by Nancy Mehl
“That would make me very happy,” John said. He shook his head. “You people are something else. I’ve spent a little time around religious people, and it made me want to run away. But there’s something different about Harmony. About most of the people. I would hate to leave here.”
“Why, there ain’t no way you’re gonna get outta here, John Keystone,” Sweetie said. “You’re a part of us now. Besides, we’re still hopin’ you’ll take up doctorin’ again. Sure could use you around here. Shoot. We can get all the meat we want in Sunrise.”
He chuckled. “I don’t know whether to be touched or offended, Sweetie. I think you just told me my business is inconsequential.”
Everyone laughed. Watching John and Gabe together seemed to be a miracle happening right in front of me. I’d been afraid finding out about Sarah and John might send Gabe back to his former temperament. Thankfully it hadn’t. If John hadn’t backed off, perhaps things would be different. But at least for now, there was peace. And that was good enough for tonight.
While the rest of us got cleaned up for dinner, Gabe slipped away to tell Sarah about Rand McAllister. I hated that she would be faced with another unpleasant situation, but when Gabe came downstairs, he assured us that she had taken the news as well as could be expected.
Sweetie served us a delicious meal. Sam told us that Dan and Dale planned to come back in the morning. The men would be helping others dig us out from the almost two feet of snow that had been dumped on us. The snowfall totals were bad enough, but the winds had created monster snowdrifts that had trapped people in their homes and on their farms. Sam promised me Ida’s would be the first place they’d check.
“I guess we’ll know in the morning if the Scheidler brothers got through to the sheriff,” I said.
He nodded while chewing a big bite of roasted potatoes and gravy. “Not sure how long it will be before he can get here after he gets the news. Council Grove got hit just as bad as we did.”
I swallowed hard. “You—you mean we might have to keep Rand in the barn indefinitely?”
He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t like it either. But we might as well get used to the idea. He’s not going anywhere for a while.”
“I wonder if this will change things in regard to that retirement community,” John said. “With Rand dead, I guess Thelma could sell their farm to Eric and his investors.”
I almost dropped my fork. “Wow. I’d almost completely forgotten about that with everything that’s been happening.” I sighed. “I sure don’t look forward to watching everyone get all riled up again.”
“Me neither,” Sweetie said as she passed around her hot rolls for a second round. “Never seen people snipin’ at each other like they were at that town meetin’. And I ain’t interested in seein’ it again. Wish that Eric Beck had never come to this town. Ain’t brought nothin’ but trouble.”
“That’s not fair,” I retorted. “Eric wanted to do something to help Harmony. Rand is the one who caused all the trouble. Besides, you forget that working on that project was supposed to be my bread and butter. Without the work, I don’t know if I can stay here.”
“Don’t say that,” Sweetie snapped. “I told you we’d take care of you. You ain’t got nothin’ to worry about. I could feed this whole town, let alone a little, skinny girl.”
“Sweetie, you’re a doll,” I said. “But you’re forgetting things like utilities.” Sam started to say something, but I quickly stopped him. “Before you tell me you’ll cover my utilities, let me make it clear that I would never accept that. Besides, I also have student loans that have to be repaid. The truth is, unless I can get some fairly steady freelance work, I won’t have a choice. I’ll have to move back to Wichita.”
Sweetie snorted. “It ain’t gonna happen, and that’s all I want to hear about that now. For land’s sakes, been enough drama around here to last a lifetime. Let’s not stir up any more worries tonight. How about a game of checkers after we eat?”
“You all go ahead,” I said. “I’m going to take some dinner up to Sarah and see if she feels like coming downstairs.”
“Don’t be silly, Gracie,” Gabe said. “I’ll take care of my daughter.”
I shook my head at him. “I think you’d better relax this evening and get to bed early. Sounds like you guys will be working pretty hard the next few days. Besides, Sarah’s my closest female friend here. I like taking care of her.”
“Come on, Gabe,” John said good-naturedly. “Or maybe you’re afraid I’ll beat you at checkers.”
Gabe laughed. “You know something funny? Games were frowned upon when I was a boy. Competition and all that. But a neighbor taught my brother and me how to play checkers. We made our own board and hid it in the barn. We made pieces out of our dad’s metal washers. And we got pretty good.” He looked over at me. “Tell Sarah I’ll check on her later if she doesn’t feel like joining us.”
“I will.” I got up from the table and took an extra plate from the cupboard. Then I filled it with servings of Sweetie’s fine food.
Sam offered to help Sweetie clean up, but she shooed everyone out of the kitchen. “Won’t take me more than a few minutes to straighten this mess up. Then I’ll come in and play a round of checkers with whoever’s ahead.” She grinned at the assembled men. “Ain’t no one alive able to best me at checkers. You all are on notice.”
Sam grinned. “You might think she’s kidding, but I assure you she’s not.”
“Well, let’s do the best we can until she comes after us,” John said.
The men kept teasing each other good-naturedly as Sam got the checkerboard and checkers out of the cupboard and set them up on a card table in the living room. I took Sarah’s plate upstairs while Sweetie followed me with a fresh pot of tea and a tray. When we walked into the bedroom, Sarah sat up in bed. She looked much better. There was some color in her cheeks, and her eyes didn’t look as tired as they had earlier.
“Oh my, you didn’t have to bring dinner to me. I could have come to the kitchen,” she said. Although her voice was a little stronger, it was clear she would need more time to recover completely.
“Pshaw,” Sweetie sputtered. “You take it easy until you get all your strength back. Gracie and I don’t mind waitin’ on you some. Kinda reminds me of the time I tended to my pa. It ain’t work when you’re helpin’ someone you care about.”
Sweetie didn’t talk much about the time she took care of her father after he was severely injured in a farming accident. It had to have been very difficult. I could see her swipe at her eyes with the back of her hand after she set the teapot down. She was an enigma. Just when I thought I had her figured out, she went a different direction. Maybe her determination to follow the Lord more closely was beginning to show. No matter what it was, my affection for her grew every day.
She carried the tray over to the bed, pulling out metal legs that fit over Sarah’s lap. She motioned for me to put her plate down on the top. “I gotta get back downstairs and clean up the kitchen,” she said to Sarah after she poured her a fresh cup of tea and grabbed the old pot. “I’ll check on you later. If you’re hungry enough, I’ll bring you a piece of my peach pie.”
Sarah smiled at her. “I don’t know if I can eat everything you just brought, but if I can’t eat pie now, I’d love a piece later.” She shook her head. “I wish you’d teach me how to cook the way you do. I’m so awful at it.”
If Sweetie liked Sarah before, her comment garnered her undying favor. There was nothing you could say to Sweetie that went straight to her heart faster than praising her culinary skills. Of course with Sweetie, that wasn’t hard. She had a natural gift for cooking, thus the extra ten pounds I’d taken home to Wichita. Obviously I needed to practice restraint from here on out or there might be talk of little brothers and sisters to go with the imaginary baby I’d already given birth to.
“When you get to feelin’ better, why don’t you and Gracie come over once a week, and I’ll teach you both to cook?”
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“Hey, how did I get pulled into this?”
She pointed her finger at me. “I heard you tell Sam you can’t cook. I ain’t havin’ my nephew saddled with some gal who can’t keep him strong and fed right.” She turned and walked out of the room mumbling something I couldn’t hear. Sarah and I both giggled after she left.
“Looks like while you’re teaching me how to do wood-block printing, Sweetie will be teaching us both how to cook.”
Sarah took a bite of the roast chicken on her plate. “Oh my,” she said after she put her fork down. “If I could learn to cook like this, maybe Papa wouldn’t be so skinny.”
I sat down next to her on the bed. “John’s on the thin side, too, you know.”
She didn’t respond, just took another bite of food.
I reached over and took her hand. “Look, I know what you said earlier, and I won’t keep bugging you. But don’t shut that door completely, okay? God can do miraculous things.”
She smiled sadly and stared at the food on her plate. “I know you’re right, but unless John finds the Lord, there’s no way we can ever be together. I never should have allowed these feelings to start. I knew better. I honestly can’t explain how it happened. It took me by surprise. His warmth and…kindness…touched me.” When she looked at me, her eyes were shiny with tears. “I know Papa loves me, but no one has ever listened to me like John does. It’s as if everything I say is important. I really opened up to him and expressed feelings I didn’t even know I had.” Her eyebrows knit together in a frown. “Does this make any sense? Am I babbling?”
I squeezed her hand gently. “No, you’re not babbling. I understand completely. I hadn’t really thought about it before, but Sam makes me feel the same way.”
“Well, as you said, I will put this in God’s hands. But for now, I know we must keep our distance. It will be difficult….”
“You know what? John knows this is what you want. He’ll respect that and make it as easy as possible.” I wanted to add that John’s motive was his great love for the quiet Mennonite girl, but saying it wouldn’t help anything. “Now let’s see if we can get the rest of Sweetie’s delicious dinner down. How do your hands and feet feel now?”
Sarah’s eyes widened. “I hadn’t thought about it, but they don’t sting anymore. They feel perfectly normal.”
“That’s great. I predict you’ll start getting back to your old self before long.”
She nodded and took a bite of potatoes. “When will Papa and I be able to go home?”
I explained about the roads and the conditions. I also told her that the men would be leaving in the morning to help clear some of the snow away. “You might as well plan on staying here for a couple of days.”
“Oh my. That means we’ll have to spend the Sabbath here.”
I chuckled. “Don’t look so alarmed. We actually worship God on Sundays, too. I promise we won’t do anything weird like build an altar and sacrifice one of Sam’s animals.”
Sarah’s worried expression disappeared as she laughed. “I’m sorry. Of course you’re right. It’s just that Papa and I have worshipped with other Old Order believers since I was a child. That is, until last spring when we began to go to Bethel.” She sighed. “I love it there. It’s not that I didn’t care for our other brothers and sisters; it’s just that there is so much fellowship and joy now in our services. I can hardly wait to get to church every Sunday. Those are my only two group worship experiences.”
“Besides you, your father, and Ida, who else in Harmony belongs to the Old Order?”
“Of course you knew that your uncle Benjamin used to be part of us.”
I nodded.
“There are three other families. There is a large farm on Faith Road about two miles north of you. The Voglers have three children. Then there are two bachelor brothers, the Beckenbauers, who live a mile out of town to the south of us.” Her brow furrowed and a troubled look crossed her delicate features. “The only other person is Abigail Bradley, who lives not far from Papa and me.”
“I know the large farm you mentioned on Faith Road. I’ve seen the children outside playing, but I’ve never met them. I don’t believe I’ve ever met the other people you mentioned.”
“You wouldn’t. They don’t come into town much. They’re fairly self-sufficient. We used to take turns having services in the homes of the Beckenbauer brothers and the Voglers. We still meet during the week for Bible study, and they respect our decision to attend Bethel on Sundays. In fact, the Voglers talk about joining us someday. It’s possible the brothers will come one day as well. They’re rather quiet and keep to themselves.”
“And this Abigail woman?”
A shadow fell across Sarah’s face. “We don’t see her anymore. She’s a very strange person. I think she prefers to stay away from other people. One of the Beckenbauer brothers checks on her from time to time.”
Sarah yawned and handed me her tray. “I’m sorry, Gracie. I’m still rather weary. Do you mind if we talk more tomorrow?”
I wondered at the way she cut off any further questions about Abigail Bradley. What was that about? But I knew Sarah was telling the truth about being tired. I could see it in her face.
“How about that peach pie?”
She gave me a tired smile. “Let’s try that tomorrow, okay? I’m stuffed.” She yawned again. “Please tell Sweetie how much I enjoyed everything, will you?”
I told her I’d take care of it and watched as she scooted down in the bed and pulled up her covers. “I’m sure your father will want to say good night. I’ll send him up.”
She nodded, but her eyes were already closing. I carried the tray out of the room and down the stairs. The men were intent on their game, and I could hear Sweetie rattling dishes in the kitchen.
“Gabe, Sarah’s calling it a night. She’s waiting for you to tuck her in.”
He slapped down a checker and said, “Perfect timing. That’s the game!”
Sam shook his head and tossed me a quick smile. “He’s beat us every game so far. John and I don’t stand a chance.”
Gabe stood to his feet. “You two go ahead and play each other until I get back. At least that way one of you should win.”
“Now just hold on there.” Sweetie came into the room, wiping her hands on her overalls. “I think I can keep that from happenin’.”
I winked at her. “You put these men in their places while I load Sarah’s dishes in the dishwasher. Then we’ll both show them how to really play checkers.”
“You got a deal,” she said. “Come on, boys, set ‘em up again.”
I carried the tray into the kitchen while Gabe went upstairs to check on Sarah. John followed me. “How’s she feeling?”
“Much better. Her hands and feet have stopped tingling. She’s still a little tired, though.”
“Good.” He looked relieved. “She’ll be just fine. Thanks for taking such good care of her.”
“No problem.”
He left the room without saying anything else. Maybe he really would be able to keep his distance from Sarah. They both seemed committed to breaking the bonds of their relationship, but I had my doubts. When they looked at each other, their strong feelings were evident and the haunted expression in their eyes identical. While I rinsed Sarah’s dishes and put them in the dishwasher, I prayed for them both.
The rest of the evening was spent playing games and having fun. It was as if the storm had never happened, outside or inside the hearts of those gathered together. And also as if there wasn’t a dead body out in the barn.
We all headed to bed around ten o’clock, after a round of peach pie and ice cream had been served. Thankfully the big house had plenty of room for everyone. I slept in the bedroom next to Sarah’s with the connecting door open enough so I could hear her if she cried out in the night. Either she slept very soundly or I did, because I woke up to sunlight streaming in the windows. I got dressed, checked on Sarah, who was still sleeping, and went downstairs. Sweeti
e was in the kitchen, sitting at the table. It was evident breakfast had already been served. The smell of bacon hung in the air.
“They’re already gone,” she told me before I could ask. “Don’t know what time they’ll get back tonight. Sam said to tell you he would make sure Ida was okay and would also find out if Thelma and Jessica heard yet about Rand.”
I grabbed a cup from the cupboard and poured myself some coffee. The rich, hot liquid chased away the remnants of sleepiness that tried to hold on to me like an uncomfortable, heavy coat.
“Did Sam take his truck?”
“Nah. That old thing just ain’t reliable enough with this much snow. Dan drove his tractor with the snowplow, and Dale brought their SUV. Guess they’re roundin’ up other farmers with tractors and plows. We have a tractor, but it’s not heavy enough. With all of them workin’ together, they should make some good headway today.”
“I wonder if anyone’s been able to reach Sheriff Taylor.”
“Nope. According to the brothers, phones are out all over town, and Joe’s old CB is busted. But believe me, first chance that nasty old sheriff gets, he’ll show up.”
I thought about what waited for him out in the barn and shuddered.
“You cold, honey?” Sweetie sputtered. “You sit down, and I’ll rustle you up some breakfast.”
“I’m not cold. And I’m not very hungry. I’m still full of your peach pie.”
She laughed. “Peach pie can do that, all right. How about some oatmeal?”
“Perfect. That would hit the spot.”
Sweetie nodded and set about making round two of breakfast. I should have offered to help, but for some reason my energy was zapped. Not sure why. Maybe it was all the excitement from the day before.
“What’s the latest on the cold snap the forecasters have been predicting?”
Sweetie whirled around, a large spoon in her hand. “Land sakes, I’m plumb worried about it. Last I heard it could be comin’ today or tomorrow. Not sure how long it will last. If the temperatures hit below zero and stay that way too long, we could lose our trees.”