A Simple Prayer

by Amy Clipston

  He looked toward the pasture and spotted Solomon walking toward the largest barn behind the house. Aaron rushed down the stairs and started toward him.

  “Solomon!” he called. “Solomon!”

  His brother stopped and faced him. His face transformed to a deep frown.

  “Solomon?” Aaron stopped walking a few feet from him. “It’s Aaron, your younger brother.”

  “I know exactly who you are.” Solomon moved closer to him, his eyes narrowing to slits. “What are you doing here?”

  Aaron was speechless for a moment. He was stunned by the venom that laced his brother’s words and the hatred in his eyes. His brother looked older and about twenty pounds heavier than Aaron remembered. His light-brown hair and beard had hints of gray, and lines formed around his blue eyes. Aaron had looked up to Solomon when he was younger, but now he was a few inches taller than his older brother.

  “I’m here to see Mamm,” Aaron said. “I heard she was sick, so I came.”

  “Who told you?” Solomon asked.

  “Saul Beiler called me.” Aaron defensively folded his arms over his chest. “Is it a problem that I came back?”

  “Ya, it is a problem.” Solomon lifted his chin in defiance. “Haven’t you caused Mamm enough heartache? When you left, she was positively stricken. She cried for months. She was a wreck, and no one could console her. How could coming back here now help when we all know you’re simply going to leave again?”

  Aaron winced as if Solomon had struck him. His shoulders wilted in response to the hateful words.

  “I know I was just a kid, but I thought I was doing the right thing when I left,” Aaron said, trying to hold back his growing anger. “I was causing a lot of stress for Mamm and Dat, so I put an end to it by leaving. I didn’t realize then that leaving was a mistake. I’m only fully realizing it now.”

  “Well, coming back after all these years is an even bigger mistake. You should’ve stayed gone. We don’t need you here. I’m taking care of things now. Go back to Missouri where you belong.” Solomon turned and stalked toward the barn.

  Aaron stared after him while gritting his teeth. He glanced back toward his parents’ house and wondered if he had made another mistake by coming back. Where did he belong? His mother and father seemed to want him here, but his brother had thoroughly rejected him, just as he had feared but even worse than he’d imagined. Confusion and regret rioted within him as he walked to his truck.

  Aaron parked behind the Heart of Paradise and sat in the truck while considering his options. He could pack up and leave in the morning. But how would his mother feel if he left? He had promised to stay awhile, so he would probably break her heart if he left again. At the same time, his brother had made it clear that he was not welcome.

  The brief conversation with Solomon had echoed through his mind as he drove back to the bed-and-breakfast. He had followed Linda’s advice and tried again to make things right with his family. Now he didn’t know what to do. Should he go back to his lonely life in Missouri or should he stay longer and try to become a part of his family again?

  Movement in his peripheral vision drew his eyes toward the house, where he spotted Trey walking down the deck stairs and carrying a wooden shelf. Aaron climbed from the truck and met Trey at the driveway.

  “Hi, Aaron.” Trey smiled. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine. Do you need some help?” Aaron offered.

  “Oh, no, thanks. I’m just going to fix this shelf. Hannah has been bugging me about it for about a month, so I figure I better do it. It just needs new hangers.” He pointed toward a small barn. “Do you want to walk with me?”

  “That would be great.” Aaron followed him into the barn, which was clogged with tools, a lawn mower, and other yard equipment. It also had a workbench.

  Trey looked through his tools and pulled out a hammer.

  Aaron couldn’t stop thinking about his painful confrontation with Solomon. He needed someone to talk to, and he needed some good advice. Maybe Trey could offer him some wisdom about how to handle the situation with his brother.

  “I went to see my mother again today,” Aaron suddenly blurted out.

  “Oh?” Trey asked. “How was your visit?”

  “Well, it wasn’t what I expected.” He pointed toward the shelf. “Do you want me to fix it for you?”

  Trey cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t think I can repair a shelf?”

  “I’m sorry.” Aaron grinned. “It’s just a habit. I’ve loved to work with wood since I was a little kid. I started helping my dat with little projects when I was about four.”

  “Really?” Trey looked impressed. “That’s pretty cool.”

  Aaron shrugged. “I guess it was a way I could relate to my father. That was until I became a teenager and started hanging out with some pretty rowdy kids. That changed everything.”

  Trey nodded and pushed the shelf toward him. “Go ahead. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.” Aaron fished through a container filled with nails and hangers, searching for two matching ones to use on the shelf.

  “So what happened at your mother’s house today?” Trey asked gently.

  “I had a nice visit with my mamm, but my brother wasn’t happy to see me.” Aaron started lining up the hangers on the back of the shelf. “It was the first time I’d seen him since I left, and he told me to go back to Missouri where I belong.”

  “He really said that?” Trey asked, aghast.

  “Yes, he did.” Once the first hanger was in place, Aaron hammered it onto the shelf. “He said I caused enough heartache when I left, and it will be worse when I leave again.” He examined the shelf and then pounded in the second hanger. “How’s that?”

  “Perfect. Thanks.” Trey crossed the barn and returned with two cans of soda. He handed one to Aaron and then sat on a stool. “You’ve been gone a long time, right?”

  “Seventeen years.” Aaron opened the can, which popped and fizzed in response. “I left when I was fifteen. Now I’m back, and my brother doesn’t want me here. He’s my only sibling, and he told me he’s taking care of things now and the family doesn’t need me.”

  Trey rubbed his goatee and then sipped the soda. “Is your brother older than you?”

  “Yeah, he’s eight years older than I am.” Aaron shook his head. “Solomon always made all of the right decisions. He has a family, and he’s helping run the farm with my dat. It will be his someday. I know I messed up, but I never expected him to turn me away. My parents are happy I’m back. I get the feeling Solomon wanted me to stay gone forever.”

  “That’s a shame,” Trey said.

  Aaron analyzed Trey’s tentative expression. “You look like you’re holding back your true thoughts. What did you want to say?”

  “I was trying to think about this from your brother’s point of view,” Trey began slowly. “I know it’s painful, but maybe Solomon resents that you left him to carry the load—for the farm and for your parents, including their grief over losing you.”

  Aaron considered this. “I could see how he’d feel that way, but I don’t know what to do to prove to him that I’m sorry for leaving. I told him I know now that I made a huge mistake. He said I should go anyway, and I’m wondering if I should.”

  “Do you really want to leave your parents now?” Trey asked.

  Aaron shook his head. “No. My mamm is so happy I’m here, and I feel like she needs me right now.”

  “Could you show your brother that you want to be here?” Trey set the can on the workbench. “Is there a way to show him you want to be a part of the family?”

  A spark of hope ignited within Aaron’s soul. “Yes, I could do that. I can think of a few ways to do that.”

  “Good. Maybe showing your brother that you’re going to help your parents and him will change his attitude. Just give him time and don’t give up on your family.”

  “That’s what Linda said yesterday.”

  “I think Linda was right.” He paused.
“Did you know Hannah was Amish?”

  “My mamm mentioned it to me,” Aaron said. “Did she leave the community recently?”

  “Yes, she left a couple years ago to marry me.” Trey leaned back on the workbench and shared the story of how his wife and daughter had passed away, prompting him to retire and start a new life in Lancaster County. Hannah’s husband had also died nearly ten years earlier, and she went to work at the Lancaster Grand Hotel. Hannah met Trey at the hotel, and when they married, they opened the bed-and-breakfast. Aaron was fascinated by the story, and he wondered how Hannah had adapted to life outside the Amish community.

  Aaron shook his head. “I noticed your wife dresses a little conservatively, but I had no idea Hannah had been Amish until my mother told me. How did her family handle it?”

  Trey blew out a deep breath. “One of her twin daughters refuses to accept her decision to leave. We’re hoping our baby will help heal Hannah’s relationship with Lillian. Lillian stayed in the community, and she’s a schoolteacher. The other two children live with us, and they’ve adapted well. Andrew is in sixth grade and loves school. Amanda is doing great in college. She wants to be a veterinarian.”

  “I’m glad two of Hannah’s children support her decision. I hope she can work things out with Lillian, and I hope I can fix things with my brother.”

  “I think you can. Just show him you want to be here.” Trey picked up the shelf. “Thanks for the help. I may need your construction expertise again while you’re staying here.”

  “Just let me know what you need, and I’ll give you a hand.” Aaron was grateful for a new friend.

  Aaron sat at the desk in his room later that evening and pulled out a notepad. He sketched the downstairs of his parents’ house and then drew plans for a ramp at the front of the house and one at the back. On separate pieces of paper, he wrote out a more detailed design for the ramps and created a list of supplies and tools he would need. He kept a toolbox locked in the bed of his truck under the camper shell, but he would need a few extra tools. He wondered if his father still had tools in the small shop where he used to tinker with wood when Aaron was a child.

  After the ramps were planned out, he considered what he could do in his mother’s bathroom to make it more handicapped accessible. He listed some ideas, including a large, walk-in shower, shower seat, and safety bars. He’d have to check, but he thought the doorway to the downstairs bathroom, which was quite large, was already wide enough to accommodate even his mother’s wheelchair. Whatever he planned, he would have to discuss drastic changes like that with his father before he started working.

  Aaron inspected his lists and construction designs and smiled. Making these changes to the house would be a way to prove to his brother that he wanted to help his parents. But it would also be a way to pay his parents back for the aggravation he caused them when he was a teenager. He still wanted to pay them back the money he cost them by burning down the barn as well.

  He had to call Zac and let him know he was staying longer than he’d planned. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and checked to see if he had any messages. Finding none, he dialed Zac’s number.

  “Hey, Aaron,” Zac said. “How are things in Pennsylvania?”

  “It’s going okay,” Aaron said while leaning back in the chair. “How are the projects coming along?”

  “Pretty well. We ran into one snag at the Anderson house.” Zac detailed the project delays at a home addition project. “I think it will all work out, but we’ll just be behind schedule a few weeks.”

  “Yeah, but you know as well as I do that it happens sometimes.” Aaron reviewed the ramp drawings again while they talked. “Listen, I wanted to let you know I plan to stay a little longer than I expected.”

  “Oh?” Zac asked. “What’s going on?”

  “My mom isn’t doing that well, and I feel like I’m needed here.”

  “Oh no. I’m sorry to hear that.”

  “Thanks. She’s going to be okay, but the recovery is going to take awhile. She has to learn how to walk again, and her speech is slurred. The nurses and therapists are working to get her strength back. I’m going to do a few things at the house to make it easier for her to get around.”

  “I totally understand,” Zac insisted. “You take all the time you need. We’ve got it under control here.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay with it? I don’t want to make life harder on you.”

  “Aaron, family always comes first. You just worry about doing what you need to for your folks. I can handle anything that happens here.”

  “Thanks. I really appreciate it.”

  “Call me in a few days, and let me know how it’s going, okay?”

  “I will. Thank you,” Aaron said before disconnecting the call. He was thankful his friend understood why he wanted to stay. Now he was ready to show Solomon and his parents how much he did care about them. He was going to make things right between his brother and him. He was going to get his family back.

  SEVEN

  The next morning, Aaron parked his truck in front of his parents’ house, hopped out, and fetched his tape measure and a notepad. He began to measure for the ramp near the front steps, and excitement soaked through him as he thought about how much the projects would help his mother. He felt like he was finally doing something thoughtful and positive for his family after causing so much anxiety when he was a teenager. He was going to show his appreciation for his parents for the first time in his life.

  The front door opened and his father stared down at him with bewilderment on his face.

  “Aaron?” Dat asked. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m going to make it easier for Mamm to get in and out of the house.” Aaron held up the notepad, showing the sketch. “I thought I’d build her a ramp for the front and back of the house. I’d also like to make some improvements in the bathroom if you’ll let me do it. I know you might think some of them would be a bit too modern, but—”

  “Really?” Dat stepped out onto the porch and his expression transformed to one of curiosity. “What did you have in mind for the bathroom?”

  “I could install a walk-in shower with a bench, and, of course, I would add safety bars on the walls. It’s such a large bathroom I think we can keep the tub too.”

  Dat nodded and rubbed his beard. “Sounds like a gut idea. I’m sure the bishop would understand this is for your mutter’s safety. How much would the renovations cost?”

  Aaron shrugged. “I’m not concerned about that. I want to do it for you, Dat. It’s my treat. I owe you after what the barn cost you.”

  “Danki.” His father climbed down the steps. “How can I help?”

  “You want to help?” Aaron asked with surprise.

  “Of course I want to help you,” his daed said. “Do you think I’m just going to stand by and watch you work on mei haus?”

  “I’d love to have an assistant. That would be wonderful.” Aaron held up the notepad. “Do you want to write down the measurements while I call them out? Then we can calculate how much lumber we’ll need.”

  “Ya, I can do that.” His daed reached for the notepad and pencil.

  Aaron smiled. He felt like a kid again while he and his father planned out the front ramp. He had always cherished the woodworking projects they had completed when he was a child, and now they were working side by side again. It had been much too long since they had talked about creating things out of wood.

  After all the measurements were taken and the supply list was complete, his dat let Jocelyn know they would be gone for a while, and they went to the home improvement store. They bought lumber, the additional tools they needed, and supplies, then began building the ramp right away.

  As Aaron was about to start cutting the wood, he noticed a young man walking toward them. The boy was tall and lean, nearly as tall as Solomon, and he had Solomon’s ice-blue eyes and light-brown hair. He was certain it was Manny, his oldest nephew. His eyes widened with a mixture of
astonishment and recognition.

  “Daadi,” the young man said. “What are you working on?”

  “Manny?” Aaron placed the saw on the ground. “I’m Aaron, your dat’s bruder.”

  “Onkel Aaron.” Manny shook his hand with a firm grip. “It’s gut to meet you. Mammi has been so excited that you came back.”

  “It’s great to see you.” Aaron was overwhelmed with admiration for his nephew. “The last time I saw you, you were toddling around the farm and learning to talk.”

  Manny chuckled. “It’s been a long time. I’m glad you came back.” He pointed toward the pile of lumber. “What are you building?”

  “It’s a ramp for your mammi,” Aaron said.

  “May I help?” Manny offered.

  “That would great,” Aaron said as he picked up the saw. “Do you like to work with wood?”

  “Are you kidding?” Manny asked. “I love to.”

  The three men worked on the ramp for the next hour, and Aaron had the chance to ask Manny and his dat questions he had about the farm and hear about what had been happening in the community over the years. After they cut the wood, they began to build the frame. Soon after the frame was assembled, the front door opened and Becky appeared. Time had been gracious to her. Her skin still glowed like a young woman’s. A hint of gray teased the light-brown hair that peeked out from under her prayer covering, but to Aaron she didn’t look close to forty.

  “I’ve been looking for you two. What are you doing out here? Are you ready for lunch?” Her eyes fell on Aaron and she frowned. “Aaron. I didn’t know you were here.”

  “Hi, Becky.” Aaron brushed the back of his hand across his forehead. Although it was mid-January cold, he was sweating from exertion. “It’s been a long time.”