A Mother's Gift

by Charlotte Hubbard

  The men played along with her pretense. Leah felt better, more able to focus on the task at hand, and by the end of the morning all her cattle had been processed and packaged in white butcher paper. She and Jude loaded several boxes of meat into the rig and took off around twelve-thirty.

  “What if I treated my girlfriend to lunch at Mrs. Nissley’s Kitchen or Mother Yutzy’s Oven while we’re in Cedar Creek?” Jude asked as he steered the rig onto the county highway. “I always look forward to auctions where Beulah Mae or Lois provide the lunch. And then . . . do you suppose we should swing by the clinic and find out if a new little Shetler is upsetting your system?”

  Leah’s cheeks tingled with heat. “Do you think that’s what’s going on? It’s kind of, well—humiliating, to think you and the Gingerich men guessed my condition before I even had a clue.”

  Jude gently cupped her face to bring it closer to his. “Nothing to be embarrassed about, sweetheart,” he murmured before he kissed her tenderly. “You’ve had a lot on your mind lately, dealing with the twins and letting Betsy go back to her mamm—not to mention this ordeal with your cattle.”

  Leah’s heart thrummed steadily as she rested her head against Jude’s shoulder. “Maybe we should visit the clinic first and then celebrate the results over lunch.”

  “I like that idea.”

  “And—Jude?” Leah hesitated, yet she knew he would understand her request. “If there’s a baby, let’s keep it between you and me for a while, shall we? Just to be sure everything’s going the way it’s supposed to before we tell everyone.”

  Jude slung his arm around her, nodding as the rig rolled down the road. “Fine by me. I think I was more upset than Frieda those three times she miscarried my babies,” he admitted. “It made me wonder if something was genetically wrong when she could carry another man’s kids to term but not mine.”

  Leah sighed, hugging him around the waist. “I’m sorry about the sadness and doubt that situation with Frieda caused you. I—I would be ecstatic to find out I’m carrying your child, Jude, and I want everything to go right,” she said earnestly.

  * * *

  An hour and a half later, Jude felt ten feet tall. Dr. Baumgardner had declared Leah about three and a half months along in a pregnancy that appeared normal and healthy, and they’d set an appointment to see him again in a month. Jude couldn’t stop grinning, couldn’t stop hugging Leah close and kissing her as they drove toward Beulah Mae Nissley’s café on the outer edge of Cedar Creek.

  “After the ordeals with the twins and your cattle this news turns our lives around and points them in a whole new direction,” he declared happily. “We’ll keep our secret a while longer, but I won’t be surprised if people guess it when they see my smile and the glow on your face, Leah.”

  She blushed prettily. “If they guess, so be it. High time we had gut news to share with our friends and family.”

  Chapter 25

  During the church service on Sunday, Leah found herself gazing raptly at all the toddlers and babies who sat with their mamms. Although she usually paid close attention to Bishop Jeremiah’s sermon, her mind was full of fantasies as he spoke at length about the story of the ten lepers Jesus healed and how only one had returned to thank Him.

  “We should never forget that our Lord hears our every prayer and knows the strength of our faith,” Jeremiah said eloquently. “If we believe in His ability to heal even the most unfortunate and distasteful of conditions in our lives, we can anticipate great joy after heartache we thought might tear apart our very souls. God gives us things to be thankful for every single day.”

  Leah glanced across the room to the side where the men sat, catching Jude’s nod. More than once this past week, he had given quiet thanks for the way Alice and Adeline had learned their lesson about running with those English fellows. When he caught Leah’s eye, however, his boyish grin made her heart quiver. The sweet secret they kept had brightened both of their lives, and they had agreed not to tell Stevie or the twins—or even their mothers—that Leah was carrying a baby due in September. Such a special announcement deserved the right moment.

  A muffled squawk made Leah glance at a wee one in the row ahead of her. The littlest Plank girl rested against her mamm’s neck and shoulder, watching the women on Leah’s pew bench with alert brown eyes as she stuck her tiny fingers in her bow-shaped mouth. Leah wondered how she’d gone through so many years of her life not being particularly aware of babies’ facial features, yet now she noticed every dimple and wispy curl.

  Will my baby be a boy or a girl? Will he have Jude’s dark curls, or will she take on my lighter skin tone and hair color? Shall I name her Lenore or Margaret, or give her a name all her own? Will our little boy be healthy and survive to a full-term birth?

  Leah sighed when she wondered how Betsy was faring with her young, confused mother. The pain of that separation had grown easier to bear when she’d learned that Jude’s child would soon bless their lives, yet Leah realized that she would never forget the sweet, warm weight of holding Betsy to feed her. Sometimes she dreamed vividly about the tiny girl, clearly hearing her voice and watching her dear little face light up when she caught sight of Jude or clutched her bottle of goat’s milk and snuggled in Leah’s arms to consume it.

  “As we come to our time of prayer,” Jeremiah said in a resonant voice, “let us each thank God for the special blessings He’s granted us this week. Perhaps members of our families displayed great growth and understanding as they returned to the path of salvation, or maybe we got a medical report that was better than we anticipated. Could be that we realized a financial loss has actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise because God infused the situation with His grace.”

  Leah’s eyes widened. Jeremiah knew about Alice’s and Adeline’s adjustment of attitude, and Jude had told him about donating some of the beef to a couple of needy Cedar Creek families . . . but had Bishop Vernon also shared his assumptions about her pregnancy? Or was Jeremiah speaking about another member’s medical report? As the bishop finished preaching, Leah could only wonder how much Jude’s brother knew and how much he’d surmised through his spot-on intuition.

  “I would like to offer my personal thanks to our God because my nieces, Adeline and Alice, have asked to begin their instruction so they can join the church,” Jeremiah continued, his face alight. “It’s always a special blessing when our young people profess their faith and pledge their lifelong support of our Amish ways and beliefs.”

  Leah turned quickly—as many other women did—to flash an encouraging smile at the twins, who sat a few pews behind her. Alice and Adeline hadn’t said a word to her or Jude about their decision, so Leah thrummed with excitement and relief. The girls’ intention to join the church was the ultimate sign that they were indeed finished with the English men who’d caused the family such heartache. They were done with rumspringa and ready to become responsible, faithful adults.

  As members of the congregation positioned themselves for a long silent prayer, Leah went to her knees smiling. I love Your surprises, Lord, because they keep me guessing—and because they bless me and strengthen my family, she prayed lightheartedly. I’m grateful for Your power and presence in our girls’ lives. I know You’re watching over little Betsy and her mother, and that despite the way we miss her so badly, You have the power to turn her absence into a blessing we can’t anticipate. Be with me as Your miracle grows inside my body.

  As everyone rose to sit on the pew benches after the prayer ended, Leah felt a great sense of gratitude and expectation. Peacefulness settled over her as she realized how far she and the rest of the Shetler family had progressed since the fateful morning when the twins had eavesdropped on her and Jude’s intimate conversation about the circumstances of their birth. Leah thought back to her maidel fantasies of the perfect life she would experience as Jude’s wife. She believed those dreams had a chance to come true now.

  Leah’s breath caught when she saw the way Jude was gazing at
her from across the crowded room. When Stevie climbed into his dat’s lap and wiggled his fingers at her, her heart overflowed with love for the boy she now considered her son. She wondered if the women around her could feel the way she glowed.

  How had she been so fortunate to hitch up with such a handsome, affectionate husband? Who could have foreseen the all-encompassing love she now felt for his children—and the way they had accepted her? The coming weeks and months would surely be filled with the goodness and mercy promised in the Twenty-Third Psalm, with blessings she couldn’t anticipate, and Leah couldn’t wait to see where God would lead her.

  * * *

  A couple weeks later, Leah watched Stevie as he scooped alfalfa pellets into the calves’ feed trough. The May morning sparkled with sunshine and the breeze that whispered in the leafy trees tousled the boy’s shiny brown hair. When he looked at her, Leah realized that he was beginning to resemble Jude more closely.

  With practiced ease Stevie held out the two big nipple bottles to feed Erma and Patsy’s orphaned calves. “Mama, do ya think Maisie and these calves miss the other cows that got shot?” he asked wistfully.

  Leah sighed. Lately she’d been thinking that the pen and pasture seemed awfully empty, and unless she found another Black Angus cow or two, her little herd couldn’t grow very fast. “I’m sure they do, Stevie,” she replied softly.

  “Pretty soon the calves will grow up and we’ll be sendin’ them to market, huh?” he asked plaintively. “I’ll really miss gettin’ to feed ’em and watch ’em every day.”

  “We’ll keep the two little heifers as breeding stock, but we’ll sell the two steers when they’ve reached a gut market weight,” Leah clarified, even as she wondered what direction Stevie’s questions were heading. “By this time next year, I hope the heifers will be carrying their first calves.”

  “Oh.” Stevie considered this information. “That’s a long time to wait for more cows, huh?”

  Leah nodded sadly. She’d tried to make the best of a bad situation—had tried to find the silver lining to the dark cloud that hovered over her livestock business—but having a lot of meat in the deep freeze and stored at Abner’s locker wasn’t the same as having the money she would’ve earned with the cattle that had been shot. Jude was a fine provider, but she didn’t expect him to replace the cattle she’d lost by spending money that should go toward supporting their family.

  “It’s a lesson in patience, Stevie,” she said. And maybe God’s giving me time to deliver my baby before I have to tend so many cattle again . . . or He’s pointing my business in a different direction.

  As Leah combed the boy’s warm hair back over his ears with her fingers, however, she brightened with a new idea. “But we’ll still raise our goats and ducks and chickens—and when we get more cows and calves, I think we should let you be totally in charge of them. You would be responsible for tending and raising them—with your dat’s and my help. When you earn an income from selling the first batch, you can take over buying their feed and paying the other expenses. Someday I hope to turn the entire herd over to you, Stevie.”

  “Wow,” Stevie said, awestruck. “You think I can do that, Mama? I’m just a little kid, not even in school yet.”

  Leah smiled proudly, her heart expanding with the thrill of being called Mama on a regular basis. “Your dat and I will help you keep your accounts, sweetie. We’ve both been managing animals since we were kids—maybe not handling the buying and selling yet, but our parents were pointing us in that direction.”

  The sight of the sheriff’s car turning off the county road and into their lane made Leah nip her lip. Had there been trouble? Jude was calling an auction and the twins had gone into Morning Star to shop for groceries and sewing supplies, so Leah hurried toward the car as it approached the house. Sheriff Banks had spoken to her briefly in the pool hall parking lot the day he’d searched the gray pickup for the gun that had killed her cattle, so her thoughts spun around images of Dexter and Phil. Now that the twins were taking their instruction to join the church, she hoped those reckless young men weren’t coming around again, causing Adeline and Alice more trouble. More temptation.

  “Morning, Mrs. Shetler,” the burly sheriff called out as he stepped from his vehicle. “It’s a beautiful May day, and your place looks really pretty with the iris and peonies in bloom. I’ve got some good news for you.”

  Leah inhaled deeply to settle her nerves. Clyde Banks was a nice enough fellow, but she still felt a little nervous dealing with an officer of the law—especially while Jude was away from home. “Oh?” she asked, grasping Stevie’s hand as he came to stand beside her. “I—I was hoping you hadn’t come to report more trouble with those fellows who shot my cows.”

  A smile eased across the sheriff’s weathered face as he handed her an envelope. “I know better than to say Dexter and Phil won’t ever run afoul of the law again, but at least they’ve been held accountable for some of the damage they’ve done,” he said cordially. “Seems their boss at the pet food factory told them they wouldn’t have jobs there any longer unless they repaid you and your neighbor, whose horse they shot. When I told him you Amish folks don’t believe in insurance to cover such losses, he decided to pay you forward, and he’ll withhold money from their paychecks until he’s been repaid. You’re to tell me if this check doesn’t cover your loss of income.”

  Leah’s fingers shook as she pulled the check from the envelope. The total amount—the number of zeroes preceding the decimal point—made her suck in her breath. “But—but I’ve already been paid for the meat I had Abner Gingerich process and sell at his butcher shop,” she began hesitantly. “And he didn’t charge me for processing the meat we kept—”

  “Don’t go selling yourself short,” Sheriff Banks said with a kind smile. “The way you Amish folks make the most of misfortune has always impressed me—but it doesn’t change the fact that you lost all but a few of the animals you raise for an income,” he reminded her. “I believe we’ve seen some justice done, and I know you’ll put Dexter and Phil’s repayment to good use.”

  Leah stared mutely at the check. She’d always considered herself pretty capable of running her business, but the money she’d earned over the years by selling her eggs, goat’s milk, chickens, and cows paled in comparison to the lump sum she’d just received. It boggled her mind.

  The lawman’s face creased with a friendly smile. “No doubt in my mind you folks will prosper and move ahead,” he said. “I have to tell you that I bought some of your veal and roasts at Abner’s shop, and the meat was fabulous—and nearly gone,” he added quickly. “Abner said a couple of specialty restaurants in Columbia and St. Louis are offering local grass-fed beef and veal on their menus and they can hardly keep it in supply. I suspect there’s a profit to be had for folks hereabouts who’re raising cattle without corn or hormones these days.”

  After the sheriff left, Leah’s mind was spinning in fast, tight circles. She carefully stashed the check in her coffee can in the pantry, where she kept her egg money, until she could deposit it in the bank. She and Jude would discuss how best to use all that money—thousands of dollars they hadn’t anticipated. With a baby on the way, it would be good to acquire the furniture and supplies they’d need, but even after that, their bank account would have a substantial chunk of change in it.

  Stevie gazed at her as she poured milk into glasses and took some cookies from the cookie jar. “Are we rich now, Mama?” he asked softly.

  Leah sat down at the table beside him and pulled him close, savoring the feel of his solid, healthy body and the way he asked such astute questions. “Stevie, God has always provided our family with all we need,” she replied as she chose a peanut butter cookie. “We have our home and our health. We have food on our table, and we have one another. The check we got today can’t make us any richer in the ways that truly count, but jah, we now have a chance to expand our family’s income—and to share more with folks who aren’t as fortunate.”

/>   Stevie considered her words as he gulped some milk. When he smiled at Leah, his milk mustache made her chuckle. “So we’re blessed,” he said softly.

  Leah hugged him close. “You’ve got it exactly right, son.”

  Chapter 26

  “Mama, it’s so gut to have you here again,” Leah said as she preceded her mother up the stairs with her suitcase. “We have a lot to catch up on since you left a month ago.”

  “Jah, we do,” Mama agreed. “I was glad you invited me here for Mother’s Day this weekend—and to celebrate Adeline’s and Alice’s being baptized into the church in a couple of weeks. I hope it’s all right that I brought some summer-weight navy blue fabric to make them new dresses for the occasion.”

  Leah laughed. “I suspect you’ll notice an improvement in their attitude about Plain dresses, among other things.”

  Mama glanced into the bedroom Leah and Jude shared before heading down the hall. “Mighty sorry that Betsy’s no longer with you,” she said as she sadly shook her head. “I hope her young mamm’s taking gut care of her.”

  “I pray for her every single day.” Leah entered the guest room and tossed the heavy suitcase onto the double bed. “And I pray for you, too, Mama, out there on the farm by yourself. How are you getting along, really? When I call, you sound cheerful enough—and you tell me you’ve got more quilt orders than you can handle—but I wonder how you handle so much time alone.”

  Mama hefted the suitcase she carried onto the bed beside the other one. As she went to the window to look out over the yard and the blooming flowers, Leah watched her closely. She detected an air of loneliness camouflaged by Mama’s stalwart smile . . . along with something else in her mother’s sparkling eyes she couldn’t define. Was it her imagination, or did Mama have a secret? Had a nice man been keeping her company perhaps, with the intention of marrying her?