The Gift

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  “You girls help Leah clean up after I go,” Adam said before he walked to his buggy then turned to wave. “I’ll see you all this evening.”

  “Wait, Uncle Adam. Wait!” Linda yelled, running to his buggy.

  Leah watched as Adam jumped out to see what was wrong. Her heart swelled as Linda hugged her uncle and Adam squeezed her right back.

  “Danki, Uncle Adam, for bringing us today. It was fun.”

  Leah thought she saw Adam wiping his eyes before climbing back into the buggy. That one small gesture from his niece had touched him deeply. Leah couldn’t have been happier when all three girls gave her a hug once their uncle had gone. A lump formed in her throat when Amy said how much she appreciated Leah inviting them. Leah’s only regret was that her mother couldn’t have been here to watch the banding, for she was certain that she would have enjoyed it, too. But Mom was still helping out at her sister’s and would remain there a few weeks after the baby came, so Leah didn’t expect to see her anytime soon.

  Chicago

  Cora’s skirt swished as she hurried down the hospital corridor. She’d just had an encounter in the elevator with Evan, who’d said he was on his way to see a patient. Cora had made the mistake of telling him that she’d put the house on the market, and it hadn’t gone over well. Fortunately, no one else had been in the elevator when Evan glared at her and said, “If you didn’t want the house, then you shouldn’t have fought so hard to get it, Cora. I would have been happy to keep it and give you the money for a smaller place where you and Jared could be comfortable.”

  “I fought to get it so you couldn’t bring your pretty little wife into what used to be our home,” Cora shot back. “You knew I wanted to move and planned to sell the house. If you wanted it so badly, then you should have been satisfied with me and not gone looking for someone you thought was better.” It angered her that she let Evan get to her like that, and she’d begun to wonder lately if she’d done something to deserve his unfaithfulness.

  Maybe I’m being punished for something I did in the past, Cora fumed. Or maybe Evan never really loved me at all.

  Continuing down the hall, Cora halted when she nearly bumped into Dr. Rogers going in the opposite direction.

  “Oops. Sorry about that,” she mumbled. “Guess I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  He paused and touched her arm. “You look upset. Is something wrong?”

  Of course there’s something wrong. My husband left me for another woman, and now I feel forced to move. Cora swallowed against the lump in her throat. “I—I’m just in a hurry, that’s all,” she mumbled.

  “Okay. Well, no harm was done.” Dr. Rogers started to walk away but turned back around. “I heard from one of the other nurses that you’re planning to move.”

  She nodded. “I haven’t found another job yet, though, so I’ll continue on here until I do.”

  “You’re well liked here, by the staff and also the patients, so you’ll surely be missed.” The sincerity in the middle-aged doctor’s brown eyes was nearly Cora’s undoing. Until this mess with Evan had erupted, she’d always enjoyed her job at this hospital. It wouldn’t be easy to leave and start over again, but for her sake, as well as Jared’s, that’s what she needed to do. From the time Cora was a little girl, her life had been full of changes and complications. Leaving Chicago and the painful memories behind would be just one more hurdle to jump.

  CHAPTER 21

  We’ll be moving in two weeks, so you’d better start packing,” Cora told her son the next Monday.

  Jared’s eyebrows shot up. “Moving? To where, Mom?”

  “The town of Arthur.” She dished some scrambled eggs onto a plate and handed it to him. “I poured you a glass of orange juice, and there’s some toast on the table.”

  “But we can’t move. School starts two weeks from Monday, and…” He grabbed his chair with force and sat down abruptly.

  “And we’ll be moved by then, so you’ll be going to a new school,” Cora said in a smooth, calm tone. “Also Jared, I’d really like it if you’d go to the barber and get your hair cut. It’s getting a bit unruly, and as you start a new school, it’ll be nice for you to make a good impression. Your appearance is what people see first.”

  Jared grunted and slunk down in his seat, pushing back his uncombed hair. “I don’t wanna move. I told you that before. And I’m not getting my hair cut. I like it this way, and I don’t really care what people think of me. If they don’t like what they see, that’s their problem.”

  “I know what you said, and I also know how you feel about your hair, Jared. I was young once, too. If you had it styled a little better, or washed it every day, that would make a difference.”

  “Yeah. Yeah. Whatever.” Jared rolled his shoulders, while tilting his head.

  “I also know that this move will be the best thing for both of us.” Cora placed her plate on the table and took a seat next to him. “Meeting new people and living in different surroundings could be a good thing for both of us.”

  “What’s in Arthur, anyways? I’ve never even heard of the place.”

  “If you want to know more about Arthur, check it out on the Internet. There’s an interesting website all about the town. There’s also a nursing position at the clinic there, and I applied for the job yesterday afternoon.”

  Jared’s mouth formed an O. “You went to Arthur?”

  “No. I applied online and they interviewed me over the phone.”

  “You’re kidding, right?”

  Cora shook her head. “I offered to drive down, but the woman conducting the interview said my résumé and work experience spoke for itself, and so did the information they received from the hospital about me.”

  Jared folded his arms and frowned. “So you found a job, even though our house hasn’t sold?”

  “That’s right, but I’m confident that it will sell in good time.” Cora paused and drank some coffee. “Arthur’s only a few hours from here, so it won’t be hard for your dad to come visit, or for me to take you there.”

  “Humph! Dad doesn’t see me that much anyway, and I doubt he’d go there. I can’t believe you waited till now to let me know about this.”

  “Jared, it just happened,” Cora explained. “Don’t worry; it won’t be a problem when you want to see your dad.”

  “Yeah, right. Bet I’ll never get to see Dad at all.” His voice faltered. “What have I done wrong, Mom, that Dad would just leave me out of his new life since he got remarried?”

  “You haven’t done anything wrong.” Cora placed her hands on his shoulders.

  Jared’s forehead creased as he shrugged her hands away. “Don’t see why you and Dad couldn’t have worked things out between you, instead of getting a divorce.”

  “I wanted to work them out, but some things aren’t meant to be.”

  “Well, you’ll never get back with Dad if we move.”

  Cora blew out her breath in a puff of air that lifted her bangs. “You don’t understand, Jared. Your dad has moved on with his life, and we need to do the same.” She pointed to Jared’s plate. “Now please eat your breakfast so you can start packing while I’m at the hospital. I’ll be putting in my two weeks’ notice today.”

  Arthur

  “You look mied this morning,” Sara said as she, Jonah, and Mark sat down to eat breakfast. “You’ve been working late hours again and aren’t getting enough sleep.”

  Jonah yawned. “You’re right, Sara, I am tired, and I apologize for that—especially after promising to spend more time with Mark. But as you know, Dad hasn’t been able to work since he cut two fingers last week. Even with Timothy’s help, I’m getting behind again, and it could be awhile before Dad’s able to work with that hand.”

  “Have you considered hiring another man?”

  Jonah shook his head. “No one else in the area is experienced at making and repairing buggies. Even if someone was, it wouldn’t be fair to hire him for just a few weeks and then let him go. Timothy
and I will just have to manage till Dad’s on the job again.”

  Sara nodded. “I see what you mean.” She turned to Mark and handed him a cup of milk.

  Jonah reached over and took her hand. “Let’s pray about this—that the Lord will get our business through this rough patch.”

  They bowed their heads and prayed silently. When Jonah finished, he lifted his head. Seeing that Sara had, too, he smiled and said, “As soon as Dad’s able to work in the shop again, and we get caught up, things will be back to normal.” He tweaked the end of Mark’s nose. “We’ll do something fun together soon.”

  Mark giggled. “Riggel reide?”

  “Sorry, but I can’t play on the see-saw with you today, little buddy.” Jonah ruffled the boy’s hair. “I’ll read you a bedtime story tonight, though. How’s that sound?”

  Mark bobbed his head, grinning widely.

  Sara hoped her husband would be able to keep that promise. Last night when Jonah had finally left his shop and came up to the house, Mark was already sleeping. She dreaded seeing the look of disappointment on her son’s face if he had to go to sleep without that bedtime story tonight.

  Jonah reached for the bottle of syrup and poured some on his pancakes. “Since I’ve been so busy these past few days, I forgot to ask how things went at Leah’s when you and Mark went to watch the hummingbirds get banded.”

  “Everything went well. It was fascinating to watch the whole procedure.” Without going into too much detail, Sara described the process.

  “Sounds like it must have been something special to see,” Jonah said. “Wish I could have joined you and Mark that day.”

  “I think Mark is a little too young to understand what was actually going on, but he got very excited when Alissa placed a hummingbird in his hand for a few seconds. Later, though, he got tired and fell asleep.”

  “Wish you’d had a camera and had taken a picture of those hummers. That would have been a great memory to capture.”

  “The memory is up here.” Sara touched her forehead. “I even got to hold a few hummingbirds after Alissa had them banded. She explained the proper way to hold them. You can’t imagine how fragile those little birds feel, yet they didn’t seem alarmed that we were holding them. It was so cute.”

  “That’s incredible, when you think about it.” Jonah grinned. “I remember one time when I was a boy. I was carrying a box of ripe tomatoes from Mom’s garden, and a hummingbird hovered over the box a few seconds before it flew off. It seemed like it thought I had something there for it to eat.”

  Sara laughed. “From what Alissa explained, the hummingbirds are attracted to red. She said when her husband wears his red ball cap every year at least one hummingbird flies up and hovers in front of his hat.”

  “When I first saw a hummer, back when I was a kid, I thought it was a big bumble bee.” Jonah chuckled. “Their wings go so fast, they make a buzzing sound.”

  “I’m hoping that maybe next year we can all go there and watch the banding,” Sara said. “I believe that Leah’s neighbor will be doing it again.”

  “That would be fun. When the time comes, I’ll try to take that morning off.”

  “Speaking of hummingbirds, I think maybe next spring I’ll get a few feeders to hang up in our yard. It’ll be fun for us, as well as Mark, to watch the hummers zip back and forth as they drink the sweet nectar.” Sara placed her hands against her growing stomach. “It’ll be awhile before our boppli’s old enough to enjoy watching the little birds, but by the time he or she is ready, I’m sure those tiny hummers will get lots of attention.”

  “Who let the mutt in?” Adam grumbled, when he discovered Coal sleeping under the kitchen table.

  Carrie, Amy, and Linda looked up at him with guilty expressions, but no one said a word.

  Adam frowned. “You know the rules about bringing the dog inside. He’s to stay out at all times.”

  “But Uncle Adam, Coal gets lonely out there by himself,” Linda spoke up. “Besides, we like him.”

  Carrie and Amy nodded in agreement.

  “I like the mutt, too, but he’s a dog, and he belongs outside.” Adam opened the back door, clapped his hands and hollered, “Come on, Coal! Outside you go!”

  The dog crawled out from under the table, but instead of heading out the door, he ran past Adam and darted up the stairs.

  “Come back here right now, you stubborn animal!” Adam’s face heated as he tromped up the steps after the dog. At this rate, he’d never get the girls’ breakfast served, and he might be late for work.

  All the bedroom doors were open, so Adam figured Coal could have gone into any one of them. Choosing the first room, he stepped inside. “Coal, are you in here, boy?”

  No response.

  Adam squatted down and peered under the bed. No sign of the dog. The closet door was open, so he looked in there as well, but Coal wasn’t inside.

  Moving on to the second bedroom, Adam checked all the obvious places, but there was no dog. That meant he either had to be in the third bedroom or the bathroom.

  Exasperated with all the time this was taking, Adam entered the last bedroom and spotted a long black tail sticking out from under Amy’s bed.

  “I know you’re under there,” Adam muttered. “So you may as well come out.”

  Coal whined pathetically and moved farther under the bed, turning in the opposite direction so that Adam could only see the dog’s head.

  Adam groaned. This was not a good way to start the day.

  Dropping to his knees, he reached under the bed, hoping he could grab hold of the dog’s collar, but the mutt was just out of his reach. “Oh, great.”

  Adam figured he had two choices: he could either crawl under the bed and try to grab Coal, or go back downstairs and let the dog stay where he was. The second idea really wasn’t an option.

  Crawling on his belly, Adam inched along until he was nose-to-nose with Coal. The next thing Adam knew, the dog’s tongue shot out and slurped Adam’s mouth.

  “Yuck!” Adam jerked his head, bumping it on the slats holding the box spring. “Ouch!”

  Arf! Arf! Coal backed out quickly, and by the time Adam crawled out from under the bed, the dog was gone.

  Disgusted, Adam tromped down the stairs. “Where is that mutt?” he bellowed, storming into the kitchen. “Did he come back in here?”

  Carrie started to howl, Linda whimpered, and Amy’s eyes widened. “You don’t have to holler like that, Uncle Adam,” Amy said. “You oughtta be nicer to Coal. And you’re scaring my sisters, too.”

  Sweating profusely, Adam drew in a deep breath. “I wouldn’t have had to holler or run around upstairs if one of you hadn’t let the dog in. We’d have all had our breakfast by now.” He looked back at the girls, his frustration mounting. “Have you seen Coal or not?”

  Amy pointed to the utility room. “He went in there.”

  As Adam started in that direction, he heard Amy mutter that their dad never yelled at them like that. Pretending he didn’t hear, Adam was almost to the utility room, when a knock sounded on the back door. When he opened it, he discovered Leah on the porch. He was about to invite her in, when Coal darted between his legs and zipped out the door, nearly knocking Leah over.

  Instinctively, Adam reached out to grab her, and she fell into his arms.

  “Ach, my!” she exclaimed, her face turning red as she pulled slowly away and stepped into the house. “What’s going on with your hund?”

  “It’s a long story, but the shortened version is this: Coal was where he doesn’t belong, and I would appreciate it if you’d have a talk with the girls about making sure that he stays outside from now on.”

  Leah looked at him strangely but then gave a quick nod. “Where are the girls?” she asked.

  “They’re in the kitchen, waiting for their breakfast, which I was going to make till I ended up chasing after the hund.” Adam pulled out his pocket watch and grimaced when he saw the time. “At this rate, I’ll never make it to wor
k on time.”

  “Don’t worry about breakfast,” Leah said sweetly. “I’ll fix the girls whatever they want. If you have time to eat, you’re welcome to join us at the breakfast table.”

  He shook his head. “If I don’t leave now, I’ll be late, so maybe I’ll stop by the bakery on my way to the store and grab a doughnut.”

  “That’s not the healthiest breakfast, Adam. Wouldn’t you rather take some fruit or a piece of toast along?”

  At first, Adam’s defenses rose. Who did Leah think she was, telling him what to do? But after he thought it through, he realized she was concerned for his welfare.

  “Maybe I will grab an apple,” he mumbled, moving into the kitchen and reaching into the bowl of fruit on the counter. With a quick good-bye to everyone, he picked up his Thermos full of coffee and headed out the door. He shouldn’t have lost his temper or made such a big deal about the dog. From the way Coal had responded to Leah in the past, she’d probably have better luck taking control over the mutt than Adam did. It was too bad Leah couldn’t be here all the time. But in order for that to happen, he and Leah would have to get married.

  Adam thumped the side of his head. I’d better get that idea out of my head. Even if I did propose to Leah, I’m sure she’d say no.

  CHAPTER 22

  Amy and Linda, are you two ready to go to school today?” Adam asked. Though this was the first day of school for Amish children in the area, most English kids wouldn’t start back to their schools until next week.

  The girls, who had just entered the kitchen, both shook their heads. “I don’t wanna go to schul,” Linda said in a whiny voice.

  “Why not?” Adam asked. “It shouldn’t be much different than the school you used to go to.” As soon as Adam mentioned their other school, he immediately regretted it. What was I thinking, bringing that up?

  “I’ll miss Leah.”

  “Me, too,” Amy put in. “And we hardly know anybody who’ll be going to this school. Carrie’s lucky ’cause she gets to stay here all day with Leah. She’s our only friend right now.”