by Sarah Price
Ella Mae didn’t think her mother had anything to worry about, for she immediately recognized that the driver was one of the sons, and seated beside him was her sister. “I don’t think it’s Edna.”
No sooner had the words slipped out of her mouth than the horse neared the house, close enough for Ella Mae to see that it was Jeremiah driving the buggy. She breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t Jonas. If she never saw Jonas Esh again, it would be one day too soon.
“Well, now, what’s this?” Wilma said in a low voice. “Is that Jonas?”
“Jeremiah,” Ella Mae corrected.
Wilma gasped, her eyes widening as she watched the buggy with newfound interest. “With Rachel?” She clucked her tongue before adding a soft, “Oh my.”
Ella Mae rolled her eyes. “Oh, stop that, Maem. He’s probably just bringing her home from town. He works next to that store that sells your cookies, you know. Don’t start planting celery in your garden yet.”
Wilma made a sour face and turned around to go back into the house.
Ella Mae, however, stayed on the porch and watched. She waited for Rachel to climb out of the buggy, but she didn’t. Instead, she remained inside, talking to Jeremiah.
Leaning against the porch railing, Ella Mae tried to imagine what on earth the two of them could be talking about. From what little she’d seen of Jeremiah, Ella Mae knew he was about as different from Rachel as a mule was from a cat. He had a quiet nature, just the opposite of Jonas. He struck her as being withdrawn and shy, two traits that were not shared by his younger brother.
Finally, the buggy door slid open and Rachel stepped down. She hurried toward the house, her eyes focused on the ground before her feet.
“What’s wrong with you?” Ella Mae asked as Rachel bounded up the steps, avoiding eye contact.
“Nothin’.”
“Did something happen?” Ella Mae followed her into the house, the screen door slamming shut behind her. “Sure took you long enough to fetch those cookies.” She glanced down at Rachel’s hands. “Where are they, anyway?”
“Weren’t any left.”
“Why! You should’ve been home lickety-split, then!”
Rachel ignored her and walked into the kitchen, pausing at the table. “Maem,” she said, addressing her mother, “there weren’t any cookies left.”
Wilma glanced up from the stove, where she was cooking the evening meal. A broad smile crossed her face, little crow’s-feet deepening at the corners of her eyes. “Oh my! You don’t say!” Clearly the news pleased her. “That’s the second weekend in a row they sold out, isn’t it?” Then, without waiting for a response, she pointed to the potatoes in the sink. “Would you mind peeling those for dinner, Rachel?”
“Let Ella Mae do it,” she said.
Ella Mae frowned. “What!”
“I’m”—Rachel bit her lower lip—“going out for a spell.”
The wooden spoon in Wilma’s hand dropped, splattering hot liquid from the soup she was making onto the counter and her arm. “No dinner?”
“Uh . . . not tonight.”
Ella Mae narrowed her eyes. What was her sister talking about? They didn’t have any plans for that evening. “You’re confused,” she said. “The singing’s tomorrow night.”
Rachel glanced at her and then immediately looked away. “Mayhaps I have plans.”
Stunned, Ella Mae’s eyes widened in disbelief. They always went everywhere together. “Plans? You made plans without me?”
For a brief moment, the only noise in the room was the gentle ticktock of the clock on the wall that hung opposite the table. Rachel kept her eyes averted, and Wilma stood there with her mouth hanging open.
Ella Mae, however, narrowed her eyes. She glanced at the clock and then at Rachel. “Wait just a minute,” she said in a low voice.
Quickly, Ella Mae hurried to the kitchen window and peered outside. Sure enough, her suspicions were correct. The buggy that had brought Rachel home still waited in the driveway. The realization that her sister, her twin sister, had not only made plans with someone else—and not just someone else, but a man!—shocked Ella Mae. Since when did Rachel do anything without confiding in her?
“You’re going out with Jeremiah?” She turned around and put her hands on her hips. “Jeremiah Esh?”
Wilma’s eyes widened, and she blinked twice. “Oh help!”
Ella Mae shot her a stern look.
Meanwhile, the color flooded to Rachel’s cheeks. “It’s not like that,” she mumbled, but her tone was not very convincing.
Waving her hand as if to cool her face, Wilma slid into a chair. “After less than a week? You’re courting Jeremiah Esh?”
“Of course she’s not!” Ella Mae shot back, but, as if on second thought, she turned toward her sister. “Are you?”
Rachel remained silent.
“Jeremiah? He’s so dull!” Ella Mae could not see her sister lasting even half an hour in the company of a man as uninteresting as Jeremiah.
“Oh, we had that pegged all wrong,” Wilma muttered. She shook her head. “What on earth will Edna think now?”
“Maem!” Rachel and Ella Mae shouted simultaneously.
Rachel hurried over to her mother and knelt before her. Grabbing at her hands, Rachel peered pleadingly into her mother’s face. Ella Mae watched, amazed at how determined her sister was as she begged for discretion.
“Please, Maem. You cannot say anything!” She clutched Wilma’s hands. “He’s . . . he’s just a friend right now.”
Ella Mae sniffed. “That doesn’t sound very convincing.”
Ignoring her, Rachel kept her attention focused on her mother. “Please, Maem. If you tell anyone”—she cast a dark glare over her shoulder at her sister—“and I mean anyone, we may never be anything more than that: friends.” She paused and then, with lowered eyes, added, “And I think I’d like the chance to see if there might be more than just friendship between us.”
At this announcement, Wilma began fanning her face again, this time in a more rapid fashion. “My Rachel. To think we had it all wrong. We thought—”
Ella Mae rolled her eyes, quick to interrupt her mother. “Oh, Maem, just promise her and let her go already.” She glanced at the window. “Her special dull friend is waiting,” she added in a caustic tone.
“Promise me you won’t tell anyone?” Rachel pleaded one last time.
“I . . .” Wilma swallowed. “I promise.”
Ella Mae took a deep breath and watched as her sister smiled, leaning forward to plant a rare kiss on their mother’s cheek before she jumped to her feet and hurried upstairs for whatever reason Ella Mae couldn’t even begin to imagine. But when Rachel finally bounded down the stairs, Ella Mae saw that not only had her sister changed into a fresh dress, she’d also re-brushed and -pinned her hair.
“Oh my,” she whispered to herself as Rachel barely even said goodbye before hurrying out the door. A fresh dress and freshly pinned hair could mean one and only one thing: her sister was, indeed, ferhoodled with Jeremiah Esh. As the sound of the horse and buggy slowly faded, Ella Mae stood in the center of the kitchen, wrapping her arms around herself. For the first time in her life, she truly felt alone.
EDNA
CHAPTER 16
The chair opposite Jonas remained empty, and that bothered her. Edna did not like seeing a vacant spot at her table. It had been hard enough when John and Bethany had moved into their own little house. Now Jeremiah was missing? Even worse, Jonas seemed as surprised by his absence as she was.
“He said nothing to you, then?” she asked for the third time.
Jonas kept his head bent over his plate, shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth. “I told you already. Not a word.”
Edna frowned and glanced across the table to meet Elmer’s amused eyes. “Did you know anything?”
Elmer’s eyes sparkled at her. “I can assure you that I did not.” He reached across the table for the bowl of applesauce. “But, what with spring being
here, it’s no wonder he’s vanished.”
At this, Jonas looked up. “Why’s that, Daed?”
Raising his graying eyebrows, Elmer laughed. “Because in the spring, a young man’s fancy often turns to love.”
“Ach!” Edna pressed her lips together and shook her head disapprovingly. “Oh, Elmer! Don’t tease me so!” She reached for the platter of cooked ham and stabbed two pieces with her fork. She dropped them onto her plate and handed the dish of ham to Jonas, who piled four slices onto his plate. “He is teasing me, right, Jonas?”
Jonas appeared completely uninterested in the conversation. With a simple shrug of his shoulders, he made a face. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“Jonas!”
He glanced up. “What?”
“You sound so glib.” Truth be told, though she didn’t approve of his lackadaisical tone, she had noticed that, all afternoon, something had seemed to be bothering him. She hadn’t mentioned it to Elmer and certainly hadn’t inquired of Jonas. She respected his privacy enough to give him a wide berth. If something was amiss, surely he’d come to her should he need any guidance.
Another shrug was his only response. “It’s the truth. Got enough on my mind, don’t need to be worrying about Jeremiah.”
Perhaps this was her opening, she thought. “Oh? Anything you’d care to share?”
He shook his head.
“Nothing about the construction?” She’d been worried that Elmer had been overly optimistic when he’d permitted Jonas to tackle that project by himself. Of course, there were times when he asked for help from his father or his brother. But deep down, she felt that the responsibility of designing and building the new dining area for her guests was overwhelming for a young man who had never tackled such a large project alone.
“The construction?” He gave her an exasperated look. “Nee, not the construction. That’s going along swimmingly.”
Edna realized that it had been a while since she had gone to see his progress. Perhaps she should have been paying more attention to his work. Despite her misgivings about Jonas being able to build the room alone, she knew that he was spending a lot of time on the construction. But she’d been so busy with preparations for MayFest and running her business that she hadn’t had time to think about the room. Perhaps apparent lack of interest was at the core of his solemn attitude this evening.
As if reading her mind, Elmer cleared his throat. “Mayhaps after supper, we should walk out there and take a look-see. I’ve been noticing a lot of progress,” he said, meeting Edna’s eyes, “but only from afar.”
Edna took her cue from Elmer. “Why, that’s a fantastic idea! Especially if you aren’t going out this evening, Jonas.” And then it dawned on her. Of course! Jonas wasn’t going out and Jeremiah was missing. Perhaps the two brothers had exchanged words with each other. It didn’t happen too often, but when it did, there was usually a week or two of silence between them.
“Why aren’t you going to Melvin’s volleyball game tonight?” she asked.
Jonas took a deep breath and shrugged. “Who said I wasn’t going?” And then, after a hesitation, he exhaled. “But I’m not. I’m tired, I reckon. Prefer a good night’s sleep to the company of others.”
They finished the meal in silence, and once they’d said the after-prayer, Edna quickly removed the plates from the table, stacking them in the sink. She’d wash them later, preferring to use the rest of the daylight hours to accompany her husband and son outside.
The new gathering room was behind the house, located on the other side of the garden, next to the stable. The first few weeks when Jonas had begun digging the foundation, she’d watched in amazement at her son’s ability. But in the past week, she hadn’t been outside as much, and certainly not on that side of the house.
So when she walked toward the stable and saw the large structure, already framed out, she caught her breath and reached out to touch his arm.
“Oh, Jonas!”
For the first time that evening, he smiled at her. “What, Maem?”
“It’s . . .” She didn’t know what words to use to describe her feelings. Finally, she settled on, “. . . overwhelming.”
His smile widened to a grin. “You like?”
“I do, Jonas.” She stepped away from him toward the building. “I do, indeed.”
It was larger than she’d envisioned. And prettier. The front of the building faced the stables, pointing away from the house. So when she had been outside, she hadn’t been able to see that Jonas had added a porch to the building. She climbed up the two steps and peered inside.
The room was big, perhaps forty feet by sixty feet. It was certainly overly large for her tourist business, but Jonas quickly explained that he was putting in a movable wall so that she could shut it if necessary. That way, when it was their turn to host worship Sundays, the room would be large enough to accommodate the entire congregation without having to remove all of the furniture from their kitchen and sitting room.
At the rear of the room were two doorways.
“One’s going to be a bathroom,” Jonas said as he walked over to it. “I’ve framed it, but I need help adding the plumbing and tying into our well and septic.”
“I see.” She poked her head into the room and saw that it, too, was oversized. “It’s so large.”
“Englischers seem to like large things,” he stated, all traces of his earlier sullen attitude completely gone now. Edna gave him a gentle slap on the arm. “It’s true.”
She turned her attention toward the other door. “And this? The kitchen?”
Without waiting for him to respond, Edna walked through the door, and upon seeing the large room, almost fifteen feet wide and thirty or so feet long, she caught her breath. There was plenty of space for shelves and counters. There was a place for not just one but two large wash sinks, as well as an empty section just waiting for a new stove.
“I put a door on the far wall so that you can easily go back and forth to the haus if need be,” he said.
“I . . . I don’t know what to say,” she whispered. “I had no idea you’d made so much progress.”
At this comment, Jonas laughed. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Maem. I have to close it in and put on the roof. The plumbing’s going to take another week or so. James Miller said he’d help, but he hasn’t been out here to see what needs to be done. Then I still need to put up drywall and spackle it and paint.”
“Don’t forget the fans,” Elmer added.
“Oh ja!” Jonas pointed to the ceiling. “Daed suggested we install ceiling fans to keep the guests cool in the summer months.”
“Fans?” The idea of ceiling fans was certainly exciting, but she doubted the bishop would permit such a luxury, especially because it required electricity. “Oh, I’m not so certain that would go over well with the church.”
Jonas held up a finger as if to stop her. “We can connect them to solar power.” He grinned. “Bishop can’t argue with God powering those fans, can he now?”
Edna couldn’t keep herself from laughing. “Nee, Jonas. I reckon he sure can’t.” She took a step farther into the building and looked around. Everything was truly coming along fine. “How soon will it be ready, do you think?”
Jonas reached up and scratched the back of his neck. “Oh, I’d say you’re about two, maybe three weeks from being able to serve your first meal in here, Maem.”
To Edna, the time couldn’t come soon enough. But she knew that her guests wouldn’t approve of eating in an unfinished room. After all, they came to the Esh farm to experience a noon meal in an Amish setting. She’d have to make certain that everything was perfect before she began serving guests in the new building. She’d decorate it to look just like her own kitchen, even if it wasn’t part of their actual house.
“Well, Jonas,” she said at last, turning to face him. “I know pride’s a sin, but I’ll just have to confess to the bishop how I’m feeling right now.”
He smiled at her rema
rk and reached out to clasp her shoulder. “You and me both, I reckon.”
RACHEL
CHAPTER 17
During the very long—and too silent—ride to Marvin Otz’s house, Rachel found herself overthinking everything. Why had she let Jeremiah convince her to accompany him? She didn’t know anyone from his church district. If he left her side, as young men often did when they arrived with someone, she’d be stuck standing there all alone. Perhaps she should have insisted that Ella Mae accompany them. At least then she would’ve had someone else to talk to.
Correction, she thought. Someone to talk to.
Clearly Jeremiah was unfazed by riding in complete silence with her. She, however, found each passing moment of silence unnerving. Was she supposed to say something? Ask him questions? Or was this typical when a young woman accompanied a man to a youth gathering? She had no idea, for she’d never gone anywhere without her sister, and she certainly had never gone anywhere with a man.
“Relax,” he said.
Startled, Rachel looked at him. “Excuse me?”
He gestured with one of his hands. “You’re fidgeting and making a lot of heavy breathing noises.”
“I am?” She had no idea she’d been so transparent. Her cheeks grew warm, and she knew she was blushing. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s a volleyball game,” he said in a flat tone. “Nothing more, nothing less. And nothing to be so nervous about.”
She swallowed and stared straight ahead. Was that his way of telling her not to read too much into his offer to take her?
“You do know how to play volleyball, right?” he asked.
At this question, she turned to face him. “Of course I do!” she snapped. “Why, what kind of person would I be if I didn’t know how to play volleyball? And why would I have said yes to accompanying you if I didn’t?”
“There. That’s more like it.” He smiled. “Back to sass and spitfire. Much better.”
And then, realizing what had just transpired, she laughed.
“And that, too, is better,” he added. “You and your schwester, you don’t laugh enough.”