A short time later, Emma came back with glasses of lemonade for them. She placed them on the table and was about to sit down, when Anna suddenly stood, gave Emma a hug, and said she needed to go.
Is Anna as uncomfortable around me as I am her? Erika wondered. Does she feel sorry for me, sitting here in my wheelchair, not saying a word? She grasped the armrests on her chair tightly and clenched her teeth. Well, I don’t need her pity.
Anna started for the door, hesitated, then glanced quickly at Erika. “It was nice meeting you. I’m sure you’ll enjoy the quilting classes, ’cause Emma and Lamar are good teachers.” Then she turned and rushed out the door.
Emma stood several seconds, watching out the window as Anna made her way out of the yard. Then she turned to Erika and said, “How was your week?”
Erika shrugged, running her finger down the side of the wet, cold glass of lemonade. “Same as usual. I wake up in the morning, and whether I’m at school or home, I sit in my wheelchair the rest of the day. Dad and my caregiver, Mrs. Drew, take care of most of my needs, so I’ve pretty much got it made, wouldn’t you say?”
Emma, as though sensing Erika’s frustration, gently touched her shoulders and said, “I’m sure it must be hard for you, and I’m hoping that by taking this class…”
“As I’ve said before, I really don’t care about learning how to quilt. I’m only here because my dad insisted I come.” Erika gulped down some of her drink, thinking how good the lemonade tasted. I bet Emma made this herself. It sure doesn’t taste like the store-bought kind.
“You know,” Emma said, motioning to the front door, “when Anna took my class up in Shipshewana last year, she didn’t want to learn how to quilt, either.”
“Then why’d she come?” Erika asked, after taking another swallow of lemonade
“Her mother signed her up for the class.” Emma’s glasses slipped to the end of her nose, and she paused to push them in place. “Anna wasn’t interested in sewing at home, and her mother hoped I could teach her.”
“That’s interesting, but what’s that got to do with me?”
“Take this napkin and wrap it around your glass. It will soak up some of the moisture.” Emma smiled and then continued. “Even though Anna didn’t want to come to the class at first, eventually she liked it, and she learned to quilt.”
Erika didn’t respond, just wrapped the napkin around the glass and finished her drink. She hoped the others would get here soon so they could get on with the class, because the sooner it was done, the sooner she could go home to the solitude of her room, which was fast becoming her only safe place.
Maybe I’ve said enough, Emma thought. It might be better to just show Erika kindness and do the best I can at teaching her to quilt. Once she discovers that she can do it, she might find it enjoyable and realize she can do something useful.
“If you’ll excuse me a minute, Erika, I need to go back to the kitchen,” Emma said. “Lamar’s still in there, and I need to make sure he isn’t sampling the snack I prepared for our quilt class today.”
“Go right ahead,” Erika responded in a sullen tone.
Emma hurried to the kitchen, where she found Lamar at the table, peeling an orange. “I was hoping you weren’t testing the coffee cake,” she said, taking a seat beside him.
He wrinkled his nose. “Nope. I knew better than that. Don’t want to do anything to get my fraa riled at me.”
“It would take a lot more than you eating a piece of my coffee cake to get your wife riled,” Emma said. “Now, if you ate the whole thing that would be an entirely different matter.”
“Figured, to play it safe, I couldn’t get into much trouble if I just had an orange.” He glanced at the doorway leading to the other room. “Is everything okay with Erika? She seems pretty down-in-the-mouth today.”
“I’m afraid you’re right,” Emma agreed. “She doesn’t want to be here, but I think the real problem may lie in the fact that she has no self-esteem.”
“Guess that might be the case, all right.” Lamar bit into a piece of orange, sending a spray of juice in Emma’s direction. “Oops! Sorry about that.”
“No harm done.” Emma grabbed a napkin and blotted the juice that had sprayed her apron. “Getting back to Erika, I can understand why she’d be depressed and feel as though she has no self-worth, but there are other people in the world who are worse off than her.”
“That’s true,” Lamar agreed.
“I feel as though Erika has come to us for a reason, and I hope there’s something we can do to help her.”
“God will give us the right words at the right time; He always has,” Lamar said. “And who knows, Emma, a breakthrough for Erika might come about because of something that someone else says or does, rather than through one of us.”
Emma nodded. “I’m fortunate to have married a man as schmaert as you.”
Lamar grinned, bouncing his bushy eyebrows up and down. “Well, I did convince you to marry me, so I must be fairly smart.”
“It’s nice to see you this morning,” Kim said as she and Noreen stepped onto the Millers’ front porch.
“Same here,” Noreen said with a nod.
“I’ve been wondering if you were able to get that tea stain out of your slacks,” Kim said.
“As a matter of fact, I was,” Noreen replied. “I used cold water and some Stain Stick, and it came right out.”
Kim blew out her breath. “That’s a relief.”
“Would you like a friendly piece of advice?” Noreen asked.
“Sure.”
“During my college days, I worked as a waitress for a while, and one thing I tried to remember was to be careful with the food and beverages I carried to and from the table. Some customers wouldn’t be as nice as I was about a waitress spilling something on their clothes, and if you want to keep your job, you have to be on your toes.”
“Yes, I know, but accidents can happen.”
“And it’s your job to make sure that they don’t.” Noreen pursed her lips. “Otherwise, you could end up getting fired. In my day, I saw that happen more than once.”
Kim cringed. While Noreen had kept quiet about her spilling the tea, she figured if something like that should happen to Noreen again while Kim was waiting on her, she would tell Kim’s boss. Kim had a hunch that Noreen wasn’t one who gave people a second chance.
Kim wasn’t normally so klutzy—only when she got nervous or overly stressed. Hopefully things would go better for her at the restaurant once she relaxed and felt more comfortable with her new job.
“Guess we’d better get inside,” Kim said, knocking on the front door. “I don’t know if everyone else is here or not, but we don’t want to hold up the quilting class.”
Soon after Kim and Noreen showed up, Jennifer arrived.
“Are you feeling all right? You look tired today,” Emma said, feeling concern when she noticed the dark circles beneath the young woman’s brown eyes.
“I didn’t sleep well last night,” Jennifer said. “The baby kept kicking, and I couldn’t seem to find a comfortable position.”
“I remember when I was carrying my youngest daughter, Mary,” Emma said. “She used to get the hiccups, and that would wake me out of a sound sleep.” She gave Jennifer’s arm a tender squeeze. “Once that boppli comes, you’ll forget about any discomforts you had before she was born.”
Jennifer tipped her head curiously. “Boppli? Is that another name for baby?”
Emma’s face heated as she slowly nodded. “It’s Pennsylvania Dutch, and even when I’m talking English I sometimes forget and say something in our traditional Amish language.”
“It’d be fun to learn a few Pennsylvania Dutch words,” Kim spoke up. “Would you teach us, Emma?”
“I’d be happy to,” Emma replied. “Maybe I can do that during our refreshment time. Right now, though, I think we need to get started with our quilting lesson.”
“But B.J. and Phyllis aren’t here yet,” Lamar said. �
�Don’t you think we should wait for them?”
Emma touched her hot cheeks. “Of course. How silly of me.” She didn’t know why she felt so flustered this morning. Maybe it was because of the scare they’d had earlier with the alligator in their yard. That was enough to put anyone’s nerves on edge.
Emma glanced at the clock, and noticed that it was almost ten. She hoped her last two students weren’t going to be late. If they didn’t get started soon, they would fall behind schedule, and she wanted everyone to finish their quilted wall hanging by the end of the sixth lesson. “I guess we can wait a few more minutes to get started,” she said, “but if B.J. and Phyllis aren’t here by ten fifteen, we’ll need to begin without them.”
“While we’re waiting, Emma, why don’t we tell these ladies about our exciting morning?” Lamar said.
“Since it actually happened to you, I’ll let you tell them,” Emma replied.
Everyone, even Erika this time, focused on Lamar as he proceeded to share the story about the alligator that had entered their yard and been captured by the two men. When he got to the part about Rusty sitting on the gator, Erika’s eyes widened. “That guy must have been very brave or incredibly stupid,” she said. “Even when I had two good legs, I would never have done anything like that.”
“Each of us has different fears and things we feel brave about,” Lamar said. “It’s just a matter of what we’re willing to do.”
“That’s right,” Kim agreed. “Some people are afraid to ride a motorcycle, but I’m not the least bit scared when I’m riding mine.”
“Two of our previous quilters from Indiana own cycles,” Lamar interjected. “I don’t think they’re afraid to ride, but they do use caution.”
Kim bobbed her head. “Same here. One thing I always remember is to wear my helmet. I’ve seen some bikers go without it, but in my opinion, that’s just asking for trouble.”
“Is there anything you’ve ever done that others might be afraid to try?” Emma asked, looking at Jennifer.
A wide smile spread across the young woman’s face. “Before Randy and I got married, I loved to water-ski. Of course, I’d never try that now. It wouldn’t be safe for the boppli.” Jennifer patted her stomach, and looking at Emma, she grinned. “Did I pronounce that word right?”
Emma smiled and nodded.
“Why don’t you go next?” Lamar said, motioning to Noreen. “Is there something you do that others might be afraid to try?”
“Not unless you count teaching high school English. Some people might be afraid of that.” Noreen paused, snickering quietly. “Now I recently did something that surprised even me. Imagine a sixty-five-year-old woman like myself buying a sports car. But I did, even though I’m still trying to figure out why.” She lifted her gaze to the ceiling, rolling her hazel-colored eyes.
Everyone laughed. Everyone but Erika, who sat staring at her hands, clasped firmly in her lap. Emma thought about asking the girl if there was anything she’d ever done that would seem frightening to others, but decided against it. If Erika wanted to open up, she would.
As if she were able to read Emma’s thoughts, Erika suddenly blurted, “I was never afraid of anything till I tried a new dive. It went horribly wrong, and I ended up with a spinal cord injury.” She lifted her chin in a defiant pose, although Emma noticed tears glistening in the girl’s pretty blue eyes. “Guess that’s what I get for showin’ off when I should have listened to my dad when he said I should get out of the pool. Some people might believe I got just what I deserved for doing the dive, and they’d probably be right about that.”
“Blaming yourself is not the answer,” Emma said. “In the Bible we are told to forgive others, and I believe that means we need to forgive ourselves as well.”
“I know what the Bible says; my dad and I go to church every Sunday,” Erika said with a huff. “So you don’t need to preach at me.”
Emma’s heart went out to Erika. It was obvious that she held herself accountable for the accident that had left her legs paralyzed. Worse than that, Erika thought she deserved her physical limitations. She saw them as a punishment for disobeying her dad. No doubt that was the reason for her negative attitude and cutting remarks.
I won’t say anything more to her about this right now, Emma thought, but I can certainly pray for Erika and ask God to bring healing to her young heart.
C
HAPTER 10
Emma was about to have the class begin sewing their quilt squares, when she heard footsteps on the porch. “That must be B.J. or Phyllis,” she said to Lamar.
“Whoever it is, I’ll let them in.” He moved toward the door.
When Lamar returned a few minutes later, B.J. was at his side.
“Sorry I’m late,” B.J. apologized. “Guess I was more tired than I thought last night, because I slept right through the alarm this morning.”
Seeing the look of exhaustion on the man’s face, Emma became concerned. “Are you feeling alright?” she questioned.
“I’m fine. Just tired is all.” B.J. took a seat at the table, next to Noreen. “Did I miss anything?’ he asked.
“Not really. Emma was waiting until you and Phyllis got here,” Noreen replied. “I wonder what her excuse is for being late.”
“Maybe something unexpected came up,” Emma was quick to say in Phyllis’s defense. “I’m sure if she wasn’t able to be here she would have called.”
Noreen shook her head with a look of disgust. “In the world we live in today, it seems that many people aren’t dependable and only live for themselves. Why, the other day my neighbor’s teenage son was supposed to mow my lawn, but he never showed up.”
“Did you call to see what happened?” Kim asked.
“Of course I called. His mother said he’d gone off with his friends to watch a ball game.” Noreen’s forehead wrinkled. “That’s just one example of the lack of dependability I was talking about.”
Emma tapped her hand gently against the table. “Once Phyllis gets here, I’ll explain what she needs to do with her quilt squares, but I think the rest of you should get started now.” She hoped Noreen wouldn’t make any negative comments when Phyllis arrived. Noreen and Erika’s catty remarks brought tension into the room.
Noreen’s face tightened as she looked at her watch. “We’re already fifteen minutes behind, so we may end up needing to stay longer today.”
“If that turns out to be the case, then any of you who wish to, can stay as long as you need to after class.” Emma motioned to the three sewing machines on the other side of the room. “You’ll have to take turns using the machines.”
“What should we do while we’re waiting our turn?” Jennifer questioned.
“You can either visit with the others who are waiting or start cutting out your batting, which is what I had planned for you to do next Saturday.”
“We don’t want to get ahead of things,” Noreen said with a click of her tongue. “But then there’s not really much for us to visit about, since we barely know one another.”
“That’s how you’ll get to know each other,” Lamar spoke up. “All of our students in the past became well acquainted by the end of six weeks. In fact, some even became close friends, and last fall one of our students’ friendships turned to romance.”
“How interesting.” Noreen glanced quickly at B.J. and smiled.
Emma wondered if Noreen thought there might be a chance for her to find romance in this class. Now wouldn’t that be something? she thought, smiling to herself.
“Actually one of our students signed up for the class just so he could get to know a pretty young woman who’d come to learn how to quilt,” Lamar interjected.
“How’d it work out?” Kim asked, leaning slightly forward in her seat.
“It didn’t start out too well,” Lamar said. “Terry was a bit overbearing at first, and Cheryl didn’t want anything to do with him.” He looked over at Emma and grinned. “Eventually, Terry won Cheryl’s heart.”
&
nbsp; “I didn’t come here for love or romance,” Noreen said, “but if by chance it were to happen, I wouldn’t turn it down.” She gave B.J. another quick glance, but he wasn’t looking her way.
Is something going on here? Emma wondered. Could Noreen be interested in B.J.? Or maybe it’s just my imagination, because they barely know each other.
“I’m definitely not interested in romance,” Kim said. “With romance comes heartache, and I’ve had my share of that already.”
“Are we done with all this silly talk about love and romance?” Erika asked, frowning. “I thought we came here to learn how to quilt.”
“And so we shall,” Emma said. “Why don’t I get Jennifer, Noreen, and Erika started on the sewing machines, and the rest of you can visit with Lamar? I’m sure he’d be happy to tell you more about the quilts he’s designed.”
Lamar gave a nod. “I’m always eager to talk about quilts.”
Erika groaned. “I’d like to know how you think I’m supposed to use one of the sewing machines when they all have foot pedals to make the machine go. In case you’ve forgotten, my legs are paralyzed.”
Emma’s face warmed, and quickly spread to her neck. “Oh dear, I hadn’t thought about that. Perhaps Kim would be willing sit beside you and operate the pedals while you guide the material under the pressure foot to sew the seams.”
“I’d be happy to do that while we’re here,” Kim said, “but what will Erika do when she’s at home and wants to start another quilt or do some other type of sewing?”
Erika shook her head. “That won’t be a problem because after I finish this wall hanging, I don’t plan to do any more sewing. As I’ve said, I’m only doing it to please my dad, and when I’m done, I’m done. In fact, if I never see another needle and thread, it’ll be soon enough for me.”
Emma cringed. With that negative attitude, Erika might be hard to reach. But I won’t quit trying, she told herself. We still have four more classes, and every time Erika comes to our home, I’ll make an effort.
The Healing Quilt Page 6