“Isaac stopped by the house to tell us,” Mam told him. “You never know what can happen.” She touched his arm. “What was he doing on the roof?”
“Trying to repair a leak.”
“Why didn’t he ask for help? Joe knows your dat or one of you boys would have done the work.”
“Perhaps he wanted to do it himself.” Jacob held out his coffee toward her. “Would you like a sip?” After his mother declined, he drank from the cup, grimaced, then walked toward a trash can and dropped the remainder inside. “Good choice,” he told her with a grin.
“Jed would have come, but he’s working construction today and there was no way to reach him.” Mam glanced briefly toward the Zook siblings. “Sarah stayed at the house with Hannah. And Noah—”
Jacob nodded. He knew exactly why Noah hadn’t come. He was worried about leaving his wife, Rachel, who had lost their baby a month before her due date. Even now, months later, while she appeared strong to the outside world, Noah continually fretted about her.
The double doors leading to the surgical area swung open and Dr. Moss, dressed in green medical scrubs, stepped out and approached Annie and Josiah.
Jacob worried about Annie as she moved to stand next to her brother so Dr. Moss could inform them of the outcome of her father’s surgery. Nancy King stood on Josiah’s other side. He saw Josiah reach out to clasp hands with both women. Dr. Moss spoke at length, but from where he was, Jacob couldn’t hear. He stepped closer.
“The surgery went well,” the doctor said. “Your father is in recovery now. You’ll be able to go back and see him for a few minutes, but don’t be alarmed if he doesn’t respond. It will take him a while to come out of the anesthesia...”
Jacob saw Mae King slip an arm around Annie, watched as Annie leaned into the older woman for a moment’s comfort before she straightened. Her eyes narrowed as she looked about. Her glance slid over him without pausing before it moved on.
They’ll take care of her, he thought as he studied the group who were doing their best to be there for Joe’s children. Annie didn’t need him now. It was time for him to leave, to see what needed to be done at the Zook farm while Annie and Josiah stayed close to their father.
“I’m going to head back,” he told his parents as his father joined them.
His mother studied him, gave him a slight smile. “We’ll stay for a while.”
“You have a ride?” his father asked.
“Bob Whittier.” Jacob glanced at the clock, noted the time. “He should be here soon.”
Samuel nodded. “Are you going home?”
“Nay,” Jacob said. “I thought I’d go to the Zooks’ farm first.”
* * *
Rick Martin pulled into the Zook barnyard late that afternoon to drop off Annie and Josiah. He promised to return the next morning to take them back to the hospital. After Rick had left, Josiah sighed and ran a hand along the back of his neck. “I’ll check on the animals.”
Annie watched him walk away. “Are you hungry?” she called. “I can fix us something.”
He stopped and turned. “Ja,” he admitted. “Anything will do.”
As her brother walked to the barn, Annie headed toward the farmhouse. She froze in her tracks. Millie, she thought with alarm. Where was Millie? In all the commotion, she’d forgotten to put her dog back into the house before leaving for the hospital.
“Josiah!” she called. “Please watch for Millie. She got out of the house earlier.”
Josiah scowled but agreed. “She’ll come back eventually.”
Annie opened the screen door and the inside door swung open. It didn’t surprise her that she hadn’t locked it after she’d grabbed her purse. Her one thought had been to get to her father.
She entered the house and wandered into the gathering room. Annie stiffened at what she saw. All of the laundry was stacked, neatly folded, inside the laundry basket. She experienced a chill. Someone had been here. But a burglar wouldn’t fold laundry, she thought.
She heard a short bark and was startled when Millie scurried into the room, wagging her tail happily. Annie bent down to rub her beloved pet’s fur. “How did you get in here?”
“Annie,” a deep voice said.
She gasped and spun toward the man who’d entered from the direction of the kitchen. “Jacob?” She rose to her feet, stared at him. “What are you doing here?”
“Sorry.” His golden eyes studied her with concern. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I stopped by to look for Millie and found her. I suddenly remembered her running about before we left.”
“You shouldn’t have come.” She peered up at him with caution. “You folded the laundry.” Why would he fold laundry? The men in her Amish community didn’t fold laundry! It was an unheard of thing for any man to help with women’s work. “Why?”
He shrugged. “You didn’t get the chance, so I thought I’d finish it for you.” He flashed a brief glance at the clothes before refocusing on her.
Her spine tingled. “I could have done it.”
His lips curved with amusement. “I don’t doubt it.”
Millie licked her leg, demanding her attention. “You found Millie.”
“I found her chasing a cat through the fields.” He traced the edge of his suspenders with his fingers. “The door was open, so I brought her in.”
Watching, Annie wondered why her heart suddenly began to beat faster. “I forgot to lock the door.”
“Not to worry. No one disturbed the house.” Jacob was suddenly there beside her.
Overwhelmed by his nearness, she stepped back. “No one but you,” she accused.
She heard him sigh. “You look like you’re about to collapse,” he said quietly. “Come. You’ve had a terrible day. Sit and I’ll make you some hot tea.”
She sat down. “I can make my own tea.”
“Ja, I’m sure you can.” He narrowed his eyes at her from above. “But I’d like to make you a cup. Is that a problem?”
Feeling foolish, Annie shook her head. Reaction to Dat’s accident took over and suddenly cold she started to shake. She looked at him, but she couldn’t seem to focus. She felt warmth override the chill and realized that Jacob had grabbed the quilt from her father’s favorite chair and gently placed it around her shoulders. With mixed feelings, she watched him leave the room. He wasn’t gone long.
“Here you go.” Jacob held her hot tea. The sofa cushion dipped beneath her as he sat beside her. He extended the cup, and when she didn’t immediately respond, gently placed it within her hands, his strong fingers cradling hers until she became overly conscious of his touch.
She realized what he was doing, and she jerked back. “I’ve got it,” she said, relieved that he’d let go and that she hadn’t spilled any. He stood, and Annie felt the heat from the mug. She raised the rim to her lips.
“Careful!” he warned. “It’s hot.” He seemed upset as his golden eyes regarded her apologetically. “I shouldn’t have let it boil.”
“It’s fine, Jacob,” she said irritably. “If the water isn’t hot, it’s not a gut cup of tea.” Annie took a tentative drink. The steaming brew was sweet. She felt revived after several slow, tiny sips. She looked up at him. “Danki,” she said when she felt more like herself again.
Jacob gave her a slow smile that did odd things to her insides. She fought back those feelings. He studied her a long moment until he was apparently satisfied with what he saw. “Did you see your vadder?” His voice was soft as he moved the laundry basket from the sofa to the floor and sat down.
Taken aback by her reaction to him, Annie fought to stay calm. “Ja, we saw him. Once he was in his hospital room. When he finally woke up, he told us he was tired and wanted us to go home.” She drew a deep breath. “Jacob, I’m fine, You don’t have to stay—”
&n
bsp; He nodded. “Where’s Josiah?”
“In the barn.”
“I took care of the animals earlier,” he said.
The front door slammed. “Annie,” Josiah called out, “the animals have been fed and watered—”
Annie met his gaze as her brother entered the room and stopped abruptly. “Jacob took care of them.”
Jacob rose to his feet. He and Josiah stared at one another a long moment, and Annie remembered suddenly that Nancy King, the girl Jacob had fancied and lost, was currently her brother’s sweetheart.
“I appreciate what you did for Dat.” Josiah extended his hand.
She watched the interaction between the two men and then saw Jacob smile. They shook hands and stepped back.
“I should go,” Jacob said. Annie watched him grab his hat off a wall hook. “You both need your rest.” He hesitated. “I made sandwiches. I put them in the refrigerator.”
Annie blinked, shocked. “You made yourself at home.”
He raised an eyebrow at her tone. “Nay. I simply fixed a meal for friends in need.” He jammed his hat on his head. He gave a nod to her brother. “Josiah.”
“Jacob.” Josiah inclined his head.
As Jacob headed outside, Annie felt as if she’d been too mean-spirited toward him, and it didn’t set well with her. It wasn’t the way of her community or the Lord—and it wasn’t like her to behave this way, either.
Annie followed him, stopping to stand in the open doorway as he descended the porch steps. “Gut day to you, Jacob Lapp,” she called out to him.
He paused and turned. “Rest well, Annie Zook,” he replied and then he walked away, without glancing back.
Annie felt awful as she watched him leave. Contrary to her behavior, she had appreciated having Jacob nearby. His quiet strength and presence had soothed her during the crisis with her dat. She reminded herself that he was her childhood friend, and she shouldn’t worry about spending time with him. He wasn’t Jed, and he wasn’t in the position to break her heart.
Chapter Three
“Aren’t you done with that family?”
Jacob buttoned his light blue shirt without glancing toward his twin brother. “Which family?”
“The Zooks.” The mattress springs squeaked as Eli sat and kicked against the bed’s wooden frame.
“What are you trying to tell me?” He knew what Eli was hinting at, but he wanted to hear him say it.
“I’m reminding you that while Horseshoe Joe was gut to you, you can’t say the same for his daughter.”
Jacob sighed as he pulled one suspender over his shoulder before drawing up the other one. “So, I once liked Annie, and she liked Jed. I got over her years ago.”
“So you say.” Eli rose from his bed, bent to pick up a shoe, which he pointed at Jacob. “Mark my words. She still pines for him, Jake. Even though he’s married to Sarah now.”
Jacob grabbed the black shoe, and with a teasing look Eli retrieved the other one from the floor for him. “And I shouldn’t help Horseshoe Joe because Annie likes Jed?” He snatched the second shoe from Eli’s hand and set both back onto the floor. He pulled on his socks.
“Nay,” Eli said. “I just want you to be mindful of the past. I know ya like the back of my own hand, like you know me.” He grinned, and his blue eyes crinkled at the corners. “We are twins after all.” He plucked a straw hat off the wall peg.
“We are?” Jacob replied with feigned surprise. He grinned as he snatched his hat from his twin’s hands and tossed it on the bed. “I’m not a boy, Eli. Neither are you. And I’m not pining for Annie.” Although he was very glad he’d been able to help in her time of need. “Do you ever think about marrying someday?”
“Ja, I think about it.” Eli ran a hand through his golden-blond hair. “But until I find the right one to wed, I’ll not be thinking too much of it.” He grinned, displaying even white teeth.
Jacob laughed. He loved his brother, not necessarily more than the rest but differently, with the love born of brothers who’d entered this earth on the same day. A relationship which started in Mam’s womb, he thought. The connection between them was strong. They’d been raised from the cradle together, although no one looking at them would believe them twins. Eli’s hair was as fair as his was dark. Day and night, someone had once said of them. They might be different in looks, but that was all. They were close, often sharing each other’s thoughts, sometimes finishing each other’s sentences.
Eli, more than anyone, had understood how he’d felt when Annie Zook had finally won Jed’s attention. They’d been sixteen years old, and although it had been years since he’d stopped hanging about Zook’s Blacksmithy, hoping for a glimpse of Annie, his loss hadn’t been any less painful. He was over Annie, and she certainly didn’t care for him. So why was she so wary of him? Simply because Jed was his brother?
“You don’t have to worry about me.” Jacob slipped on his shoes, then propped a foot onto a wooden chest to tie his shoelaces. “Annie made it clear that she only tolerates me because I stopped to help Joe. Once the ambulance arrived, she wanted me to leave.” He lowered his right leg and raised his left.
“But you stayed anyway,” Eli pointed out.
“Ja.” Jacob finished up and straightened. “I went to the hospital and the haus.” When he’d returned home the day of Horseshoe Joe’s accident, he had confided in Eli how he’d gone to the Zooks’ to check on the house and Millie, and dared to stay to help out. Annie hadn’t liked it, although she’d seemed grateful that he’d found her dog. “Why should I care what she thinks? I was concerned about Joe. And I was worried about her dog.”
Eli laughed. “You were worried about the dog.” His brother regarded him with sympathy, as if Jacob were fooling himself to think that his time at Annie’s had anything to do with an animal. “And now you’re going to talk with Horseshoe Joe, to see if he’ll let you take over his work in his shop until he is well. From what I’ve heard, his recovery could take twelve weeks or more.” Eli paused. “That’s a long time.
“Ja, I know, but I’ll be available if Dat needs me.” He retrieved his hat from the bed, then preceded Eli out of their room and down the stairs to the first floor. “If I have to, I’ll work part-time in the shop and the rest at the farm.”
“As long as Horseshoe Joe agrees,” Eli said from behind him.
“As long as Joe agrees to what?” Isaac asked as he came out from the back of the house.
“Jacob is going to offer to work in the blacksmith shop while Joe recovers,” Eli told their younger brother.
Isaac shrugged as he continued past them. “I’m sure Joe will appreciate it,” he threw back over his shoulder, before he started up the stairs.
“Jake, I hope you know what you’re doing.” Eli followed his brother into the yard. “Helping Joe will put you in frequent company with Annie.
“It will,” Jacob said. “And her sister Barbara. Shall I worry about her, too?”
Eli chuckled. “Maybe you should.”
“Jacob!” Dat exited the house and approached. “Heading over to the Zooks’?” Jacob nodded. “I’d like to go with you.”
“I’ll bring around the buggy.” Jacob flashed a cheeky glance at his twin brother before he headed toward the family’s gray buggy, parked near the barn. As he climbed into the vehicle and grabbed up the leathers, he thought of what his brother had said, and he knew that Eli was right. He had liked Annie Zook as a boy, and she had liked—still liked—his brother Jed. But he was no longer a boy. He was a man who could control his emotions. Besides, without any means to offer a wife, he’d not be thinking of courting or marrying anytime in the near future.
* * *
“When are you going to think about marrying?”
Annie looked up from the piecrust she’d been rolling on a floured board on the
kitchen worktable. “Mam, who said I don’t think about it?”
Her mother went to a cabinet and withdrew a tin of cinnamon. “I don’t mean about marrying Jedidiah Lapp. That one is taken. It’s time you looked elsewhere.”
“I know that.” She set down the wooden rolling pin and then wiped her hands on a tea towel. “It’s not as if I can marry the next man who walks through that door,” Annie said patiently as she carefully lifted the edge of the crust and set it into the pie pan. With skill born of experience, she molded the dough against the sides and then turned under the excess along the rim before she pressed the edges into place with a dinner fork.
Mam set the cinnamon tin within her reach and then began to cut up a stick of butter. “Annie,” she said softly. “I know Jed hurt you, and I understand that you’ve decided it would be better for you to marry someone older—”
“Much older,” Annie said with a smile for her mother. “A man who will care for me and accept me as I am. It’s a gut plan.”
“Maybe,” Mam said, nodding. “I don’t know that you should limit your choices. You’re not getting any younger.”
“Mam!” Annie began to core and cut up fresh cooking apples.
“’Tis true.” Mam started to help her, grabbing an apple and slicing it in half. “The thing is, Annie, your vadder’s accident is going to hurt us financially. I have faith that his hospital bills will be paid, but with him unable to work in the shop...”
Annie recalled Jacob Lapp’s offer to help, then she promptly forced it from her mind. Jacob had apparently taken her at her word that he couldn’t fill in for Dat, and that was fine. “What does Dat’s accident have to do with me marrying?”
Mam had cut up two apples, and she reached for a third. “We’d like to see you settled with a husband, someone who can provide for you.”
She felt the blood drain from her face. “You and Dat want me to wed so that you don’t have to provide for me?”
“Nay,” Mam said, “that’s not what I’m saying at all. Your dat and I love you. But we—I—worry that you’ve not considered your future. You’re a caring young woman. You’ll make some man a fine wife.”
Love Inspired March 2015 - Box Set 1 of 2: A Wife for JacobThe Forest Ranger's RescueAlaskan Homecoming Page 3