by Jo Ann Brown
Katie Kay echoed, “Amen.”
From the boys, she heard a smothered sniff and a half sob. She squeezed Jayden’s hand and whispered, “Pass it on.”
She saw DJ brighten when his little brother pressed his hand. Not giving them a chance to get lost in fear again, she scooped out servings of the cold spaghetti salad for the youngsters. Micah buttered them each a roll, and soon the kids were focused on eating.
Katie Kay did the same and found she was hungrier than she’d thought. She hadn’t had more than a handful of crackers at midday. She didn’t need the midwife telling her to eat wisely. She offered a silent apology to the little one inside her.
When Micah got up at the end of the meal and searched the counter, she asked what he was doing. “I thought we’d have my mamm’s snitz pie.”
She stiffened. “Wanda was here? She didn’t see me, did she?”
“She didn’t come herself but sent a pie over in a cooler along with what her next-door neighbor and a couple of the other ladies along our road prepared.” He leaned one hand on the counter as he lowered his voice so the boys wouldn’t overhear. “You can’t hide forever.”
“Now isn’t the time to discuss this.” She cut her eyes toward the table where DJ and Jayden were watching them, eager for dessert.
It was easy to see the reluctance clinging to Micah as he nodded. She longed to tell him she knew that he was right. She’d known it when she went to hide in the laundry room, but the words wouldn’t emerge past her lips. Her emotions were as tangled as a basket of yarn.
Jayden didn’t ask about his mamm and daed until Katie Kay had tucked him in after listening to the boys say their prayers. She tried to comfort him when he began to cry. She sat on his bed and put her arms around him. At the same time, his big brother, DJ, began to sniff and his lower lip quivered.
Micah didn’t hesitate. He hugged the little boy and spoke so softly Katie Kay couldn’t hear what he’d said. What mattered was that DJ did, and in a few minutes he wiggled beneath the covers.
Once Jayden saw his brother was willing to sleep, he stretched out, too, and Katie Kay drew the blankets over him again. She gave each boy a kiss on the cheek and promised to wake them when their parents and sister came home. She guessed they would be up at first light, long before the hospital released Olivia.
Making sure the night-light was on in the hall and the other one in the bathroom, she drew the bedroom door almost closed. She stood outside the room for a few minutes, but neither boy rushed out. Soon it was silent inside, and she hoped they’d found comfort in sleep.
She motioned for Micah to lead the way down. “Danki,” she said as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “I’m not sure I would have been able to convince them to settle if you hadn’t come in.”
“You would have.”
“Maybe.” She paused with her hand on the newel post. “You’re going to be a gut daed, Micah Stoltzfus.”
“And you will be a gut mamm, Katie Kay Lapp.”
Her fingers went to her slightly rounded abdomen. “Do you really think so?”
“Fishing for compliments?”
“I’m not looking for compliments. I’m looking for the truth.” She sat on the sofa and looked at him. “I’ll be truthful and say I’m not sure I’ll be able to take care of this boppli. I left home in part because I was tired of tending to everyone else.”
“I didn’t realize that until you started mentioning a few things. I hope, if you go home, you’ll find the situation easier to bear.”
If you go home. Before this, Micah had insisted she should go home. Now he acted as if he doubted she’d make the choice.
The sudden urge to weep swept over her. There had been disappointment in his words. And why shouldn’t he be disappointed in her? She was in herself.
Chapter Thirteen
If Micah had any lingering doubts about Katie Kay being a gut mamm, they would have vanished when she kept the boys to their normal schedule the next morning while she also got the laundry started. She didn’t give them false assurances about their sister but also acted as if she believed everything would turn out for the best.
It wasn’t an act, he realized, when she helped DJ put on his windbreaker and backpack. As Gemma did each day, she urged him to have a gut time at school and to listen to his lessons.
Suddenly DJ looked upset. When Katie Kay asked what was wrong, he motioned for her to bend toward him. He cupped his hand and began to whisper in her ear.
She hooked a finger in the kerchief she wore over her hair and drew it aside so she could hear him. When he finished, she smiled. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of that, DJ.”
The little boy gave her a grin and a hug that almost knocked her off her feet. As she went with DJ to the door, Jayden followed, asking for a hug of his own. She lifted him and blew a kiss in his hair. He giggled and wrapped his short arms around her neck. With the little boys, Katie Kay went out to wait for the school bus.
Curious what DJ had whispered in her ear, Micah refilled his cup with kaffi before going to a window with a view of the front yard. Wind blew through the few leaves remaining on the trees and tugged at the black sweater Katie Kay wore over her jeans. She put up one hand to keep her navy kerchief from flying off.
The way she dressed matched how she stood between two communities—the plain one and the one inhabited by Englischers. Glancing around the modern kitchen with its electric stove, refrigerator and dishwasher reminded him how he spanned those two worlds himself, though he was committed to his Amish life. But he’d miss his interactions with the Donnellys and other Englischers if the Leit decided to change the Ordnung and prohibit a plain man from working with a non-plain man. That wouldn’t happen, but it did show him that he wasn’t different from Katie Kay in many ways.
With red lights flashing, the school bus stopped by the driveway. DJ hurried to get on board.
Katie Kay set Jayden down and held his hand while they waved to his brother until the bus rumbled to a start. When she walked with Jayden to the house, she swung their hands between them.
Micah edged back so she didn’t catch him watching them. One thing was clear. All of Katie Kay’s thoughts were focused on the kinder. Where was the proud woman who had insisted on commanding everyone’s attention wherever she went? She wasn’t the same person she’d been a year ago. With a wry laugh, he acknowledged he wasn’t the same person he’d been then either.
Katie Kay came into the kitchen accompanied by the sound of one of Jayden’s favorite educational shows.
Micah couldn’t restrain his curiosity longer. “What did DJ tell you?”
“He wanted to remind me that today was his turn to bring snacks.”
“Snacks?”
She smiled. “Didn’t your mamm ever send treats to school for the scholars?”
“Ja.”
“Gemma told me it’s the same in Englisch schools. The parents take turns sending in a healthy treat for snack time.”
“Mamm’s treats were sweet rather than healthy.”
She laughed. “I think DJ’s classmates would prefer Amish cookies or cupcakes or pie squares, but his teacher insists on healthy snacks. The last time Gemma went shopping, she got grapes and celery and carrots for him to take in. Once they’re cut up, they’ll make great finger food snacks for the scholars.”
“I’ll drive you over to the school.”
“Danki. I was going to ask how to get there. DJ’s directions were pretty confusing.”
Whatever Micah might have said was forgotten when the phone rang. Reaching for it, he heard Sean’s exhausted voice on the other end. There was nothing new to report because Olivia’s condition hadn’t changed. Gemma wanted to let Katie Kay know it was DJ’s turn to bring snacks.
“All taken care of,” Micah reassured his friend.<
br />
Relieved, Sean said he’d call later in the day to give them an update. When Micah told his partner he planned to stop by the hospital again that afternoon, he heard gratitude in Sean’s voice.
“You are a gut friend,” Katie Kay said when he hung up the phone. “Sean and Gemma are blessed to have you.” She opened the fridge door before he could reply he wasn’t the only one they were depending on, but he wasn’t sure how Katie Kay would take his words. The girl who had coveted compliments was a woman who seemed embarrassed by them.
Within the hour, Katie Kay had the fruit and vegetables prepared. She helped Jayden with his coat while Micah hitched Rascal to the buggy.
The little boy squirmed on the seat, excited about riding in the buggy to his big brother’s school. He let out a cheer when the low, red brick building came into view. Katie Kay warned him to be quiet when they went inside, and he pretended to zip his lips closed. Micah wondered how long the kind would remember his promise.
Checking in at the office, they were directed to a room a couple of doors down the hall. Micah opened the door, and every student in the room turned to stare at the door. DJ ran to them. Taking them by the hand, he tugged them into the room.
He turned and announced, “This is my daddy’s friend Micah and his friend Katie Kay.”
Micah hid his chuckle when he saw Katie Kay’s cheeks flush a pretty pink as speculation bloomed in the teacher’s eyes. She should recall if a kindergarten teacher took everything a kind said as the truth, then the teacher was going to have to swallow a lot of tall tales.
“This is the first time we’ve ever had our morning snacks delivered in a buggy,” said the teacher as she came to collect the trays covered with aluminum foil. “Thank you for bringing them. Will you be picking DJ up? I know his parents have given you approval to do so.”
“No,” he said. “He should come home on the bus.”
“All right.” She hesitated and then said, “DJ told us his little sister is ill.”
“Ja, she is,” Katie Kay replied. “That’s why we brought the snacks instead of Gemma. We’ll let her know you were asking about Olivia.”
“Thank you.” The teacher opened her mouth, then closed it and gave them a smile before turning to her students. “Let’s tell DJ’s brother and his friends thank you for bringing us snacks.”
“Thank you,” said the scholars as one.
Jayden was reluctant to leave. His gaze focused on an easel with paints beside it. Micah herded the little boy ahead of him out of the room. As soon as they emerged into the crisp day, Jayden began chattering like a blue jay about everything he’d seen and asking when he could go with DJ to school.
Katie Kay answered each question until the kind became fascinated with watching cars and trucks pass the buggy. He jerked his arm up and down, and he grinned when one of the tractor-trailers blew its horn. Fortunately Rascal wasn’t bothered by the noise.
“DJ’s teacher seems nice,” Micah said as he turned them off the main road. He didn’t have to watch for the big trucks so he glanced at Katie Kay. “But I could tell she wanted to ask us a bunch more questions.”
“Englischers are curious about plain folk.” She smiled. “Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many of them spending their vacations in Lancaster County. You must get plenty of questions from your clients.”
“Not really.” He rested his elbows on his knees and held the reins loosely. “Most of them, whether they’re Amish or Englisch, are interested in getting the work finished. That’s what I get questions about. Is it okay if I drop you off at the house and then head over to the hospital?”
“Of course.” Her smile warmed. “I don’t think I could stop you from being with your friend.”
He looked away. She wasn’t right. He could think of a reason to remain with Katie Kay, but he’d be a fool to kiss her again and risk his heart once more.
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
* * *
When, the following day, Micah said he wasn’t going to work again, Katie Kay was relieved. Throughout the night while she tried to get the boys to go to sleep, she worried about Micah being on a roof when his thoughts were elsewhere. A single wrong step, and he could have been heading to the emergency room, too.
Only an hour before dawn, Micah had convinced the little boys to sleep on the air mattress with him. She doubted he got any sleep, because his eyes were shadowed with deep gray arcs. She’d snatched less than an hour herself before getting up to make breakfast.
As they were finishing the meal, sharing more of the freshly made bread delivered to the house, Micah asked the boys if they wanted to help him clean out the van after he pulled it into the garage. She was pleased that he realized the wind was too strong and cold for the little boys to spend much time outside. Nobody spoke of DJ going to school because the kinder were dragging with exhaustion.
She waited until the little boys had followed Micah outside and then she found the phone number of the school. The woman who answered said that if DJ stayed home more than a couple of days, they would make arrangements to get his lessons to him.
“Tell Gemma and her husband that we’re praying for them and their little girl,” the woman said before hanging up.
Katie Kay’s fingers lingered on the phone as she set it in its cradle. Those simple words offered such comfort, and she’d make sure she passed them on to Gemma and Sean. Katie Kay hadn’t caught the name of the woman on the phone, but she guessed Gemma would know.
Hoping that working with Micah would calm the boys enough so they’d take a nap later, Katie Kay did the breakfast dishes and cleaned the house. She was surprised how much she enjoyed taking care of a home when she wasn’t being criticized for missing a cobweb or leaving dust on a table. For the first time, she began to imagine what it would be like to have a house and family of her own like Gemma did.
And a husband, too, to complete the happy picture?
A sigh drifted from her as she stopped the vacuum and began to reel up the cord. Who would want to marry her when she carried another man’s kind?
Micah had offered, and she’d turned him down. He’d told her he wouldn’t ask her again.
What a mess she’d made of her life! All her hopes of experiencing things she couldn’t while among the Leit taunted her. She’d gotten her wish but in ways she’d never reckoned.
Katie Kay flinched when the doorbell sounded through the house. Who could it be? She glanced out a nearby window and didn’t see a buggy. Inching closer to another window with a view of the porch, she gasped when she saw the tall redhead reaching to push the doorbell again.
Rushing to the door, she threw it open. “Cherokee! Come in. What are you doing here? Why didn’t you call to let me know you were coming?”
“Because I don’t have a phone number for you.” Cherokee wrapped her in a warm embrace.
Curvy was the best description of Cherokee Smith, who dated Austin’s best friend Vinnie. Though Cherokee had never said, Katie Kay suspected she came from a wealthy family. The redhead never seemed to wear an outfit more than once, and her clothing was in the latest style from the fashion magazines she’d shared with Katie Kay while the men were watching sports or sitting on the stoop to smoke.
Today she’d draped gold bangles around her wrists, as well as a trio of necklaces over her black turtleneck sweater. Her earrings were large and gaudy with bright gems that might be costume or real. Katie Kay had no idea.
“How did you find me?” Katie Kay asked.
“Vinnie saw the license plate on the van you were driving.” Cherokee winked as she added, “I had a friend do a little digging, and he found this address.”
Katie Kay suspected Cherokee’s friend wasn’t involved with any type of law enforcement, but decided she didn’t want to know why he had access to such informati
on. She motioned toward the living room. Her friend began talking as fast and nonstop as Jayden had in the buggy yesterday. Unlike the little boy who’d been positive about the idea of going to school like his big brother, Cherokee listed every reason she had to be miserable.
Sitting on the sofa after she’d moved aside the afghan as if it were a soiled diaper, Cherokee said, “The biggest problem is you aren’t around to keep Austin under control.”
“I never was able to do that.”
“Maybe you didn’t think so, but he acted less immature when you were around. Until he found out you were...” Her gaze focused on Katie Kay’s abdomen. Looking away, she added, “Then he became more of a jerk than ever.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for. I wish Vinnie would spend less time with him and more time with my friends. He says they don’t want to talk about anything interesting, and they don’t like him because he drinks too much and yaks about sports all the time.”
Katie Kay tried to relate to such problems, but it was impossible. She hadn’t realized how far behind she’d left her life in Lancaster and the group of young adults who could hardly be called friends. They quarreled and made fun of others when they weren’t around. She’d felt uncomfortable but hadn’t defended anyone. Shame flooded her while Cherokee continued to complain about people Katie Kay knew and some she didn’t.
When Cherokee halted in the middle of a word, her mouth dropping open, Katie Kay started to ask what was wrong. The eager voices of DJ and Jayden burst into the room as the boys ran to where she sat on the rocker. They talked at the same time, each trying to be heard, about Micah letting them help him sort out the nuts and washers stored in the van.
But the boys weren’t who had caught Cherokee’s attention. Behind them, Micah leaned one shoulder against the doorway. His gaze was focused on his partner’s sons, and Katie Kay couldn’t mistake the expression in his deep blue eyes. He wanted little ones of his own, kinder he could teach as he was Sean’s boys.