A Son's Vow

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  “He rattled me, but I’m fine, Rob,” she said gently as they walked into the living room where York and Melissa were waiting on her. Christopher was lying on his favorite quilt in the middle of the room.

  “I wish I would have gotten there earlier.”

  “This is as much my fault as anyone else’s,” York said from his position on the couch. “I knew we should have been driving you back and forth from your house. From now on, we’ll do that.”

  Melissa nodded. “Hannah, why don’t you take the rocking chair? I know how much you like to sit there.”

  Hannah did as Melissa bid. The moment she sat down, Melissa handed her a soft, cold fabric packet. “Put this on your arm.”

  Rob sat down across from her, his elbows braced on his knees. “Where can I find this guy?”

  “Why?”

  “I’m going to go talk to him.”

  She could only imagine the commotion that would cause! “Nee. You canna do that.”

  “I’m not going to hurt him, Hannah. But he needs to know that you are not alone.”

  As his words sank in, she blinked. She wasn’t alone, was she? She had Mr. and Mrs. Ross and Rob and her family. Paul was gone but she had moved on, and she’d filled the hole he’d left with good, caring people.

  Tears sprang to her eyes as she looked from Melissa to York and at last to Rob, who was so tense, it looked as if he was ready to spring into action to save her all over again. “I’m so blessed to have each of you,” she said.

  Then, to her distress and dismay, she promptly started crying. Again.

  Immediately, Rob rushed to her side. He practically picked her up and carried her to the couch, then curled his arms around her, enveloping her in the best of hugs. As Melissa sat on her other side and patted her back, Rob murmured, “You cry all you want. We’re here, Hannah. We’re here and we’re not going anywhere.”

  And so she did. Tears had never felt so cleansing.

  Chapter 19

  Aaron felt as if his body belonged to a different person. Every time he looked at his hands, he remembered them hurting Hannah Eicher. And with that vision came a shame like he’d never experienced, overwhelming him.

  Yet again, his temper had overpowered what he knew to be right. Because of that, he’d hurt a woman, this time in front of half the town.

  He could only imagine the rumors that would fly after his outburst today. People would no doubt avoid him. It was no less than he deserved. No, he deserved far more than that. He should be shunned.

  With deep regret in his heart, he walked down the quiet street toward Hope’s house. He remembered that today was her day off and he was thankful for that. Otherwise she might have witnessed his horrible behavior, too.

  Now he only had to tell her about it.

  Her mother answered the door with her usual smile. “Aaron, gut matin! What a nice surprise. Hope will be so happy to see you.”

  Taking off his hat, he glanced down the hall. “I need to speak with her, if I may.”

  “Of course you may talk with her,” she said, concern clouding her eyes. “You know you never need to ask about that.”

  “Danke.”

  “Well, come in. Would you like a slice of pie? I know it’s still morning, but it’s apple and it’s warm. I just made it.”

  “I think it would be best if I talked with Hope out here, if she doesn’t mind. I won’t be staying long.”

  “Of course.” She stepped back. “I’ll go get her.”

  Aron turned and took a seat in one of the white wicker chairs that decorated their wide front porch.

  When Hope joined him, it was obvious that her mother had mentioned that he seemed agitated. Without a word, she closed the front door and sat in the love seat next to him. As usual, he couldn’t get over how pretty she was. Today she had on a yellow dress. She was barefoot, too. She looked like a young girl. Actually, she looked like the girl he’d fallen in love with back when they were in school together.

  For most of his life, he’d simply assumed that she would be his one day. His wife. The mother of his children. To his shame, he’d taken that for granted.

  No longer, though, because now she was likely going to exist only in his dreams.

  “Aaron, what’s come over you?” she asked. “You’re staring at me as if we were strangers.”

  “I, uh . . . I was just remembering what you looked like when you were eleven.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “I was gangly. All arms and legs. Please don’t think of me like that.”

  He smiled. “I liked you then, too.”

  She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Why did you come over here?”

  “I did something today that I need to tell you about.” Knowing there was no good way to be gentle about what he was about to say, he blurted, “I . . . I hit Hannah Eicher. On Main.”

  She blinked. “What?” she whispered. “I’m . . . I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

  Unable to see the confusion and disappointment in her eyes any longer, he looked down at his hands, which were folded between his knees. “Ever since my father died, I’ve been having a difficult time with my temper. I start out the day all right, but then, little by little, I feel an anger I’ve hidden deep inside me break free. Before long, it’s taken ahold of me.”

  “I’ve never noticed that.”

  “I’ve kept it hidden from you.” He forced himself to meet her gaze. She deserved to be spoken to directly and he deserved to observe her pain. “But, Hope, even though I’ve kept the worst of it from you, I haven’t done the same with my family. I’ve lashed out at my sisters. At my brothers. Darla has gotten the worst of it. I’ve grabbed her too tightly. Bruised her. Said terrible things, hurtful things to her.”

  Hope shook her head. “Aaron, that ain’t you. I bet you are making it worse than it is.”

  “Nee. I’ve been pretending I am better than I am.” As he at last spied the dismay in her eyes, the sadness he had expected to see, he continued. “I’ve also been giving Hannah Eicher a difficult time.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she was doing better, I guess. She loved Paul, but she got a new job. She seemed happy. She was coping, while I wasn’t. Today, when I was badgering her yet again, she told me that she didn’t want to be near me anymore.” He took a calming breath. He didn’t want to remember what had happened but he needed to be completely honest with someone. He knew it should be her. “When she pushed me away, when she rejected me, something snapped. I was so hurt. Frustrated. And then, before I quite knew what I was doing, I slapped her.”

  Hope released a ragged sigh. “Oh, Aaron.”

  Swallowing hard, he pushed on. “She has an English friend. He came to her rescue. He, well, I think if she hadn’t been standing there, he probably would have slugged me. I would have deserved it, too.”

  Hope closed her eyes for a long moment before gazing at him in concern again.

  He saw everything he’d ever wished to see in her eyes. Compassion, care. Love. But instead of making him feel better, that sweetness made him realize how undeserving he was. He needed to earn her love and compassion again.

  “Hope, I need to break our engagement.”

  “Is that what you want?”

  It wasn’t what he wanted, but it was what needed to be done. There was no way he was going to risk hurting her. If he ever did that, he didn’t know if he could live with himself. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I can’t be the person you need me to be.”

  Aaron got to his feet. Now that he’d done what he had to do, he needed to get away from her. Needed to get away from everyone and figure out how to make things right.

  As he turned away and started down her front steps, he didn’t look back.

  But he couldn’t help but notice her silence.

  He tried to find comfort in the fact that she wasn’t calling him back. He knew he needed time and he wanted to be glad that she was giving that time to him. But right then, he had never felt m
ore alone in his life.

  LUKAS HAD JUST finished reviewing a new contract to install cherry flooring in a Columbus office building when his door blew open.

  “Lukas, you’ll never guess what happened,” Rebecca announced as she rushed in.

  Leaning back in his chair, he said, “How about I know that you entered my office yet again without knocking?”

  It was a sure sign of how agitated she was that she didn’t rise to the bait. “Aaron Kurtz grabbed Hannah Eicher on the street,” she said in a rush of words. “And then guess what? He slapped her! Just as me and Anne Miller and Jody Yoder were about to step in, some Englisher came running up with his big dog and came to her aid.”

  Lukas blinked, sure he hadn’t heard that correctly. “Say again?”

  “You heard me. Aaron Kurtz hit Hannah Eicher.”

  He was torn between throwing his head back in a sigh and pounding his fist on his desk. He settled for attempting to keep his emotions in check. He needed to think clearly. “This is awful. Last time we talked, I thought he was going to attempt to change.”

  “Well, he didn’t,” she said as she plopped down on the couch.

  “What happened?”

  “I guess Aaron was yet again ranting about the fire and who knows what else and Hannah didn’t want to hear it. Then, next thing she knew, he grabbed ahold of her arm, jerked her hard, and then slapped her cheek.”

  Lukas felt physically ill. Pushing back from his desk, he stumbled to his feet. He knew Hannah; they all did. There wasn’t a sweeter girl in Charm. His buddy Paul had been smitten with her for the past two years. Now, though it didn’t really make any sense, Lukas felt like she was partly his responsibility since Paul had passed away. He felt like everyone who was suffering the consequences of the accident was his responsibility. Someone had to take ownership, and now that he ran the company, it might as well be him.

  Oh, but he should have walked Aaron right over to the bishop. He’d been a fool to think that his threats had meant a single thing to Aaron.

  “Is she okay?” he asked. “Where is she? Does she need me to call the doctor?”

  Rebecca waved a hand, brushing off his concerns. “Don’t worry, Lukas. If I was worried about her, I wouldn’t be here in your office. I’d be at her side.”

  “So she’s okay?”

  “I think so. Like I said, this Englisher friend of hers seemed to take care of things.” With a shake of her head, she continued. “You should have seen him, Luke. He was right in Aaron’s face. I thought he was going to hit him.” She sighed. “Anyway, once Aaron walked away, the man escorted her to Plum Street.”

  Englishers lived on Plum Street. It was full of fancy brick houses, each on two-acre lots.

  “Why there? He should have brought her home to her mother.”

  “I thought the same thing, but Jody told me that Hannah works as a nanny for a doctor and a banker.”

  Yet again, he was amazed by Rebecca’s detective skills. “I can’t believe you know so much.”

  “It ain’t anything, Lukas. Anyway, as soon as she went down Plum with that man, I had to come tell you.” She shook her head. “Poor Hannah, right?”

  “Jah. For sure.” Crossing his arms across his chest, he thought about Aaron, thought about everything he’d tried that hadn’t worked. “I wonder what I should do about Aaron now. If he’s hitting poor Hannah, his violence has gone far enough.”

  “He has really become unpredictable.”

  He was just about to ask Rebecca to help him brainstorm some ideas when he saw Darla standing at the door. It was something of a shock. She hadn’t been at the mill since the fire. Concerned, he took a step to greet her. “Hey.”

  “Hi.” She looked from him to Rebecca, her eyes sad. “I guess you can imagine why I’m here.”

  “Jah.”

  “I’m sorry about Aaron,” Rebecca said. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him.”

  “Where is he?” Lukas asked.

  She shrugged. “I am not sure. Home, most likely.”

  “I don’t want you seeing him right now.” Lukas couldn’t believe he was saying it, but he was truly afraid for what might happen if Darla got in her brother’s way.

  “I know you are busy, but that’s why I came,” Darla said. “I need someone to come with me when I go talk to him. He needs some help but I’m not sure how he’s going to react to it.”

  Rebecca stared at her. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Absolutely not,” Lukas said. “I’ll go.”

  After a moment’s hesitation, Darla said, “You know, a year ago, I would have never imagined Aaron would act like this. We’ve always been different, but I never used to fear him. Now, I’m not only afraid of what he will do to me when he’s angry, but who else he’s going to hurt.” Her last words had come out in a tremor. “This . . . This is so awful,” she said as tears started to flow. “I feel like this is my fault even though I know it’s not.”

  “It’s not,” Rebecca whispered. “This is Aaron’s burden.”

  As if Rebecca’s comforting words had unlocked a dam, Darla started crying harder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t come over here to fall apart on your couch, but I don’t know what to do.”

  Rebecca wrapped her arms around Darla, giving her a reassuring hug. When Darla pulled away, looking much resigned, Lukas crouched in front of her.

  “I’ll go over with you.” After sharing a meaningful look with Rebecca, Lukas added, “I’ll get a couple other men, too.”

  Darla’s eyes widened in alarm. “Do you think that is necessary?”

  “Maybe. I’m not afraid of being hurt but I don’t want Aaron saying that I coerced him or threatened him in some way. We also need to meet with the bishop as soon as possible. If our church can’t handle things, I fear the police are going to get involved.”

  Darla closed her eyes. “This is so awful. My father wouldn’t recognize Aaron right now.”

  “I agree that he’s not himself,” Lukas said as he got to his feet. “But the time to worry about overreacting has passed.” He was pretty certain he was going to do just about anything he could to put a stop to Aaron’s behavior now.

  Darla sighed. “I guess you are right.” As she edged back to the doorway, she added, “I feel like I’ve inadvertently put you in the middle of this. I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m not. I don’t want you facing anything by yourself ever again.”

  Rebecca hugged Darla once more. “Don’t worry about Lukas. This is what friends do. We help each other, through thick and thin.”

  Steeling her shoulders, Darla nodded. “I hope we get to the thick part again real soon.”

  Lukas reached out and brushed a finger along her soft cheek. “We will, I promise,” he said gently. “Now, you sit tight with Rebecca. I’m going to go get some help.”

  “Danke, Lukas,” she mumbled.

  Unable to help himself, he bent down and pressed his lips to her temple. “Never thank me for helping you.” Straightening, he winked, hoping to draw out a smile from her. “Don’t forget, one of these days I’m counting on you to say yes when I ask you to marry me.”

  When she smiled, he felt like he’d just done something pretty special.

  He kept his smile in place until he was out of the room, down the hall, and out of her sight. Only then did he clench his fists and lean his head against the wall in a mixture of frustration and anger. After allowing himself those few seconds, he forced himself to let it go. Anger would solve nothing.

  Instead, he prayed to the one who could always be counted on. “Lord, I’m going to need You. Actually, I think a whole bunch of us are going to need Your help for the next couple of hours. Be with Darla and Hannah and Aaron and me, wouldja? We’re going to need Your guidance in order to get through this day without making things worse.”

  Remembering to give thanks for his sister and for the fact that Darla now trusted him enough to seek him out, Lukas strode out the main door toward the warehouse where Simon H
ochstetler was in charge.

  Though they hadn’t spent much time in each other’s company lately, Lukas knew without a doubt that Simon would drop everything to help him and Darla. Lukas found him working next to a team of younger men, supervising inventory on a recent shipment that had arrived.

  “Hey, boss,” Simon said with a wink toward his team. “Coming to check on us?”

  Though he was anxious to get back to Darla, Lukas knew his employees needed to hear some praise. “There’s no need for that. I know each of you does a good job.”

  Simon looked at his crew with a fond expression. “We’re doing our best. Ain’t so?”

  As the men on his team grinned and went back to work, Simon reached out and clasped his hand. “It’s a shame that you’ve got to come out here just so we can catch up.”

  “I wish I was only dropping in for a visit. Unfortunately, I’ve got another reason.”

  “What happened? Please don’t say we’ve had another accident.”

  “Oh, no. Nothing like that. I . . . well, I need you to leave work and come with me, if you would.”

  “Of course. Hold on a sec.” Immediately, Simon stepped to Jake, an older man on his team, and spoke to him quietly. After Jake nodded, Simon led the way out of the warehouse.

  When they were standing alone in the open air, he said, “How can I help you?”

  “Darletta just came in seeking my help with Aaron.”

  Simon whistled low. “I heard about what happened this morning.” A line formed in between his brows. “I canna even believe he dared to hit Hannah.”

  “I heard she’s okay. Is that true?”

  Simon shrugged. “I don’t know. I heard some English friend of hers came to the rescue.” He lowered his voice. “But how could she be all right? Aaron yelled and grabbed her in the middle of Main Street. Then he slapped her cheek. She’s a gentle sort and her parents are, too. I can’t imagine either of her parents ever laying a hand on her, and we know Paul never did such a thing.”

  “Of course not.”

  “John didn’t raise him to be this way, either. He’d be so upset to learn about Aaron’s behavior.”