“That was Ruth’s doing.”
“But you get the point, David.” She gave him a smile in the low light of the barn. “Let me help you. I can say what I have to say in the hearing of this charming woman, and the little fly will begin to buzz.”
He laughed again and hurried past her. “I need to join your daett for some chores I have to finish before supper,” he called over his shoulder.
Phoebe stilled the protest that rose to her lips. David needed time before he could fully come into his own. But his healing had begun, and had been ongoing since Grandma began to pray and plan. Phoebe took a quick look out of the barn window, but the sunset had faded from sight. She heard the snap of a lantern from behind her and turned her head.
Daett smiled in the flickering light. “Are you going to help Mamm with supper?”
“Yep,” Phoebe chirped. “Sorry. I forgot about supper for a moment. I was watching the sunset and talking with you and David.”
Daett stopped her as she hurried past. “I wasn’t scolding, Phoebe. And I want to say this in case I don’t catch you alone again.”
“Daett.” Phoebe made a face. “You make it sound so serious.”
He chuckled. “It’s not serious. I just want to make sure you understand that I would have no objections if you and David…well, you know.”
“Daett!” Phoebe gasped. “Surely you’re not also…”
“Also what?” He tilted his head sideways.
“Thinking that David—”
“I’m not thinking about David,” he interrupted. “I’m telling you, Phoebe, in case your heart should be drawn to the man. I think he would make a decent husband for you.”
“Daett, I can’t believe this!”
“Hush. David will hear you.”
“But Daett, why? You know David and I don’t have anything going on. Leroy claimed David was…oh, this is awful. Please don’t join the party, Daett. Not you.”
“You make it sound like a horrible idea, Phoebe,” Daett chided. “I think you and David would make a decent couple.”
Phoebe tried to breathe. “You’re just saying so to make me feel better about my lack of…well, you know what. You’re pushing us together out of desperation. I appreciate that, but trust me. David has no interest in this plain girl, just as no one else does.”
“Stop, Phoebe. I see this conversation isn’t going well, and I’m sorry I brought it up. You will find someone as the Lord wills. I’m not trying to interfere. Come!” He held out his arms. “Give me a hug. You are a lovely woman, daughter. I don’t care what the unmarried men have to say.”
Phoebe laughed and wiped away her tears before giving Daett a hug. This evening had continued as it began, filled with both sorrow and joy. “I’ll be missing you,” she told him. She looked up into his bearded face. “Thank you for all that you have done for me this week, and the effort you put into raising all of us children.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Daett told her, planting a kiss on top of her kapp.
“Daett,” Phoebe protested. “I’m not a little girl anymore.”
“You will always be my little girl. Don’t forget that. Now run along and help Mamm with supper.”
Phoebe ducked her head and hurried out of the barn to cross the lawn at a fast pace. Darkness had fallen, but the lantern in the living room window threw light along the walk. She went up the porch steps and into the house. Ruth was setting the table when Phoebe entered the kitchen. Mamm was bent over the stove.
“You’re here too!” Phoebe exclaimed.
Ruth smiled. “Yah, your mamm was kind enough to invite me yesterday, but I didn’t know until this afternoon whether I could make it.”
“I’m glad you could join us,” Phoebe told Ruth as she busied herself at the counter with slicing the bread. Apparently her parents had all sorts of secrets they kept from her, but that was okay.
“Did you enjoy the sunset?” Mamm asked as she pulled the chicken casserole from the stove.
“It was awesome! Daett and I watched from the pasture fence with the ponies around us. It couldn’t have been a more perfect send-off for the two of you leaving tomorrow.”
“Yah, that’s what I was thinking,” Mamm agreed. “Did anyone tell you that Ruth plans to teach school for the community this fall?”
“I haven’t—” Ruth began.
“She’s still thinking about it,” Mamm amended. “But the Lord has His hand in all of this. That I can say. Your grandma was a praying woman.”
Phoebe glanced at Ruth, who had her head down and her fingers busy with the last of the silverware. Mamm seemed to understand and said no more about the tender subject.
“I hope you take the job,” Phoebe told Ruth when she looked up.
Ruth nodded but didn’t say anything. Moments later, Daett and David came in from the barn and took their places at the table. Thanks were given, and the food was passed around. Light chatter filled the kitchen as Daett and Mamm made their plans for the trip home to Lancaster tomorrow.
“When will you be coming back for a visit?” David asked.
Daett smiled broadly. “The road goes both ways, you know.”
David chuckled. “I’m thinking we’ll be right busy here on the farm, but maybe there will be an opening over the holidays.”
They all laughed. David knew there wasn’t money for trips down to Lancaster, and Daett and Mamm would be back before long unless Phoebe missed her guess. Their happy smiles showed that plainly enough.
Daett pronounced his benediction. “May the Lord watch over you in the months ahead, as I’m sure He will.”
“Thank you,” David responded. “You have been a great help this week.”
“That’s what parents are for,” Daett said as he dished out another helping of mashed potatoes and gravy. “And we wish you the best also,” Daett told Ruth. “Even if we aren’t your parents.”
Ruth nodded and looked away. Phoebe was sure there were tears on Ruth’s cheek, so she wasn’t the only one who experienced both joy and sorrow tonight.
“This is awesome eating,” Daett declared, and laughter rippled around the table.
FOURTEEN
On a Monday morning two weeks later, Phoebe stepped out on the porch and closed the front door gently behind her. The sun had burst over the horizon, and the rays streamed across the front lawn to splash against the side of Grandma’s barn in a blaze of white.
The breakfast dishes were still on the kitchen table, but she needed a few moments of quiet reflection before the busyness of the day thundered down upon her head. The first two children from Child Protective Services were due to arrive at nine o’clock. They would stay for the entire week. Phoebe stilled the rapid intake of her breath and breathed a quick prayer toward the heavens. “Help us, Lord, as I know You will.” That was more statement than request, but everything about this venture was strange and new. Why not say prayers of faith for the day? At least it calmed her nerves. David would be here before long, and she would lean on his strength. Not literally, of course, but his manliness and stability were great comforts.
Mamm’s letter had arrived a week ago.
Greetings, dear daughter. The trip back to Lancaster has gone off without a hitch. We are back into the flow of the season, it seems. Daett is ready to harvest the cornfield with the back forty going for silage. We need more cow feed this winter with the extra heifers we are keeping.
Phoebe’s thoughts drifted from her mother’s letter to the present. The arrival of the farm’s first children took precedence over tales of Lancaster’s midweek sewing circles and news of who might have their wedding plans in place for this fall.
A figure took shape in the distance, walking north on the main road, and Phoebe leaned over the porch railing for a better look. Had David set out this early? Phoebe smiled as she focused. No, this was Ruth, headed up the road to open the schoolhouse for the first day of the new term. Ruth had chosen to accept the position. Phoebe knew the decision coul
dn’t have been easy for her friend. Ruth was committed to ending her rumspringa and settling down for the baptismal class this fall without any prospects of finding a husband in the community. She was more than two years younger than David, but twenty-four was still old in the Amish world. Phoebe could identify with that feeling. Thankfully, she had the farm to occupy her thoughts. Perhaps the schoolteaching job would do the same for Ruth.
She would have taken the schoolteaching job if Grandma hadn’t made other plans. That would have left Ruth out in the cold, so things were better this way. Her situation hadn’t changed, though, when it came to attracting the attention of the community’s eligible bachelors. There weren’t any men, but if there had been, her chances still remained around zero. Who wanted a frau who ran a farm for Englisha children? On that score, she had chosen the losing card, but feeling sorry for oneself was not wise.
Phoebe waved when Ruth came close enough. She called out, “Goot morning! You’re on the road bright and early.”
Ruth didn’t answer until she had hurried in from the road. “It’s goot to see you this morning, Phoebe. My nerves are all a-jitter. Even though it’s out of the way, I just had to come up and speak with you.”
“Is it that bad? I thought I was the one on pins and needles this morning.”
“You’re getting your first children today, aren’t you?” Ruth sounded sympathetic. “David’s talking about little else. He’s so excited. Thankfully, Daett’s no longer complaining now that the community approves. In the meantime, I keep wondering if I’m doing the right thing.”
“Oh, you are. Don’t doubt now.”
Ruth sighed. “I know I shouldn’t. I should be thankful instead. Your family is doing so much for me, and I do appreciate that. In fact, that’s the only reason I’m giving teaching a chance. It’s my heart that won’t agree.”
“Ethan Thompson?” Phoebe guessed. “He is handsome. There is no question there, and he’s quite charming, but…”
Ruth sighed again. “That’s what your daett said. It makes so much sense, but still…oh, I wish letting go were easy.”
“We’ll pray for you. I’m sure Grandma did while she was here. In fact, her prayers may be the reason we all are where we are.”
“Everyone’s right about Ethan. I guess I was fooling myself. I haven’t heard a peep from him in two weekends now.”
“Oh, let me give you a hug.” Phoebe came down the porch steps, and the two embraced. “You must feel awful.”
“Have you ever walked away from love?” Ruth asked.
Phoebe made a face. “I had my dreamy sort of love interrupted quite rudely, if the truth be known.”
Ruth appeared astonished. “Really?”
“It was a long time ago. I’m just trying to find my courage again.”
“Running a farm takes courage. You underrate yourself, Phoebe.”
“This was Grandma’s idea, not mine. I’d be schoolteaching otherwise.”
“I didn’t mean to take that away from you. Please believe me.”
“I know you didn’t. And I’m not wishing I were teaching. I like this idea much better.”
“I appreciate this job. I guess I’ve always liked such things but never thought them possible here in the community with our…” Ruth looked away. “Sorry, I don’t want to bring that up all the time.”
“I’m sorry too. And I think you’ll be much better at teaching than I would have been. You’re more studious and into books. Aren’t you?”
“Yah, I guess,” Ruth allowed. “Maybe things did work out for the best.”
“You’ll have some unmarried man giving you the look before long,” Phoebe told her. They both laughed.
“Well, I have to get going,” Ruth said moments later. She hurried across the lawn with a quick wave over her shoulder.
Phoebe watched until Ruth disappeared from sight. Then she returned to the kitchen and washed the dishes. David’s heavy tread sounded on the porch before she finished, and Phoebe set down the dishcloth to rush into the living room. He had already let himself in and stood inside the front door with a grin on his face. “Ready for the day, are we?”
“Oh, David! It’s so goot to see you. You don’t know how your being here comforts my heart. So much lies ahead of us today.”
“You’ll be great,” he promised. “Just relax and love them, and give the children time to adjust. That will be the biggest trick every time, I’m thinking. What, with the clash between our cultures.” His grin grew again. “But that’s also our strength. If we don’t act strange or nervous, we’ll just be part of the new experience and seem perfectly normal to them.”
She could have hugged him, but that wasn’t proper. So Phoebe bounced up and down a few times, which produced a laugh from David. “You are nervous this morning.”
“I’m always scared around something new, David. You know that.”
“Come.” He took Phoebe’s hand to lead her back into the kitchen. “Shall I help with the kitchen work, perhaps?”
“Now you’re treating me like a boppli,” Phoebe said, but she didn’t pull back her hand. His attentions felt like those of a big brother, but that wasn’t quite it. David was a huge help, and she wouldn’t try to figure things out. She needed him, and that was goot enough.
“I see the dishes aren’t done.” He motioned toward the counter. “I will help.”
She gave in. “Only because I want you around until the children arrive. Otherwise you’re never doing my dishes. And there aren’t but a few pieces anyway.”
“We’ll check on the ponies afterward. Not that they need checking on, but doing so might calm our nerves.”
“Calm my nerves,” she corrected him. She washed the dishes, giving them to him to dry.
He didn’t speak again as they worked.
She broke the silence. “I want to show you something. Have you ever seen Grandma’s prayer journal?”
He shook his head. “Ruth mentioned something about it, but…”
“Then that’s what we must do first. I want to show you the prayer Grandma prayed over her dream of a pony farm.”
David smiled. “Okay. I have great faith in Grandma Lapp’s prayers.”
“You are a jewel.”
“For believing in Grandma’s prayers? Come on, Phoebe! Who wouldn’t?”
“Maybe,” she allowed. “But you are still a special person to have known Grandma.”
“That could be,” he agreed. He looked away.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“It’s okay. Shall we go see the prayer book?”
She hung the dishcloth over the center of the sink and led him back to the living room. He took a seat on the couch and waited while she retrieved the tablet from the bedroom. She handed him the open page, and he read without comment.
“Well?” she asked when he finished.
“That’s so Grandma Lapp.”
She was sure she saw tears in his eyes.
“Can I read another page?” he asked.
“Of course!” Phoebe seated herself beside him as he turned toward the back and read aloud. “‘My precious granddaughter is coming soon to take care of me in these last years of my life. I pray, Lord, that Phoebe’s journey up from Lancaster will be blessed, and that You would comfort her heart. I know she isn’t used to changes, and doesn’t take to them well. Something must have happened to her when she was young that injured her, but You are the unchanging One, and You are the Lord of her life. Give Phoebe peace and safety on the journey. I know she will be a great blessing once she arrives. I believe You have a special plan for her in the years ahead and will use her to bless many in this world with her love. She is a dear girl with a great heart, but not many know this. I pray worry will not grip her too much as she grows older. I ask that her heart become ever tenderer toward You. I believe that someday the love of a man will find her, and that You will bring her healing. I ask that You would guide Phoebe’s—’”
“Sto
p, stop, stop!” Phoebe ordered. She leaped to her feet. “I had no idea there were things in there about me. I—oh, David, I’m so embarrassed. You probably think…” She paced the living room floor in front of him.
“I don’t think anything,” he assured her. “I didn’t know what Grandma wrote.” He closed the book. “But what happened to you, Phoebe?”
“That was in the past. I dealt with it and moved on.”
“Okay.” He stood as well. “Shall we go see the ponies?”
“But David, this is awful.”
“It’s not awful. It’s true. You are what Grandma Lapp said you were, but I’m sorry I didn’t stop reading. I shouldn’t have embarrassed you like that.”
She clung to his shirtsleeve. “What you must think of me!”
“I think you are a wunderbah friend,” he said with a smile. “And nothing is going to change that. Someday you will find what Grandma Lapp said you would.”
Phoebe let go of his sleeve. “I don’t know about that, but if I’m red and blushing all day, you’ll know why.”
“You’ll just be…ah, forget it,” he said. He hurried out the door.
She caught up with him at the porch steps. “You will finish that sentence, David Fisher.”
He only increased the speed of his steps.
She caught his shirtsleeve again, and he stopped.
“Tell me,” she ordered.
He didn’t meet her gaze. “Blushing makes you appear more beautiful, Phoebe.”
She groaned. “Now I have stepped in it.”
“Come. Just forget what I said. Let’s go see the ponies.”
“You’ll have to let me collect myself. I…”
“I’ll be out there then.” He turned to leave. He was halfway to the barn door before she ran to catch up.
“David, wait!”
He paused a moment, and then they entered the barn together with careful efforts to avoid looking at each other. The ponies hung around the back barn door and whinnied when they walked up. David and Phoebe stroked the ponies’ noses and pressed their faces into their manes. They were like two little children in so many ways. Both of them were near twenty-five years of age and burdened with the responsibility of this farm, yet in their hearts…
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