A Pregnant Widow's Amish Vacation

by Samantha Price

  It was a silly moment, and she wasn’t sure why they both found each other so funny, but it felt good to find something humorous. Her life had become anything but carefree.

  When their laughing stopped, she nodded toward the horse. “Can I pat him?”

  Zac walked him closer. Jane put her hand out and the horse shied away.

  “No. He doesn’t like his face patted. Pat him here.” He patted him on the side of his neck.

  “Bring him a little closer. I can’t lean too far over.” The fence was right up against Jane’s stomach. Once the horse was closer, Jane patted him. “I used to be scared of horses when I was younger. I think it was because they were so big.”

  “You grew up with them?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve always been a city girl, but my mother was a good horseback rider. She wanted me to be able to ride as well, but it never worked out that way. I wouldn’t go near the horses on the two occasions she tried to make me take lessons. After that, she gave up and tried to have me take piano lessons.”

  “What did you spend your time doing when you were younger?”

  Jane was silent while she thought for a while. “My mother was determined to make me good at something. After the piano lessons were a total and complete disaster, she took me ice-skating, and after that, tap dancing classes. Nothing worked out. Then when I was about eleven, my mother gave up. I do like to read, though, and I was one of those weird kids who liked school. What about you? What did you do when you were younger—for fun, or entertainment?”

  “I told you I grew up with older brothers. We’d run home from school in the summer and then we’d play until we’d be called in for the evening meal. We’d ride the horses, fish in the river, and play cricket. Then in the colder weather, we’d think up games to play in the barn. Don’t get me wrong; it wasn’t all play. There were plenty of chores.”

  “What kind of games?”

  He laughed and put his hand to his chin. “We’d jump off the rafters into a pile of hay. I don’t know why we liked to do it; I guess it was just fun. And probably because our parents had told us not to do it.”

  “So you were a rebel?”

  “Just a little. The older boys should’ve been keeping a better watch on me.”

  “So it was their fault.”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Your childhood sounds like it was enjoyable.”

  “It was and I had hoped that Gia would be the oldest of many children.”

  “Could you marry again or does your religion forbid that?”

  He smiled. “I would like to marry again if God wills it. How about yourself?”

  “Would I marry again?”

  He nodded.

  She leaned forward and patted the horse again. “I found out that there’s something more important to me than love.”

  He tipped his head to one side. “What’s that?”

  “Trust. Trust is more important because if there’s no trust, there’s no point to love.”

  “There’s always a point to love.”

  “No, there isn’t. Not for me. Oh, you mean like love your neighbor and all that?”

  He nodded.

  “For me to marry again, I’d have to fully trust the person.”

  “I do know what you mean, but life doesn’t come with a full warranty. Sometimes we have to trust that things will work out.”

  Jane kept silent. He was speaking like a man who’d not been hurt or disappointed and Jane knew from talking him before, and with Gracie that Zac had experienced both. How could he seem so unaffected by such things?

  “Care to come for a walk with me? I’m just going to turn Jack out into the far paddock.”

  “Okay.”

  Zac walked Jack through the gate and waved Jane over. When she’d caught up to him, he started walking.

  “Have you heard from your work at all?”

  “I haven’t. I’m starting to feel like all of that’s not so important now.”

  Zac studied her. “Now that you’ve been away for a week or so?”

  “Yes. I feel like work is a million miles away. I was raised going to church. It was very different from your meetings, but being here has made me start looking at things differently.”

  He looked over at her once more but said nothing. She wondered what was going through his mind—what did he think about her? Maybe he was thinking he didn’t have the luxury of getting away from the community. “Do you ever go away? Visit another community maybe?”

  He nodded. “I do every now and again, but I’ve too many commitments here to do that very often.”

  “When do those men come to help you?”

  “I’ve got another week on my own and then the others come. Do you think you’ll make any permanent changes in your life from your stay here?”

  “I hope so. I’m going to make some steps to improve my life. My conversations with Gracie have helped me; she’s made me see it’s pointless to worry about things that might never happen.”

  He opened the gate and stepped through with the horse. “Don’t come through. I’m coming back out as soon as I take his halter off.”

  Zac unbuckled the halter and slipped it off the horse’s head, then came back through the gate. The horse looked at them both before he turned and walked toward the other horses that were further away in the paddock.

  “I like the way everyone in your community cares for one another—and it’s genuine, from the heart.”

  “I don’t know any other way; it’s just the way I was raised. I’ve heard people say that about our community before. We’ve all grown up together. I guess that’s what it is.”

  Chapter 14

  And out of the ground made the Lord God

  to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden,

  and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

  Genesis 2:9

  * * *

  Days went by, and the Monday of the following week, Lizzie was called away again to help look after her sick friend.

  Tobias looked across the breakfast table at Jane. “What have you got planned for today? More reading?”

  “Jane, I had hoped you might like to come with me today to choose some furniture for our B&B,” Zac said before Jane answered Tobias.

  “I’d love to.” She looked at Tobias and said, “I guess that’s what I’m doing. I’ve finished my first book and now I’m onto a second.”

  “Your mother is trusting you with choosing the furniture?” Tobias looked at his son in shock.

  “She trusts my judgment. Why, don’t you?”

  Tobias chuckled. “I do, but I didn’t know your mother did.”

  “She said it must be ordered today. Time’s marching on. If it isn't ordered today, it won’t be ready in time.”

  “I’m not arguing,” Tobias said as he picked up his coffee mug.

  “I do have a list of exactly what she wants and what style.”

  Tobias chuckled. “That sounds more like your mother.”

  “She’s trusting me to place the order,”

  Tobias nodded.

  “Where will we be going to place the order?”

  “It’s a little over an hour away at my cousin’s furniture factory. He’s got a team of men working for him now.”

  “It’ll all be Amish made furniture?”

  “That’s what people expect when they come here, I guess.”

  “They do,” Tobias said.

  Gia quietly ate her breakfast looking at each person as they spoke.

  “Here, you can hold the list.” Zac handed Jane two sheets of paper from his pocket before he climbed into the buggy.

  “I usually sit in the front,” Gia said. “When there’s no one else in the buggy.”

  “Thank you for giving up your seat, Gia. It was very kind of you.”

  Jane turned her head as far as she could toward the back seat and caught a glimpse of Gia’s smiling
face.

  As Zac turned the buggy to face down the driveway, Jane looked at the list in her hands. “How do you read your mother’s writing?”

  “It’s hard sometimes, but I can usually work it out.” He turned around and said to Gia, “See? That's why you have to go to school; to learn how to write well.”

  “Didn't Mammi go to school?”

  “She did, but it seems she didn't practice her writing.”

  “Let me see, please,” Gia said to Jane.

  Jane passed the pages over to Gia.

  “That is really bad. I can do better than that already.”

  “Well, you better not tell your grandmother that.”

  “I won't,” Gia said. “I don't want her to get sad.”

  “She might get very sad if she knows that you can write better than she can, and you’re a young girl,” Zac said.

  Gia giggled.

  Jane hoped if she had a daughter she would be as cute and sweet as Gia.

  The school was a ten-minute buggy ride up the road. When they pulled up to the schoolhouse, three young young girls ran up to the buggy and waited for Gia to get out.

  “I don’t want to go to schul today, Dat.”

  “You must go.”

  “Nee.” Gia burst into tears.

  When another buggy stopped nearby, the three girls turned and ran over to it.

  “Do you want me to walk you in, Gia?”

  Gia nodded, trying to stop crying.

  “Is that okay?” Jane asked Zac who nodded. "I should have asked you first, sorry."

  Gia held Jane’s hand and Jane got down to her level and said, “What’s upsetting you?”

  “They say that I talk funny.”

  “Who says that?”

  “Some of the children. My missing tooth makes me talk funny.”

  Jane realized that the other children must’ve laughed at the slight lisp Gia had when she spoke. “Gia, don’t be upset. They aren’t laughing at you or what you’re saying. They just think it’s strange to hear you talk like that because you didn’t sound like that before your tooth fell out.”

  Gia nodded. “It makes me sad and I don’t want them to laugh at me.”

  Jane licked her lips wondering how she could help. One thing she knew was that she’d have to stand up. Leaning down was hurting too much. “Shall I talk to your teacher?”

  Gia nodded again.

  “She might not be able to stop some people from laughing, but just remember that one day their baby teeth will fall out and they might sound different too.”

  Gia giggled. “That would be funny, but I won’t laugh at them.”

  “Come on. Come with me and take me to your teacher.”

  Once Jane had talked to the teacher, she joined Zac in the buggy.

  “Everything sorted out?” he asked.

  “She was upset because the children were laughing at her for talking funny.”

  “Since her tooth fell out?”

  Jane nodded. “Yes.”

  “I should’ve realized. I wonder why she didn’t tell me.”

  “Sometimes it’s easier to talk to a stranger.” She smiled at Zac and he smiled back.

  Chapter 15

  Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life:

  he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

  John 11:25-26

  * * *

  On their way to the furniture factory, Jane gathered some facts about the B&B so she could help with the marketing and advertising as she’d said she would. “How many bedrooms are there for guests at the B&B?”

  “We have eight separate rooms for guests and there are two pairs of two bedrooms that connect to each other.”

  “So, twelve bedrooms in all?”

  “Yes and there is room for expansion with the cabin idea that I've had.”

  “That sounds like a good idea, and you've certainly got room for it.”

  “It keeps me busy, thinking about new options,” he said.

  “Thanks for inviting me today. It’s nice to see some more places before I go home.”

  “What do you think of the place so far—the whole county?”

  “It’s peaceful and quiet here; nothing like what I'm used to.” Jane laughed. It took me quite a while to get used to not worrying about work, but I haven't thought about the O'Connor account or Derek for days.”

  “Is he the one you're worried about stealing your job from you?”

  “Yes. Derek. I haven't thought about him and how he's trying to get rid of me, either.”

  “That's good.”

  “I suppose it is.” There seemed a rhythm to the Amish way of life, much like the clip-clopping of the horse’s hooves—which was a lovely way to travel. Even though it wasn’t fast, it didn't bother anyone because everything here had its own rhythm, and things happened when they happened.

  After a moment of silence Zac said, “Jane, I’ve been thinking about your work situation.”

  She laughed. “And I’m trying to forget it.”

  “I’ve been thinking you should tell your boss that you suspect that Derek suggested you come here so you’d be reminded of your husband. Coming to a place where you’d be reminded of your husband being unfaithful was not going to give you the rest your boss wanted you to have.”

  “I know, you’re right, but I’ve been in situations like this before with men like Derek. Derek will insist it was a coincidence and he'll make me look like a crazy woman. Unfortunately, he's a convincing liar.”

  “Even if your boss thinks you’re accusing Derek wrongly, deep down, he’ll have a question mark in his mind in regard to Derek. If he does something else like this again, your boss will realize what you said was right.” He glanced over at her and she saw the sincerity in his eyes. He continued, “I’ve never found that keeping quiet about something helps any situation.

  “I hear what you’re saying, but you’ve never been in the corporate world.” His life was much simpler and he’d have no idea of the complexities that existed in her world. A woman at the top of her game in a men's world was a target for people like Derek.

  “Human nature is always the same. The darkness in the world comes from the sinful nature of man.”

  “The difference is that people like you probably fight against such a thing, but Derek doesn’t. He wouldn’t feel guilt or remorse, and he wouldn’t care about playing fair. Thanks for your suggestion, though; I’ll keep it in mind.” No, she wouldn’t. Zac had no idea the levels people like Derek would go to, but she couldn’t tell Zac so without offending him.

  He chuckled.

  She looked over at him. “What?”

  “You’re not going to listen to me or take any of my advice.”

  Jane raised her eyebrows. Was she that transparent? “I will think about it.”

  “If you’re reading the situation with Derek correctly, I don’t see that you’ve got anything to lose by stating your suspicions to your boss. If he respects you, he’ll listen to you and consider what you have to say.”

  “And if he doesn’t listen and puts it down to paranoia and pregnancy hormones?”

  He took his eyes off the road for a moment. “Do you really want to work for someone like that?”

  A shiver ran down Jane’s spine. “Tyrone’s a friend as well as my boss.”

  “A friend? There’s even more reason for you to tell him what you suspect, and for him to listen to you.”

  Work was work, and she’d been employed by some ruthless people in the past. There was never any question about morals or scruples in the workplace. Sure, everyone acted like they were playing fair as they crawled their way to the top; it was a juggling act of keeping one eye on your back and the other on the top job.

  “In a perfect world, you’d be right.”

  “Nothing is ever perfect. I think it’s up to us to choose what we’re willing to put up with in life. D
o you want someone like Derek in your life?”

  “No, I don’t. Of course, I don’t.”

  “If you continue the way you’re going then you’re going to have to put up with people like him.”

  “I see what you’re saying. Tell my boss about him and it’s either he goes or I go?”

  He laughed. “That puts your friend in an awkward position. Tell him what you think is going on. If this man, Tyrone, is really your friend, he’ll respect you for your honesty.” He looked over to his right. “Ah, here we are.”

  As he guided the horse and buggy into the large parking lot of the furniture factory, she said, “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

  He stopped his buggy, looked over at her with his smiling brown eyes. “It was just a suggestion. You do what you feel is right. Now, let’s go and choose this furniture. If I get anything wrong, I’ll tell my mother it was your fault.”

  Jane laughed. “Now that’s the kind of behavior I’m used to.”

  * * *

  As soon as they were in the door, an Amish man approached them. He was similar in build to Zac, but much older. As soon as they shook hands, Zac introduced Micah to Jane.

  “Jane is here to help me choose this furniture. She's a guest at the B&B.”

  “Good!” Micah’s eyes dropped to the list that was still in Jane’s hands. “Is this the list?”

  “Yes,” Zac said. “This is what we need, and Mamm’s leaving it to me to pick the wood. She said nothing too dark, but the final choice will be mine.”

  Micah looked at Jane. “And you will have the final choice after Zac’s final choice?”

  Zac laughed. “Jane’s kindly offered to help me choose everything.”

  “We both know women have the final say, Zac.”

  “That’s true.”

  Micah read from the list that Jane handed to him, “Eight pairs of single beds…” He looked up. “What happened to the other furniture you had?”

  “Mamm sold it. She wants a fresh look, and to have all the rooms furnished the same.”

  Micah raised his eyebrows. “Okay. So you’re going to choose the styles and the wood?”