Guardian, the

by Beverly Lewis

  The children, especially Benny and Tobias, seemed far too excited about recounting the Unzucht—rumpus—caused by Joshua’s pets during the sermon. “Malachi was the loudest of all,” Benny was saying, his eyebrows touching his bangs.

  “Malachi?” Jodi said.

  “The parrot’s name,” Tobias said.

  “I see.” Jodi shook her head, grinning now. “Sure sounds like a mouthy bird.”

  “Is he ever!” Tobias seemed to know.

  Maryanna’s father laughed right out loud. “Ain’t that what parrots do—yackety-yak?”

  “I daresay whoever’s hosting church in two weeks surely won’t have all those animals to contend with, ain’t?” Ella Mae said as she looked right at Maryanna.

  “One can only hope not,” Maryanna replied. “The day should be a reverent one.”

  Fannie and Bertie nodded silently, eyes darting toward their younger sisters, who were too busy adding more chocolate sauce to their ice cream to pay any mind.

  “Reverent, jah . . . and a day for a bit of mingling with, well, certain folk, I noticed.” Ella Mae eyed Maryanna again.

  She couldn’t believe her ears—Ella Mae talking like this in front of the children and Maryanna’s parents. And their English guest, too! Maryanna gave the older woman a look and hoped that might keep her mum. She got up to bring over some cookies, hoping to distract Ella Mae, known for her wisdom. Most of the time, thought Maryanna, unwilling for her children to be made privy to the plans Joshua had made with her earlier. There was no doubt Ella Mae had been referring to Maryanna’s conversation with just that neighbor.

  “Not sure what I was thinkin’,” she whispered to Ella Mae as the woman selected a couple of cookies.

  “Well now,” Ella Mae said softly. “You just never know. . . .”

  I accepted Joshua’s invitation to please my parents, Maryanna told herself.

  She heard the clatter of wheels and looked out the window. Dan Zook’s horse-drawn spring wagon was moving quickly into the lane, all five of his sons still dressed in their Preaching clothes. Two boys were sitting clear at the back, their legs hanging over the edge.

  “Who’s this?” Benny said much too loudly.

  “Like I said,” Ella Mae sputtered with a few dips of her head as she spooned up some ice cream.

  Jodi had obviously heard and looked up from her dessert with probing eyes, as did Mollie. Maryanna’s mother pulled a handkerchief from beneath her dress sleeve and began mopping her brow.

  “I’ll be right back,” Maryanna said as she hurried to the back door.

  What’s Turkey Dan want?

  Chapter 34

  Things had ramped up a notch as Jodi finished her ice cream, enjoying the children’s banter and their grandfather Zeke’s down-home humor. From where she sat, she could easily observe the man outside in the wagon as he handed the reins over to one of the older boys. Presently, he was getting down to talk with Maryanna, looking very happy to see her. Since there was no woman with him, Jodi assumed he must be a widower, though he was years older than Joshua and not nearly as good-looking. The man’s full beard almost touched his chest when he spoke.

  Not wanting to be nosy, Jodi forced herself to look away, and Sarah leaned against her arm, making the little cloth doll with its stitched facial features lay facedown on Jodi’s hand. “Somebody’s getting sleepy,” Jodi said.

  “Sure looks like it to me,” Grandmother Emmie said.

  Leda shook her head. “Sarah rarely sleeps on a Lord’s Day afternoon anymore. Mamma sometimes does, but not Sarah.”

  Toby turned to look at them from down the long table. “Sarah ain’t tired,” he seconded. “She just thinks you’re gonna leave soon.”

  How sweet, Jodi thought with a glance at Mollie. “Well, I should finish my jog.” She leaned down to kiss the top of Sarah’s head. “But I’ll visit again.”

  “You will?” Bertie asked, her eyes hopeful.

  “Do ya promise?” asked Ellie as she twisted the thin white strings of her little cap.

  “Of course I do,” Jodie told them.

  “When?” Leda’s pretty eyes were very serious.

  “Very soon.”

  Both Sarah and Bertie perked up, but Ellie and Toby still looked concerned, as if they weren’t convinced.

  But Jodi knew she needed to get in touch with Trent. She felt terrible for abandoning him after he’d driven all that way to see her.

  Maryanna’s friend Ella Mae sat across from Jodi, smiling silently and batting her blue eyes.

  “It was very nice to meet you, Ella Mae,” Jodi said.

  The older woman smiled and pointed her finger at them and waved it in a circle. “I daresay you’ve got yourself a lot of young friends here.”

  Jodi agreed with a nod at Maryanna’s parents, as well. “I certainly do.”

  “And you’re the one who brought Sarah home, jah?”

  Jodi smiled down at the little sweetie next to her. “That’s right.”

  “Well, I want to thank you for being a handmaid of the Lord,” Ella Mae surprised her by saying. She went on to tell how many of the men in the community had walked through miles of fields and roadways all night long and into the morning. “Believe me, you were the answer to all of our prayers.”

  The woman’s words and the depth of her sincerity touched Jodi in a way she hadn’t expected. “Sarah deserved to come home,” Jodi said, looking down at the little girl still leaning near.

  “The Lord had it all planned, that’s for sure,” Ella Mae replied. “There’s nothin’ He doesn’t see and know.”

  Benny and Toby nodded their heads. “We asked God for Sarah’s angels to guard her,” Benny added.

  “But we never thought we’d meet one of them,” Leda said quietly.

  “Ain’t that the truth?” their grandfather Zeke said.

  Although it could’ve been an awkward moment, Jodi found their words endearing. She glanced at Sarah, whose twinkling eyes shone despite not understanding what was being said.

  Rising, Jodi tried her best to tell the children good-bye, but they didn’t make it easy. They popped out of their seats, talking and following her to the main back door, prolonging their farewells.

  Mollie and Grandma Emmie rose and came to Jodi’s rescue just as Maryanna’s man friend and his brood of boys left. As Jodi headed out the screen door, Maryanna came hurrying up the walkway. “You leavin’ already?”

  “Trent will be disappointed if I don’t see him today.”

  “Will we see you again?” Maryanna wore an anxious frown.

  Jodi said they would.

  “It’d be right nice if you could get to know Ella Mae better one of these visits.”

  “I’d like that.” Jodi smiled and waved as she headed down the driveway toward Hickory Lane. When she turned east onto the road, she glanced back at the house and saw Sarah and her cloth dolly waving from the front porch.

  She experienced a momentary pang of sadness and waved back. How would she ever be able to say good-bye to the dear little girl when she returned to Vermont?

  Time to get back on the road. Jodi looked down at her long white skirt and realized she could actually become accustomed to wearing such feminine attire, though maybe not for running. Actually, there was a lot about this little place called Hickory Hollow that appealed to her.

  Slowly, she began to run, and with each stride, she realized she could hardly wait to see Trent again, no matter their differences.

  After a time, she heard a dog panting behind her, and she turned to see Buster keeping pace. “Good dog,” she said, encouraging him to move up beside her. “I could get used to running with you.”

  Through some quirk, Joshua’s brother Ned looked especially distinguished when he was frowning. Two identical deep lines furrowed his brow as he hurried into the barn, looking for Joshua. “May we use your Bible for a bit?”

  “The bishop must’ve gone home, then?” Joshua wiped his hands on his work pants.

 
; “Jah, some time ago.” Ned stood there, still scowling. “Jeremiah and Noah are here yet, though, and we wanted to look up a Scripture verse right quick.”

  “My English Bible’s in the cupboard, second shelf, if that’s what ya want,” Joshua said, returning to scoop feed for his road horses and mules. The chickens were next, and he thought of Tobias just then and wondered how long it would be before the lad would come running over and offer to help.

  He still could not quite believe that Maryanna had agreed to go for a ride with him. Or that he’d gotten up the nerve to ask. He bit his lip as he recalled how especially pretty she’d looked today. How was it he’d never really noticed before the way the sunlight shone on her hair, or the lively sparkle in her eyes?

  Joshua was dumbfounded to think that here he’d been without the least inclination toward asking a woman out during the year since Suzanne’s passing, and now he had two dates on one day!

  Boy, oh boy, such a pickle I’m in!

  He wished he’d conferred with someone regarding this—his brother Ned, perhaps? Certainly not Preacher Yoder, who was seemingly much too eager for him to get hitched again.

  Joshua kept busy in the barn, thinking ahead to the next big slaughter for his grass-fed steers. The demand for his organic beef seemed ever growing, even in a down economy, and he was thankful for the Lord’s provision. Now for the Lord to provide a wife, as well!

  Happy to have logged a few more miles today, Jodi noticed several text messages from Trent when she retrieved her phone from her car. She called him while she drove. “What’s a girl gotta do to get a little attention?” she teased when he answered.

  Trent chuckled. “I was just thinking the same about you.”

  “Want to meet for coffee somewhere?”

  “I’d meet you anywhere, Jodi.”

  She smiled into the phone. “Somewhere with AC, please.”

  He chuckled, saying she would have liked the church he visited. “They had the air-conditioning cranked way up.”

  “Did you eat dinner?”

  “Lunch?”

  “Right.” Now she laughed.

  “What’s funny?”

  She told him the Amish referred to the noon meal as dinner. “Actually, all I had for lunch was some ice cream.”

  “That doesn’t sound like you,” Trent said.

  “Doesn’t it?” She laughed again and told him she’d gone running in Hickory Hollow.

  “The little Amish girl’s community?”

  I miss her, she thought. “I ran into Sarah and her family as they were coming out of church.”

  “Let’s see, the Amish have house church every other week, right?”

  She was surprised. “Since when do you know so much about them?”

  “Um, since I googled them last night, after you sent me packing.”

  Again she smiled. At least he wasn’t upset.

  “Seriously, theirs is a unique culture. Little known and quite misunderstood, too,” he said.

  “And rather enchanting, I have to say.”

  “I want to hear all about it,” Trent said. “Where do you want to meet?”

  “How about the coffee shop across from your hotel?”

  “Which is right where I am—so, perfect.”

  “I’ll grab a shower quick and meet you there.” She said good-bye and clicked off. “I guess he still loves me,” she whispered, relieved.

  She drove west on Route 340, to Ronks Road and then south toward Route 30, pondering all that seemed to stand in their way. They were so good together . . . and yet so far apart on things that mattered.

  Despite Maryanna’s protestations, Ella Mae headed out to her carriage, saying she needed to get home for a nap. “It was awful nice to see Sarah’s guardian angel up close.”

  “Glad you dropped by.” Maryanna walked out with her, at the ready in case Ella Mae faltered.

  “We’re havin’ church next door at Mattie’s in two weeks,” Ella Mae said, sounding matter-of-fact. “She and my granddaughters have been scrubbin’ and scouring for weeks already.” She paused and looked away. “Something your friend Joshua might’ve put himself into a bit more, jah?”

  “My neighbor,” Maryanna insisted.

  “Doesn’t look like that’s all he’s aiming to be.”

  Maryanna hadn’t known Ella Mae to be such a tease. “Daed thinks my children need a heavier hand.”

  “’Specially Sarah, no doubt.”

  Maryanna nodded. “And the boys would love a father.”

  “Well, that’s not the best reason to marry again.”

  Marry? The word lodged in her brain, and Maryanna must have looked startled. Ella Mae gave her a knowing smile. “When was the last time courting didn’t lead to that?”

  Maryanna chuckled. Ella Mae had her there.

  Sighing, she hovered near as the Wise Woman untied the horse at the hitching post, then teetered around to the side and climbed into the carriage. “You can’t go wrong with a man whose best friend was your own husband, my dear.”

  “We’ll just see” was all she would say.

  “You know where I am if you need to talk . . . or pray.” Ella Mae picked up the reins and smiled sweetly. “This can’t be easy, going out again with single men and all.” She paused and scratched the back of her head through her Kapp.

  For a moment Maryanna thought Ella Mae might ask why Turkey Dan had ventured this far south. But for once on this day, Ella Mae remained mum.

  “It’s always good to see ya, Ella Mae.” Maryanna hesitated, then added, “You won’t say anything ’bout seeing Turkey Dan here, jah?”

  This brought a chortle, and Ella Mae nodded. “Who’s that, ya say?”

  Maryanna smiled. “Denki.” She meant it. No one needed to know why Dan Zook had stopped by today. No one at all.

  Chapter 35

  Maryanna cleared off the ice cream bowls with her daughters as she considered Turkey Dan’s request to watch his three youngest sons next Saturday afternoon. Dan and his two older boys planned to pick up a new driving horse down near Kinzers.

  “A mighty fine gray mare,” Dan had said, standing a bit too close for her comfort.

  She wondered why Dan had asked her and not one of his relatives. It wasn’t that she minded, but it just seemed so out of the blue. Or was she being naïve? After today’s earlier encounter with Joshua Peachey, Maryanna guessed she shouldn’t be too hard on herself for being a bit jittery about two men showing her such interest.

  Still, it was altogether unsettling. Especially Joshua, since he had always been simply Benuel’s friend and a good neighbor—he and Suzanne were so kind and helpful. Maryanna had never thought of him in any other light. Till now.

  The coffee shop was nearly vacant by the time Jodi hurried in after showering and changing clothes. She spotted Trent over in a comfy corner, near the window. The afternoon sun filtered through the wood blinds, and his handsome face lit up when he saw her. “Sit beside me,” he said, moving over.

  “Good, you want to snuggle,” she said, happily scooting in and letting him kiss her twice on the lips. “Mm, I’m going to miss this.”

  “The year will go fast . . . I hope.” He winked at her.

  They leaned forward together to study the menu board above the counter. Jodi decided on an iced chai tea and Trent chose a mocha. She insisted on going up to place their order and then returned with their drinks to her grinning fiancé.

  “By the way, you’re cute when you’re mad.” His eyes were full of mischief.

  She sighed. “I hope you’re not referring to last night.”

  “Not specifically, no.”

  “Well, I think you are.”

  So much for the sweet tone of their date.

  He stretched back in the booth. “Look, Jodi, I know you’re in a bad place right now, and I would be, too, if I lost my brother or sister. But you’ve got to know the feelings you have toward prayer and God won’t last.”

  “How can you be sure?” She w
ished he’d validate her grief. “You can’t possibly know. You’ve never experienced what I’m going through.”

  “Mourning comes in waves, hon.” He kissed her again, but this time she didn’t return it.

  “You sound like a walking textbook. Losing Karen keeps me awake at night—gives me nightmares. I watched my sister die. I held her in my arms while she struggled to take her last breaths. I felt so . . . well, helpless.”

  “Jodi, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to trivialize your sadness.”

  “As for having children, you don’t get it, do you? I really just want us. You and me.”

  He agreed with a hearty nod. “I want that, too. More than you know.”

  “Right, but us plus kids.” She sighed, then covered her face and leaned her elbows on the table. “I’m supposed to start planning our wedding, Trent. But how, if we’re at this kind of standstill?”

  “It doesn’t have to be this way.” His voice sounded strained.

  She moved her hands away from her face, cringing at what he’d said. “Do you think I’m sticking with our original plan to spite you, Trent?”

  He shook his head, eyes searching hers. “No. I just don’t get why you’re not willing to pray about it. That’s all.”

  “I can’t explain that because I don’t understand it myself.” She breathed in slowly and made herself stay there next to him when she really wanted to move to the other side of the table.

  “I’ll wait for you, Jodi.” His voice was softer now. “You know that.”

  “Wait for me to accept the family you want?” Her anger was rising. “And what if you wait in vain? What then?”

  Trent shrugged. “We’ll figure it out.” He reached for her. “Come here.”

  Reluctantly, she let him hold her, glad for the privacy of the corner.

  “I don’t love you any less—do you believe me?”