Starting from Scratch

by Kate Lloyd

  “I can imagine she’s beyond exhausted.” Harvey scanned Jake’s attire. “You went to church without her?”

  “Yah.”

  “Driving an automobile?”

  “Nee, I brought out my parents’ buggy horse. That poor animal was dying to get out of the barn.”

  “That’s the only reason you drove their buggy?”

  “I didn’t wish to be disrespectful.” Jake held his hat by its brim. “Since I plan to be baptized, I’ll return the car to my friend in New York today and take a bus back home. Before church, I stopped by Eva’s parents’, who were expecting her. Finally, they gave up.” He glanced to me and said, “They were worried but supposed you’d made other plans. And, apparently, they were correct. I intended to drive over to the nursery, but I noticed every buggy coming from the other direction turning into Harvey’s lane.”

  I needed to speak up for myself. “Coming here was a spur-of-the-moment decision. Harvey invited me.” But no one seemed to hear me.

  “Did you attend church by yourself, Jake?” Harvey asked.

  “Yah. It was most enjoyable to see my old friends.”

  “And what was the message?”

  “Minister Stephen spoke about the prodigal son from the book of Luke. After, I asked him if the ministers had decided it would be a good topic since I was there. But he said no. They went upstairs to pray about it before I arrived. But he was pleased I’d attended. He didn’t even make a wisecrack about my short hair.”

  Jake gazed into Harvey’s face as if waiting for the bishop to reprimand him, but Harvey said, “I’m glad you attended church and that you went to the trouble of getting your parents’ horse out. You’re moving in the right direction, for sure.”

  Several other men nodded. “Gut for you, Jake,” one said. “Our heavenly Father is always willing to take us back into his arms.”

  Harvey’s daughters snuck glances at Jake the whole time he was there. One offered him muffins and squares of cake in what seemed to be a coquettish manner, which initiated a frown from Harvey.

  “If you don’t mind, I’ll eat this later.” Jake scooped up a muffin and wrapped it in a paper napkin.

  “I must be on my way,” he told Harvey, as if I weren’t even standing there. Which was the proper etiquette because Harvey was the host, but it made me feel invisible and sad. Jake’s glance glided right past mine as he moved toward the back door.

  “Wait.” The word flew out of my mouth and hung in the air. The room went silent, conversations halting, all eyes turning to me. I wasn’t invisible after all.

  “Are you going to the hospital to see your dat?”

  “Yah.” Jake glanced toward the back door as an Amish couple strolled in, full of cheer.

  “Eva,” Harvey said, “I’ll take you later.”

  “And leave your family and company?” I couldn’t bring myself to look into his face.

  “But you haven’t met my son and his family. Later, I’ll rent a van, and several of us can escort you.”

  I knew my parents would be horrified, but I said, “Denki for your kind offer, but Ruth and Amos need me now.”

  “You’d drive all the way to the hospital in Jake’s buggy? Or in his car?”

  Jake stood tall and faced Harvey. “You are welcome to accompany us in the car if you’d like to see my dat. But then I’m leaving town to return the car.”

  Harvey tugged on his beard as he fixed his gaze upon him. “I’ll come with you since you so kindly asked. And to make sure that car goes back to its Englisch owner.”

  One woman covered her mouth with her hand as if in shock over his response.

  “You’re leaving us?” his mamm asked.

  “Yah, Mamm. Would you step in for me and be the hostess? What’s mine is yours.”

  The lines on her creased face deepened. “I wish my dochder were still alive to see this.” Her statement hinted she was his former wife’s mother.

  Harvey cracked a forlorn smile. “Being married to a bishop was a hardship for her, that’s for sure. I should have thought to visit Amos and Ruth myself, first thing this morning.”

  FIFTY

  Several women said goodbye to me as I ducked my head and followed Harvey and Jake outside. I felt a splat of rain on my forehead.

  “Grab one of those coats in the utility room,” Harvey told me.

  “Denki.” I went back inside and took hold of a black hooded raincoat.

  To say riding back to Jake’s parents’ farm in their buggy was awkward was an understatement. Several teenage boys had already unharnessed Harvey’s horse and led it into his barn soon after we’d arrived, as well as most of the other horses. Only Jake’s buggy stood close to the house, the horse tethered to a nearby post as if Jake had not meant to spend much time there anyway. I wondered if his showing up at Harvey’s at all would be considered a rude, brash, in-your-face move. He was braver than I was.

  I could only imagine the conversations about us in Harvey’s house now, but I felt sure I should visit Amos and comfort Ruth. Or maybe her daughters and friends had finally come to support her. Either way, I found myself hunched in the backseat of the buggy. Before I’d slipped inside behind Jake, I’d seen how Harvey’s face wore a serious mask. But as the rainfall accelerated, my guess was he’d soon be happy to ride in an automobile.

  “As I said before, my accepting this ride in no way means I approve of Jake driving cars.” Harvey glanced over his shoulder to include me.

  “If you’d rather I drove this buggy all that way, I can,” Jake said. “But a storm is brewing.”

  “Nee, your horse is obviously fatigued and needs to be watered and fed. Have you forgotten how to take care of your animals?”

  “Actually, I have feed in the back and will be in no short supply of water this afternoon.”

  “Never mind. Let’s get to your parents’ home, make the switch, and get on with it.”

  By the time we reached the Millers’ farm, the rain was sheeting down. Jake hopped out of the buggy, unhitched the horse, and escorted the animal into the barn. Several minutes later, he returned, unlocked the car, and we all dove in, with me in the backseat.

  “I’m tempted to ask you to drive me home,” Harvey said.

  “As you like.” Jake started the engine.

  “Nee. We’ve come this far.” Harvey buckled his seat belt. “I might as well accept your hospitality, such as it is.”

  “Harvey, I don’t mind driving you back home. It will take but a few minutes.”

  “Just go. My family is used to my erratic hours. When people like your parents need comfort, I should help them even if they are in a different district. Their bishop is in no condition to do so.”

  Jake switched on the windshield wipers as the storm increased. Although it was only early afternoon, the sky turned elephant gray. Streams were forming on the sides of the road. Vehicles approaching from the other direction splashed blinding arcs of moisture on the windshield.

  We passed several buggies. My heart went out to the drenched horses and the buggies’ occupants. I started to tell Jake that Olivia’s parents told Harvey they might let her come help his parents, but then I decided to let Harvey bring it up.

  Jake slowed the car and spoke to Harvey. “My guess is you’re fixing to marry Eva. Am I right?”

  “That’s a presumptuous question.”

  “Well, then, I’ll discuss it for the both of us. You want to marry Eva, and I don’t blame you.” Jake’s eyes caught mine in the rearview mirror. “My opinion is she should marry you and put her past behind her. I’ll never live up to her expectations.”

  I leaned forward and saw Harvey crossing his legs at the ankles and then uncrossing them. “As you well know, a couple must decide these private matters between themselves.”

  Jake slowed behind a semi, thus avoiding a spray of water. “You are a fine man, and I truly respect you, Harvey. But if you don’t snap up this opportunity, you’re acting the fool.”

  “Hey, don
’t I have any say in this?” My hands gripped Jake’s seatback in front of me. “For one thing, Harvey hasn’t asked me to marry him.”

  “And if he did?” Jake shot back.

  “I’d tell him another man owned my heart.” There, I’d said it.

  “Rubbish.” Harvey bulleted his words at me. “You’ve been reading too many Englisch romance novels, haven’t you?”

  “How do you know?”

  “Beatrice said she lent you one.” Harvey tugged his beard.

  “How and why did that subject matter come up?”

  “She was going on and on about her beloved Italy. How much she missed it. Then she let slip you wished you could visit after reading a borrowed book.”

  Jake let up on the gas. “If you go, Evie, take me with you.”

  “Don’t be preposterous,” Harvey said. “Of course she’s not crossing the Atlantic on a jet. Flying in an aircraft is verboten.”

  “What about taking a cruise ship?” Jake’s singsongy voice told me he was taunting Harvey, whose upper lip lifted into a snarl.

  “Do you or do you not wish to become baptized and marry Eva?” Harvey said.

  “Yah, I do. But could we not take a trip as a honeymoon? Or even go somewhere special before then?”

  “Before you get married?” Harvey’s raspy voice flooded the car’s interior.

  “We could go to a justice of the peace,” Jake said. “I asked Eva to go to one with me yesterday before it dawned on me we needed a marriage license first. Maybe tomorrow, before my dat returns home.”

  If Jake were trying to exacerbate Harvey’s ire, he was doing a fine job.

  “I could never allow such a thing,” Harvey said.

  “But tell me this,” Jake persisted. “If Eva and I married outside the church, could we later become baptized?”

  “I’ve heard of such cases, but why would a couple choose to do such a thing? In my opinion, you’re being obstinate and thoughtless.”

  As the men spoke, I envisioned traveling to Italy. But wasn’t the view of the barn and fields at sunset from Jake’s kitchen as beautiful as any I’d ever seen? I guessed we could always hop on a train sometime and visit the rest of the country, as others had.

  Harvey turned in his seat to speak to Jake. “Why are you suggesting such a preposterous idea?”

  “Because I don’t want you to marry Eva, and I don’t want to wait to marry her. You have control over when we get baptized, but we are not helpless.”

  Harvey craned his head to speak to me. “You would actually consider marrying this reprobate of a man in a courthouse?”

  “Would it not be legal?” I asked.

  “Yah, it would be legal, but not obedient.” His eyes narrowed. “Don’t you wish to obey Gott? Aren’t you the girl who’s tried to break loose from the rumors encumbering her like lead weights? How can you expect the Lord’s forgiveness when you disobey him?”

  “Ask for compassion?” I said. “Forgive all others who’ve harmed me?”

  “Are you implying I’m harming you now when all I’m trying to do is help you?” Harvey’s mouth twisted.

  “But, Harvey,” Jake said, “I have yet to see any indication that you love her.”

  I held my breath as Jake took a sharp turn onto a side road.

  “I love everyone in the district.” Harvey was stalling, as far as I could tell.

  “But do you love Eva above all other women? You’re lonely, as any widower who adored his wife would be.” Jake seemed to have us driving in circles.

  Harvey’s face sank into his opened hands. “You can’t imagine how lonely I’ve been.”

  I felt like weeping when I heard the tremor in his voice. I, too, knew loneliness.

  “Yah, I can relate,” Jake said. “But Evie will never take your frau’s place.”

  “I know that.” Harvey pinched between his eyes. “No one could ever replace my dearest wife. But eventually—maybe when my girls marry—I might wed a widow. I can’t imagine the solitude once my dochders leave home.”

  Jake slapped the turn indicator. “One way or another, I will marry Evie, and sooner rather than later. Either at the county courthouse or during a church service, which means both Evie and I must be baptized in the near future. We can’t wait until the crops are harvested in the fall and the celery has grown in her mamm’s garden. We’ll pick up celery at the supermarket.”

  Jake pulled to a halt and caught my eyes in the rearview mirror. “Do you agree, Evie?”

  “Yah, I do. I can’t wait that long either, not after all these years.”

  “Ach, what are we doing here?” Harvey looked up at his own house. Jake had driven him back home without our noticing.

  Harvey’s mother-in-law opened the door and waved.

  “Where to now?” I asked Jake after Harvey had gotten out.

  “To visit my parents, to announce the gut news. And then to yours.”

  EPILOGUE

  Two years later

  Eva Miller stood at the kitchen sink gazing out the window at the most beautiful view on earth. Her loving husband, Jake, cradled and bounced their six-month-old son. Their collie—Jake’s engagement gift to her instead of a clock—circled Jake and licked the child’s bare feet, generating giggles of laughter. Beyond them stretched their cornfields.

  Next to the house, Eva’s flower garden thrived, blooming in a riot of color, a pleasant view for Ruth and Amos from the daadi haus, where they now resided. Amos’s thinking was still a bit fuzzy, but he was growing stronger every day. Both he and Ruth had been ecstatic to add Eva to the family.

  Eva’s smile widened as she recalled how quickly the bishops had convened for a special meeting once Harvey told them Jake and Eva planned to obtain a marriage license at the Lancaster County courthouse, even if that required Eva to get a photo ID. The bishops agreed it was best for Jake and Eva to marry in the church, which required the couple to be baptized immediately. Harvey bent the rules, but not without reluctance. He warned Jake he intended to keep a close watch on him. Eva told Harvey she would too.

  Eva’s mamm provided them a home wedding, much to her mamm’s delight. Upon hearing the news, Marta flew into action and orchestrated the festive celebration. Olivia Beiler, again the manager of the café after helping Ruth with Amos for a time, took charge of the menu and food preparation. Three hundred people squeezed into Eva’s parents’ home. Two sittings were required to accommodate the hungry crowd after the ceremony. A few Englischers, such as Stephen, his new girlfriend, and Beatrice, were welcome guests.

  Bishop Harvey officiated at the ceremony. His eyes glistened with genuine happiness as he pronounced Jake and Eva husband and wife. There was hardly a dry eye in the house. Ruth and Amos dabbed their eyes repeatedly, not to mention Eva’s parents and even Marta.

  As to their honeymoon, Jake and Eva didn’t travel to Italy but rather ventured to the historic Italian Market in Philadelphia, which Beatrice said was the closest thing to it without leaving the state. Hiring a driver of Italian heritage to take them there was her wedding present. Jake and Eva enjoyed meandering through the grocery and cheese stores, bakeries, gift shops, and restaurants that left Jake’s breath smelling too much of garlic for Eva’s taste. Yet his kisses remained sweeter than ever.

  Eva figured she and Jake would continue to be the subject of rumors. But she was determined to forgive those who’d gossiped about her—no doubt a lifelong challenge she was committed to overcome. She’d learned she couldn’t change others, only her response to them.

  Forgiveness came easier to her now.

  Discussion Questions

  1. How did false rumors alter the course of Eva’s life? Do you have empathy for her, or do you think she should have acted differently? Could she have prevented the rumors?

  2. Have you ever been the subject of gossip? How did it feel or alter your life? Do you know of a way to move beyond rumors?

  3. Why do you think people gossip? Do you find yourself gossiping even when not mean
ing to? I think we’ve all been guilty of this. What’s the remedy?

  4. Do you think Eva can truly forgive those who have maligned her? Does a person need to ask for forgiveness for you to bestow it? How is forgiveness healing and strengthening for the individual granting it?

  5. Do you think Eva’s plan to begin anew—starting from scratch—was a good one? Was she brave or foolhardy to embark into the unknown? In your opinion, did she marry the right man?

  6. Who is your favorite character and why? What element of his or her personality or behavior do you relate to?

  7. Do you like Beatrice? How and why does her attitude toward Eva change as the novel progresses? How do you think Beatrice overcame her own difficult situations?

  8. As you’ve come to know someone, have they surprised you in a good or bad way? Did Olivia’s behavior shock you? Were you surprised that once she repented, she was forgiven and accepted by the Amish church?

  9. Most of us have seen actors awake from a coma in a movie or on TV, but did you know the Hollywood portrayals of instant recovery are for the most part false?

  10. Do you think Stephen’s apology to Bill was warranted? How did both men benefit? Sometimes an apology is met with anger, but how can it bless the person bestowing it?

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you, dear readers, for choosing to read my book. I am indebted to each one of you. Much time, research, and effort went into writing and publishing it for your enjoyment.

  Humongous thanks to all the fabulous folks at Harvest House Publishers, foremost Kim Moore. My gratitude to each person at Harvest House who helped craft it, and to the sales team. Thank you to my excellent editor, Jean Kavich Bloom.

  Thanks to talented Amish author Linda Byler for her encouragement and fact verification. Thank you to friends Sam and Susie Lapp in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; Amish Quilter Emma Stoltzfus of ES Quilts; and many other Amish who have helped me but prefer to remain anonymous. Thank you, friend Herb Scrivener, owner of Zook’s Fabrics in Intercourse, Pennsylvania.