"That was rude to cut the visit short.”
"You were the one who said you had to take me home. I was happy to stay. And it was you who said you’d made an appointment and then told them you had to take me home. Don’t blame me. I told you I was tired after a long day at work."
"Everyone's had a long day at work. You're not the only one. I thought you would be more supportive."
"I am supportive. I came here with you, didn't I? And they weren’t expecting either of us, and that means you lied to me." Lucy normally wasn’t confrontational, but she didn’t like being deceived. She looked at the road ahead and folded her arms across her chest.
Mary Lou didn't answer for a while. "I'm sorry for what I did, Lucy. I just feel all jumbled up since I've come back to the community. Being on my own after two years of being with Isaac hasn't been easy. I try not to let it upset me, but it does."
"That's okay. I can understand." Now that her friend had apologized, Lucy could easily look past her flaws and shortcomings, since she had plenty of her own.
"Hazel's mudder must've left their haus already," Mary Lou said.
"She was staying at the bishop’s haus, along with Hazel's aunt and onkel, but only until a couple days after Hazel’s wedding."
Mary Lou went quiet and Lucy wondered if she’d been hoping to run into Hazel’s relations at the bishop’s house. Lucy had to ask herself, was that what the rush to see the bishop was all about?
Chapter 8
At the next Sunday meeting, Lucy saw that Hazel and Isaac had come back from visiting already. At the end of the sermon, Mary Lou had to stand up and confess her sins. It was an embarrassing moment for her, and Lucy could see that she seemed genuinely repentant. She was to be shunned for a two-week period. It gave the bishop a good reason to talk about the beneficial process of shunning, based on the Scriptures.
Although it was embarrassing for Mary Lou, everything would be made right. Besides, Mary Lou was tough and would be able to handle it.
When the meeting was over, Lucy hurried over to speak with Hazel outside the house where the service was held.
“Hi, Hazel. Did you enjoy your time away?”
“I did. We had a good time and I saw a lot of places I’d never been to. And I met lots of relatives. It will take some time to get used to being part of such a large family.”
“Good, I'm glad you had a good trip.”
“Will you and Levi be able to make it to dinner on Tuesday night?”
“I think so. I’ll ask him.”
“Just let me know tomorrow. You don’t have to let me know today.”
“Are you having a few people over, or just us?” Lucy knew Hazel must’ve had no idea about her and Levi.
“Just the two of you at the moment.”
Ivy Fuller headed over toward them and Lucy made the excuse to Hazel that she had to catch someone before they left. She didn’t want to get stuck talking to Levi’s mother. Neither did she want to talk to Levi lately, but she wouldn’t be able to avoid talking to him for much longer. She’d have to have a serious talk with Levi about whether they were going to let people know that they were no longer a couple, or were they going to keep up the pretense for a while longer? She didn’t care either way.
Lucy found Levi taking a plate from the end of the table to help himself to some food. Seeing that everyone else was at the other end of the long table, she took the opportunity to talk with him. “There you are.”
He swung around. “Lucy.”
“Jah, it’s me. We’ve been invited to Isaac and Hazel’s haus for dinner on Tuesday night.”
“And what did you say? Did you accept the invitation for us?”
“I said I’d ask you if you were free.”
He put the plate down, leaned one arm on the table, and rested the other hand on his hip. “So, you’re leaving it for me to tell everybody?”
“I didn’t know what you wanted to do. You’re the first boyfriend I’ve had, and I thought you would be the only one. Anyway, that doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t know the right way to do things.”
“It doesn’t matter to me. Do you want me to tell people?” he asked.
She shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t want to be the one to say that things were finally over. If they started telling people, then it would all become real.
“I suppose we could just have a few more days without telling people and just go to Isaac’s house as though we’re still together. We could do that, couldn’t we?”
She nodded. “Okay. If it doesn’t bother you, it doesn’t bother me.”
“It’s settled then. Unless you have some reason that you’d rather not have everyone think we’re still together.”
“I have no reason at all. Do you?” She wondered whether Nella would be a reason.
“Nee,” he said.
“So, if we’re both okay with it, let’s do it,” she said.
“Okay.”
“Great! I’ll meet you there at seven.”
He tipped his head to one side. “Where will you meet me?”
“Isaac and Hazel’s place at seven o’clock on Tuesday night.”
He scratched his nose. “It’ll look very strange if we arrive separately. How about I collect you from your haus at six thirty, and then we’ll travel together and then I’ll drive you home afterward?”
“Okay. That would look more believable.”
“I’ll see you on Tuesday night.”
“All right.”
Lucy walked around to the other side of the table and took a plate, and then she joined the queue of people helping themselves to food. After her plate was full, she looked around for a space to sit at one of the tables, and it was then that she saw Mary Lou, sitting by herself because her shunning had begun. Not too far away, she saw Isaac and Hazel. She could only imagine how awkward it was for Isaac to see Mary Lou, his old girlfriend, back in the community.
Chapter 9
As planned, Levi collected Lucy on Tuesday night for the dinner at Hazel and Isaac’s house. Barely a word was said on the drive over there—it was awkward and Lucy wondered what was going through Levi’s mind. She had hoped he’d apologize so that things would be resolved between them by the time they got to Hazel and Isaac’s house.
When he stopped the buggy by the house, Lucy saw another three buggies outside. “Is that your vadder’s buggy?”
“Jah, my folks have been invited to dinner.”
“I thought it was just the two of us.”
“Nee, and it’s more than just Mamm and Dat by the look of all the buggies.”
“What about your brothers?”
“None of them were invited.”
Levi’s mother and father being there added to her nerves. It would be an awkward dinner.
“Don’t worry, I still haven’t told anyone anything. We’ll just have to act as though things are fine between us,” he said.
“Okay.” By his words, Lucy knew she wouldn’t be receiving an apology any time soon.
Both Hazel and Isaac came outside to greet them and waited on the porch for them. When they got inside, they found out that besides Levi’s mother and father, the bishop and his wife were there, along with another two couples.
After Lucy and Levi said hello to everyone, Lucy asked, “Can I help you in the kitchen, Hazel?”
“Jah, denke. I’ll need some help serving.”
Lucy could tell that Hazel was nervous. It couldn’t have been easy to go from an isolated life living with her mother to entertaining her husband’s parents and the bishop and his wife. Levi had told her snippets of Hazel’s past. She wouldn't have had a lot of experience serving guests, especially this many at once.
Soon everyone was seated around the long table in the room adjacent to the kitchen, and after they said a prayer of thanks for the food, Hazel was the first to speak.
“I have some exciting news.”
Lucy stared at Hazel and wondered whether she would say she was already pr
egnant, but it would be too early to know. “My mudder is coming to live with us soon,” Hazel announced.
“That’s wunderbaar news,” Mrs. Fuller said.
“I’m so happy for you, Hazel,” Ruth said while the others murmured their agreement.
Isaac said, “Jah, I've just about got the grossdaddi haus ready, and when the walls go up, Hazel wants to paint them. I told her I’d do it, but she insists.”
“I like painting,” Hazel said over the rumbles of laughter. “Anyway, everyone, help yourselves.”
While bowls of food were passed around, Mrs. Fuller said to Hazel, “Perhaps Lucy can help you get the place ready for Judy.”
Lucy looked directly at Mrs. Fuller, wondering why she had volunteered her.
Hazel swung her body around to face Lucy. “Oh, would you, Lucy? That would be such fun.”
When she saw how excited Hazel was, she knew she would feel dreadful refusing.
Before she could answer, Levi butted in. “Lucy would love to, wouldn’t you, Lucy?”
Lucy knew Levi had only said that to be annoying and she wouldn’t let him see that what he said bothered her. “Jah, I’d love to help. I couldn’t think of anything better. I love painting too, and helping to get the grossdaddi haus ready sounds exciting. We could even sew the curtains, Hazel.”
“Okay, denke.”
“That’s lovely of you to help, Lucy,” Ruth said.
“I’ll help as much as I can.” Lucy smiled at the bishop's wife.
“You’ve done a fine job of cooking all this lovely food, Hazel,” her new mother-in-law said.
“Denke, I hope it tastes all right. It’s all of Isaac’s favorite food choices.”
“She’s a good cook,” Isaac said with a smile.
From the way they interacted, Lucy saw that Hazel was better suited to Isaac than Mary Lou had ever been. There was a mixture of adoration and wonder in his eyes, and he’d never looked that way at Mary Lou.
The dinner lasted a long time and then dessert was served. After that, there was coffee served in the living room.
Lucy and Levi were the first to leave.
When they climbed into the buggy, Levi asked, “Were you really pleased about helping Hazel?”
“Jah, of course. It sounds like so much fun.”
He scratched his neck and then turned his horse to face the road. “I didn’t think you would like to do anything like that. And I didn’t think you were a fan of Hazel’s.” He clicked the horse onward.
“I wasn’t at the start, but now I can see she’s a sweet girl.”
“So, you no longer think my bruder made a dreadful mistake?” he asked.
“Nee. It’s plain to see he loves Hazel. I can see that by the way he looks at her, and Hazel adores him too. I just think he showed poor judgment the way he treated Mary Lou.”
“Are we back onto this subject again? I don’t think Mary Lou’s suffered too much. She's not being shunned for that long.”
“When did you talk to her?” Lucy asked.
“Can’t say that I remember. Oh, that's right, she was getting something to eat at the café my brothers and I go to for lunch. It was Friday, I think.”
“That must’ve been her day off, but I thought she worked five days a week. It sounds very suspicious to me.”
He drew back. “You mean you don’t believe me?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You mean you don’t believe Mary Lou?”
“Forget I said anything.” She shook her head and turned away from him
“Nee, you must have meant something.”
“I did, but … I just meant that it doesn't seem like a coincidence that she bumped into you. Have you ever seen her at lunchtime before?”
“Nee.”
“And that’s the place you go to every day to get lunch?”
He fixed his lips tightly together. “You’re so suspicious. You didn’t like Hazel at the start and now you’re suspicious of your best friend. She’s been your friend since we were all in school. It seems you’re not happy with anyone. Did you ever stop to think that it might not be everybody else, it might be you?”
“What might be me?”
“It seems no one can do anything right around you. You’re upset with me and upset with everything I do, and neither can anyone else do anything right.”
Lucy just wanted the horse to go faster so she could get home quicker. She didn’t know what was going on lately. Levi and she always used to know what each other was thinking and now they were having one disagreement after another.
He continued, “Mary Lou said you didn’t like Hazel and you were being mean to her.”
Lucy’s mouth fell open and she couldn’t believe her ears. “What did you just say?”
“She said you’re being mean to her, and you don’t even like Hazel. You’re just pretending to like Hazel.”
“Well, that’s not true. Mary Lou and I are the best of friends, and I just told you I’m starting to like Hazel.”
“Starting to? I don’t know why you didn’t like Hazel from the beginning.”
“Did you hear me? I just said Mary Lou and I are the best of friends. She had no reason to say that.”
“Well, she said it. I’m not making it up.”
Lucy knew he wasn’t making it up. Mary Lou must’ve been trying to get in between them. Then it dawned on her how Mary Lou had kept pressing her and asking her what the situation was in her relationship with Levi. Mary Lou was the only one who knew they weren’t together right now. If Mary Lou was once in love with Isaac, maybe she figured the next best thing was his brother closest to him in age.
Levi turned from the main road on to her parents’ property and took her right up to the house.
“Denke for taking me and bringing me back again.”
“You’re welcome. Where do things stand from here?” he asked.
“Between you and me?”
“Jah.”
She shook her head. “I can’t believe you just told me what Mary Lou said. You were talking about me behind my back. She was saying mean things about me and you didn’t even stand up for me.”
“I tried. I told her it wasn’t true about you and then she gave me examples of what was said. What could I say then?”
Lucy couldn’t believe her ears. “Like what? What examples did she give?”
“I don’t exactly remember now, but she repeated what you said about a few things. What you said about me—things you said to her.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ll have to give me some examples.”
“I don’t remember.”
“Well, think hard,” Lucy said.
“From what she said, it seemed you were stirring up trouble between Mary Lou and Isaac.”
“What? I never did.”
“She didn’t think you were being a good friend.”
“What? Did she mention how I visited the bishop with her to talk about her returning to the community?”
“Jah. That’s right. She said she regretted asking you because you looked bored the whole time and even Ruth asked you if you were tired.”
“That’s partly right, but I wasn’t bored, I was tired. When we talked on the phone, I agreed to go to the bishop with her and then one day after I’d had a long day at work she came to the house just as I was about to help Mamm with the dinner and said she was on her way to meet with the bishop right then. I’d given my word I was going with her to the bishop, but she hadn’t told me when she was going. I had to drop everything and go.” It was a perfectly reasonable explanation and she hoped that Levi would see that.
“She didn’t tell me that part.”
She conveniently left that out, Lucy thought. If she said that out aloud Levi might not appreciate it. “Well, gut nacht, Levi.” She deliberately didn’t answer his previous question about where their relationship stood. She had no idea, but unless he started backing her up when others gossiped about her, they had
no future.
“Gut nacht,” he called after her.
Had he even realized that she hadn’t answered his question? It can’t have been very important to him, she thought as she pushed open her front door.
Levi headed his horse and buggy back down Lucy’s driveway. He was disappointed in the way Lucy was behaving. She hadn’t even bothered to answer his question about their relationship. Instead, she talked about something else and ignored his question completely. He glanced back at her silhouette as she slipped through her front door.
At the beginning of their relationship she’d seemed sweet and kind, but now he’d begun to wonder whether there was another side to her.
Lucy was right about one thing, though. It was kind of suspicious how Mary Lou had appeared where she knew he and the boys went to lunch every day. Mary Lou liked him, he knew that; he saw it in her eyes, but it irked him that Lucy was acting so suspicious of everyone. It was unlike the Lucy he thought he knew. Mary Lou was nothing but a friend and she’d been a good part of the Fuller household for a long time.
Levi’s head was awhirl. Had Mary Lou opened his eyes to Lucy, or did Mary Lou have her own agenda for wanting him to believe the worst of Lucy?
Where marriage was concerned, he had to make the right choice. In his heart, he knew he loved Lucy, but he would still end things forever between them if she didn’t have all the attributes he wanted in a wife. He had to be strong and levelheaded with such a decision.
In frustration, he loosened the shirt collar from around his neck and tossed his hat on the seat beside him. With one hand, he held onto the reins and with the other he ruffled his hair. Breathing in the fresh night air, he tried to calm himself.
What Mary Lou said about Lucy had bothered him. Mary Lou had made the important decision to return knowing she’d be shunned and suffer humiliation, and all Lucy could do at the bishop’s house when she went with Mary Lou was show that she was bored. It was disappointing that she’d behaved like that, if what Mary Lou said was true. Lucy had given a pretty different view in her explanation.
Levi doubted that Mary Lou would’ve lied about something right after she came back to the community. That was something that didn’t seem likely. Maybe Mary Lou had told her about the appointment and it had slipped Lucy’s mind. That was worse still because that meant that Mary Lou’s salvation and being in right standing with God was not that important to Lucy. All Lucy had to say in her defense for forgetting that appointment with the bishop and for her bored appearance was to blame someone else; she didn’t take responsibility for her actions. He might’ve been more inclined to believe all her excuses and doubt Mary Lou’s word if it hadn't been for the hesitation when his mother suggested she help Hazel paint. With his own eyes, he had seen her reluctance to help and that had reinforced the notion that Mary Lou had been telling the truth. He shook his head. He wanted to marry Lucy; that’s what he’d always intended.
His Amish Romance: Amish Romance (Seven Amish Bachelors Book 2) Page 5