by Nancy Mehl
“Oh Gracie,” she said as I hurried up to her, “I’m so glad the men got the fire out. They were weatherproofing it when I left. Tomorrow we’ll start repairs. I want you to know that I have some kitchen things for you if you need them.”
“Thank you, Ruth. I can’t thank everyone enough for their kindness.”
Her face crinkled as she smiled. “We always pull together in Harmony.” She closed her eyes and breathed deeply. “Can you smell the honeysuckle blooming? Every spring I wait for its aroma.” She sighed and opened her eyes. “I love it here.”
I reached out and put my hand on her arm. “Ruth, I need to ask you a favor.”
She nodded. “Of course. What is it?”
“Are you going to supper?”
“Yes. Can I get you something?”
“Thank you, but no. I—I...”
She put her arm around me. “What is it, child?”
I cleared my throat. “I know this sounds odd, but if my car is still in front of John Keystone’s store when you leave the restaurant, will you come looking for me?”
Ruth’s gaze swung toward the meat market, and she frowned. “All right,” she said slowly. “But why...”
“It’s probably nothing, Ruth. It’s just that John is a little ... well, different. I need to talk to him about something, and Sam is busy at the house. I will just feel better if someone is watching out for me.”
“Maybe I should come with you.”
I smiled at her. “No, that’s not necessary. Really. If you’d just check on me when you leave—if my car’s still there—that’s enough.”
“Okay. I’ll do it. You know,” she said quietly, “I think most people have John all wrong. There’s something about that man that touches me. I don’t think he’s as angry as he is sad. He reminds me a lot of Gabe Ketterling.” She shook her head. “Maybe it’s my imagination. Maybe he’s just mean. But I’ve found that hurting people tend to be difficult because they’re afraid to love. What’s that phrase?” She thought for a moment. “Oh yes. Hurting people hurt people. It’s really true.”
“I think you’re right, Ruth. Thanks. I’ll try to keep that in mind.”
The older woman laughed lightly. “Sorry. I’ve drifted off track here, haven’t I?” She grabbed my hand. “You go on. I’m only getting a bowl of chili so I won’t be long, but I will wait around until you leave. And if it seems to take too long, I’ll come across the street and pretend I desperately need a pound of hamburger.”
I hugged her. “Thanks, Ruth. I appreciate it.”
I’d turned to leave when I noticed Gabriel Ketterling’s Appaloosa horse and buggy tied to a hitching rail a few yards from the entrance to Mary’s café. No one was inside.
I hurried across the street to the market. Even though the lights were on, the door was locked. I knocked loudly, praying the whole time I wasn’t making a huge mistake. A few seconds later, John stomped out of his back room, a scowl on his face. When he saw me, his eyebrows arched in surprise, and his already annoyed expression deepened.
“I’m closed,” he shouted at me through the glass window next to the door.
“I need to talk to you, John. Please!”
With a thoroughly disgusted look, he unlocked the door and held it open. I stepped inside. “I–I’m sorry to bother you,” I said quickly, “but I really need to speak with you. I wouldn’t come by this late unless it was important.”
He pointed to a small table with two chairs that sat against the far wall. “You’re right. It is late, Grace. I just came back to make sure I’d locked everything up after running out so quickly this afternoon.”
As he finished his sentence, I heard a noise that seemed to come from his back room. It sounded like a door closing. “Is someone here? I didn’t mean to interrupt...”
“No,” he said sharply. “There’s no one here. Now what do you want? Is it about the house?”
“Well, I did want to thank you for everything you did. But that’s not why I stopped by.”
His features locked into a frigid stare. “Okay, then why are you here?”
I took a deep breath and met his direct gaze. “I’m here because I want to know why Jacob Glick’s son is hiding out incognito in Harmony.”
Chapter Seventeen
Although I’d figured John was related to Glick after realizing how much he looked like the picture in the restaurant, I hadn’t been certain he was actually his son. He could have been his brother—or even a cousin. It was his age that made me suspect the relationship. John’s reaction told me immediately that I’d hit a nerve. Big-time.
“How—how...,” he sputtered, his face pale and his eyes wide.
“It’s the photo in the café. You have your father’s distinct features. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but they look good on you. On your father ... well, let’s just say they didn’t work as well for him.”
John didn’t respond at first. Finally, he cracked a small smile. “Well, thank you for that. You can imagine my shock when I first saw that picture.”
The tension in the room eased considerably. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a dark figure hurry across the street. Sarah. She glanced quickly toward the market and then slipped into her buggy. She certainly hadn’t come from the café. Was it Sarah I heard leaving through the back door when I arrived? I’d already noticed John’s interest in her, but could she actually have feelings for him, too? The bad-tempered John Keystone and the quiet Mennonite girl? Interesting to say the least.
“So why are you here?” I asked. “It seems strange that you would come to Harmony and not tell anyone who you are.”
He jumped to his feet and began pacing the floor. “If your father was Jacob Glick would you want people to know?” After crossing back and forth several times, he stopped moving and put his hands over his face. When he brought them down, his features were twisted with distress. “After I arrived and began finding out just who my father really was, I felt disgusted and ashamed. I planned to leave this place and never come back. I wanted to walk away from him and from his embarrassing legacy.”
“But you didn’t leave.”
John shook his head and threw his hands up in mock surrender. “I have no idea why. I just—I just...”
“Couldn’t go?” I finished for him. “Must be something pretty powerful that holds you here.”
A shadow passed the window. Sarah Ketterling’s buggy. We both watched her drive away. John turned back to me, and our eyes met.
“Yes,” he said softly. “Something holds me here.” He came back to the table and slumped into the other chair across from me. “Something about this town. Something about these people.” He placed his palms down on the tabletop—his fingers splayed. Instead of looking at me, he stared at his hands. “I—I never really had a home. My mother did her best. Raised me alone. She was always at work. I had no brothers or sisters. She’d told me that my father died when I was young. When she passed away a little over two years ago, I found her diary tucked away in a box. She wrote about my father—Jacob Glick. She’d gotten pregnant, and he’d abandoned her.” He finally swung his gaze up and met my eyes. “I wanted to know why. That’s all. The diary mentioned Harmony—and that he’d moved away without telling anyone where he was going. I thought Harmony would be the starting point in my search for him. But the opposite happened. Everything ended here. I couldn’t find a trace of my father after he left town.” He shrugged. “It didn’t make any sense. Was he still living somewhere in the area? Had he moved far away? Had he died? Why did the trail go cold? I’ve looked everywhere for answers, but there are no records to be found. No work records, no social security records, not even a death certificate. I wanted to know why, so I left my practice, contacted a farmer friend in Council Grove, and offered to sell his meat in Harmony. He accepted, and here I am.”
“You left your practice? What kind of practice?”
He laughed rather harshly. “I’m a doctor—a family physician. At least, that
’s what I used to be.”
“And what have you discovered about your father?”
He blew air out between clenched teeth. “Well, let’s see. I’ve learned that he was a womanizer, a possible child molester, and an all around terrible person. Seems that his only interest in life was finding an acceptable wife—no matter what the cost.”
“But what about your mother? Why didn’t he marry her?”
John spit out a curse word. “Sorry. I’m assuming it was because my mother wasn’t good enough to marry. You see, she was black.”
“I’d thought I couldn’t dislike Jacob Glick any more than I already did. I was wrong. He was not only a rapist and a child molester. He was a bigot. I thought about the fair-haired, fair-skinned beauties he’d chased in Harmony, and I felt sick to my stomach.”
“I–I’m sorry he treated your mother so shamefully. But you can’t take it personally. You’re not responsible for his behavior.”
He shrugged. “I know that somewhere in my mind, but in my heart...”
“Your heart knows the truth, too, John. You’re not your father.”
He brushed his dark wavy hair out of his face. “Thank you for that, Gracie.”
“So you’ve never discovered your father’s current whereabouts?” I tried to keep my tone light, but guilt ate at my conscience.
He grunted. “Not a clue. Everyone who was around during the time he lived here told me he suddenly left town. Back when I cared where he was, I searched for him. But as I said, I couldn’t find him in any public records. It’s like he disappeared off the face of the earth.”
More like under the earth. “John, I have to ask you something. Please don’t be offended. Do you have any reason to want me out of Harmony?”
He stared at me curiously. “You? No, of course not. Why do you ask?”
I shook my head. “Strange things have been happening to me. I get the very distinct feeling that someone in this town would like to see me head back to Wichita. And the sooner the better.”
“I can assure you it’s not me. But I must admit I’ve been wondering why you’re asking questions around town about my father. Mary told me you were very interested in his picture. I realize your parents knew him, but it seemed odd to me that after all these years anyone would care anything about him.”
“I do have a reason, but I can’t explain it right now, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to ask you to trust me. Just for a few more days.”
John’s eyes narrowed and he frowned at me. “Do you know where he is?”
I didn’t answer him. I had no idea what to say.
He sighed and shook his head. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Again, I’m sorry. You’ve waited a couple of years to find out the truth about your father. Can you wait just a little longer?”
He shrugged. “I guess so. It’s not like I care that much anymore.”
I heard his words, but the look in his eyes betrayed him. John cared, all right. He cared very much. My stomach turned at the realization that I would have to confirm his suspicions that his father was gone. It wasn’t something I looked forward to.
He cocked his head to the side and frowned at me. “You mentioned some strange occurrences. You mean like Ruth’s vase disappearing? And the fire?”
I nodded. “Exactly like that.”
“Are you saying the fire was deliberately set?”
“It’s possible, but please keep this to yourself. I don’t want the person who did it to suspect I know the truth. Everyone except my firebug friend thinks I left an oil lamp burning too close to the kitchen curtains.”
A scowl marred John’s handsome features. “Maybe you did.”
I explained to him about the battery-operated lights Sam had purchased for me.
“Sounds to me like you need to be very, very careful.”
I saw something flicker in his eyes. Was that a warning? Could John be the person who had been trying to get me to leave Harmony after all? Something inside me said no. Maybe it was a gut reaction. Or maybe it was the still, small voice of God. I wasn’t certain, but I decided to listen to it. “I’m staying at Sam’s house. He knows what’s going on and is keeping an eye on me.”
“Look, Gracie,” John said earnestly, “I won’t tell anyone about our conversation—if that’s what you want.”
“Yes it is. For now anyway.”
“Fine, but I would also ask you to keep my secret. At some point I may tell people who I really am. I haven’t decided, but I’m certainly not ready yet.”
“All right, although there aren’t a lot of people left who knew Glick. You have nothing to worry about.” Even as I said the words, I thought about Emily. How would she feel about it? Although I’d just agreed to keep John’s secret, once the truth came out about Glick’s murder, John’s identity would most probably be revealed, as well. “I will have to tell Sam, but we’ll keep it to ourselves.”
He snorted. “I’m sure Sam will find it extremely amusing.”
“No he won’t. He’s not like that at all. Not sure why you two have such animosity for each other.”
John shook his head. “Maybe it’s my fault. Just seems like he’s got it all. People who care about him. Folks who respect him.” He sighed. “It’s probably my own jealousy.”
I noticed the clock on the wall. “I’d better go. It’s getting dark. The men working on my house are probably finished for the day.”
“Your house?” He grinned. “You’d better watch out. Harmony will pull you into its web, too, if you’re not careful. A warning from someone who knows.”
I smiled back at him. “I have no intention of leaving my life in Wichita behind. I have everything I want there.”
John chucked. “Okay. Whatever you say. I’ll be at the house that isn’t really yours early tomorrow morning. A bunch of us are determined to get you fixed up as quickly as possible.”
“I—I don’t know what to say. Thank you. I can hardly believe how supportive this community is. I still feel funny about not being able to pay for materials.”
“Mennonite community, Gracie. Helping their neighbors is big here. Anyway, the church usually pays for most of the materials. They have a fund set up just for that.” He ran his hand through his hair. “The first year I moved here a storm came through and a farmer outside of town lost his barn. The next day he was flooded with volunteers who cleaned up his property and built him a barn twice the size of the first. And they wouldn’t let him invest anything except his own time and sweat. It was amazing.”
“This place is pretty awesome.”
“Yes it is.” He crossed his arms and shook his head. “Something else that’s pretty awesome: Gabriel Ketterling showed up today to help, and he plans on working with us again tomorrow. This is the first time I’ve seen him join in anything. I think his love for Ben originally sent him to your house, but his decision to come back ... Well, it’s a surprise. Funny thing is, I think he enjoyed being around people again. I actually saw him smile a couple of times.”
“So all it took was catching my house on fire? Maybe I should have done it a long time ago.”
“You know what?” he said seriously. “I know you’re kidding, but there’s truth in what you just said. He responded to being needed. And then he responded to being around other people. Your little accident may have actually been the best thing that’s happened to Gabriel in many, many years.” He smiled widely at me, erasing almost every reminder of his father, whose photograph had displayed features locked in deep-seated anger and hate. “I think you’re good for Harmony, Gracie Temple.”
I crooked my thumb toward the restaurant across the street. “Will you tell that to your friend, Mary? I think she would disagree with you.”
He waved his hand at me. “Don’t worry about Mary. She knows Sam wasn’t the man for her. She’s known it for a long time. If she could be honest about it, I think she’d tell you the same thing. Right now her pride is hurt. If she could have been the one t
o break it off, she wouldn’t be so mad. It’ll pass. Trust me.”
“I have a feeling it won’t pass until after I’m gone.”
He shrugged. “Well, she was there to help during the fire. She didn’t have to be.”
“I—I guess so. I assumed it was just something she’d do for anyone.”
“That might be true—but thanking her might not be a bad idea.”
My gaze swung once again toward the clock on the wall. I stood up. “I appreciate the suggestion. I’ll try to find a way to tell her how grateful I am for her help. Hopefully, it will go better than the last time I attempted to make things right between us.”