by Sarah Price
“Careful,”she instructed as she waited for Elizabeth to follow her.
Inside the store, Mary and Katie both grabbed their own shopping carts. They wandered down the aisles at their own pace, Katie pausing to visit with another Amish woman while Mary continued on her way, pulling items off the shelves and tossing them into the cart.
The store was interesting to Elizabeth. She hadn’t been to this particular one. It appeared to be more organic and bulk foods than a regular grocery store. Toward the back, she also found a bin of remnant cloth and yarn for knitting.
“There you are!”
Elizabeth looked up as Mary stopped the cart near the bin of cloth.“I was just looking at this material.”Elizabeth pointed to the yellow material covered in dogs and cats.“It is really cute!”
“Do you sew?”Mary asked, a look of wonder on her face.
“I did when I was younger,”Elizabeth admitted while examining the fabric.“After I got married and had the kids, I never seemed to have time.”Lack of time. That seemed to be her excuse for everything. She set the material down.“I’m more into cross-stitch these days. Easier to pick up and put down in a hurry.”She paused.“Not that I am in much of a hurry anymore.”
Mary glanced at Elizabeth, eyeing her warily.“You ever quilt?”
“Years ago, yes.”
Mary glanced at the box of fabric but didn’t pick through any of the material. It was clear that she was not as impressed with the remnants as Elizabeth was.“Mayhaps you’d want to come with me tomorrow. I’m visiting my dochderSusan to help make a quilt.”
Elizabeth looked surprised.“I don’t want to intrude on your family time.”
“It is no intrusion.”Mary said, matter-of-factly.“Friends are always welcome to join.”She started pushing her cart toward the front of the store.“In fact, I’m sure they’ll be plenty of others there, too.”Pausing to wait for Elizabeth to catch up, she mumbled so that no one else could hear,“If you want to look for fabric, there’s a better store two over.”Without another word, she continued down the aisle, leaving Elizabeth smiling to herself at Mary’s advice.
Wandering outside, she headed toward the other side of the small strip mall. She didn’t really need to buy fabric but she wandered into the store anyway. It was bigger than it looked from the outside and had walls lined with material as well as dozens of cubbies with yarn for knitting.
The brilliant colors appealed to Elizabeth. She walked in that direction, her hand outstretched to touch the softness of the variegated blues. She had never been one to knit, but she had crocheted a lot over the years, especially in the winters. On a whim, she decided to get enough of the blue yarn and a new crochet needle to make two blankets for her grandsons. It would keep her busy and make a wonderful Christmas gift for them.
As she was exiting the store, she heard someone call her name. Wondering if she imagined it, she looked around. A man leaned over from the driver side of a pick-up truck and waved to her. She squinted, not quite certain who it was from this distance.
“Just Elizabeth!”the man called out again.
This time, she recognized the voice when he said his special nickname for her. Laughing, she lifted her hand to wave back. To her surprise, she saw him open the door and hurry across the parking lot to catch up with her.
“Fancy running into you here!”He grinned as he approached.“Haven’t seen you in a few days.”
“Been busy.”
He chuckled.“Busy, eh?”
“Reading, walking, cross-stitching…”
He laughed.“Ah, I see.”Walking beside her as she headed back toward the store to meet up with Mary and Katie, he nodded his head toward a small coffee shop.“How about a cup of coffee since you’re on a break?”He walked backwards, his hands thrust in his pockets.“My treat.”
She shook her head.“You’ve treated enough.”
“Then…your treat?”
She laughed.“All right. My treat then.”
Ten minutes later, they sat at the window, Elizabeth keeping at eye out for Mary and Katie. The coffee tasted delicious, especially after several days’worth of instant coffee. That was one thing that Elizabeth missed: a strong cup of coffee to awaken her in the morning.
“That sure is good,”she said softly, savoring the taste. “Best I’ve had in a while.”
“Hey!”he retorted in mock defense.
“Aside from your diner’s coffee, of course,”she quickly added.
He placed his palm on his chest and gave her a mock bow in gratitude of her acknowledgement.
For a moment, an awkward silence befell them. She sipped at her coffee, her eyes glancing out the window. Carl, however, seemed intent on watching her instead.“Things are going well at Troyers?”
She nodded.“Right as rain.”
He laughed, obviously familiar with the Amish expression.“Can’t ask for more than that.”
“And you? Things are well?”
He shrugged.“Diner’s fine. Kids fine. Guess I can check the‘right as rain’box, too.”
She wondered why he wasn’t at the diner now, but respected his privacy enough to not ask. Surely as the owner he had other people helping him with serving and cooking. It did cross her mind to wonder why neither of his children worked there.
“So how’s the reinventing going, Lizzy?”
His use of her nickname, the one that William had always called her, startled her. She blinked for a moment, curious as to why he had used it. Mary also tended to call her Lizzy instead of Elizabeth. It wasn’t that she minded. No, not at all. But most people called her Elizabeth and no one besides William had called her Lizzy.
“Well, I’m about two weeks into it so I’d say it’s coming along.”She lifted the coffee cup to her lips, pausing to look at him before she added,“Afraid to admit that it might take more time.”
“Nothing that a good long spell at Mount Hope can’t afford you.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed two Amish women exiting the market next door.“And I do believe that’s my ride.”She turned to Carl and smiled.“Thank you for the coffee.”
“You treated.”
She blushed.“I did, didn’t I?”
He tilted his head and watched her, that thoughtful expression back on his face.“I’d be happy to treat to a next time,”he offered.“But a proper sit down.”
Mary and Katie stood outside of the store, looking around as they tried to spot Elizabeth.“I…I really have to go,”she said as she stood up and started to make her way to the door.
“Is that a yes?”There was a mischievous gleam in his eyes. She knew that he wasn’t going to let her get away without committing and, before she knew what she had done, she nodded her head. With great delight, Carl clapped his hands.“Wonderful! I’ll pick you up Friday night at six!”
“Oh…”She couldn’t think of any excuse. Her mind was torn between reneging and hurrying to catch Mary and Katie before they returned to the market to try to find her.“Fine,”she acquiesced, hurrying out the door, the coffee cup in her hand and her heart in her throat.
Had she really just promised to go on a dinner date with Carl Carlson that weekend?
Flustered, she hurried up to Mary and Katie, apologizing for keeping them waiting. Mary, however, glanced over her shoulder and the hint of a smile crossed her lips.
“Just Elizabeth,”Carl called out from behind her.“You forgot this.”
He handed her the white plastic bag with her yarn and crochet needles. The cup of coffee in his other hand quietly announced exactly where Elizabeth had been and why she kept the Amish women waiting. Katie glanced away, smiling while Mary gave Carl what could only be defined as‘a look.’In return, he gave her a playful wink.
“See you Friday night,”he said before, embarrassed, Elizabeth took the bag.
She quietly thanked him before falling into step behind the two Amish women as they pushed their carts, laden with boxes of dry goods, toward the buggy. Neither woman said
anything, but the silence seemed to have an undercurrent of curiosity. Elizabeth thought she saw Katie glance at Mary and smile, just a hint, as if they shared a secret.
And Elizabeth knew that the secret involved her and Carl.
With red cheeks, Elizabeth looked over her shoulder, not surprised to see Carl standing there, a satisfied grin on his face at the horrified look on hers. She didn’t want him to get the wrong idea. However, she now suspected that his interest in her was more than just friendly curiosity. But she worried that Katie and Mary thought that the feeling was mutual.
All of her life, she loved William. From the time she was a young school girl until the day that he married her, she knew that her future was meant to be with him. True, she had expected that they would grow old together, see their grandchildren married, and then, as their memories faded along with reality, one of them would slip away in the quiet of the night. Within months, perhaps weeks, the other would follow, too distraught to continue alone.
Now that their plans, both spoken and unspoken, were upended, she faced an unknown future. Her distress over his loss never lessened, but the intensity of her pain seemed to have diminished…just a little.
As she sat beside the two Amish women, her body swaying slightly to the rhythmic movement of the buggy, the idea that suddenly struck her that, at fifty-four, she had an entire life ahead of her. Without William, she was lost. But that didn’t mean that another person might not find her, help her on the journey.
Was it possible, she wondered as she stared out the window, that she, too, might actually find another companion? It had never dawned on her that God might have other plans for her, plans that she hadn't anticipated? As she thought that, one of the verses of Proverbs 16 came to mind: The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
Was God trying to show her something? Something that she had not considered before now?
The thought unsettled her and she found her heart racing. If she truly hadn’t wanted to go with Carl, she would have found a polite way to refuse. But she hadn’t. With one simple nod of her head, she agreed to a dinner date with a man she hardly knew. Yet, even more mysterious to her was the fact that she realized she was excited.
A dinner date, she thought as she watched the empty fields pass by. A smile crossed her lips. A year ago, such an idea would never have crossed her mind. Seven months ago, she would have considered anyone who suggested it as cruel and insensitive. But now, as she hugged her white plastic bag of yarn to her chest, sitting beside Mary as they made their way back to the Troyer farm, she realized that this, whatever this turned into—whether a simple friendship or (dare she consider it?) something more—was exactly what William would have wanted.
She rode the rest of the way home in silence, her mind somewhere else and oblivious to the fact that both Katie and Mary occasionally glanced at her, knowing smiles on their faces as they saw the transformation of a woman stepping away from grief and finally, after far too long, stepping a cautious foot back into the water of life.
CHAPTER 9
The house was quiet when she walked up the porch steps and stood at the door, apprehensive about whether she should knock on the door or simply walk in. The inside door was open as if inviting her to just enter. But she wasn’t comfortable presuming such familiarity. Not yet.
She glanced over her shoulder, trying to see if anyone was in the barnyard but no one was in sight. A dog barked in the distance, she suspected from one of the other Troyer farms. She hadn’t met them yet, only seen an occasional buggy pull up the lane and turn at the fork in the driveway.
Still undecided, she took a deep breath. Better to err on the side of caution, she rationalized.
Softly, she knocked on the glass door and waited. Nothing.
Carefully, she opened the glass door and poked her head inside, calling out,“Hello? Mary?”Silence. She leaned in and listened, trying to hear any indication of movement.
The smell of delicious ham cooking in the oven wafted through the air and she shut her eyes, savoring the scent. It reminded her of Thanksgiving. William always wanted a ham and a turkey for that holiday. The smell of it reminded her of happier days with the family crowded around the table, sometimes two folding tables pushed up against each other to make room for his visiting siblings.
“So you made it in time for the quilting bee, then?”
Elizabeth started at the voice and turned, surprised to see Mary walking through a doorway under the staircase, carrying two serving platters in her arms. Elizabeth hadn’t noticed a doorway there and, when Mary shut the door, she knew why. It blended in with the wall.
“You scared me,”Elizabeth laughed, still trying to calm her jittery nerves.“I didn’t see a door there.”
“Storm cellar,”was all Mary said to explain it.
Of course. Every house in Ohio had a storm cellar, a place of refuge from the far-too-common storms that descended upon the area in the spring. Elizabeth suspected that there was a pantry down there, filled with fruits and vegetables, canned in glass jars. She would have loved to have seen it, but she was too shy to ask.
“You come on in, Lizzy,”Mary said as she walked toward the counter. You can set the table before the men arrive. We’ll leave for the quilting bee after the men have had their meal.”
She hadn’t considered that it was almost noon and Mary would need to feed her family before leaving. It dawned on her that Mary expected her to stay for the dinner meal. Suddenly, she felt nervous, uncertain what to expect in the mixed company of an Amish family.
On several occasions, she had waved to Mary’s husband and sons, but she had yet to formerly meet them, never mind spend time with them. In her mind, she imagined they would be strict and stern, little humor in their conversation (if there was any conversation at all!). She wondered what they would talk about and whether they would talk in Dutch or English. All of these thoughts raced through her mind as she followed Mary’s instructions for setting the table for five people.
At eleven forty-five, as if on cue, the door opened and Mary’s husband walked in, followed by his two sons. They paused at the sink in the mudroom to wash their hands and remove their boots. Wearing just their gray socks, they filed into the kitchen, greeting her with a simple head nod as they moved toward the table.
John took his place at the head of the table and the two sons, David and Jonas, sat on the bench beside him.
“You must be Elizabeth,”John finally said.“Come sit, then.”He gestured to the chair opposite his sons.“You can’t tell me you aren’t hungry smelling that wunderbarr ham my Mary has cooking in the oven!”
Immediately, she knew that she liked him. His eyes sparkled when he spoke, little laugh lines at the corners creasing his face. His white beard, trimmed ever so slightly so that it only went to the first button of his shirt, made him look like a mustache-less version of Santa Claus.
“It does smell wonderful,”she admitted as she took the seat he indicated.
John gestured toward the two young men.“This is David and Jonas,”he said to introduce them.“Not certain if you met them proper yet.”
“I have not.”She smiled in their direction to which they responded with shy nods of their heads.“Although I have seen you both working.”
David, the older of the two, grinned.“You don’t mind the cow smell, then?”
She laughed. She knew what he meant. The pungent odor of cow manure was not for the faint of heart. Sophia always wrinkled her nose in disgust whenever they had visited a farm, complaining that the smell was disgusting. Ryan, like Elizabeth, had not been bothered by the smell.“My grandfather had a farm,”she said.“It reminds me of him and doesn’t bother me one bit.”
He raised an eyebrow, apparently surprised by her admission.“Most people who stay here can’t stand it.”
His younger brother, Jonas, made a face.“That and no electricity.”
She was surprised that both of Mary’s youngest sons were so outgoing and p
ersonable. She never imagined the youth as being particularly conversant when it came to dealing with strangers. Apparently, she had been mistaken.“Well, it does take some getting used to,”she confessed.
The first few nights she had slept at the cottage, she found herself going to bed earlier than usual. It was hard to read by the light of a kerosene lantern. Slowly, however, she began to arise earlier which meant she accomplished more during the day. In many ways, she was returning to the hours she used to keep when William was alive, rather than sleeping all day to make time go faster.
“But I can honestly tell you that it’s much nicer without the interruption of a phone or noise of television,”she continued.“I’ve found that I prefer it! Might be something more people should consider.”
“Oh my!”That came from Mary as she began to set plates down on the table. Her dark eyes met Elizabeth’s and she tried to hide her smile.“Never thought I’d hear that from an Englischer!”
Both David and Jonas laughed, leaving Elizabeth wondering what the inside joke was about. Her husband, John, shook his head as he turned his attention to Elizabeth.“We’ve had quite a few guests here over the years.”He explained and then, he winked at Mary.“Not all of them were as easy to accommodate as you have been.”
“Then why do they stay here when there are plenty of motels in the area?”
“That’s a right gut question!”Jonas mumbled.
Mary wasted no time to answer it as she arranged several slices of cut bread in a basket.“Curiosity, I reckon. You should hear the ridiculous questions we get asked.”
David groaned and Jonas rolled his eyes, reminding Elizabeth of her own two children. She felt a pang of homesickness, missing her family. Even if she rarely saw them, when she was at home, she felt as if they were closer to her.
“One guest asked me if we use ashes to brush our teeth!”She clicked her tongue as she set down the last bowl of steaming mashed potatoes on the table and then took her seat opposite John.
Without a word, the four of them bowed their heads in silent prayer. Elizabeth quickly followed suit, shutting her eyes and praying over the bountiful meal that Mary had prepared for her family. She felt blessed that she was invited to share it with them. From the tone of disdain that she heard in Mary’s voice about her Englische guests, she could only presume that not many were given the opportunity to enjoy a home-cooked meal in Mary’s kitchen.