Faye, her husband, and Jeremiah were all sitting on the front porch when he pulled in. It appeared that he had interrupted a conversation that had not been going well. His father seemed relieved to see him.
“Why are you in uniform?” Jeremiah asked. “Are you going into the Army again? I thought you liked it here.”
“It’s the Marines, and I do like it here—but I got a letter yesterday that changed my plans.”
In a few sentences he explained to his father where he was going and why. Jeremiah never once changed expressions.
“Got something I want to give you before you take off,” Jeremiah said. “Come on back to the barn with me a minute.”
When they got to the barn, Jeremiah led him to a work area where he kept a few tools and harnesses. Once there, the mask came off and Tom could see the worry in his father’s face.
“Faye and Ephraim are trying again to talk me into leaving. Faye says she’s worried about me here all by myself. The girl has always been softhearted like her mother.”
“But you aren’t going?”
“Faye misses her father.” Jeremiah spit a thin stream of tobacco juice at a knothole. “But Ephraim has dollar signs in his eyes.”
“You don’t trust him?”
“I think he often wonders how soon I will leave this earth.” Jeremiah took a square, green tin off a high shelf. “I will wait for Tobias. We will see how eager my son-in-law is to have me when I no longer possess eighty acres of prime Holmes County land.”
He pulled a rusted, green tin box off a high shelf and pried the top off. Inside were some odds and ends, the kind of flotsam that floated around a working farm. Also inside was a small piece of chamois wrapped around an object. Jeremiah unwrapped it, and there lay a pocketknife with a carved bone handle.
“This is a good knife,” he said. “It holds a sharpened edge longer than any I’ve ever owned. It’s a Barlow. I don’t need it anymore. I want you to take it.”
He handed it to Tom. The thing was old, and extremely well made. It was also obviously something Jeremiah greatly treasured.
“It’s beautiful.” Tom turned it over and over in his hand. “Where did you get it?”
Jeremiah hesitated. “It belonged to my father.”
“Are you sure you want me to have it?”
“You have been a good friend to me, Englischer.”
Tom slipped it into his pocket and grasped Jeremiah’s hand in a firm handshake. “I’ll carry it on me always.”
“Good,” Jeremiah said. “A man never knows when he might need a good, sharp pocketknife. You be careful out there.”
His dad was right. A man never did know when he might need a good pocketknife. He also knew that this gift, a token of his father’s care, would never leave his side from now on.
As soon as he got settled, he would write his father and tell him, truly, how much the pocketknife, and his friendship, had meant to him, Tobias.
chapter THIRTY-TWO
Although Tom had flown helicopters for many years, he had never flown Marine One. The protocol that had risen around the president’s helicopter was enormous, and there was much to learn, much to observe. There were security measures beyond anything he had ever experienced, all to keep the most important person on the planet alive. He learned what countermeasures he should take to avoid a direct attack; he learned which men and women would be acting as his copilots; and he began to learn the personality of his new president, the president’s family, and his staff.
Much of his job would be shuttling the president from the White House to Air Force One, the jet that had been so well outfitted from within and without that the president could run the country from it indefinitely if necessary.
He did not expect to become the president’s friend. The only thing he wanted was to do a good job. There could be no errors. He could not afford to be distracted by personal issues. He existed, at least while he was the pilot for Marine One, for one reason only—to get the president from point A to point B as safely as possible.
He could not, for instance, allow himself to think about Claire. Or Amy. Or to wonder if Levi and Grace had ironed out their problems yet. He couldn’t think about sweet little Sarah or the stalwart Albert, or mischievous Jesse. He couldn’t allow himself to worry about Maddy and wonder if she was still determined to be part of the New Order “goody-goodies.”
He shoved these thoughts aside every time he climbed into the cockpit, so that he could become one with his machine. Feeling every nuance. Anticipating the slightest bounce. Checking and rechecking to make certain the mechanics were perfect before taking off.
He also practiced, over and over, landing on the small landing pad by the White House. In some ways that was the thing he dreaded the most—trying to make a perfect landing on such a small space with the ground frequently littered by news people and White House staff alerted that the president was coming in.
He forced himself to ignore his longing to be back in Holmes County with the people he loved. He had to ignore it—that was what good soldiers did.
It helped a little that the president occasionally took the time to express his appreciation.
• • •
Claire was no stranger to grief, but this felt different. Matthew and Abraham had not chosen to leave her. Tom Miller had.
It took her a few days before she could steel herself to face going up to his apartment.
There was little for her to do. A hardback book, half read, was lying facedown on the floor beside the armchair. She picked it up and read the spine. It was one of Levi’s innumerable books about history. This particular one was about an ancient Greek war. She could see no value in reading something like this, but that only underscored the vast difference between the two of them. On the other hand, she had enjoyed her conversations with him even more for that very reason. She closed the book and set it back on a shelf.
The apartment smelled different than when Levi lived there. There was a scent that had always lingered around Tom. It was subtle—he was not a man given to wearing cologne—but she had liked his woodsy-spice smell. As she went in to wipe down the bathroom and take the towels to launder, she found the source of that scent. It was nothing more than a dark-colored bar of soap. There was no longer any way to discern what brand it was. She held it to her nose and breathed deeply. Then she slipped the half-used bar of soap into her pocket.
She took everything out of the refrigerator. He liked to eat healthy. Some lean meats and vegetables were about all that was in there. He had developed a great affection for Mrs. Yoder’s and ate there several times a week. She left the few canned goods behind. She knew where they were if she needed them.
He had already stripped the bed and folded the sheets and blankets. Never in her life had she wished for more work, but the fact that he had left so little sign that he had ever lived there was a disappointment to her. He had been a clean and organized man, used to living with little or no excess.
Perhaps that meant her and the children as well. Perhaps they were excess. Easily left behind. Perhaps she had made a mistake in confiding in him all her little problems. Her face burned as she thought about how she had treated him like an understanding friend, confiding to this very important pilot all the bits and pieces of her small world.
How foolish she must have appeared.
And how foolish she had been to allow him to become so close to Amy. That little girl had been hit hard by his leaving.
She didn’t blame him for returning to his old life, flying his precious helicopters. What she blamed him for was ever coming here at all.
• • •
Claire had barely gotten the sheets and a few other whites soaking in the washtub at her house when Elizabeth pulled in. This surprised her. Elizabeth had not driven in more than two years, which might account for the erratic way the older woman had parked.
“The doctor has said you can drive again?” she asked.
“That doctor Grace took me t
o shouldn’t even have a medical license. He looks like he should still be playing Little League.”
“But he cleared you to drive?”
“I don’t need a doctor telling me if I can drive or not. I have a perfectly good driver’s license and I intend to use it.”
Claire interpreted this to mean that the doctor had not cleared her, but Elizabeth had no intention of admitting it. “Can I bring you some tea?” she asked, as Elizabeth sat down on the porch to get her breath.
“That would be lovely,” the older woman said. “Thank you. And then we need to talk.”
That sounded ominous. She could not imagine anything all that serious that her old friend would want to talk to her about. Unless it was Levi and Grace. She hoped things hadn’t gotten worse between them.
While she was at it, she made herself some tea, and then went out to face whatever bad news Elizabeth had to give her. Over the years, Claire had learned a significant fact—the more people you have in your life, the more crises you have to deal with.
Elizabeth took a sip and smiled. “You remembered that I like honey in it. You are so thoughtful.”
Actually, Claire had not thought at all. They used honey for most things that needed sweetening. Their hives brought in enough every year to keep them well supplied with extra to sell. Besides that, she had heard that honey had some health benefits that sugar did not.
“I want to rent the apartment that Tom vacated,” Elizabeth said.
Claire was surprised. That was the last thing she had expected to come out of Elizabeth’s mouth.
“Who are you renting it for? Becky?”
“Becky will have to fend for herself next time she comes home,” Elizabeth said. “I want to rent it for myself.”
“I don’t understand,” Claire said. “Why would you want to leave your home?”
“Because your son and my granddaughter are driving me crazy,” Elizabeth said. “I came to Mt. Hope for peace. I worked for it, and I deserve it. What I have right now are two hardheaded people who can’t seem to work out any sort of a compromise, but still love each other too much to get a divorce.” She took another sip of tea and shook her head. “I want out of it. I can hear their voices even in the Daadi Haus.”
“They will be upset and embarrassed if they know they are the cause of your leaving your own home.”
“Good!” Elizabeth said. “It would serve them right. I’ll pay you the same amount that Tom was paying.”
“What about the stairs?”
“I am much stronger. I go up and down the stairs all the time nowadays. Most of the time to get away from Grace and Levi.”
“You are welcome, my old friend, to the use of my apartment—but I will not charge you rent.”
“Of course you will.”
“No, I won’t. I mean it, Elizabeth.”
“Maybe we could work out a trade,” Elizabeth said. “Now that I’m driving again, I’m going to do a lot of it. I’ll take you on all your birthing calls and it won’t cost you a cent.”
Claire wasn’t entirely sure what would be the most dangerous—her buggy or Elizabeth’s driving. The woman had one wheel right now in the middle of one of her flower beds.
“We’ll discuss that later. Right now I am most concerned about Levi and Grace. You’re around them more than me. What in the world can we do to help those two?”
“Levi doesn’t know how to be Englisch, and Grace doesn’t want to be Amish. Each one of them has a foot firmly planted in the culture in which they were raised. Even their attempts to please each other seem to backfire.”
“Like what?”
“Like that big-screen TV Levi dragged in. Grace had said she would like to be able to watch a show from time to time, and he overreacted. Now we’ve got that monstrosity up on the wall in our living room, and Levi is the only one watching it.”
“My Levi?” Claire was incredulous. “Watching television?”
Elizabeth patted her hand. “He’s practically addicted to it, Claire. It’s the oddest thing. It’s kind of like a disease. I think he never developed an immunity to it when he was little, and now he can’t seem to take his eyes off it.”
“What sort of things does he watch?” Claire was worried. This didn’t sound like her son at all.
“Well, he decided to get satellite, and now he’s got like a zillion stations to choose from. He keeps it on the History Channel and nature shows the most—you know how hungry he always was for learning.”
“Always.” Yes, she could understand how Levi could become addicted to such things. “How is Grace handling it?”
“Not well. I doubt that when she married Levi, she expected to have to compete with a television for his attention, but that’s what it’s come down to. I think it’s also a sort of a cushion against the disaster of their marriage. Grace is a fighter. Levi is not. The more he watches, the less time he spends arguing with Grace.”
“What do these two need to happen for things to get better?”
“I think they both need to be whopped upside the head with a two-by-four, myself, but moving out is the best idea I can come up with. Neither one of them is listening to a word I say. Last time Becky came home from college, she told them that unless they got their act together, she wasn’t looking forward to coming home again. If I have to choose between Levi and Grace, right now, my choice is Becky.”
“When do you want to move in?” Claire asked.
“I’m ready right now.” Elizabeth stood up, and to Claire’s astonishment, began to sing. “My bags are packed, I’m ready to go. I’m standing here outside your door. When you wake up . . . oh, never mind, you don’t listen to the radio, do you?”
“No.” There were times when she honestly had no idea what Elizabeth was talking about.
“Sorry, but that song has been playing in my head all morning.” Elizabeth’s voice suddenly sounded frail. “I’m wondering if they’ll even notice that I’m not sitting at the supper table tonight.”
• • •
When Levi came hunting Elizabeth, Claire was primed and ready for him.
“Hi, Maam,” Levi greeted her. “I haven’t seen Elizabeth all day. I was coming down to ask if you’d seen her. Now I discover that her car’s here. What’s going on?”
“She’s moved out.”
“What?”
“She’s moved out of her own house and into your old apartment.”
“Why on earth would she do that? I built her a perfectly good Daadi Haus.”
“I believe she’s trying to make a point.”
“And what would that point be?”
“That she can’t bear to live with you and Grace anymore. She says you fight all the time.”
Levi didn’t meet her eyes. “Not all the time.”
“You loved Grace enough to leave the religion of your forefathers for her.”
“She wasn’t the only reason,” he argued.
“No, but the thoughts of getting to marry her certainly did not hurt, did it?”
“No. I love Grace.”
“From what I can see, you’re trying to change everything you loved about her.”
“That’s not true.”
“It certainly looks like it to me.”
“You don’t understand. She won’t follow my lead in anything. I’m supposed to be the head of our family—and Grace always wants to do something different from what I propose. Grace insists on trying to wear the pants in our family.”
“Perhaps that is because Grace knows more about living in the Englisch world than you.”
Levi looked like a thundercloud.
“I know I opposed your marriage, but Grace is the single most valiant woman I’ve ever known in my life, even if she isn’t Amish. I wish you could have seen her fighting to save Zillah’s life. . . .”
He wasn’t listening. “She wants to help take care of our finances.”
“So?”
“That’s the husband’s job.”
Claire si
ghed. “Oh, Levi.”
“Well, it is.”
“Who says?”
“Everyone knows it is supposed to be that way, and Grace wants to work even after the baby comes.”
“And why shouldn’t she?”
“That is not the way it is supposed to be.”
“Who says? I have a two-year-old. I work.”
“That’s different.”
“No, it isn’t. Grace has a God-given talent, and from what I’ve seen so far of her cooking and gardening, she has only one talent—but it’s a big one. You cannot control Grace’s actions, but you can control your own. You’re one of the smartest men I’ve ever known, Levi. Use that good brain to figure out how to stay married—and how to be happy—with the woman you vowed to love and cherish forever.”
“But, if Grace would just . . .”
Claire had loved her son from the moment she knew he had been conceived—but right now, she wanted to shake him.
“If Grace would just . . . nothing!” She stomped her foot. “You figure out what’s wrong. You figure out a way to fix it. You figure out how to change you—and then maybe Grace won’t feel like she’s got to fight you for every inch of dignity she has left.”
At that moment, Elizabeth walked into the room. “I saw your car,” she said. “I figured you were coming to talk me into coming back. I’m not coming back. The two of you are driving me nuts.”
“No,” Levi said, “I think it would be best for you to stay here for now. I need to get some things straight with Grace. And it probably would be best if you were not there to hear it.”
chapter THIRTY-THREE
His mission tonight was simple—fly the president of the United States from Andrews Air Force Base to the helipad at the White House.
At the moment, three decoy helicopters, exact replicas of the one he was flying, flew in tight formation around him, changing position at regular intervals, creating the shell game that he and the other Marine One pilots played every time they carried the leader of the free world.
Hidden Mercies Page 27