Trina held her hand as Arie led with the silent blessing, and later, she gave Mandy a little hint about their honeymoon location. “It’s someplace warm and sandy,” Trina said with a grin at Gavin.

  “And nary a cornfield in sight? Electricity in every room?” Mandy played along.

  Gavin chuckled. “Not that we’re enamored with electricity, of course.”

  She laughed. “Well . . . how long must I wait to find out?”

  “We’re going to the Bahamas.” Trina and Gavin clinked each other’s coffee cups in a toast of sorts.

  Mandy noticed how happy they both looked and said she was honored they’d chosen the inn for their wedding. Then, smiling, she reached for her coffee and suddenly thought of Karl Lantz, looking forward to seeing him to chat later today, as they so often did.

  Ach, maybe it’s being around these two lovebirds!

  The departure of the butterflies was something Mandy had never relished, but they would return. As they always do, she thought. October started out being unseasonably warm, its bountiful yield of pumpkins on display at roadside stands up and down Old Leacock Road. Now there were delicious pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread to bake for afternoon treats for the guests, as well as Arie’s famous pumpkin maple whoopie pies.

  Mandy heard from Karl that certain English farmers around the county who had been fretting about getting their harvest in before the temperatures dropped were cranking up the air conditioning in the cabs of their combines. Then, of all things, a mere two weeks later, Mandy found herself having to haul coal in for the stove. She couldn’t have this chill in the mornings, not with little Amanda Mae along with Arie Mae now before and during the breakfast hour. The infant was a real delight, cooing and smiling at Mandy every time she held her, and so darling in the little handmade clothes Arie sewed for her while Amanda Mae slept.

  Ten more days came and went, and as red foxes slinked through the harvested cornfield, the air held the stale scent of decaying leaves. To the north, the ridgeline of the Welsh Mountains was newly visible beyond the bare birches that lined the butterfly meadow.

  On the November morning that marked the end of Mandy’s twelve consecutive months of managing the B and B, Jerome dropped by for breakfast.

  Mandy poured coffee for him right away as he commented that the inn was doing very well, if not better than when Mamma was running it. “Practically always fully booked,” he said as he stood in the middle of the kitchen and looked about.

  “I’ve been doing just what Mamma always did.” She carried his coffee to the table and set it down. And tried to be a blessing to guests, she thought.

  “Well, it appears that it’s been a success.”

  She watched him amble over to the tall cupboard door and open it. Staring at the place where Dat had once noted and dated all of their heights, he coughed, then closed the door slowly, almost respectfully. “Guess this here old house is yours,” he said as he moseyed over to sit at the head of the table, where he trickled some cream into his coffee. “How do ya feel ’bout that?”

  “Well, it hasn’t been the easiest thing I’ve ever set out to do.”

  “S’pose not.”

  They talked about the coming winter and the fact that Mandy and her helpers had managed to tidy up Mamma’s perennial garden before the weather got too nippy, and that Karl had mulched the roses in fresh manure and seen to it that the horses were supplied with plenty of fresh hay. Most of the talk was maintenance related, and Mandy knew from Jerome’s expression that he was trying to avoid the burning question. But she was glad for the company, though she suspected there would be a knock at the door within the hour, when bright-eyed Yonnie came to see if she might have some hot cocoa ready for him.

  Finally, Jerome drained the last of his cup. “Sometime this week, the legal documents will be ready to sign over to you,” he told her as he pushed back his chair.

  Mandy thanked him. But instead of feeling the relief she’d once anticipated, she felt at that moment as empty as the frosty butterfly garden.

  The next morning, Mandy was greeting the real-estate agent she’d chosen a while back after interviewing her by phone. She gave Patti Landis a tour of the entire house, as well as the outbuildings.

  “I assume your horses aren’t included,” Patti joked with a smile as they left the stable to return to the house.

  Mandy made it clear that they were not, mentioning that one of her siblings would gladly take Ol’ Tulip and Gertie when the time came.

  Once the two women were seated in the kitchen, Patti ran the marketing comps through her laptop, and in a few minutes came up with several options for a listing price based on other recent sales of similar properties in the area.

  “Really—that much?” Mandy said, astonished that the B and B would fetch such an amount.

  “Oh yes, and to be honest, I really doubt this house will be on the market for long,�
�� Patti said. “Mark my words, you’ll have other Amish folk knockin’ your door down to get it—likely with cash in hand.”

  Mandy made it clear that the acreage was not part of the deal, having already been transferred to her brothers. “Only the small meadows on either side of the house and stable go with the inn.”

  “Are you interested in listing it today?” Patti asked, seemingly eager to do so.

  “I’d like to read over the seller’s contract first, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course.” The cordial woman pulled a copy out of her briefcase and went over it with Mandy line by line.

  Chapter

  43

  After Patti Landis left, Mandy decided to retrace the steps of the tour she’d given the woman, savoring each room, every poignant memory. Not all were especially significant, but each was built into the fabric of her life. And as she did so, she realized that Butterfly Meadows was no longer just about the distant past.

  She considered the pros and cons of joining church and staying put among the People. And she pondered returning to a less Plain lifestyle, perhaps moving to Maryland near Trina and Gavin—keeping her car, enjoying modern conveniences.

  Mandy thought of her large family and of her twin sister within walking distance. And adorable Amanda Mae . . .

  Yet if she stayed, she’d have to become fully Amish to fit in with the People. Karl would certainly expect it, and understandably so. She tried that on in her mind, wondering how that would seem. Would she enjoy living the Amish life once again, since she’d grown up that way, never having known anything different till her years in Kansas? And would the sacrifices be worth it? she wondered, all the while realizing there were many things about Amish life that she’d missed terribly.

  Sighing, she looked out the upstairs sewing room windows and saw Karl pick up Yonnie and sling him up on his shoulders, the two of them laughing heartily as they headed home.