“We knew each other from a few years back,” Esther told her, “so it’s not as though we were strangers.”
Arlene didn’t answer as Dorrine escorted the men and Diana into the kitchen. Joseph greeted Esther and Arlene, and then he, Ben, and John pulled out chairs and took their seats. Esther pulled out a chair for Diana, one with a pillow on the seat to act as a booster for the little girl. Dorrine brought the food to the table and seated herself. Arlene did the same after a brief glance at Joseph.
“Let us pray,” John said. He lead out in a short prayer of thanks.
After the “Amen,” Dorrine and Arlene passed the bowls of hot food.
“What have you been doing with yourself?” John asked Esther. “I saw Isaiah’s buggy at your house on Monday, but all has been quiet since then.”
Esther gave him a soft smile before she answered. “Yah, Isaiah stopped by to offer help, and I put him to work fixing the drain in the bathroom.”
“That shouldn’t have been too difficult.”
“I must not have worked him too hard,” Esther agreed. “He’s coming back for supper on Friday evening.”
John chuckled. “I’m glad to see you two getting along. Minister Isaiah has been a widower long enough. It’s not goot for a man to be alone, according to what the Lord spoke in the garden all those years ago. Things have not changed since then. A man needs a frau in the house.”
Esther nodded. “I’m glad the Lord’s blessing seems to be upon my move to the valley and upon Isaiah’s interest in me. We both have sorrowed, and now the Lord is choosing to bless us, for which we are very grateful.”
“That’s well spoken.” John appeared solemn. “And what about you, Joseph? Has the Lord been blessing you lately?”
Joseph lowered his head to say, “Not in that way, no.”
John added quickly, “I’m sorry if I offended you. I was only trying to tease. I’m sure there’s someone out there who would fill the empty place in your home.”
“Perhaps,” Joseph allowed, and then he turned toward Esther. “You didn’t know my frau, Silvia, did you?”
“No, but I’m sure she was a worthy woman. She came from the Englisha, yah? What a story that must be.”
A hint of a smile played on Joseph’s face. “There is a story. Silvia came from the other side of the fence, but she was a lovely woman, not unlike an angel who flew in by the hand of the Lord. I knew about her illness before we wed, but Silvia loved me deeply.” Joseph dropped his gaze for a moment. “And I loved her with all my heart.”
“That’s beautiful,” Esther said, her mind racing. There was more to this, she was sure, but no one said anything. Perhaps the subject was better left alone for now. “I heard that you create new rose lines,” she finally added.
Joseph gave Arlene a quick look. “That I do.”
“Have you had any success?”
“Yah, I have. But I should find out just how great the success has been this October.”
“Oh?” Esther leaned forward in her chair. “What’s so special about October?”
He hesitated. “Maybe I can show you the rose sometime when you come over.”
“I would love that.”
“I showed Joseph my rose,” Diana piped up. “He said it smelled very goot.”
“I’m glad he liked your rose,” Esther said, smiling gently at Joseph. “All roses are worthy of praise.”
Joseph’s head jerked up. “You don’t think all roses are the same, do you, Esther?”
“No,” she answered, careful to avoid Arlene’s eyes. “Sometime you’ll have to tell me more about your dabbling in hybridizing. It all sounds very interesting.”
A smile grew on Joseph’s face as John spoke up. “If I may interrupt these rose stories, what I’m interested in is Joseph’s plans for the produce market. Will there be room for poor farmers like us to sneak in a few products?”
Joseph joined in the laughter this time. “You can talk with Arlene about that. She’s making all our plans for the produce. I’m sure we’ll be working it out so that it fits in with the community’s needs. The Lord has given Ben and me plenty of food to eat and a house to live in. There’s no reason to be greedy.”
“That’s true,” John agreed, and the smiles returned to Dorrine’s and Arlene’s faces.
Esther listened to the conversation flow around her. She would have to look into this rose project of Joseph’s soon. From what she could tell, more was there than what readily met the eye.
EIGHT
On Friday morning, with Diana’s hand in hers, Esther pushed open the door of the round-framed greenhouse and called out, “Hello? Anybody around?”
“Yah, I’m coming,” Joseph called from somewhere in the back.
“It’s Esther and Diana,” Esther called back.
They waited as Joseph’s hesitant step came toward them. As he drew nearer, Diana ran up to him with her face aglow. “Can I see your special rose? The one you told me about?”
Joseph bent low to give her a quick hug. “You can if your mamm doesn’t object. She’s probably anxious to get started with her garden.”
“That’s okay,” Esther told him. “I should have been here earlier, but I had to make preparations for supper tonight.”
“Minister Isaiah?” Joseph teased with a twinkle in his eye.
Esther laughed. “So you do notice things other than praying mantises and roses?”
He chuckled. “I suppose so, but I do get a little caught up in my own world.”
“I wasn’t trying to correct you or scold you,” Esther assured him. “Although, about the praying mantis…”
He nodded. “I’m sorry, Esther. I shouldn’t have shared something like that with a child as young as your daughter. I got a little carried away and forgot her age.”
“It’s okay. I have to confess I was a little upset at first, but children know how to handle things like that better than we think they can.”
“Can we see the rose now?” Diana asked, tugging on Joseph’s sleeve.
He looked to Esther. “Do you want to come along too?”
“Certainly.” Esther didn’t hesitate. “I told you Wednesday evening I wanted to see what you are doing.”
He seemed pleased and led the way to the adjoining greenhouse.
“Where’s Arlene?”
Joseph didn’t pause in his shuffle. “She’s busy in the back gathering up the produce we will take to the market tomorrow.”
“Maybe I should help with the work rather than start on my garden spot this afternoon,” Esther suggested.
“That’s kind of you, but it’s already late in the season, and everyone needs a little garden to tinker with.”
“I want my garden planted with nothing but roses,” Diana piped up.
Joseph laughed. “See there? Out of the mouths of babes comes wisdom.”
Esther joined in his laughter. Joseph’s shuffle soon came to a stop by a line of rose pots stretching along a wide shelf.
“Here it is,” Joseph declared, reaching for the tallest pot. “My very own precious rose.” He brought it down to Diana’s level. “Smell deeply, little one.”
Diana closed her eyes and took a long sniff.
“What do you think?” Joseph bent close to listen for the answer.
“It is…” Diana slowly opened her eyes. “It is very sweet and wunderbah,” she said dreamily.
“Ah, that’s goot! Take another sniff before I put the rose back.”
Diana complied, her face rapturous.
“It is called Silvia’s Rose,” Joseph told her. “A sign of the Lord’s blessing on my life with its beautiful and heavenly smell.”
“So this is your hybrid?” Esther asked.
He set the pot on the shelf and turned to face her. “It is, but perhaps we had best not say more about that. For some, it’s a sensitive subject.”
“That would be Arlene?”
“Yah.”
“I would like to know the full story if
you don’t mind.”
His gaze drifted to her daughter, and Esther turned to say, “Diana, why don’t you run back to where Arlene is working to see if you can help her? I’ll call you if I need help in the garden.”
Diana took another quick glance at the rose before she skipped off.
Joseph watched the small form retreat from sight before he spoke. “The story began a long time ago, when Silvia showed up in our district. I told you the basics the other evening—of her being Englisha, and of her beauty. I soon learned that though she was in remission from cancer, she felt her time was short. I couldn’t believe she desired my attentions, let alone my love, but that was how it was. She joined the community, and we dated, and we were wed. I don’t have to tell you how deeply we loved each other, and how taken I was with her.” He glanced down at his lame foot. “Maybe suffering draws people together? I don’t know.”
“Did she tell you of her background in the Englisha world?” Esther asked.
Joseph’s grin was wry. “You make it sound as if she were a fleeing murderer. Silvia was not like that. Her parents had divorced when she was young, and she was shuffled around between their homes. She never told me much about her growing up years, but the illness made her walk away from it all. I do know that Silvia’s great love in life was gardening, or horticulture, as she called it. She had what the Englisha call a PhD.”
“Yah, the Englisha give that as one of the highest degrees, I’m thinking.”
“Something like that.” Joseph nodded. “Silvia had a doctorate in horticulture from Oregon State University. She taught me everything I know about roses, and most of what I know about gardening.” His voice caught. “Silvia had connections through her father, who submitted the seeds after Silvia’s death. Three years I have waited while the rose is grown at the Pageant of Roses Garden, and they study the results. I call it Silvia’s Rose, the beautiful expression of the woman I loved. The judging is this October.” Joseph turned to look back at the white-and-orange blossoms.
“So you hope to win something with this rose?”
“Yah, an award for Silvia’s sake. She deserves the best.”
“I understand.”
“Yah, I believe you do,” he said with a smile. “But I’m not surprised. You’re different, Esther. I knew that the first time I saw your daughter.”
“But I’m not different,” she protested. “I’m ordinary and boring.”
“Perhaps. But I’ve known the heart and love of a great woman, and yours is like hers.”
“Stop that, Joseph Zook,” she scolded. “You’ll have me blushing like a teenager.”
He grinned. “I doubt that. I’m the one who is common and ordinary. But come, we must see to your garden.”
As they made their way to the garden space he had set aside for her, Esther asked, “Have you told others in the community the story of Silvia’s Rose?”
“No. They’ve never asked. I did say a little to Arlene this week, and she reacted the way I expected people would.”
Esther quickened her steps. “But what if you win this award, Joseph? You know that could bring attention to you and the community.”
He paused. “I would do anything for Silvia, Esther. She wanted this win for me. I pray the Lord will grant her this honor.” Joseph turned toward some empty ground in front of them. “Now, back to gardening. All of this is yours to plant. Once Arlene adjusts her list with what is selling best on Saturday, we’ll be doing our own planting. In the meantime, put in what you want. I tilled the earth this morning. I think I’ve done enough for what you need. There are seeds on the rack over there. Help yourself.”
“But I can’t just take this space for nothing, Joseph,” Esther protested. “I must pay for this.”
He grinned. “I’m glad to help you and Isaiah with your new start in life. Next year you’ll likely have your own garden at his place.”
“I suppose so,” Esther allowed.
“Let it be my way of making it up to you for telling your daughter about praying mantises eating each other after their nuptials. I really am sorry about that. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“It can happen, I guess.” She managed to smile.
“You mean the female eating the male?”
Esther gasped. “Joseph!”
“I’m teasing.”
“You know it’s not like that. Surely you learned that from Silvia.”
A smile played on his face. “I was thinking of Arlene.”
Esther clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle an outburst of laugher.
He laughed along with her. “She has a wound somewhere in her life, but that’s another subject. Do you need anything else before I go help Arlene?”
“I’m fine,” she told him. “Thank you.”
He moved off with his steady shuffle. Maybe Joseph was right. She hadn’t thought of that angle. What was Arlene’s home life like? She hardly knew the family. But Arlene did love Joseph in her own way, and he did need a frau. Now that she knew of Joseph’s deep love for his former frau, Esther would have to pray that love could grow in Joseph’s heart for Arlene, though that might be difficult with the romantic ideas Joseph carried about marriage.
Esther made a face. The two had a long journey ahead of them, but stranger things had happened. Maybe Joseph could be persuaded to lend Arlene a helping hand. Love was above all practical and safe, and it should fit into everyday life. That was how the Lord made things. Roses didn’t always fit too well. They had seemed to work for Joseph in his first marriage, but maybe it was time he learned to walk with his feet on the ground.
That’s how she, Esther Stoltzfus, planned to live her life. She had moved all the way from Lancaster County for the purpose of becoming Isaiah’s wife, and look how things were working out. Quite well, and roses were not needed.
Esther found a string and two small stakes to set up the line. With a hoe she scraped a gouge into the earth along the string line. She found a tablet and pencil on an upper shelf and drew a rough diagram of her plot. She dribbled the seeds in the open earth and covered them—carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, celery, peas. She wrote each one down and worked for more than an hour, one row followed by another until she had planted all the produce she wanted.
“Looks like you’re doing okay,” Joseph said from a few feet away. Esther jumped, and Joseph laughed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.”
“It’s okay.” Esther caught her breath. “Any advice from the expert?”
He grinned. “No, it looks fine. Besides, you grew up with gardening, and it’s not my business to clutter your brain with information.”
“But I want to know,” she insisted.
“I’ll take care of things from here,” he assured her. “All you have to do is keep the weeds pulled. That I don’t do.”
“Offering me a spot here in your greenhouse is very kind of you, Joseph. I’m grateful.”
“I’m glad to help. Now, don’t you have to get home and prepare supper for Minister Isaiah?”
“I have plenty of time. Can’t I help you with something?”
“Well, if you don’t mind, you could run some boxes out to the wagon for me? I don’t want to impose, but with my foot, the hardest part of getting produce to the market is loading it up.”
“I’d be glad to,” she said without hesitation. She put up her hoe and tablet and followed Joseph across the greenhouse. He didn’t pause until they arrived where Arlene was working with Diana, who chattered beside her.
“I’m helping, Mamm!”
“That’s goot, sweetheart,” Esther replied, gathering up two boxes from the pile that were waiting to be loaded in the wagon. When she returned for more boxes, Joseph was gone.
Observing Arlene’s silence and cool demeanor, Esther told her, “Don’t give up yet, Arlene. Joseph told me some of the story of his life. I’m beginning to see why the two of you are having trouble. My advice is that you should also try to get to know more about
him and why he does some of the things he does. It may help you change your attitude toward him. Joseph does have a tender heart, and the man could help you.”
“And how can he help me?” Arlene whispered as Joseph reappeared again.
“I’ll tell you later,” Esther whispered back as she picked up a large basket for a trip to the wagon. Joseph was still there when she came back, and Arlene looked ready to burst with impatience. This time Arlene picked up a box of her own and followed Esther to the wagon.
“You’d best be telling me right away, Esther. What did you mean about him helping me?”
Esther turned to face Arlene. “The bottom line is that you have to stop knocking his roses. Joseph has a tender side that manifests itself in unusual ways, but scorning them isn’t going to help you win his heart. The man has much to offer. You should learn from him.”
“That’s it?” Arlene huffed. “I was hoping you would offer a way for me to pull him away from his fantasy life with the roses and his dead frau.” Arlene whirled about and hurried ahead of Esther back into the greenhouse.
Joseph looked up when they joined him again. Arlene ignored him and went back to her work. Esther gathered up her daughter for the walk home.
“Thanks for your help,” Joseph called after her.
“Thank you for the garden space,” she called back with a smile.
He knew much more than was obvious about the science of roses, which was the first lesson Arlene should learn—but she seemed incapable of accepting Joseph as he was. Joseph had been given a very special gift from the Lord, one that few people experienced, but the dangers were also obvious. How could he settle the second time for a frau who needed him without the glory of roses to light their way?
NINE
A late evening hush hung over the valley as Esther heard Isaiah’s buggy pulling into her driveway. She shook her white apron twice to shed the bread crumbs before she hurried to the front door. Isaiah wouldn’t expect a woman to be all fancied up in her Sunday clothing when he arrived for a Friday evening supper. An apron-clad one was fine—especially if the food was good—and, if she had to say so herself, she had a delicious supper ready.
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