A Simple Charity

by Rosalind Lauer

  The bishop’s words, the job offer from Tim, the steadfast woman he shared his days with—all these things lifted Zed’s mood on this golden September day. After all this time, it was a fine welcome home.

  13

  NOVEMBER

  “What are all these people doing, going out to eat the night before Thanksgiving? Aren’t they supposed to be home thawing the turkey and cracking nuts and all?” Jack held the door of Molly’s Roadside Diner open for his sister, Kat, who was moving a little slower now that the baby was almost due.

  “Quite a crowd,” Kat agreed, weaving between a group grabbing their coats and a couple studying the menu to speak with the Amish hostess. “How long for a table for two?”

  “Probably half an hour,” the young woman said. “Want to leave your name?”

  Kat shook her head no, but Jack intervened.

  “Jack Woods.” He smiled, recognizing the Amish girl. “Hey, Susie-Q. How’s it going?”

  Dimples appeared as she smiled, acknowledging one of Molly’s regulars. “Good, Jack. Have a seat and I’ll call you.”

  “You know, we could go someplace else,” Kat said, waddling away from the reception counter.

  “No, we can’t. Molly has the best fried chicken for miles around. Good food—that’s why it’s crowded. Besides, I need to get me some pie. Don’t you want some pumpkin pie with whipped cream?”

  Kat let out a sigh. “My doctor will kill me.”

  “You’re eating for two,” he said, guiding her to the vinyl bench that lined the window.

  “That’s a myth. Apparently the baby wants milk and vegetables and protein. I’m the one who wants the pie.”

  They were tucked away behind the overstuffed coatrack, which was fine by him. Although the department was okay with it, Jack didn’t like going out to eat in uniform. Sometimes customers were scared to see the dark shirt and gold star, worrying that something bad was going down. Other times, folks hounded him with complaints about traffic tickets or questions about the fine points of the law. People saw a uniform and forgot that he was human, too. A guy had to eat.

  “And I’ll be seeing plenty of pie tomorrow at Nanna’s.” She unwrapped the checkered knit scarf from her neck. “You sure you won’t go with me, Bug?”

  Stirred by the childhood name inspired by his wide, penetrating eyes, he looked down at his sister. Her long blond hair splayed over her shoulders and the furry hat on her head made her look like some Nordic fashion model. Kat was his twin, his only sib, and even after all this time, he and Kat sometimes finished each other’s sentences.

  As teenagers, they had fought like alley cats, and they still gave each other a hard time now and again, but he thanked God for good, solid Kat, the only true touchstone in his life.

  “What?” Kat flicked her hair back. “What are you staring at? Do I have lipstick on my teeth?” She moved her tongue under her lips.

  “You’re fine. I’m just thinking, in line with Thanksgiving season and all, I’m really thankful that you’re my sister.”

  “That’s sweet, Bug. Are you grateful enough to be my labor coach?”

  He held up both hands to stop her. “Already told you, that’s a little bit closer than I want to be. I’ll be there for you, but you gotta find a girlfriend to take care of that business. Or get Brendan back here.” Kat’s husband, a captain in the army, had been sent on special assignment to North Korea two months ago.

  “You know that’s not going to happen. He’ll be gone for the holidays, gone for the baby’s birth. If he didn’t really like his job, I would throw a pity party for myself.”

  “You can still throw the party,” he said. “I’ll come.”

  She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. “Come to Nanna’s with me tomorrow. Everyone wants to see you.”

  “Can’t do it. I need to be back at work Friday morning. Black Friday’s a big day for Halfway. Well, big for Lancaster County. We snag the tourists who get lost on their way to Paradise or Bird-in-Hand.”

  “What if I promise to drive you back tomorrow night?”

  He folded his arms. “Still can’t do it.”

  “You really are done with Philly, aren’t you?”

  “Yup.” When Jack had followed his sister here to Halfway, he had told her he was never going back to Philadelphia. “As far as I’m concerned, there’s a big red X on the map over the whole metro area.” Although Kat had pointed out that he still had friends and family there, he had insisted it was over. He knew his sister understood why. It wasn’t just about the chance meeting with Lisa; it was about the way his ex-fiancée had tainted everything he had once loved.

  “Okay,” Kat said smoothly. “As long as we’re on the subject, have you heard from Lisa?”

  “Nope.”

  “Well, I have. She keeps calling me. Leaves messages in this high-pitched baby voice, as if we’re friends.”

  He winced. “You don’t talk to her, do you? Is she off her meds? You know she’s using you to get to me.”

  “Give me some credit, Bug. I have not spoken with her. No idea about the meds, and no way am I letting her get to you again.”

  He let out the breath he’d been holding and slung an arm over her shoulders. “Thanks.” Breaking up with Lisa Engles had been Jack’s undoing for a while, partly because Lisa had made it that way.

  “Where does she get off acting like we’re friends?” Kat asked. “She’s got some nerve. I’ll never forget what she did to you.”

  Jack still didn’t know what was worse—the public disgrace or the broken heart. Most days, he thought the latter was worse, but that wasn’t the sort of thing a guy owned up to around his buds.

  “I will never forgive her,” Kat said, smoothing down the fringe of her scarf.

  “Whoa, whoa. That’s not the Christian thing to do. You gotta forgive, Kat. Wipe the slate clean and move on. Let it go, and you’ll feel better.”

  “It’s hard to forgive someone so vindictive and …”

  “It’s not her fault,” he said. “When she’s off her meds, she’s another person.” Lisa had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, which made her mood swings extreme and erratic when she wasn’t on medication.

  “Well, on that we can agree to disagree.” Kat turned toward him and planted a kiss on his cheek. “Love you, Bug.”

  He grinned down at his sister. “Back at you.”

  14

  Meg didn’t mean to spy. It just sort of happened when she went to hang her down vest on the rack by the door of the Amish diner in Halfway.

  The couple seated behind the cover of coats didn’t notice her; they were too intent on each other, so in the moment. And though their faces were blocked by the apparel, Meg saw the man pull the woman close as she told him she loved him and kissed his cheek.

  The intimacy of the moment pinched at her. Meg had loved plenty of people in her life, but she’d never been in love.

  She jammed the hanger with her vest onto the rack and stepped back out of sight, telling herself that she was just feeling wistful because the holidays were here and the closest thing she had to a boyfriend was a text buddy who didn’t even know she was in town.

  She turned to find her brother-in-law, Tate, chatting up the diner’s hostess while Zoey worked the crowd, greeting acquaintances, introducing herself to strangers, and making small children smile. That was Zoey, such a social butterfly. Tate had started calling her the mayor of Halfway. Meg was glad she’d made the trip. This was one of the worst weekends on the road, but at the last minute she had decided it was worth braving the traffic to help Zoey and Tate celebrate their first Thanksgiving in their new home.

  The Amish hostess stepped forward and called out: “Jack Woods? Is the deputy here?”

  Meg’s heart pounded. Her Jack? Here?

  “Right here!” came a shout from the area by the window. The coatrack rocked a bit as the couple rose and came out into the open.

  Meg’s jaw dropped when she recognized Jack, looking handsome an
d very official in his uniform. But he had his arm around a beautiful, very pregnant blonde. Around eight months, Meg guessed, sizing her up.

  Well, he worked fast. Meg pursed her lips together, chilled by betrayal. He had been flirting with her back in July. Definitely flirting. And he was the one who’d started texting her. Three or four times a day. That implied interest, right? A relationship of sorts, if only in the cyber world?

  Wow. This guy had some nerve.

  “We’re here,” Jack called. “Don’t give our table away now, Susie. You know I’m gonna eat a few platters of your best fried chicken.”

  “Well, hello, there!” Zoey opened her arms wide and went belly to belly with the pretty blonde for a hug. “How are you, Kat?”

  Meg watched with slight annoyance as the two women exchanged pleasantries while Tate and Jack shook hands. One big party.

  “Meg.” Zoey waved her over. “Come meet Kat and Jack Woods. Kat’s in my childbirth class, and Jack’s one of our deputies.”

  “Hi. I’m Meg, Zoey’s sister.” Meg shook Kat’s hand. Drawing herself up straighter, she confronted Jack with a forced smile. “And I know Deputy Jack.”

  His sparkling gray eyes opened wider as he smiled. “Meg! You are the last person I expected to see here tonight. You said you weren’t going to make the trip.”

  “Change of plans,” she said. “And I see I’ve caught you off-guard.”

  Jack was about to respond, but the hostess diverted his attention, pointing out the table—a corner booth. Jack suggested they all share the table, considering the crowd and all, and Zoey jumped right on it, thrilled to have a chance to catch up with Kat outside class.

  “And Meg here is a midwife. Remember, I told you she was coming to stay in December?” Zoey asked Kat as the group filed into the main room of the restaurant.

  “We definitely need to talk.” Kat put a protective hand on her belly as she slid into the large booth, then patted the spot next to her. “Sit here. That is, if you don’t mind talking shop during your leisure time.”

  “Not a problem for me.” Meg decided it would be best to take a professional tack with this woman, whom her sister genuinely liked. “I’m a magnet for pregnant women. They’re attracted to me because I know what’s what and I’m not afraid to talk about it.”

  “I would love your opinion,” said Kat. “I am no fan of hospitals. I would love to have this baby at home, but I was told I’m high risk because of my age. Thirty. Can you believe that?”

  Meg went through her routine screening questions with Kat, who answered dutifully.

  “I’m a healthy woman,” Kat summarized. “And I am not going to be forced into a situation I don’t want because some doctor wants to avoid liability. So I fired him and found a new one. Do you know Dr. Trueherz? His office is in Paradise, but he makes a lot of house calls to the Amish in this area.”

  “I’ve heard his name before,” Meg said.

  “He’s agreed to help me with a home delivery, as long as I keep up with my prenatal visits. And I’ve got my eye on that new birthing center the Amish people are opening. That might be a nice compromise. Have you seen it?”

  “Not yet.”

  “It’s over at the Lapp place, right next door to the inn. Fanny Lapp is going to run it, and they’ve got an older Amish midwife. Dr. Trueherz told me he’s thrilled about the birth center. Fanny said you don’t have to be Amish to go there, but they don’t deal with insurance. I just hope they get it open in time for me to deliver there. I’m due at the end of December.”

  “Okay, ladies over there,” Jack said from across the table, “let’s not be articulating the biology of reproduction while we’re eating here. Right, Tate?”

  “I’ve learned not to censor Zoey,” Tate said, placing his hand over his wife’s. “But I’m all for some lively dinner discussion on any other topic tonight.”

  Zoey chuckled, and Kat rolled her eyes.

  “You’re such a wimp, Bug,” she told Jack, using a term of endearment. “He won’t be my labor coach. Can you believe it?”

  “Really?” Meg’s eyebrows rose as she faced Jack. “Didn’t you say that you had delivered a baby before?” She remembered it vividly. He said it was a miracle. What a fake.

  “I did, and it was an awesome event, but that was a stranger, and this—” He nodded toward Kat. “It’s different when you know the person well.”

  “Ya think?” Meg fought to keep venom out of her voice. She had half a mind to launch into her lecture on the benefits of a partner’s participation in childbirth. She never forced the father to be in the room, but in the end nearly every man wanted to be by his wife’s side, supporting her. She had totally misread Jack Woods the first time she’d met him. She focused on the menu, determined to take a backseat during this dinner.

  After they ordered, the conversation turned to Halfway, where Christmas decorations had been hung earlier in the week. Tate said he thought November was too early, but Kat and Zoey loved the holly garland and white lights strung across the main street. Jack mentioned that the holly was real, harvested by a local Amish nursery. He had chatted with the workers while they’d been setting up.

  “And the white candles that the shopkeepers put in the windows are so inviting,” Kat said. “I know they’re LED lights, but there’s something about it that reminds me of an old-fashioned country Christmas.”

  “It is very quaint.” Meg was happy that Zoey and Tate had found a serene, greeting-card picturesque community to live in. Despite the cold, Meg, Zoey, and Tate had walked here from the inn, and Meg had to admit that the twinkle of lights in the dark winter night inspired hope and cheer in a person’s heart. Meg’s home in the suburbs of Pittsburgh had a more strip-mall, transient atmosphere.

  The arrival of the food brought a sense of relief for Meg; it meant this awkward dinner would be over soon. At Jack’s insistence, she had ordered fried chicken, and she savored the crisp, buttery crust and moist meat, along with au gratin potatoes and salad.

  “It’s a good thing we’re walking home,” she teased as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. “I might have to take a few extra laps around Main Street to burn this off.”

  “Told ya,” Jack said. “Molly’s fried chicken is to die for.”

  “Delicious,” Kat agreed. “I don’t know how the Amish stay so thin with foods like that on the menu.”

  “I think they burn off a lot of calories with physical activity,” Zoey said. “And without television, there’s less temptation to be a couch potato.”

  Glancing up, Meg caught Jack studying her with a look of interest in his eyes … a look of longing. Closing her eyes, she swallowed and tossed her napkin on the table. “Excuse me,” she said, ducking out to the ladies’ room.

  “I’ll come with!” Zoey called, following.

  Meg didn’t wait for her sister; she felt sickened by Jack the creep, and wanted some alone time for self-examination. Was she sending out the wrong signals? Giving Jack the impression that she would get involved with a married man? Well, she wouldn’t. Not in a million years. She locked herself into a stall and sat down to think.

  “What a fun dinner,” Zoey said as the door closed on the stall next door. “I’m going to invite Jack and Kat to Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I don’t think they have any other family in Halfway, and I noticed the way Jack was looking at you. Well, we know he’s interested if he’s texting you and all that.”

  Meg winced. “Okay, time for a reality check. Jack is a married man with a pregnant wife.”

  “He’s what? Oh, honey!” Zoey snorted. “He’s not married. Kat is Jack’s sister! Sister. Her husband is in the military, stationed over in North Korea right now. Did you really think …?” Zoey’s blustery laugh filled the restroom. “Jack is definitely very available.”

  “But wait …” Then that intimate moment she’d witnessed was a family moment, a sibling thing, not …“Are you kidding me?”

  “I kid you not, but I think it’s a hoot that
you thought they were together. Really, honey, would Tate and I hook you up with a cheating snake and his neglected wife?”

  “Well, no, but …” Meg went to the sink to wash her hands and check her teeth and hair. Suddenly, her appearance mattered.

  Back at the table, Meg viewed everything with a new perspective. She dug into the fried chicken with a revitalized appetite. Warm light glimmered on the content faces around the table. Zoey and Kat glowed with the happiness of expectant mothers. Tate leaned back in the booth, relaxed by the conversation, and Jack … well, Jack had the sort of wide-open, friendly face that would look handsome in any light. She felt a new respect for him as he talked about the town’s preparations for holiday shoppers.

  “All the Amish towns in Lancaster County have a boom of shoppers this time of year,” Kat said. “That’s why Jack has to work this weekend while I head off to Philly on my own.” She explained that she would leave in the morning for their grandmother’s house.

  Zoey turned to Jack. “And you’re going to be alone for Thanksgiving?” When he nodded, she wagged a finger in the air. “Oh, no. That’s no good. You’re coming to have dinner with us. It’s going to be a small gathering. You know Shandell, the young woman who works for us? She’ll be there with her mother. We have some guests staying in the inn, but they’re here to connect with family. So come anytime after five. We’ll eat around six.” She patted his arm. “You can be our unbiased judge. Meg and I are doing a stuffing challenge—sausage-and-apple versus oyster.”

  “Hey, when there’s sausage involved, I’m totally biased.”

  “Yes! Points for me.” Meg pumped a fist in the air, causing quiet laughter around the table.

  “Well, then, I guess I’ll see most of you tomorrow.” Jack excused himself, rose from the table, and slid his jacket on. The shiny gold deputy’s star flashed bright, in contrast with his navy jacket, and Meg was reminded of the star in the heavens that led the three wise men to the newborn Savior. It was a Bible story close to her heart, especially since she was in the business of bringing babies into the world.