by Mary Davis
“You’re really quiet.”
His mind wasn’t. It was racing with chaotic thoughts and emotions. The drive couldn’t end quickly enough for him.
He dropped her off in front of the dawdy haus.
“I’ll get Nelly so you can be on your way.”
“Ne. I’ll do it.” He drove toward the barn before she could untie the horse.
“Danki for the ride,” she called after him.
He waved his hand over his head to let her know he’d heard her. In the barn, he secured Nelly in her stall and hurried back outside.
Bishop Bontrager met up with him at the trap. “Danki for taking care of Nelly.”
“I’m glad to help.”
“The inspector came and signed the card.”
“I’ll return in the morgen. Guten tag.” Eli snapped the reins before he could be delayed again.
Rainbow Girl was pregnant. Would she stay until the baby was born? No wonder her vater would have nothing to do with her. Eli wanted nothing to do with her either, but it was too late.
He had time to build. He’d given his word freely to the bishop that he’d build the addition. He had a strong back and skilled hands. He gave that too to the bishop, with no resentment.
But Rainbow Girl had wiggled her way into his heart. Without permission. With no recourse on his part. That he did resent, and he would need to excise her from his heart as well as his thoughts.
Strangely, he blamed his own foolishness. Little blame fell on the one who had wronged her family, her community, her Gott. He thought of Rainbow Girl and felt a protective need to shield her. Was she shaking his faith? Was she going to be an obstruction between Gott and himself? This could not be. He had no intention of following Rainbow Girl into the Englisher world. But Rainbow Girl had brought the Englisher world to their community in a way that could not be ignored.
But just because she returned didn’t mean anything for him had changed. He was still in need of a wife. On his way home, he pulled into the Miller farm and asked to speak to Miriam. Her smile made her subsequent refusal seem like a sweet gift.
Her rejection stung, but not like it should. More because of the blow to his ego and less because he cared so much for her that he felt an actual loss. He was more upset he couldn’t show Rainbow Girl his life was fulfilling and on track without her.
But it wasn’t. It never had been.
And that stung even more.
Chapter Eight
The next day, Dori woke to the sounds of hammers and men’s voices outside. She dressed and ate quickly. Since it seemed as though she was going to stay with her grossvater for the time being, she exited through the back door, determined to do what she could to make this project go as fast as possible.
Eli, Daniel and Benjamin bustled around the interior of the foundation. They had started early and wasted no time on capping the top of the concrete blocks with wood, and had three floor joists in place already. She’d forgotten how fast Amish men could build things.
She stepped down onto the grass. “Guten morgen.”
Eli looked up from hoisting a two-by-twelve. He narrowed his eyes at her and dropped the board. “Take a break.” He strode to her like a ram toward an intruder.
Dori held her ground and smiled. “How can I help today?”
He gritted his teeth. “Go back inside.”
“Ne. I want to do something.”
“Ne. Go. Inside.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “I’m going to help, whether you approve or not.”
He stood in her path. “I won’t allow you out here.”
Why was he acting like this? He’d let her help him the other day. Was it because there were other men around? Would his manly pride get bruised? “You can’t stop me, Eli Hochstetler.”
He lowered his voice. “It’s not gut for the baby.”
The blood drained from her face. “How long have you known?”
“Since yesterday. Does the bishop know?”
“Of course. How did you...?”
“Just go inside and don’t come out again.” He walked away.
She stumbled back into the house and closed the door. Tears spilled down her cheeks. The hurt in his expression wrenched her heart. She should have told him herself, but she’d wanted to revel in the nice friendship they were rekindling. Letting him figure it out on his own had been a grave error in judgment. It had happened right before he’d brought her home. She realized that now. How could she have been so careless? How could she ever make amends?
She slumped into a chair at the table and opened her laptop. Last night, she’d gotten Eli a buddy page connected to another Amish website. Which meant that he wouldn’t have to pay for a domain until he was ready. She would show him what his website could be. She would make it up to him for not telling him about the baby. Just because he wouldn’t let her do anything further to help build the addition didn’t mean she couldn’t help him in some other way.
She connected her cell phone to the laptop and downloaded the pictures she’d taken yesterday. Within an hour, she had a basic site ready for content. She did her best to write about each item. Eli could help her fine-tune the descriptions later. All of Craig’s instructions about graphics and web design had paid off. She hadn’t realized how much she’d learned.
At the end of the day, she had the bare bones of a website built. And the three-man construction team had the skeletal walls of the dawdy haus addition up, with the electrical wired in and the floor joists in place. They also had managed to finish the roof, complete with shingles and gutters. Everything ready for the next inspection. Eli wouldn’t return for a day or two, and she wanted to show him what she’d accomplished. She stepped out the back door onto the small stoop. Her sister stood talking to Daniel Burkholder. “Eli, may I speak with you a moment?”
He didn’t turn to her right away as the other two young men and her sister did, but when he did, the scowl on his face spoke loudly of his irritation.
Well, let him be irritated. He would change his mood when he saw his website. Now he wouldn’t have to hire a Englisher to build it for him. That would save him money, and Amish were all about frugality.
He huffed out a breath. “What? It’s been a long day, and I want to get home.”
What he meant was he wanted to get away from her. He probably regretted ever agreeing to help the bishop.
“Would you come here, please? Unless you’d like me to go over there.”
He crawled over the foundation and walked between the floor joists to her. “What?”
“Come inside.”
“I don’t want to. Just tell me what it is.”
“I can’t. I have to show you.” She walked down the hall, hoping he would follow her. And he did. When he caught up to her, she pointed toward her computer. “Look. I made you a website.”
He sat and stared at the screen.
“Click around.” When he didn’t move, she reached in front of him and changed the screen to one of his pieces, a weather vane. She drew in a deep breath. He smelled of wood and smoke. She wanted to lean into the aromas but resisted. If he was angry now, that would upset him even more. “I didn’t know quite how to describe the items you make—the correct terminology and all—but you can help me with that. This is merely a temporary site until you can buy a domain name.”
He stood. “I told you I didn’t want you to do this. Undo it.”
His rejection stung. Why wasn’t he pleased?
“But this is the best way for you to get orders from English customers and make more money. You don’t want an Englisher in charge of your website. You need to learn this yourself.”
He walked back down the hall. “Undo it, I said.”
Dori put her hands on her hips. Stubborn man. He could protest all he wanted, but in the end, who wouldn’t want
a website created for free? Did he realize how much an outsider would charge? A lot. When he cooled down, he’d see that this was a gut thing. He would see that she was right. If he still hated what she’d done in a day or two, she would take it down.
Maybe.
She could be stubborn too.
On Saturday night, Dori sat at her grossvater’s table and bowed her head as he said a blessing over the meal she’d cooked. Dried-out chicken with half-raw and half-burnt fried potatoes. It wasn’t that she couldn’t cook, but her mind kept wandering back to Eli’s words when he’d acknowledged that he knew about her baby and his vehement refusal of the website she’d created for him. Something inside her needed him to approve of her work. Approve of her. But he likely never would.
The bishop said, “Amen.” He raised his head and picked up his fork.
Dori grabbed hers as well and stabbed a blackened potato chunk. “Sorry about the potatoes.”
“They’re fine.”
They weren’t. With the raw and burnt bits aside, the rest of the flavor wasn’t bad.
He swallowed a bite of chicken and chased it with a swig of milk. “I have a favor to ask of you.”
Dori had a bad feeling about this. “What is it?”
“I want you to come to the big haus with me tomorrow morning for family church.”
Had she already been here for a week? “I don’t think that’s a gut idea. Vater wouldn’t like that.”
“It will show him you are trying.”
But she wasn’t. Not really. But she also wasn’t actively trying to leave. If she hadn’t lost her job, she wouldn’t be here. If Craig hadn’t kicked her out, she wouldn’t be here. If she had been able to find new work, she wouldn’t be here. But none of those were likely to change, and life here wasn’t as bad as she’d imagined. “I’ll think about it.” It might actually be pleasant, and she couldn’t afford to have Grossvater kick her out too.
“And services the other Sundays, as well.” He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.
A reminder that he was providing the roof over her head?
She nodded.
“And would you mind removing the jewelry from your face and ears? It would be distracting for the younger ones.”
There it was. Get her to agree to one seemingly benign thing and then ask for more. “Next, you’ll want me to wear a cape dress.”
“That wouldn’t hurt.”
She folded her arms on the table. “I’ll go tomorrow, and I’ll even take out the piercings in meine face, but not meine ears. And I’m not wearing a cape dress.”
“What about your hair?”
He was going to push this to see how much she would give.
“It stays the way it is.” Brown roots and all. It actually looked pretty awful with it half her natural color and half-multicolored. A few inches longer and someone could mistake it for being intentionally colored on the ends. If she had the money, she would recolor the roots.
Grossvater pressed his lips together.
After a couple of dry, hard-to-swallow bites, Dori had an idea. He wasn’t the only one with a wish list. “Grossvater, I think you should get internet service and a computer. Before you object, let me explain.”
He narrowed his eyes. “I have a feeling I won’t like this, but continue.”
“So many Amish have websites as a necessity for their businesses to survive. I think it would be a gut idea if you had internet and a computer so you could check up on them and monitor their sites.” While giving her more reliable service to earn her GED and update Eli’s site.
“I don’t know how to work a computer.”
“I will teach you.”
He shook his head. “I don’t wish to learn.”
Just like Eli.
“One more thing, Dorcas. I want you to take the membership classes.”
Changing the subject on her? “I’m not joining church, Grossvater.”
“I won’t make you. That decision is between you and Gott.” He shrugged. “But what would it hurt to sit through the classes? The teacher is quite gut.” He gave an impish grin.
The teacher being the bishop sitting across from her.
Two could play at this game. Dori leaned forward. “Here’s the deal. I remove the piercings from meine face, but not the ones in meine ears. No cape dress, but I’ll wear less...colorful clothes, black sweatpants and a plain top in a prescribed Amish color. I’ll wear a black beanie hat to disguise meine hair. I’ll attend church on Sundays.” She swallowed hard. “And I’ll attend the membership classes, but I’m not joining.”
“Wunderbar.” He thought he’d won.
She held up her hand. “I’m not done. I’ll do these things in exchange for you getting internet service, a computer and approving a website for Eli.” She could be just as stubborn as the men.
He frowned at her.
She held out her hand across the table. “Deal?” As much as she wanted these things for herself, in truth they would help him keep track of what his flock did with technology and make sure people used it as it had been approved for each individual. She knew the secrets of the Amish better than the bishop, and, like Englishers, they tried to get away with things, like hiding forbidden technology in their barns or cupboards. Being the bishop, he wasn’t privy to his flock’s secret actions. Most infractions weren’t bad or serious, but the internet had the potential for real wickedness. If he knew all that cyberspace contained, no one would ever gain approval for a computer again.
He folded his arms. “You have learned some bad habits living with the English.”
He hadn’t even begun to see all of her “bad habits.”
Her hand still hovered in the air between them.
He nodded and, surprisingly, shook her hand. “You are a tough haggler.”
“Danki, Grossvater.” Now, if she could just convince Eli. The following morning, Dori regretted agreeing to attend the family service. Her vater’s disapproving looks were offset by her mutter’s compassionate ones. Strained silence and awkward glances dominated the gathering. It was grueling. Worse than Dori had imagined. Worse yet was when the bishop forced her to tell her brothers that she was pregnant.
Matthew glared at her, while her three youngest brothers stared wide-eyed.
She wanted to flee. Instead, she distracted herself by pressing the tip of her tongue against the hole in her lip. It felt odd to not have the stud there, scraping on her tooth. She would replace it as soon as she returned to the dawdy haus. She’d promised to remove them for services but not permanently. She didn’t want the holes to close up.
But maybe Eli wouldn’t look so disapprovingly on her if she left them out.
Chapter Nine
The inspector arrived late on Tuesday afternoon, so Eli and the others wouldn’t resume building until Wednesday. Eli had hoped to complete the room this week. Though he loved working in his forge, he strangely looked forward to this project, which surprised him. He also didn’t want to see Rainbow Girl but at the same time did. He’d contemplated several girls he might ask to court, but in the end, he gave up the idea because his heart wasn’t in it.
He drove the wagon up next to the corral. “You two get started. I’ll take care of the horse and wagon.”
Daniel and Benjamin jumped down and headed across the grass.
It would do Eli gut to put off seeing her for a few more minutes. Give him a chance to collect his thoughts and prepare himself for her ostentatious appearance. He unhitched the horse. Even mentally preparing himself, Rainbow Girl’s appearance startled him every time.
With the horse taken care of, he headed for the construction site.
Rainbow Girl stood in the grass between the floor joists, talking with Daniel and Benjamin.
How had Eli missed her being pregnant? It seemed so obvious now.
Dani
el had his arms folded. “I don’t think you belong here.”
“You’re right, but I’m here, for better or for worse.”
Where was the bishop? He needed to keep Rainbow Girl out of sight.
Eli marched toward them, climbed over the foundation wall and narrowed his eyes at her. “May I speak with you a moment?”
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to do anything dangerous.”
He spoke through gritted teeth. “Now.” He motioned toward the back door.
She took a slow, deep breath, held it a moment and released it just as slowly. “Okay.” She swiveled toward the haus and trudged up the steps and inside. Once in the kitchen area, she whirled around. “What? I don’t appreciate you ordering me about.”
“Too bad. You can’t be outside. What if one of them realizes you’re expecting?”
“I’m not going to be able to hide it much longer, and it’s not going to matter in a few days anyway. Meine grossvater has decided to tell the whole church on Sunday.” She waved her arm through the air. “He thinks it’s best if everyone knows, so they can help me.”
He didn’t want the bishop to do that. Rainbow Girl would be singled out. If the bishop announced this, it would make it real. He wanted to protect her from the ridicule. “If the bishop has decided, then I guess it’s done.” He turned to head outside again, then swung back. “Please stay in the haus.”
She tilted her head and pressed her lips together.
A sinking feeling in his gut told him she wasn’t likely to obey. “You’re a distraction.” Mostly to him. “Just stay out of sight of the construction, then.”
“I can’t make any promises. Grossvater told me to see to it that you boys are fed. Can’t very well bring you food if I’m not allowed to be seen.”
He pressed his lips together. “I’m not a boy.” Was that how she thought of him? Still the boy from school days?
“Whatever.”
In spite of being mildly irritated, he enjoyed this banter, but the sound of plywood sheets being moved on top of the floor joists reminded him that he had a job to do, so he moved to leave again.