The days were getting shorter. Colder. And tonight she would have to walk home. She didn’t expect Sawyer to drive her after what happened today.
She put on her coat, picked up her purse and took out the flashlight. Then she turned off the gas lamps and locked the workshop door. Fraa Byler had invited her to stay for supper, but Laura declined. Her husband, Joseph, had come home, and she knew they had a lot to talk about. She didn’t want to impose.
As she walked out of the shop, her skin instantly chilled. She turned on the flashlight. At least she knew her way home this time. She just didn’t realize how accustomed she was to getting a ride from Sawyer. Her fingers were cold and stiff, and her breath hung in the air like a puff of stretched cotton. Would she ever get used to the cold in Ohio?
Then the rain started again. It had been raining on and off all day, as if God were twisting a water spigot on a whim. She sank inside her coat, prepared for the cold, wet walk home.
Headlights shone behind her. She turned, shielding her eyes. The driver’s side door opened. Sawyer poked his head above it. She could barely see him through the blinding light.
“Hop in,” he called to her.
Laura walked toward the truck. The passenger door sprang open, and she slid in. “I thought you left.”
“Not without taking you home.”
“You don’t have to.” But the gesture touched her. Even in the midst of his turmoil, he hadn’t forgotten about her.
She held her cold hands in front of the heating vents, thankful she didn’t have to walk home. “Danki.”
“Welcome.” Sawyer’s tone was sharp, yet she could tell it wasn’t aimed at her. Questions whirled in her mind. How had the conversation gone with his English grandmother? How were Anna and Lukas holding up?
And when did she suddenly become so interested? When did she start to care?
She drew her hands back. She couldn’t afford to care about Sawyer or his family.
But she did. All the effort she’d expended trying not to become attached, and once again she’d let her heart overrule her mind.
Sawyer slowed down the truck. He pulled over to the side of the road, almost completely on the grass shoulder in front of a wide pasture, and put the truck in park. He flicked a switch and the hazard lights started blinking and clicking.
“Is something wrong?” Laura asked.
In the dimness of the dashboard lights he faced her. “Can I ask you a question?”
Laura nodded, too surprised to do anything else.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Right now I’m sitting in your truck—”
“In Middlefield. Why are you here and not back home with your family?”
She pushed back one of the ribbons of her kapp. “Why are you asking me this now?”
“Because I want to know. I need to know. You have a family. You’re choosing to stay away from them.” He gripped the steering wheel. “I never had that choice before. Not until now.”
Laura wasn’t quite sure what he meant. But it didn’t matter why he asked the question. She had vowed never to tell anyone.
Yet the desperation in his voice, in his eyes . . . She couldn’t refuse him.
“I can’t geh home. Not until I can make things right with my parents.”
“How can you do that living here?”
“By making money. That’s why I needed the job. I owe them a lot of money.”
Sawyer kept silent. Maybe that answer satisfied him. But it wasn’t the complete truth. And for some reason she felt she owed him that.
“I fell in love with Mark King.” The words flew out of her mouth, and she couldn’t have retrieved them even if she wanted to. “Almost at first sight.” Her stomach twisted into a knot at the words.
“So you and Mark were together.”
There was something strange about his tone. A mix of surprise and . . . jealousy? No, that couldn’t be. He had nothing to be jealous of. Of course it was so like her to read into something that wasn’t there. She had done so with Mark. “Falling for him was the dumbest thing I’d ever done. All he wanted was my money.
“I had been working since I was fourteen in our family business. Mei parents ran a bakery and delivery service. A very successful one. I had saved quite a bit of money for when I would get married.” She looked down in her lap. “I thought Mark would be mei husband. You see how that turned out.”
“What did he do?” Sawyer’s voice was low. Almost menacing.
“I gave him mei money. I did it willingly. He was going to be mei mann. But he started asking questions. About the business, the way mei parents ran it. How they took care of the money. I thought it was because he wanted to learn about the bakery. He had already started working part-time, going on deliveries with mei daed.
Mei daed didn’t trust banks. For years mei mudder tried “ to convince him they were safe and necessary. But mei daed wouldn’t listen. Mei grossvadder was the same way; never used a bank in his life. Daed kept all the savings in a box buried behind the barn. Just like his daed before him.”
“And you told Mark where to find it?”
She shook her head. “He found it himself, after he figured out the money was somewhere on the property. He took everything—their whole life’s savings. Not long after that he disappeared. I thought he had changed his mind about the wedding.” She closed her eyes against the humiliation of that day, when she discovered he had left Etheridge without a word to her. “A few days later, Daed discovered the missing money. By that time Mark was long gone.”
“And you followed him here.”
She couldn’t see Sawyer’s expression very well in the dark cab. But she could imagine how foolish he thought she was. She’d thought that enough about herself.
“Laura. You know it’s not your fault he’s a thief.”
“It’s mei fault for bringing him into our lives! He stole every penny from them. Almost thirty years of savings, gone. I had to do something.”
“And you thought if you found him, that would help?”
“Ya. I’d hoped to talk him into returning the money. If that didn’t work, I was going to report him to the police. I know that’s not what we’re supposed to do. We’re supposed to pretend nix happened.”
“But you couldn’t.”
“Nee!” She took a deep breath. Raindrops splattered against the windshield, first just a couple, then a steady stream.
“I couldn’t ignore what Mark did. Mei parents refused to seek any justice. But they were devastated. They kept saying, ‘This is God’s will.’ What they really meant was it was my fault.”
“Laura.” Sawyer let go of the steering wheel and moved closer to her.
“You know the rest.” Involuntarily, her hand went to her face. Heat suffused her cheeks underneath the raised ridges. She closed her eyes. Scarred for life, both inside and out.
Sawyer took her hand. “You didn’t deserve that.”
The sound of rain pounding against the truck echoed in her ears. She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Maybe I did.”
“Laura, I’m sure your parents want you to come home. Do you really think you’ll be able to replace what Mark took? We don’t pay you that much. It will take you months. Probably years.”
“I have to try.” She looked away. “I can’t face them until I do.” She glanced down at her hand in Sawyer’s. A tingle passed through her, a little shock. She pulled away. “I should get home.”
He nodded. “Me too.” He leaned back, not putting the truck in gear right away. He let out a long sigh before reaching for the gearshift.
When they reached her driveway, he turned and stopped the truck close to the house. She opened the door and started to get out. Then she stopped and closed it, keeping the rain at bay for another moment. “Sawyer, please don’t tell anyone what I said. No one knows. Not even mei mudder and daed. I didn’t tell them why I left.”
“I promise I won’t say anything. Thank you for trusting me.
I know it wasn’t easy.”
She nodded. “I’ll have my own way to work tomorrow.”
“No, I’ll pick you up.”
“Sawyer, I’ll walk. You need to work things out with your familye.”
“Nothing’s changed. We both have to work tomorrow.”
“Your grandmother’s here.”
His eyes narrowed. “Like I said, nothing’s changed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Laura climbed out of the truck. As usual, he waited until she got inside. She peered out the window as he drove away. Nothing has changed.
She’d just told him about Mark. Not everything she planned to do, but more than she’d ever thought she’d tell another soul.
Oh, Sawyer. Can’t you see? Everything has changed.
Emma gripped her umbrella as she trudged through the rain to Adam’s house. The umbrella shielded most of her body, but the bottom of her dress was soaked. She didn’t care about her dripping hem or the cold, wet wind whipping at her. Her only thought was Adam.
Grossmammi was right. She’d kept them both waiting too long.
She knocked on the door, folded the umbrella, and leaned it against the side of the house. The Ottos’ small front porch roof sheltered her from the downpour. But it didn’t shield her from the chill seeping through to her skin.
The door opened. Adam’s eyes widened. “Emma.”
She didn’t say anything for a moment. Their gazes met, and the chill disappeared. She loved him so much; she could forgive him anything. Now she had to be honest with him, and herself.
“You’re shaking. Come inside.” He opened the door wider.
But she didn’t move forward. She hugged her arms around her body. She didn’t want to risk his parents being there. What she had to say was for Adam’s ears only. “Can I talk to you privately?”
“The living room. Mamm and Daed are both upstairs.”
She shook her head. “We need to be alone.”
His brow lifted. He shut the door. “The barn?”
Emma nodded. She reached for her umbrella, but he grabbed it before she could. He opened it and put his arm around her shoulders. They rushed to the barn. Despite the cover, they were almost soaked through.
“Just a minute.” He went to the wall where a lantern hung on a peg. Next to it was a matchbox holder nailed to the wall. The moment he lit the lantern, the barn glowed with a dim amber light.
She tried not to shiver, but she couldn’t help it. Behind her she could hear the horses stirring. The barn was warmer than the front porch, but not by much.
“Emma, you’re freezing.” He went to her, rubbed his hands up and down her arms. A droplet of water ran down the side of his face. “We should have gone inside the house.”
His touch warmed her just as much as his nearness. For the past few weeks they had come so far in their relationship. She felt secure with him. Cherished. Then he had told her about Ashley, and everything changed again. She was tired of it. And only after speaking with her grandmother did Emma accept her own blame.
She put her hands over his and removed them from her arms.
He closed his eyes, his lips pressing inward. When he opened them, she could see his pain.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
The pain changed to confusion. “You’re sorry? I’m the one who messed up.”
“You made a mistake.”
“Ya,” he said. “A big one.”
“And I shouldn’t have made you feel worse because of it.”
Adam moved closer to Emma. Already she felt the tension draining from her body.
“You didn’t make it worse for me. I did that myself. I just hope you understand how much I regret being with her. But it’s not only that.”
Emma steeled herself. “What do you mean?”
“I was unfair to Ashley too. I did care for her at one time.” He looked down at the strands of hay strewn on the barn floor. “I took advantage of her, and I shouldn’t have.” Adam looked at Emma again. “I won’t have the opportunity to tell her I’m sorry. But I can make it up to you.”
“You don’t have to. That relationship is in the past. Let it stay there.”
“The wedding—” A flash of uncertainty crossed his face.
“Is it still on?”
She wiped a raindrop off his forehead and brought her lips to his. “It never was off,” she said.
She stepped into his embrace and leaned her ear against his chest, feeling his heartbeat race. She felt him kiss her temple, just below the edge of her kapp.
When they drew apart, Emma’s smile dimmed. There was only one thing that stood in the way of their happiness. “Your parents.”
“What about them?”
“Do you think they’ll come to accept our marriage?”
Adam rubbed his thumb against her cheek. “They don’t have a choice. Whatever is going on between them, we can’t let it affect our life together.” He traced the edge of her jaw before letting his hand fall to his side.
Emma nodded. She trembled again. Adam grinned. She could see he was willing to draw her back into his arms.
She was eager to accept him. Too eager. “Adam . . .”
“I know. You have to geh home.” He sighed and stepped back. “Soon enough it will be our home. I hope.”
“What do you mean?”
“With everything going on, we haven’t talked about where we’re going to live after we’re married.” He put his hands in his pockets. “I thought I would move in with you and Leona, if that’s all right with you. I could still work with mei daed, and take care of you and your grossmammi.”
“The haus would stay in the familye.”
“That’s the idea.”
“She’d like that.” Emma smiled.
“And you?”
“I like it too.”
“I was hoping you’d agree. Makes everything easier. I’ll be close to work, the kinner will be near their grandparents.” His honey-colored eyes twinkled. “It’s what I get for marrying the maedel next door.”
Giddiness made her move toward him. She caught herself. If she stayed here much longer . . .
“I need to get back home.”
Adam drew her into his arms one more time. She didn’t resist.
“I can’t wait until you’re mei fraa,” he said.
“It won’t be long.”
“It will be long enough.”
CHAPTER 17
Sawyer pulled his truck into his driveway, parked, and turned the engine off. He leaned his head against the steering wheel. It was hard to absorb everything he’d just learned—not only about Cora Easely, but about Laura.
She and Mark were involved. He felt a pinch of jealousy at that. And more than a pinch of anger. The man’s cruelty knew no bounds. He’d not only used her, but stolen from her and permanently scarred her.
Sawyer understood her anger, her desire for justice. But couldn’t she see how impossible it would be to pay her parents back? He was certain they’d rather have Laura there with them than the money.
Yet he had seen her determination. Nothing he said would change her mind. And he wasn’t exactly thinking straight himself right now.
He sat up and looked toward the house, the outline dim in the dark, pelted by a few lingering droplets of rain. He didn’t want to go inside and face Cora. Then again, he couldn’t leave his parents to deal with her.
He exhaled and opened the door. The sudden rainstorm had stopped, leaving a damp chill hanging in the air. He stood at the back door, which led to the kitchen. Paused before turning the knob. Then did something he hadn’t done in a long time, except superficially, when it was expected.
He prayed.
God, help me. I don’t know what to do. Please . . .
He couldn’t finish the prayer. He didn’t know what to ask. Didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know anything.
Sawyer removed his muddy shoes in the small room just off the kitchen, hung his jacket and hat on the peg rack
. Every movement was in slow motion, putting off the inevitable. But he was done running away from this.
He expected to smell the delicious aroma of whatever supper Anna had prepared, but as he entered the kitchen he didn’t detect anything. He frowned, there saw Anna sitting at the table. “Mamm?”
Anna looked up. She stood. “Sawyer. I’m glad you’re home.” Her smile trembled. “Can I fix you something to eat? You must be starving.”
“I’m not hungry.” He went to her.
She looked down at the empty kitchen table. “No one else was either.”
“Where’s Daed?”
“In the barn. He’s taking care of the animals. But he’s been out there awhile.”
Sawyer nodded. His father was probably praying. The perfect example of a godly man. Sawyer had always known that, but it wasn’t until tonight that he appreciated it. Perhaps his father’s prayers would reach God’s ears. He certainly didn’t expect his own pathetic attempt to make any difference.
“Cora? Is she still here? Or did she hightail it back to Cleveland, since Middlefield is so beneath her?”
“She’s still here. She said she had a headache and went upstairs. I haven’t seen her since.” Anna sat down. She gestured to the chair beside her.
Sawyer sat. He’d never seen his mother so red-eyed. Or so tired. He touched her hand. “It will be okay.”
“That’s what Lukas says.” She gripped Sawyer’s hand. “I wish I had his faith.”
Sawyer wished he did too. “Mamm, it doesn’t matter what that woman says. I’m not leaving you or Daed. I’ll always be here in Middlefield. I’ll always be a part of the family.”
She ran her fingertips along the smooth surface of the kitchen table. He remembered when Lukas had made it for her. Big enough to seat ten adults, plus a couple of smaller chairs for kids. A table built of love and hope.
But it was only the three of them in this large house. “You say that now—”
“Because I mean it,” he said.
“Sawyer. We both know it’s not as simple as that.” She released his hand. “No matter what you decide, you will always be welcome here. This is your home.”
The Middlefield Family Collection Page 34