Feeling like she’d just climbed over another hurdle, Grace smiled. “I think I like it, too.”
He smiled back at her—
Just as the doorbell rang.
Chapter 34
Sure that the chief and captain were outside, John Michael began thinking of how he could help them question Grace while trying to support her at the same time. But his preparing was stopped in its track.
John Michael got a shock when Grace opened the door.
Feeling as if he was in the middle of a terrible play, he greeted her when Grace opened the door. “Beth. Hello.”
She looked as pretty as ever. Maybe even more so, thanks to the way the cool air had made her cheeks look rosy. Also new was the look of hesitation in her eyes. All the self-assuredness that he’d used to think went hand in hand with her was missing.
“John Michael,” she said softly. “Hello, Grace.”
Grace paused for a moment before hugging her sister tight. “Beth, it is so gut to see you.”
John stepped to the side, watching the reunion with interest. Beth seemed to be as happy to see Grace . . . though, there did appear to be some tension.
When Grace pulled away, she bent down and scooped up the barking dachshund. “This is Snooze.”
“The whole reason you came over here.” Beth smiled and held out a hand for the dog to sniff. “He’s cute.”
“He is.” Grace glanced over at him before visibly steeling her shoulders. “So I guess you came over to see for yourself all what Mamm reported.”
“I did.”
“I’m surprised she let you come over here alone.”
“You should be. Everyone in the family wanted to come over.”
Grace shivered. “That would have been horrible.”
Beth glanced from John Michael to her sister and back again. “Can I come in? I thought we all should talk.”
“I want to talk to you, too, but this isn’t a good time,” Grace said.
“Why is that? You two seem very homey and domestic.”
“There’s no need to make things more awkward than they already are, Beth,” John said.
“I don’t think my being here is making things worse,” she retorted.
Grace pointed at the street behind her sister. “You aren’t the reason we canna talk,” she said. “They are.”
Beth winced as she saw a pair of cars parking in the circular drive. “Why are all of those men here?”
“Because they think Dorma Schultz’s relatives might have something to do with all the break-ins and the fires.”
“What fires?”
“The fires that have been taking place on various Amish properties around the county,” John Michael supplied.
“And the robberies that have been targeting Englisher homes like this one.”
“And both of you are involved?”
“Jah,” John Michael said.
“But not intentionally,” Grace pointed out.
“I think I had better stay.”
Grace groaned. “Beth, there’s no reason to do that.”
“I think there is. You’re going to need as much support as you can get.” Since they’d run out of time and there wasn’t really anything that could be said in a moment, John stepped forward and welcomed the chief and Sheriff Brewer. “Come on in. We’re all waiting for you.”
He waved a hand. “This is Grace and her sister Beth. Grace, I believe you remember Sheriff Brewer? And this is Chief Nolan.”
After all the rounds of introductions had been made and Snooze had settled, Grace walked everyone into the living room. “I understand you have some questions for me?”
“Yes, but they involve Miss Dorma, too.” Sheriff Brewer looked around. “Is she here?”
“She is upstairs,” Grace said. “I’ll go get her.”
“I can do that,” Beth said. “If you tell me where she is.”
“Danke, but she might not want to come with you,” Grace said. “Dorma doesn’t trust too many people.” Looking at the sheriff, Grace said, “I’ll be right back.”
When she left, Sheriff Brewer looked at John. “Have y’all seen any more suspicious activity? Footprints or the like?”
“Not a thing,” John answered. “I’m hoping that’s a good thing.”
“We hope so, too,” Sheriff Brewer said lightly as Dorma and Grace joined them.
After Dorma sat down next to Grace, Sheriff Brewer said, “Have you seen your nephews, Dorma? Samuel and Benjamin?”
She shook her head. “Nee.”
“Are you sure about that? This is important.”
Dorma began to tremble. “I don’t want to see them again.”
“Why is that?”
Dorma glanced at Grace, who nodded and took hold of her hand. After a few seconds passed, she spoke again. “I don’t want to see them because they scared me last time I saw them. And they took my money.”
“Were they alone? Or maybe one of their friends was with them?”
“They were alone.”
“Where’s your bruder?” John Michael asked.
She shook her head in dismay. “I don’t know. My husband is gone, too. I’m all alone now.”
Grace inhaled sharply, then bit her lip. John could tell she was trying her best to keep her emotions under control, but it was obviously hard for her to do. He didn’t blame her, either. It was difficult to watch Dorma get questioned—and see all the brightness and sense of ease fade from her face.
He feared that the questions weren’t helping the case at all but were making Dorma’s mental state far worse.
“I think we should stop,” he said at last. “This is very upsetting.”
After Dorma got up, saying she needed to go wash her face, Sheriff Brewer looked intently at Grace. “John Michael, I know you feel protective of Dorma and don’t like seeing her upset, but I can’t give up. There’s too much at stake.”
After darting a worried look down the hall, Grace spoke up. “Do you really think more properties around here are in danger?”
“I think so. They’ve been successful, so they’re getting bolder. But more importantly, we think these characters might try to reach out to Miss Dorma again.”
“But why? She can’t help them.”
“They see her as a ways to their means. They’re hunting for money, and they might think she has some more hidden away.”
“But she doesn’t.” Grace turned to Dorma, who was quietly walking back into the room. “You don’t have any money hidden away, do you?”
She stopped. “Oh, nee,” she said after thinking about it for a moment. “Only the money in my memory box.”
Everyone looked at each other. “What is that?” Beth asked.
“It’s a lovely wooden box made of polished cherry,” Grace answered. “But it wouldn’t be worth much to anyone but Dorma, I’m afraid.” Smiling softly at the older lady, Grace said, “Your memory box holds letters from your husband, right?”
The older lady’s eyes brightened. “Jah. I keep my Abraham’s letters tucked inside. Letters and all the money hidden away.”
John Michael swallowed a gasp of surprise.
“Did you say money, Miss Dorma?” Grace asked.
“Oh, jah. I’ve kept everything hidden away for safekeeping. Just like my husband told me to do.”
While Grace turned to John Michael and stared, Sheriff Brewer leaned forward. “I think we need to see that box, Miss Dorma. I think it would be a real good idea.”
Chapter 35
It was getting close to five o’clock. Knowing that Beth needed to get on her way, Grace and John Michael walked her out to the front porch. It was cold outside. Too cold to linger, but that’s what they did. It seemed none of them could stop talking about the events of the day.
Selfishly, Grace was glad that both her sister and John Michael were just as anxious to talk about things as she was. If she’d been alone, Grace was sure she would have worn a path into one of Mrs. Lee’s expensiv
e Persian rugs while she reviewed the conversations that had just taken place.
“I still can’t wrap my head around it,” John Michael said as he sat down on one of the wicker chairs on the porch. “How does someone keep a hundred thousand dollars in a box?”
“There was a cashier’s check in there,” Grace pointed out.
“Jah, but the rest was in one-hundred-dollar bills.”
“There were so many of them,” Beth said. “Lots and lots of them.”
“All stuck neatly in envelopes,” Grace added. She shook her head in wonder. “I thought Sheriff Brewer was going to fall off his chair!”
“I thought he would take it from her, and then we’d have a real crisis on our hands,” John Michael said. “Miss Dorma really didn’t like any of us touching those envelopes.”
“At least Chief Nolan said he would come back to help talk to Miss Dorma again if we needed it. Somehow we’ve got to convince Dorma to put that money in the bank.”
“Now everything her nephews have been doing makes sense. They’ve been looking for that money.”
“But why burn her house?” Grace asked. “The money could have been burned as well.”
“Maybe that fire was more of an accident than we previously thought. Maybe they were planning to scare her, but it got out of control,” John Michael said. “Or they thought if Dorma lost her house, she’d be forced to uncover all that money so she could get a new place to live.”
“And, actually, that kind of is what happened,” Grace said. “Dorma got out the money after she lost her house.”
Beth raised her hands to her temple. “I think I’m starting to get a headache just thinking about it. I can’t believe we missed everything that’s been going on, Grace.”
“It has been a lot, but it’s probably just as well. You were taking care of Mommi and Dawdi.”
Beth gazed at them both. “All of us being gone also helped the two of you figure things out.”
Grace felt like her heart was stopping. “Beth, I didn’t mean to do anything behind your back.”
“Grace, let me,” John Michael said quietly. “Beth, your sister isn’t to blame. It’s me. I . . . well, I don’t know how to explain what happened.”
“Then maybe you should let me do that,” Beth said quietly. “What happened was that the Lord knew that you and Grace were meant to be together, not you and me. He simply provided the right time and place and allowed you to at last act on those feelings.”
“I never wanted to hurt you. When we were seeing each other, I thought we were doing the right thing.”
“I know you did. I tried, too.” Beth swallowed, then said, “Grace, not to embarrass you, but I knew you had a crush on John Michael.”
She pressed her hands over her face. “Oh, Beth. I was only sixteen.”
“I didn’t take it seriously . . . but I would have had to be blind not to notice.” Turning to John Michael, she said, “I would also be lying if I said I never noticed how close the two of you had become.”
“We were close, but I would’ve never done anything. I was loyal to you, Beth,” John Michael said as he got to his feet.
“I know you were loyal. And I know you would have never cheated on me with anyone while we were together.” She sighed. “And between the three of us, after I stopped crying, I realized that while I was hurt, I was also embarrassed because I knew John Michael had done the right thing.”
“But Mamm—”
“Jah. I love our mother dearly, but she enjoys being our champion sometimes a bit too much. I knew if I told tell her that I was secretly relieved that John Michael had ended things, she would have been beside herself. So I kept that to myself.”
She shook her head. “It all ended for the best. Besides, I feel differently around Aaron. It feels right, and like the right time. I now know the difference, and I know that it was right to wait for God to show me who my match was.” Looking at the two of them, she smiled. “Just like God has done that for you both.”
Grace glanced at John Michael. He was standing stoically. Maybe he was shocked by Beth’s revelations.
Maybe he simply didn’t know what to do next.
But as Grace looked at Beth, saw the vulnerability etched in her face, saw the love in her eyes that no doubt mirrored her own, Grace knew what she needed to do.
She walked over to her sister and hugged her tightly. After a second’s pause, Beth hugged her back.
“Danke for coming over, for saying what you did.”
“It wasn’t easy.”
“I know it. And that’s why it means so much. Thank you again.”
“No need for that. It was past time,” added Beth.
Grace could feel her sister’s smile. That was all she needed to know that everything was going to be okay between them. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually.
She only needed their relationship to be real and open again.
Pulling away from her, she whispered, “I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but I should let you know that I think I’ve fallen in love with John Michael.”
While Beth smiled, John Michael called out, “Grace, you know I can hear your conversation, jah?”
Meeting his gaze, she nodded. “Maybe it’s easier for me to tell you like this.”
When John Michael said nothing, only continued to stare at her closely, Grace feared that she’d just made a terrible mistake. She should have kept her thoughts to herself.
She certainly shouldn’t have blurted out something so special and private right there with Beth looking on.
As the tension between them pulled and tightened, Beth laughed. “I think now would be a perfect time for me to finally head on home.”
Grace forced herself to look away from John Michael. “What are you going to tell Mamm and Daed? Do you think they’re going to ask you a lot of questions?”
“About you and John Michael?” She rolled her eyes. “Absolutely.”
Grace could already picture them both arriving in the morning, full of good intentions and heavy-handed advice. “What are you going to tell them?”
Beth’s expression softened. “I’m going to say that I’ve given you my blessing and, maybe, remind them of something as well.”
“What is that?” Grace couldn’t begin to guess.
“I’m going to remind them about how precarious everything’s been here in Hart County this month, and how one mustn’t take anything for granted . . . or shy away from happiness.” Beth smiled. “Why would we want to look at you and John Michael falling in love as anything but a blessing?”
Grace reached for her hand. “You really believe that, don’t you?”
“I do. When you’re in love—really in love the way you two are? Everything else, well, I think it pales in comparison.” She took a deep breath. “Now, if you don’t mind, say a little prayer for me. This conversation with our loving, nosey parents is going to be necessary, but I have a feeling it ain’t going to be easy.”
“I’ll pray all night!”
After they hugged again, and Beth waved a hand at John Michael, she walked to the buggy and guided the horse back down the snow-covered drive.
Chapter 36
When Beth’s buggy disappeared, John Michael wrapped an arm around Grace’s shoulders. “Let’s get you inside, it’s cold out.”
She didn’t say a word as he ushered her in, shut the door behind them, then led her into the kitchen.
He wished she would say something, because for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out how she was feeling. Was she relieved about her sister’s words? Embarrassed that she’d confessed so much?
Maybe worried that he hadn’t poured his heart out to her sister, too?
He supposed the only thing to do was ask. “What’s on your mind?”
She jerked around to face him, studied his face, then kind of smiled. “Oh, John Michael. What isn’t?”
“Your answer ain’t helping me much, Grace.”
“What are
you worried about?”
“Everything. What just happened, that conversation between us and Beth. Well, it had been a long time coming. To be honest, I didn’t know if it ever was going to happen.”
“I didn’t think it would.” Eyeing him carefully, she said, “I loved growing up with my sisters. Though I loved my brothers, too, I’ve always been far closer to Beth, Leona, and Sylvia. My mother read Little Women to us when we were small, and I loved the story. I felt like I was living the Little Women story life.”
“I’ve never heard of that book.”
“No, of course you haven’t. It isn’t something most Amish read. It surely isn’t something that boys ever read, I don’t think.” Nibbling on her bottom lip, she got a dreamy look on her face. “The book is about Jo, who wants to be a writer, and Amy and Beth and Meg. They were four sisters living during the Civil War. It was wonderful-gut.”
“I guess so.”
Her smile grew brighter. “Each of us always argued over who was who. Except for Beth, of course. She was always Beth in the book, even though Beth dies.”
John Michael raised his eyebrows at that. Privately, he thought that he was glad that he’d never had to read such a thing, and secondly that he would have certainly tried to be someone besides the girl who died. “Um, not to sound like a man, but I don’t understand why you brought it up.”
“Oh! Well, because we are really close. There’s a line somewhere in the book about how the bonds of sisterhood will always come first. And that’s how I felt about my infatuation with you. I was embarrassed about how much I liked you and felt mighty awful that the first thing I thought of when I heard you broke things off was that you would be free for me.” With a gasp, she slapped a hand over her mouth. “My word! Forget I said that.”
“I don’t know if that’s possible.”
“John Michael. Really. Try harder.”
“How about this? How about I finally share something about you, too?”
“What is that?”
“That you aren’t alone. I knew I was fond of you years ago. I knew you were trouble for my heart during these three years. I knew I could never resist you. But now I know that no matter what happens in the future, I will have fallen in love with you.”
His Promise Page 18