As he paid his bill at the desk, he noticed the stack of information about hearing screens and hearing aids on the counter. He took one about the bone-anchored hearing device to read later. If it wasn’t something that would help Esther, he didn’t want to bring it up. But if there was a chance that she could be helped, he wanted to learn more about it.
Gabe left the doctor’s office and drove to his leather supplier at the edge of town. Ed Carson was a small, bald man with a sour disposition. Gabe didn’t hold out much hope that he would have an assortment of colored leather. It turned out that he was wrong. Ed had everything from ivory to deep purple in small quantities. Gabe selected a few and went to pay the man.
“Making pink horse harnesses now?” Ed asked.
“If I could sell them, I’d make them.”
“You mentioned last month that you might be wanting a goodly pile of harness leather. I went ahead and tanned some in case you were ready to buy more.”
Harness leather wasn’t like shoe leather or any other type of leather. It had to be tanned with a lot of oil and waxes to stand up to the elements. “I’m sorry you went to the trouble. My customer decided not to buy from me after all.”
“Hank Jefferson, right?”
“That is his name.”
“He was in the other day asking who else made harnesses in the area. I gave him a few names. I also told him no one makes them as well as you do.”
“I appreciate that.”
“Ours are trades that few people value anymore. They want quick and cheap. Pleather instead of real leather. If I can throw any business your way, I will. I admire how the Amish live and work.” He bundled up Gabe’s purchase and handed it over.
On the trip home, Gabe couldn’t help thinking about Esther and how much he wanted to help her. Her last attempt to regain her hearing had failed miserably. There was no guarantee the bone-anchored device would work better for her. He didn’t want her to be disappointed again. Nor did he want to suggest she investigate something she already knew wouldn’t work. Maybe Waneta was the person he needed to talk with. She would know if Esther had had one or two implants.
When he reached home, he found Esther was bent over her sewing in his workshop. She hadn’t noticed him come in. He took care to walk softly across the floor so as not to alert her to his presence by the vibration. He carefully slid the pink leather into her view.
She stopped sewing and looked up with a bright smile. “You found some. This is the exact color I was hoping for. It will make a beautiful purse.”
“With a matching dog collar and leash.”
“What a good idea.”
“I have them sometimes.” She wasn’t looking at him. He knew he was wasting his breath, but he wanted to say what was on his mind. “I wonder if kissing you would be a good idea or a very bad one,” he said softly.
She smoothed the leather with one hand. “This is quite supple. It will be easy to sew.” She looked up at him. “Can you cut a few for me now? I’d love to get started on them. Let me finish these ax head covers while you do that.”
“I’ll get right on it.” He took the leather from her and went to his desk. He put the information on the bone-anchored hearing aid in the top drawer. One day soon, when this rush of work was over, he would talk to Esther about it. It might not be something her family could afford or that her church would consider paying for, but he would help if it meant she could hear again. He closed the drawer and stepped to his cutting table. It wasn’t long before he deposited the new purse pieces in front of her.
“Danki. It will just take me another minute to finish this,” she said, looking up at him.
“All right. I’m going to the house.”
“Okay. Send Pamela out. I need to speak to her about the patterns for the lining I want.”
“I’ll do that.”
Gabe found all the women in his mother’s quilting room. He gave Pamela Esther’s message and then looked at Waneta. “May I speak to you for a few moments?”
“Of course.” She got up from her chair beside the quilting frame and followed him into the kitchen. “Has Esther become a problem?”
He frowned. “Nee, nothing like that.”
“Then how may I help you?”
“Esther told me that her cochlear implant failed.”
“So she claims.”
“You don’t believe that?”
“Her father doesn’t. He thinks she refuses to use it so she can continue her work with deaf children at the special-needs school. Some of the deaf teachers there are not Amish. They are proud of being deaf. They don’t believe deafness is something that needs to be corrected.”
“It is decided by Gott that they should be as they are.”
“It is His will, to be sure, but we are not prevented by our faith from seeking medical cures for our children when they have an illness. Esther’s parents sought a cure for her disability that she felt she didn’t need. They sacrificed a great deal to get her surgery. In her father’s eyes, she is being selfish by refusing to use it. I agree with him. She could have been happily married with children of her own by now. Something her father and I dearly want to see. I went to great lengths to encourage a match for her. We would have made her husband a half owner in our bakery. All she had to do was learn to live with the sounds the device allowed her to hear. Perhaps it isn’t perfect, but it has to be better than nothing.”
There were always two sides to a story. This was Waneta’s view. Esther’s refusal to marry Waneta’s choice was at the heart of the hard feelings between them. Should he tell Waneta he agreed with Esther? A man who would court a deaf woman in order to gain ownership in a business wasn’t much of a catch.
Gabe drew a deep breath. He was being unfair to the man. He could have had deep feelings for Esther. She was an easy woman to love.
“I’m sorry the two of you have remained at odds over her decision, but it is her life. Because she is deaf doesn’t mean she had to settle for a man she believed didn’t love her.”
Waneta looked affronted, but she simply folded her arms over her chest. “What is it you wanted to ask me?”
“Did Esther have two cochlear implants or only one?”
“One was deemed enough by her doctor.”
“Danki. I want you to know she isn’t a problem for me. She works very hard and she has some goot ideas about growing my business. With her help I’m sure I can produce enough items to make having a booth at the festival worthwhile.”
“It’s a shame she won’t be there to see your success or the lack of it.”
“Why wouldn’t she attend the festival? Are you leaving sooner than planned?”
“We aren’t. She is.”
Chapter Twelve
Esther looked up from her sewing machine when Gabe came in. She knew at once that he was upset by the expression on his face. “What’s wrong?”
He walked over to lean against the cutting table and crossed his arms over his chest as he faced her. “You’re leaving.”
“You knew that.”
“I didn’t know you were leaving in five days.”
She pushed her chair back and clasped her hands together in her lap. “Who told you?”
“Does it matter?”
“Waneta?”
“Is it true?”
“I didn’t want to come on this trip. My father insisted. The woman he hired to drive us out here went on to stay with some family in Bar Harbor for several weeks. She agreed that when she was ready to drive back to Ohio, she would take any of us who wanted to go along with her. I was delighted to learn of her offer. I thought two weeks would be more than enough time to satisfy my father. However, that was before I became involved with you and your work.”
“Then I don’t understand.”
“Waneta called Bessie and then wrote to my father to
tell him I was coming home. I never said I wanted to leave so soon. I didn’t agree to go. I like to finish what I start, Gabe.”
Some of the tenseness left his body. “So you aren’t leaving before the Potato Blossom Festival.”
“I want to see you succeed. I think Gott has given you a wonderful talent and more people should know about the things you create. I’m sorry if Waneta upset you. I will make it clear to her that I am not going home until she and my sisters are ready to go.”
A half smile pulled up the corner of his mouth. “I can’t tell you how relieved that makes me. I’ve gotten used to having you around.”
She grinned. “The feeling is mutual.”
“I guess we can get back to work now. What did Pamela say about the linings?”
“She can have three of them ready for us by tomorrow morning. It won’t take me long to stitch them in.”
“Then I had better get busy cutting more leather. How do you say that in ASL?”
“Say what?”
“Get busy.”
She giggled and showed him. He repeated the motion. She nodded and turned back to her machine.
He tapped her shoulder. “Thank you,” he signed, surprising her.
“Has Jonah been teaching you more sign language?”
“A little. Not good yet.”
Her heart swelled with gratitude for Gabe’s kindness and willingness to learn to communicate with her. Every day she discovered something about him that made him dearer to her. When she did finally leave Maine, she was going to miss him dreadfully.
Esther and Gabe worked long into the evening that night and started again early the next morning. After they finished, she had a conversation with Waneta to let her know she wasn’t going to leave with Bessie. She had been surprised when Waneta didn’t object.
Now, late in the afternoon, Esther’s eyes were scratchy from staring at the sewing needle for hours on end. Her back ached from leaning over the machine, but she was finished. It was time to pack up their items for the trip into town in the morning. She looked around the workshop with a sense of great satisfaction. They had accomplished a lot together.
Gabe stood in front of her. “Tired?”
“A little,” she said and signed the same.
His signing was improving. Jonah had told her that Gabe sent away for a book on ASL so he could continue to study it even after they went back to Ohio. It was one thing to memorize the signs. It was another thing to be able to communicate effortlessly. Unless Gabe had someone he could practice with, he wouldn’t become fluent. She didn’t tell him that. He was so pleased with what he had learned.
Daily he demonstrated a new phrase or two that he had mastered. She adored helping him. It was cute watching him try, fail sometimes and then try harder. He had an aptitude for it that surprised her. She had started signing whenever she spoke to him to help him learn.
Suddenly he winced. “We don’t need that.”
“What?”
“Thunder. The forecast said there was a chance of storms tonight and for tomorrow.”
“Nee. It can’t rain tomorrow.” They had worked so hard to get ready. If it rained, few if any people would come to the market.
He looked at the ceiling. “I don’t know about tomorrow, but it’s raining now. I hear it on the roof.”
She looked up, too. “I remember what that sounded like. Soothing. It meant we wouldn’t be working in the fields the next day.”
“The crops need rain. We shouldn’t wish it away.”
“Can we pray for a pause from ten o’clock to four o’clock tomorrow?”
“I think that will be acceptable. Are you ready to make a dash to the house?”
“I won’t melt.”
“You won’t? Aren’t you sugar and spice and everything nice?” His words were teasing, but his expression became oddly serious.
“You are confusing me with my sisters.” She grew warm beneath his intense scrutiny.
He tugged gently on her kapp ribbon. “I think not. They may be sweet, but I haven’t seen a sign of spice among them.”
“Sweet is usually enough for most young men.”
He didn’t take his eyes off her face. “Not me. I like spicy.”
She knew she was blushing. “We should go to the house before the storm gets worse.”
He took a step back. “You’re right.”
She quickly headed for the door. When she opened it, the rain was coming down in sheets. Gabe caught her by the shoulder. She turned to see him holding a large piece of hide.
“I don’t have an umbrella, but this should work. Stay close to me.”
She nodded. He held the hide over his head and stepped out. She pressed against his side to keep from getting wet as they rushed toward the front porch of the house, but she stumbled and fell to her knees. Gabe lifted her up and kept one arm around her. He couldn’t control the hide with one hand. The wind carried the rain into her face in spite of his efforts to keep her dry. Her kapp and her hem were soaked by the time they reached cover.
She laughed as she ran up the steps and shook out her dress. Gabe dropped the hide on the porch floor. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and began to mop her face. “I didn’t help much.”
They stood close together. His hand stilled. She saw his eyes darken. She couldn’t look away from him. She didn’t want to.
Why hadn’t she realized it before now? She was halfway to falling in love with this wonderful man.
He leaned toward her. She knew he was going to kiss her. She raised her face and closed her eyes.
His lips touched hers. Gently. As softly as a rose petal, and then they were gone. Her heart began racing as her breath caught in her throat. His hands settled on her shoulders. Nothing mattered except being closer to him. She pressed her hands to his chest and leaned against him as his arms circled her and drew her near. She wanted to keep kissing him.
* * *
Part of Gabe’s mind said he was making a mistake. There would be no going back from this, but he was past caring. She was in his arms. He wanted to hold her forever. Her lips were as sweet as honeysuckle nectar. One kiss would never be enough. She was everything he’d ever wanted and never knew he needed.
The sound of the door opening behind him brought reality crashing back into view. He glanced over his shoulder. His father stood in the doorway. “I saw you running through the rain, but then you didn’t come in. Is everything all right?”
“It’s fine. We’ll be a minute.”
“Okay.” His father appeared puzzled, but he went back inside and closed the door.
Gabe looked down at Esther. Her eyes were filled with confusion as she gazed at him. He nodded toward the door. “My father wanted to know if we were all right.”
She pressed a hand to her cheek. “He saw us? You—me?”
“Did he see me kiss you? I don’t think so.”
“I’m so embarrassed. How will I face him?”
“Like nothing happened except that you got wet and took a moment to dry your face with my kerchief.” He pressed the damp cloth into her hand. “Go in. The longer we stand out here, the stranger it will look.”
“What? I didn’t catch all that you said.”
“Dry your face and go in.”
She stepped around him and looked back. There was so much he wanted to say to her. He didn’t know where to start, and this wasn’t the time to sort it out. “Go.”
She went inside. He picked up the wet hide and shook it off. A moment later he opened the door and leaned in. “Mamm, have you got something I can use to dry this piece of leather? I don’t want the water to stain it.”
His mother appeared with a dish towel. “Will this work?”
“Great. Danki.”
“Is Esther okay? She ran upstairs without a word.”
“Oh, the poor child. I’ll fix some hot tea for her. And for you. You look like you need it.”
“Sounds goot.”
She made a tsking sound. “The two of you have been working entirely too hard.”
“I don’t think we’ll be putting in any more long hours.” He began to dry the leather he’d used as an ineffective umbrella. He couldn’t be sure Esther would want to see him again, let alone work beside him. Why hadn’t he kept his feelings under wraps?
Because of the way she had looked at him. With such wonder in her eyes. Like she had discovered a new rare flower.
She wasn’t indifferent to him. But what did it really mean? She would be leaving. Not in a few days but in a few weeks with her family. She had made no secret of the fact that she wouldn’t marry a hearing man. Where did that leave him? Was it possible he could change her mind?
“What are Seth and Asher doing?”
Gabe followed his mother’s gaze. His brothers were standing in the barn door. When they saw they had his attention, they beckoned to him.
His heart sank. Something told him his interlude with Esther hadn’t gone unnoticed after all. He managed a half-hearted smile for his mother and handed her the towel. “I’ll go see what they want.”
“Don’t stay out there long. Supper will be ready in half an hour.” She smiled, patted his cheek the way she had done since he was a child and went in.
Gabe dashed across to the open barn door. Asher and Seth took a step back to let him inside. He shook the rain from his hat. “What do you fellows want?”
“An explanation would be nice,” Seth said.
“About what?”
“Don’t play coy,” Asher grumbled.
“Okay. I suspect you saw me kiss Esther. What do you want to know?”
Seth planted his hands on his hips. “Your intentions, for one thing? Please tell me you aren’t just feeling sorry for her. That would not be fair to her.”
“I haven’t had time to sort out how I feel. What are your intentions toward Pamela?”
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