Katy bit the inside of her cheek thoughtfully, and Lil let the conversation drop.
The van veered off the smooth interstate onto a rural road and rattled over a cattle guard. Lil could hardly contain her excitement. At last she was getting a break from her farm chores, a chance to have some real fun. “I heard Camp Victoria has a huge swing that goes right out over the river.”
Katy’s eyes widened. “Where’d you hear that? You think they’ll make us do it?”
“It’s true.” Megan turned around, fingering a long, blond braid. “But I don’t think they’ll make us do it.”
“I’ll do it!” Lil replied.
“I hope you don’t try any of those circus tricks,” Katy replied, her dark eyes fretful.
“Look. There’s the camp.” Megan pointed ahead. Through the window, they saw a green-lettered sign on a rectangular log building.
Sure enough, the van turned into a gravel parking lot. As soon as the door slid open, the children piled out of the vehicle. Stretching, Lil quickly scanned the campsite. She didn’t see any swings. She heard her cousin Jake’s snickers, however, and glanced over because he was usually in the middle of any fun activity. But he and Chad Penner were only staring at some girls about her age. Instantly, she understood why.
Those girls wore shorts and brightly colored T-shirts. Their hair was cut, too. The other girls were observing their group’s arrival. Lil felt a pang of envy, as she so often did, wishing she hadn’t been born on a hog farm, of all things. Her family attended the Big Darby Conservative Mennonite Church in Plain City, Ohio. Now she wished she’d been born in a different Mennonite church like those girls so she didn’t have to wear ugly, homemade culottes. She muttered to her friends, “I wish my mom let me wear shorts.”
“I hope they’re nice,” Katy replied, ignoring Lil’s comment and eyeing the girls in shorts.
As if a mind reader, one of the girls waved.
Lil grabbed Megan’s arm. “Let’s go.” Heart skipping, she released Megan’s arm and waved back.
A girl with brown bobbed hair and blue eyes said, “Hi, I’m Lisa.”
Lil stared at the other girl in amazement. “I never met another Lil before.”
Lisa smiled. “I think you misunderstood. It’s Lisa.”
“Oh, sorry.”
“Hey, you’re in our cabin. I saw your name. Come on. We’ll show you where it is.”
The girls got acquainted as they strolled down a freshly graded dirt road edged with white daisies. It led to a row of brown cabins with blue roofs. All the while, Lil kept sneaking peeks at Lisa’s green shorts and suntanned legs, wondering how such a freedom would feel.
“This is it,” Lisa announced, skipping up the steps to the cabin. Lil almost stumbled when she noticed Lisa’s painted toenails glimmering through her sandals. The girl didn’t know how lucky she was to have been born in a more lenient Mennonite family. Lil studied the names posted on the door of Cabin Colorado, relieved to see that she and Katy and Megan would all be bunking together. Inside the cabin, a friendly blond woman greeted them.
“I’m Mary, your counselor. Our group is complete now. Go ahead and choose a bed. Soon the tractor will come around with your bags. We’re going to do an icebreaker in about a half hour, so stick close by.”
Katy rushed to claim a vacant bed, and Megan took its top bunk. Lil asked Lisa where her bed was. She took the top bunk over Lisa’s bed.
“I wish the tractor would lose my bag,” Lil admitted to her new friend.
“Why?” Lisa asked with surprise.
“ ’Cause my clothes are ugly. I love your shorts.”
“You can wear them if you want. I’ve got more, and my bag’s right here.” Clearly Lisa understood Lil’s situation.
Pleasure shot through Lil, and her hand covered her heart. “Are you serious? You’d let me?”
“Sure. It’s no big deal.” Lisa unzipped her bag and riffled through, sizing up her new friend. “Actually, these might fit you better. Want to try them? Here’s a tee that matches.”
Lil didn’t even get offended that Lisa had noticed she was a bit chubbier. She was out of her culottes in a flash, squeezing herself into the borrowed shorts. Red! Even better. And the T-shirt had ruffled feminine edging. She wasn’t allowed to wear T-shirts at home because Conservative girls could not dress like men. She flung her culottes up onto her bunk, and they hung down over the edge like an ugly navy flag that waved “here’s plain old Lil’s bunk.” She wished she could toss them on the campfire. Looking away, she embraced Lisa. “Thanks so much!” Then she rushed over to Katy and Megan’s bunks.
Katy’s naturally sulky lips parted. “Lillian Mae!” she scolded.
But Lil ignored her rebuke just like she always did and gracefully raised her arms—circus performer style—twirling to give them the 360-degree view.
Lil didn’t miss that Megan placed a calming hand on Katy’s shoulder and whispered something in her ear. Whatever it was, Katy continued to narrow her eyes in disapproval.
“Well I like them. Wish there was a mirror in here,” Lil replied, flouncing away.
Lil propped an elbow on her bare knee, making sure she sat in a sunny patch so that she could tan her legs like Lisa’s. She could tell that Katy was still mad at her, but she wasn’t going to allow her friend to ruin her week of fun and freedom. She’d worry later about any consequences there might be when she got home. Megan was always good at getting her out of scrapes and patching up any spats between her and Katy. With that in mind she insisted, “I say, Three Bean Salad.”
Their counselor had divided them into groups of three, and they were supposed to come up with a name for their group. She and Katy had been arguing about whether or not to call themselves “Three Bean Salad” which had been Lil’s choice. The argument was really a battle of wills, and all three girls knew it. When Mary blew her pink whistle, Lil knew she’d won. She ran over to Katy, who was lounging under a tree, staring at a squirrel on a high branch with glistening leaves. She touched her friend’s shoulder. “I’ll let you choose the next time. I promise.”
Megan intervened softly, “You can be the green bean, if you want, Katy.”
“That’s okay,” Katy replied. “I’ll be the dumb kidney bean.”
Lil did a little shimmy with her shoulders and sing-songed, “Gar-ban-zo, Gar-ban-zo,” for the bean she had picked for herself. Soon she had Katy grinning. Camp was great, way better than shucking corn.
On the last night of camp, the three friends sat mesmerized by the campfire. Lil brushed her hands down her borrowed jeans. She was lucky to have such good friends. She knew they would never tattle on her, even if they didn’t approve of her wearing shorts and jeans all week. Although Katy and Megan would always be her best friends, she had enjoyed her time with Lisa, too.
Not only that, but their counselor, Mary, had shown Lil some exercises she could continue to do when she got home. She envied Mary’s flat tummy, but it was hard to stay slim when Lil’s mom was such a great cook. They came from a family of wonderful cooks, and Lil enjoyed cooking, too. She already knew how to make piecrusts, and she also made a tasty meatloaf.
The young man who played guitar and led the singing each evening put away his instrument and dismissed the group to return to their cabins. Seated on a log next to Megan and Katy, Lil looped her arm through Megan’s and watched the rest of the group disassemble. “Mary’s still standing over there, talking. Let’s stay here until she’s finished.”
“I can’t believe tomorrow’s our last day,” Megan bemoaned.
Lil wasn’t ready to go home, don her dark skirts, and get back to chores. She glanced desperately at the sparking campfire. “I never want this to end. It was the best week of my life. And that swing over the lake was the scariest thing I ever did.”
“Better than the circus?” Katy asked.
“Just as good.” Lil clenched her fists. “Let’s make a vow tonight that when we’re Mary’s age, we’ll all move in toge
ther. It’ll be like camp. Only forever.”
Katy furrowed her brow. “We’ll probably get married.”
“Just until we marry. And we’ll be each other’s bridesmaids, too! Oh, swear it!”
Katy frowned. “You know Mennonites don’t swear or take oaths.”
Lil dropped her head in her hands and stared at her jeans, feeling desperate enough to cry.
Megan, who was seated on the log between them, reached out and clasped each of their hands. “The Bible says where two or three agree on something, God honors it. We can agree, but we must never break a promise.”
Lil felt rising hope. She leaned forward and sent Katy her most earnest gaze.
Katy bit her lip, then nodded. “Oh all right. I promise. And I already know who I’m going to marry. Jake Byler.”
“Ew! Yuck!” Lil made a face because it was gross to think that Katy would want to marry her cousin. But from that day forth, Lil did everything in her power to make sure that their campfire dreams came true. Someday she would break free from her stifling, navy-blue chains. Someday she would own her own pink fingernail polish. She would move in with her two best friends. They would be each other’s bridesmaids, and when she married, she would shine in a beautiful lacy gown.
CHAPTER 1
Don’t tell your mother.”
Lil clutched her father’s dirty breakfast plate and glanced down the hall to make sure Rose Landis was, indeed, still asleep. But then, why wouldn’t she be? Her depression kept her abed most mornings.
“Oh Dad. Things will get better. They always do.” She’d been hanging on to that hope for weeks now, ever since her own desires had been temporarily deferred.
Although Mom had been suffering from depression for months, she had temporarily rallied for Katy and Jake’s wedding because Lil had asked her to help with Katy’s wedding cake. Lil had even gotten Mom to take that cake decorating class with her, but the day after the wedding, Mom fell to her bed in exhaustion, and afterward, she reverted to her earlier depressed state, even more tired than before.
“This didn’t happen overnight, girl.” Dad broke into her thoughts. “And it’s not getting any better. Only getting worse.” He placed his elbows on the newly cleared table and clasped his unshaven face between his work-worn hands. “It wouldn’t be so bad if it was just me, but the farm is the life of this family. All your brothers depend upon it for the livelihood of their families, too.”
Lil had inherited her dad’s grit, which was why it was unusual for him to cave in to despair. He’d always been the hundred-year-old girder truss that held the Landis family together. But he should have given his sons more leadership. They were grown men, and one old truss didn’t have to hold an entire barn together by itself when other trusses were ready to share the load.
“You shouldn’t shoulder this alone. You need to share your burden with the boys. Maybe one of them even has an idea.”
The Landis men had farmed for generations. Willis Landis owned 140 acres, inherited from his father. The farm had two hog barns, and most of the acreage was used for corn and soybeans because the government made those crops more profitable and they fed the hogs.
Lil had detested those hogs since she was old enough to know that raising them carried a stigma, sometimes even among other farmers. Oh she didn’t hate the animals themselves, just the chore of raising them. As a child, she’d even had a pet or two. Hogs were smart animals, and the piglets were cute in their fat-bellied, flat-snouted way, each with their individual personalities, but she would rather have been raised anywhere other than on a hog farm. Katy’s dad had a respectable woodworking shop. Jake—Katy’s husband and Lil’s favorite cousin—was in construction. Megan’s dad worked at an automotive shop and even restored Chevy Novas for extra income. But of all the possible scenarios, Lil had been born to a family who raised smelly, squealing hogs.
Picking up the aqua-colored canning jar that served as the centerpiece for the kitchen table, she unscrewed its silver lid and removed the candle. From habit, she swirled a green-checkered dish towel around the inside of the jar. Holding the candle in the palm of one hand, she stared at her dad; her heart broke over his humble and disappointing lot in life. Such a hard worker and doing the only job he’d ever known. She’d never seen him so worn as he had been this past year. The continual struggle against the raw elements of nature had sapped his strength. The recent stress of finances and Mom’s depression had shaken his morale.
Lil replaced the candle and put the jar back in its distinctive place, her hands dusting the tea towel over a set of green Depression glass salt and pepper shakers. Just when Lil had been so close to fulfilling her own dreams, everything had been snatched away from her.
Last winter, she’d finally moved into the Millers’ doddy house with Katy Yoder. The freedom to chase after her own dreams had long been coveted, along with the fun adventure of rooming with her closest friends. So when the house originally designed for a family’s grandparents became available, the three friends had jumped at the chance to rent it. Megan Weaver had been set to join them in the fall after her mission trip. Once Megan helped pay the rent, Lil would have been able to start buying the other things she dreamed about, too, like a new car to replace the brown tin can she drove and referred to as Jezebel.
Mechanically, Lil twisted the tea towel and untwisted it again, considering how the three friends had taken such delight in renovating the doddy house with modern conveniences. Once Lil had graduated from culinary school and gotten her first restaurant job, everything had fallen into place. That is, until Mom had become depressed, and Dad had asked Lil to move back home and help take care of her.
Not knowing anything about depression, Lil thought the illness would only last for a couple of days or weeks at the most. But once she came home, she’d gotten stuck in a sinking routine, trying to keep up with all the chores her mom had once performed. There was cooking and cleaning and laundry and some farm chores, too. But one thing she refused to do was the garden.
Under those circumstances, once Katy and Jake had married, they took over the doddy house. The only fragment of Lil’s dream that remained intact was her restaurant job. Low paying and rather dead-end, it didn’t provide the career opportunity of moving up to head chef position, but it was still a respite from the farm and her family’s troubles. Not only did the farm finances affect her dad and brothers, but this grave problem could be the final blow to her mother’s emotional state and affect Lil’s future, too.
Replacing the dish towel on a homemade wooden towel bar inside the pine cabinet beneath the sink, Lil quickly turned back to face Dad. “Maybe you need to modernize.”
He stared at her and tugged one of his large ears—which pitched up his hat’s straw brim like soil to toadstools. “That’s what Matt always says.”
Lil’s middle brother was the one most likely to challenge Dad. Matt had Lil’s personality and was open to modern ways, changes that might keep them out of bankruptcy. Like her, he had often tested the church elders, too. “I know it’s hard for you, but couldn’t you ask Matt about some of his ideas? If all the other farms are utilizing new methods, well …” She shrugged.
Dad abruptly rose. “Got chores to do. Thanks for breakfast.” He started toward the door and snatched his truck keys off the yellow peg shelf that had served the family for as long as Lil could recall. “So you won’t tell your mom?”
With a heavy sigh, Lil glanced regrettably down the hall again. “No. I won’t tell.” She looked back toward the yellow shelf visible through the doorway that separated the kitchen from the mudroom. It had been there ever since she could remember. Five feet in width, it was firmly secured to the wall studs to bear the family’s offerings. Its row of sturdy six-inch pegs provided a stopping off place for the family’s odds and ends, mostly hats and coats and items of clothing the boys used to bring home for their mom to mend.
A basket containing gloves and garden tools perched in readiness for her mom’s frequent t
rips to the garden. Of late, the basket had been neglected. Beside it was a folded set of clean overalls. The shelf harbored items both entering and departing the house. Beneath it was a matching bench where family members sat when tugging on their boots. Things on the farm didn’t change much, and Lil had always hungered for change. She only hoped it wouldn’t be change for the worse.
Lil replaced the gas nozzle into its receptacle and jerked open her car door, then lifted it so that it would latch. She was going to have to get those door hinges checked before the whole door fell off. She locked it for good measure and reprimanded herself for forgetting that Jezebel needed gas. Now she was going to be late to work again. She grabbed for the seat belt before she’d even slid onto the vinyl seat cover that protected her skirt from bare springs and stuffing, and was soon pulling back into traffic.
Nearing the four-o’clock rush hour, the traffic moved slower than she would have liked, especially when she needed to make up the ten minutes she’d lost at the gas station. But she came alive to the hustle and bustle of the Columbus streets that were so different than the rural Plain City roads.
Being a few minutes late wouldn’t have been such a big deal if she weren’t already on the manager’s bad list. He’d had to rearrange the restaurant’s work schedule several times lately to accommodate Lil’s personal needs, which revolved around her mom’s care. Doctor appointments and Mom’s neglected household chores all bubbled together like a boiling pot that Lil barely managed to keep from overflowing. A smart cook either removed such a pot from the fire or turned down the heat, but she could do neither.
Yes, she was overworked, but she didn’t want to let her job at Riccardo’s slide; it was her door of escape. Sure, she wasn’t using all her culinary skills, but at least she was working in her area of expertise and building a résumé. She shuddered to think how her dad would react to her use of résumé—such a worldly word. He would rebuke her for striving to become a famous chef. He thought her ambitions were foolish and unladylike. He thought she should be pursuing a life that included marriage, children, and homemaking. It wasn’t that she didn’t want those things, but she wasn’t ready to settle down without pursuing her dream first.
Plain City Bridesmaids Page 33