The Scent of Cherry Blossoms: A Romance from the Heart of Amish Country

by Cindy Woodsmall

She emptied the pan of chicken feed. After turning on the spigot, she filled the containers with fresh water, trying to calm her rioting emotions. She had to see him this morning, and she intended to be there the minute the diner opened.

  After turning off the water and closing the gate to the chicken pen, she hurried into the farmhouse to wash up. Daadi Moses had told her she couldn’t use the rig to go to the diner anymore, so she’d go on foot. That was not what he’d intended when he said she couldn’t drive over there, but she had to check on Aden this morning.

  The mid-March sun was warm on her back. The newspaper said the high today would be sixty with a light wind. But by the time she stood across the street from the diner a couple of miles from her grandfather’s place, she was ready to pull off her jacket.

  She stared at the diner from the far side of the street. Through the large plate-glass window, it appeared that Aden was in the kitchen. Relief lasted only a moment before insecurity reared its head. Perhaps he’d changed his mind about her.

  They’d had five glorious late-night strolls, talking about anything and everything. Reminiscing about childhood memories. Sharing their opinions about the differing views of their communities. Discussing their hopes and dreams for the future. Of course, Annie had done most of the talking. But Aden had started to come out of his protective shell.

  She loved the way he sang his more intimate thoughts to her. But she rejoiced especially when he was able to speak without singing or stuttering, at least not as much as before.

  The night before last, they’d stayed together the latest, neither of them wanting their time together to end. That’s how she’d felt, at least. She’d assumed he thought the same thing.

  But if he felt the way she did, then why did he stand her up last night?

  The question circled, making her heart ache.

  Roman came to the front door and flipped the Closed sign to Open. A family of eight piled out of a car in the parking lot and entered the restaurant. Roman welcomed them in and showed them to a table. His smiling face indicated that all was well.

  Needing answers, she strode across the street and opened the glass door. When Roman turned her way, she smiled. His expression turned cold.

  He grabbed a menu and rolled toward her. “Table for one?”

  This was not one of the countless scenarios she’d envisioned. He’d asked that as if she were a customer he didn’t like.

  “I’m here to see Aden.” Her voice sounded weak.

  “He’s busy.”

  She looked toward the pass-through, but Aden was no longer in sight. The family she’d seen walk in were the only people in the diner. “Well, if you’re going to be busy today, maybe I can help again.”

  “Annie,” Roman whispered, “be reasonable, please. We can’t afford to anger Moses. You know that.” He gestured at the customer tables. “But you’re welcome to eat here anytime. Would you prefer a table or a booth?”

  Was Roman speaking for Aden, telling her it was over? She wouldn’t know unless she spoke to him. “No thanks. I’ll just sit at the counter.” She walked past him and perched on the stool with the best view of the kitchen. It looked as it always did first thing in the morning—except she didn’t see or hear any sign of Aden.

  Ellen came out of the dry pantry with a large can of pepper. She grabbed a pitcher of water from a serving station and walked up to the occupied table. “Good morning.” She refilled their glasses. “Did Roman get your order already?” They nodded. “I’ll have your food ready in a jiffy.”

  She headed for the kitchen but stopped short. “Annie, I … I didn’t know you were here.” Her eyes reflected something far different from the welcome she’d received little more than a week ago. “Can I make you something for breakfast?”

  What was going on with this family?

  “Is Aden here?”

  Ellen bit her lower lip. “He’s in the deep freeze, taking inventory, while we handle the diner. He used up a lot of supplies last week, and we have to get a careful accounting so we can get our order in this afternoon.” She hustled into the kitchen as if Annie had a contagious disease.

  Her heart aching, Annie had to own up to what was going on. They knew about her and Aden, and the frosty responses would be commonplace from now on. Still, she had to speak to Aden. Would he treat her with cold politeness too?

  She went into the kitchen and straight to the freezer, ignoring Ellen. The heavy stainless steel door was propped open slightly by a cinder block. She grabbed the handle and pulled. Aden had on his coat and was taking notes on a clipboard. She stepped inside and allowed the door to slowly close until it bumped the block.

  When his eyes met hers, he seemed both glad and startled. “A-Annie,” he whispered, “what are you d-doing here?”

  She wrapped her arms around herself. “I was concerned about you.”

  Aden took off his coat and put it around her shoulders. “I c-couldn’t make it.”

  “What happened?”

  He shifted, looking uncomfortable. “I … I …”

  “Aden, where’s the …” Roman jerked open the door. “Oh, Annie.” He wheeled over the rubberized lip and came inside. “I thought you’d left.”

  She looked to Aden, unable to read his thoughts.

  Roman shook his head disapprovingly and started to leave, and then he stopped. “Don’t stay too long, Annie. We have work to catch up on after last week’s busyness and closing yesterday for the wedding. After last night, Aden’s moving as slowly today as me. But it was worth it, wasn’t it, brother?”

  “Shut up,” Aden growled without stuttering.

  Annie’s fingertips tingled with numbness. “What do you mean?”

  “Aden may not be ready to tell you, so maybe I should just go.”

  “Finish what you started, Roman,” Annie demanded.

  “It’s just that we had a late night out with a couple of lovely women.” Roman lifted his chin, seeming very pleased. “We took them for a buggy ride after the wedding guests left the bride and groom for the evening. My girl kept staring at my worthless legs, but Aden’s partner sure took a liking to him.”

  “R-Roman!” Aden pointed at the door, inviting him to leave.

  He winked. “I think he’s embarrassed to talk about how well things went for him.”

  Annie studied Aden, feeling sick. He hadn’t wanted her to know … but it was time to face the truth. Any Amish girl would be a better fit for him than her. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go home.” She removed his coat, and when he didn’t take it, she dropped it and hurried out of there as fast as her unsteady legs would move.

  Ellen went to the front porch and rang the dinner bell, knowing it’d take her family a few minutes to come from wherever they were. She waited and then rang it again before returning to the kitchen. After grabbing a set of potholders, she opened the oven. The biscuits were a golden brown.

  A loud slamming noise echoed through the house, and she nearly dropped the pan of biscuits. It wasn’t a door that had been knocked shut. Maybe the lid to Aden’s footlocker.

  “Dinner,” she called out.

  The four younger children scampered in from their chores, chattering about how hungry they were as they washed up in the mud sink near the back door.

  The noise seemed to have come from her sons’ room, so she headed that way. Ever since Annie had left the diner this morning, Aden had been furious with his brother. Her stomach had knotted when she saw Annie flee the restaurant. Such a sweet girl. Did she know her presence could lead them into poverty?

  As she walked toward their room, David came in from the field. After talking to Aden about Moses’s visit, she’d told David what was going on. He’d chosen to stay out of it for now, not wanting Aden to feel they were ganging up on him. Ellen tapped on her sons’ door. She heard nothing, so she knocked again.

  Roman jerked open the door and wheeled out of the bedroom, looking angrier than she’d ever seen him. Aden sat on his bed, refusing even to glan
ce her way. The situation between Aden and Annie was a grave one, but Ellen wondered if part of Roman’s real problem was that his twin brother had been doing something he hadn’t shared with him.

  “Dinner,” she repeated. No matter what stress their family went through, they’d always found peace and unity while sharing a meal. He got up and went to the table, but a current of tension came into the room with him.

  During their moment of silent prayer before the meal, Ellen opened her eyes just long enough to notice that her twin sons sat stone faced.

  David helped himself to a large spoonful of mashed potatoes, then passed the bowl to Roman. “Either of you boys care to talk about what’s going on between you?”

  Roman cast a threatening glance at his brother, who shot back a look of warning. “Aden has violated the church rules, Daed. Not once, but repeatedly.”

  Aden snatched the serving bowl from Roman. The other children’s eyes darted from their older brothers to their father.

  “Recently?” David asked.

  Aden smacked a spoonful of potatoes onto his plate before passing it. “Ya.”

  “He’s been sneaking out at night to see Annie,” Roman blurted.

  Aden pointed at his brother. “And you’re a bald-faced liar. You think my seeing Annie is worse than your looking her in the eyes and lying to her?” Aden’s stuttering all but disappeared when he got extremely angry—a rare occurrence.

  Ellen’s throat tightened as she passed the green beans.

  David ignored his plate of hot food and stared at Aden. “What do you have to say for yourself, Son?”

  “I have nothing to be ashamed of.”

  “Then why were you trying to keep it a secret?” Roman asked.

  “Why did you lie to her about the girl at the wedding?”

  “That’s enough, both of you.” David hacked at his slice of beef as if he were sawing a hickory limb. “I can’t believe you would do this to the man who saved our family from ruin.” Instead of eating the bite he’d cut, he started ripping at another one. “If Moses hadn’t poured his time and energy into that diner after the accident, we would have lost our ability to keep food on this table.” Having cut his entire slice of beef into small bites, he finally put one in his mouth.

  “And I’m g-g-grateful for e-everything he—”

  David shook his head. “If you were so grateful, you wouldn’t betray him by trying to steal his granddaughter.”

  “I didn’t st-steal anything. I just—”

  “Annie means everything to Moses.” David put his fork and knife down. “He sees her as the only good fruit his life has borne. Even if you could convince her to give up everything for you, Moses would never allow it. He certainly wouldn’t continue partnering with us on the diner, and without the electricity he provides, the state will shut the place down. How could you risk your family’s livelihood over something that cannot possibly work out, no matter how much you want it to?”

  Ellen’s heart wept for Aden. But she wanted to smack Roman for the smug expression on his face. She wouldn’t, but she wanted to.

  “What about all the hard work I’ve put into the diner—and this family?” Aden’s ire was up again, and he didn’t stutter one word. “Do I complain? No, I just keep going. Carrying him, and he treats me like a slave and then ruins the only good thing I have.”

  Although Aden didn’t look at Roman when he said it, his brother’s shoulders drooped. Ellen was shocked at her typically reserved son’s outburst, but maybe this is what Roman needed to hear.

  David unclenched his teeth. “From now on, you will leave that girl alone. You are never to see her again. Is that understood?”

  Aden tossed his cloth napkin over the barely touched food on his plate. “I don’t need your permission or Roman’s to do anything.” He stood and walked out of the house.

  Ellen stared after her son, unwilling to turn and see the anguish she knew she’d find on the faces of her husband, Roman, and even her younger children.

  She hoped Aden would cool off and reconsider his father’s warning to end the budding romance, because she couldn’t bear to think what would happen to her family if it continued.

  Roman poked at his food. If he could manage to break up Aden and Annie, would his brother ever forgive him? Mamm reached over and removed his plate. “You’re not eating anyway, and your youngest sister needs help with her homework.”

  Roman glanced at Arie. She was tall and skinny for a ten-year-old, and he imagined she’d always be quite thin. She shrugged apologetically, probably afraid he’d lash out at her too.

  He motioned toward her room. “Get your stuff, Breezy, and let’s get it done.”

  She smiled at his use of her pet name and took off. With an Amish name pronounced like airy, he always called her Windy, Breezy, or Gusty.

  He watched as his siblings helped clear the table. None of them had eaten much either. He had himself to thank for that. And Aden. Annie too, for that matter.

  The phone rang, and Mary and Jake ran out the front door, seeing who would arrive at the phone shanty first.

  Arie set her math book and spiral notebook on the table. “I’m horrible at math. I don’t know why I have to study it.”

  Roman flipped open the book. “Because it’s our lot in life to face our stupidity and try to overcome it.” He turned the pages. “Chapter twenty, right?”

  Arie scooted the chair closer to him. “I think I’d be insulted, except nobody knows facing stupidity more than you.”

  Roman chuckled. “Do you want my help or not?”

  “As opposed to failing? Definitely.”

  Jake rushed into the room. “Roman, it’s for you.”

  “Me?”

  “It’s a girl.” He grinned. “I like her too. She’s funny. Mary’s talking to her now. She said to tell you she’s not taking no for an answer. Said she’d let the phone ring all night if she had to and at the restaurant tomorrow too.”

  Roman glanced at his mother, wondering if he looked as dumbfounded as he felt. It had to be Marian. He guessed it could be the girl from the wedding, but he longed for it to be Marian.

  Mamm dried her hands on a dishtowel. “Go on. I’ll help Arie this time.”

  Roman’s thoughts ran wild as he wheeled himself outside and down the side ramp to the phone.

  Before the accident he’d been active and strong. A benefit to his family and friends. A hard worker. A lively talker. He could bring out the humor in any situation. That man would have gone after Marian. This one was useless. Rarely anything but a burden to everyone.

  He wheeled into the small shed and held out his hand for the phone.

  Mary giggled. “Roman’s here. I’d better go.” She paused. “Ya, I’ll do that. Bye.” She put the phone in his hand.

  “You’ll do what?” Roman asked.

  “Nothing.” Mary ran out of the shanty.

  He put the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

  “I heard you went on a date the other night.” Marian’s voice made his heart turn a flip. He’d written her off, thinking she hated even knowing him. Every time a memory of his last interaction with her came to mind, he shoved it aside, unwilling to admit how much it hurt to have blown it with her.

  “The news of rare wonders travels fast, I suppose.”

  She laughed. “Actually, your sister just told me.”

  “It wasn’t really a date.” Why did he tell her that? Did he care what she thought, or did he need someone to confess his sins to? He guessed it was the latter.

  “No? What was it then?”

  “Not sure.”

  “Think about it. I’ll wait.”

  He wanted to know why she’d called, but he wasn’t really in a hurry to get to the point. If she wanted to let their words create a path to trod, so did he.

  She was a bit odd, and they had very odd conversations. On one hand, they were the most refreshing experiences he’d ever had. On the other, they messed with his mind and heart, confusing him
and making him want more—all at the same time.

  He picked up a pencil off the bench where the phone book sat and doodled on the book’s cover. He couldn’t do much more than stick figures.

  “I’d like to say it was a real date, but in reality it was me plotting against my brother.” If she didn’t hate him already, he doubted his confession would cause her to start.

  In the four days since he’d come home from Ernie’s, the strife between Aden and him had been as thick as Aden’s split pea soup, and he had to tell someone the awfulness of what he’d done. His attempts to get his brother interested in a girl other than Annie had backfired.

  “Roman.” Marian’s voice dropped to barely audible. “Are you serious?”

  The dismay in her voice heaped guilt on him. His actions had actually been more of a knee-jerk reaction. Everything in his life lately had been a failure. He hadn’t been able to fix Uncle Ernie’s generator. He hadn’t been missed a bit at the diner, even during their busiest week. And he hadn’t managed to convince his brother to end his relationship with Annie.

  “I … He …” Roman put down the pencil. “Ya.” There he’d told someone the absolute truth. “He’s been seeing a horse-and-buggy Mennonite girl, one who’s already joined the faith, and I tried to turn them against each other.” He paused, and she said nothing. “Aren’t you thrilled to know someone like me?”

  The phone remained silent, but his admission made him almost able to tolerate himself again.

  Marian had shown a hint of caring for him, along with an alluring spunk. She was like a bright, multicolored object in the middle of his drab world. But he couldn’t even court her without Aden around to lift his half-limp body and haul his heavy wheelchair.

  “Did you do that because she’s Mennonite?”

  Roman closed his eyes, still seeing his wheelchair clearly and the darkened outline of himself.

  A woman couldn’t carry him to the shower in the mornings when his muscles were too stiff to move. Even Uncle Ernie had trouble taking care of his needs. And asking for his help had been awkward and embarrassing.

  No, like it or not, he was dependent on Aden. He couldn’t survive a single day without someone’s help, and the only one who really fit the bill was Aden. And until now, he’d been self-centered enough to think that Aden was just as dependent on him.