by Sarah Price
And yet, the thought of Rachel continued to linger in her mind.
“Ella Mae?”
When she lifted her eyes, she realized he was still staring at her, probably wondering about her silence in response to his declaration. He had certainly made his intentions known, and under different circumstances, she’d have been light-headed from happiness. But she needed to think about this. To pray about this, she corrected. Was it immoral to walk out with Jeremiah when she knew that her sister favored him? Of course, she also now knew that Jeremiah did not return the sentiment. It was a dilemma she had never imagined she’d be facing. Was her loyalty to her sister so great that she would miss out on getting to know Jeremiah better and, possibly, courting him?
“Is everything okay? Was it something I said?”
She heard the hint of doubt in his voice and wished she could reassure him that, indeed, everything was all right. But she couldn’t. A wave of guilt washed over her. Perhaps she’d been wrong to accept Jeremiah’s invitation to take an afternoon ride. Maybe they shouldn’t have stopped in town for ice cream. Surely her sister would be hurt if she learned of Ella Mae’s transgression.
“Mayhaps we should head back to the buggy,” she said in a soft voice. “I . . . I didn’t leave a note for my maem. She’ll be wondering where I’ve run off to.”
He considered this for a moment and then gave a solemn nod. “I understand.”
Oh, she hoped he truly did. She wished she could blurt out the truth, that she needed time to reflect on the situation from all angles. Mayhaps she’d even talk to her mother about it. If anyone could give her sound advice on how to deal with Rachel under such circumstances, it was definitely her mother. Though her mother wasn’t known for her discretion, she loved and cared for all of her children. Like any good mother, Wilma would only want the best for her daughters, even when their interests conflicted.
EDNA
CHAPTER 34
Something was definitely bothering Jeremiah, and Edna suspected she knew exactly what it was.
At breakfast, she’d noticed right away that he’d been unusually quiet. He had barely eaten a thing, just played with his food absentmindedly. It was an off Sunday, which meant that, because there wasn’t worship service, they often spent the afternoon visiting friends and family. Jeremiah had volunteered to do John’s chores—mostly tending to the livestock—so that he and Bethany could go visit her parents in town. While the offer was greatly appreciated by all, Edna felt as if she were the only one to realize that, by helping out John, Jeremiah had spent most of the morning outside in the dairy, rather than with Jonas. In fact, he’d stayed out there so long that he missed the noon meal.
That wasn’t like Jeremiah at all.
Edna stood at the kitchen window, gazing outside, her thoughts in a jumble. Oh! What had she done now? She’d picked the wrong sister for Jeremiah, and from the looks of it, Ella Mae had broken his heart. Surely that was why he was moping around the property and avoiding the rest of the family.
Footsteps stomping down the staircase announced Jonas’s arrival in the kitchen.
“What’s wrong with Jeremiah?” he asked as he neared his mother. “He’s acting weird, don’t you think?” He reached out and grabbed a piece of fruit from the bowl on the counter. An apple. He rubbed it against his shirt before biting into it. Juice ran down the side of his mouth, and he promptly wiped it away with the back of his hand.
“I’m sure I couldn’t say.” At least it wasn’t a lie, she told herself. She couldn’t say, because she’d never want to embarrass her son.
Jonas backed up to the counter and then, holding the apple in his mouth, used his hands to jump up and sit on the edge. He grabbed the apple and chewed for a second. Swallowing, he pointed his finger at his mother. “Say! I’ve got right gut news for you, Maem.”
For the briefest of moments, Edna’s heart lurched into her throat. She feared that he would tell her he had feelings for Rachel, and then Edna would be forced to confess the truth. But, of course, she didn’t say anything like that.
“I could use some gut news,” she replied, forcing a soft smile.
He gave her a mischievous look as if he had some delicious secret that he wanted to share with her. For a long, drawn-out moment, he savored it, watching her expression as she waited in anticipation for his announcement. “Seems like I forgot to tell you something important the other day.”
Her heart felt as if it had stopped beating. She braced herself for whatever news he intended to share.
“Oh? What’s that?”
He grinned. “The plumber’s coming tomorrow to work on hooking the pipes into the well.”
Edna caught her breath. She hadn’t expected those words to come from his lips. “The plumber? Already?”
“Ah yup!” He took another big bite of the apple, the sweet flesh of the fruit crunching between his teeth.
“My word,” Edna muttered in disbelief.
It felt as if the new building had taken no time at all for Jonas to build. When had he learned so much about carpentry? Not so long ago, he’d made a comment here and there about wanting to work in construction—he preferred it over farming, that was for certain—but she hadn’t realized when he’d begun working for the Englischer that he’d learn so much in such a short period of time. How fortuitous that the owner of the company took time off in the spring before the summer busy season, which had given Jonas the time to work on the building for her!
“There’s more,” Jonas said, his eyes sparkling. “I talked with Ivan last night when I went out—”
Edna’s eyes widened. “You went out last night?”
Of course, Edna had known that Jonas had taken Rachel to MayFest. What she hadn’t realized was that he’d gone somewhere else, too. Had he taken Rachel to a youth gathering? A wave of panic flooded her body and mind. If he’d taken Rachel with him, that meant he didn’t know the truth that her verbal sparring with him did not indicate romantic interest. Swallowing, Edna clasped her hands together, nervously wringing them as she silently worried about how she’d handle two brokenhearted sons at the same time.
“—and he said he’ll tie in the septic line for the toilet. He’s free on Wednesday afternoon.” Jonas gave her a cheeky smile. “This Wednesday. You know what that means, right?”
Edna caught her breath.
Jonas laughed at her reaction. “All we need is to link the stove and oven to the propane tank and you can begin using your new building!”
She couldn’t hide her surprise at his statement and gasped. “Land’s sake!”
He held up his hand as if to stop her. “I mean, I’ll need to put up paneling to cover the studs, and there’ll still be little things that need fixin’, like molding and trim, painting and all. But that shouldn’t take long, especially if we get some folks to help.”
Edna wondered if some of Jonas and Jeremiah’s friends might consider a work party to get everything finished. Why! If what Jonas said was true, she might be able to actually use the room by mid-May.
“The ceiling fans won’t be installed yet. But it’s not too warm out yet, so your guests won’t mind, I suspect.” He finished the apple, tossed it into the compost container near the sink, and jumped off the counter. “Best get started with your plans to decorate it, I reckon.” He leaned over and, in a surprise and rare gesture, kissed her cheek. “And I best get going. I promised to move something for Widow Schultz.”
Widow Schultz? She couldn’t imagine when the older woman might have asked Jonas for help with something at her house. “When did you run into Martha?”
He gave a little shrug. “I didn’t, but I did run into her son in town last week. He asked if I might help her.”
With an incredulous look on her face, Edna found herself staring at him. This was something she’d have expected from John, her oldest son, but most certainly not from Jonas.
“I’ll be back later,” he said. Then, with his hands in his pockets, he began whistling as he s
auntered out of the house, a happy spring to his step that she hadn’t seen in quite some time.
Staring after him, Edna felt an overwhelming sense of pride in her youngest son.
Long after Jonas had gone outside, Edna remained standing at the kitchen counter, her heart overflowing. He was truly grown-up now, behaving like a responsible, hardworking young man. Frankly, she’d never seen this side of him before. As a youth, he’d always been a prankster, the one who would chase little girls with slimy frogs he pulled from the stream, the one who laughed when someone slipped in the mud. As a young adult, he’d been forced to work on the farm, and because he didn’t enjoy milking cows or plowing fields, he tended to procrastinate, disappear, or simply underperform in his chores.
Now, before her very eyes, he’d been transformed into a young man worthy of love and friendship, a partner ready to tackle the next phase of life. If only she hadn’t pushed him toward Rachel, perhaps he’d have found some connection with Ella Mae, or even some other young woman in the community. And yet, deep down, she found herself wishing Rachel could have seen this side of Jonas. It was too bad that she’d already set her cap for Jeremiah.
She took a long, deep breath and exhaled slowly.
From the corner of her eye, she caught some movement from the barnyard. With a little shake of her head, as if that might clear away the guilt cluttering her mind, she refocused on the window. Outside, Elmer led the horse out of the stable. The dark bay’s coat shone, and its mane flowed like soft feathers along its neck. Surely he’d been out there grooming it. He often did on Sundays when they didn’t have church.
Her eyes shifted to the clock. It was almost two o’clock. She’d forgotten that she’d promised Elmer she’d ride with him to his cousin’s house in a neighboring town. While she wasn’t much in the mood for visiting, they’d promised to stop by in the afternoon. And a promise was something Edna wasn’t about to break.
Sighing, she headed toward the back of the kitchen, where a narrow door led to the bedroom she shared with Elmer. A few minutes to freshen up was all that she needed. Even though she felt dispirited, she knew she’d have to put on a happy face. No sense in moping about on such a beautiful spring day.
Besides, she thought as she quickly changed into her dark navy dress, perhaps visiting Elmer’s cousins was exactly what she needed—a moment or two to get away from the property so that she could forget all about her troubles. She didn’t want to think any more about how she should’ve listened to Mary and stayed out of the matchmaking business, especially when it involved her sons and Wilma’s daughters.
Oh! What a mess she had made of everything! If only there was some way she could make everything better.
RACHEL
CHAPTER 35
“Well, look who it is!”
Rachel stopped walking along the road and peered up as Jonas slowed his buggy beside her. “What’re you doing out this way?” she asked in a flat tone.
He didn’t seem to notice. “Out for a nice afternoon drive,” he said cheerfully. “Hop in and I’ll give you a ride.”
For a moment, she considered his offer, wanting both to accept and to reply with a stern “Nee, danke.” Her aching feet won the internal argument. Her mother had sent her on an errand to drop off some bread and a pie for an ailing neighbor. Rachel hadn’t realized how far David and Linda’s house was from her parents’, especially with the sun shining overhead. Now that she was returning home, she had planned on cutting through a large pasture, rather than take the longer way up the hill behind her. A ride home would save her both time and blisters.
Without a word, she nodded and hurried over to the open door on the left side of the buggy. As she placed her foot on the step and pulled herself upward, the buggy jiggled. Squeezing through the doorway, she plopped down on the seat.
He waited for her to get situated before slapping the reins on the horse’s back and clucking with his tongue, urging the horse forward.
“And not so fast today, ja?” she quipped with a sideways glance at him.
Jonas laughed. “Trust me, I learned my lesson yesterday, Rachel.”
She highly doubted that. Still, the way his face lit up upon seeing her and, even now, shone whenever he looked at her made her heart flutter. Only a week before, she’d have wished that Jeremiah was gazing at her with the same expression on his face. Now, however, it was Jonas who gave her those palpitations, and that was not something she had anticipated.
“Hey, you mind if I stop somewhere first?” Jonas asked as he guided the horse to the left at the stop sign.
Rachel pressed her lips together. “Clearly you already intended to do just that,” she said drily.
He cast a puzzled glance at her. “Why do you say that?”
“Because my haus is the opposite direction.”
Was it her imagination, or did his lips twitch as though he wanted to smile but fought against it?
“You were walking this way.”
She pointed toward a cornfield up ahead. “There’s a shortcut there.”
“Ah.” He returned his attention to the horse. “I see.”
With her arms crossed over her chest, Rachel stared out the window, doing everything possible to avoid engaging in any further discussion with Jonas. She tried to convince herself that her pulse wasn’t quickening as she sat beside him. Instead, she focused on how Jonas was always grating on her nerves with his joking and teasing—an infuriating foible if ever she’d seen one. Jonas was too bold and insolent for her taste, unlike Jeremiah, who was much quieter and more pensive. And yet, she still couldn’t deny that there was something about Jonas that excited her.
After a few minutes, she began to relax. For once, Jonas was not trying to engage with her. As she stared across the fields that they passed on the way to Jonas’s errand, Rachel found herself forgetting she was even in his company. Instead, she focused on the budding crops and early spring flowers that bloomed alongside the road.
Almost twenty minutes of silence passed before Jonas turned his buggy into a long, unpaved driveway.
Rachel sat up straighter and paid attention. Where was he going?
“This won’t take but a minute,” he said as he slowed the horse down and stopped it in front of the stable. “Be right back. Just gotta do something really quick for Widow Schultz.”
There was a softness to his voice that surprised her. She watched with genuine curiosity as Jonas secured a lead line from the horse’s halter to the hitching post, checking it twice to ensure it was tied properly before he hurried up the walkway to the front door of the house. He knocked on the screen door and took a step back, waiting until an older woman opened it.
When she did, a broad smile broke over her face, and she stepped outside to talk to him. Rachel couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it was clear that she was pleased to see Jonas Esh. After a brief moment, he disappeared inside the house, but reappeared almost immediately after.
With a spring in his step, he jogged over to the buggy and poked his head through the open door. “You think you might help me, Rachel?” He wore an apologetic expression. “I didn’t realize the chair that she wants me to move would be so heavy.”
“Chair?” She slipped out of the buggy. “What chair?”
He started walking back toward the house. “I saw her nephew in town the other day when I went for lumber. Paul asked if I could help her. Someone dropped off a new orthopedic-type chair for Martha—she has a bad back, you know—”
“No, I didn’t.” She barely knew anything about the older Amish woman, except that she’d met her twice at recent weddings, including John and Bethany’s.
“—and she wants it moved into the sunroom. I told Paul I’d save him the trip and move it for her. But it’s really bulky and heavy.” He gave her a sheepish look. “I’m sorry to ask.”
Inside the house, Rachel glanced around the room, surprised at how sparse it was. Everything was neat and tidy, but she could see a layer of dust on th
e sideboard, and when she looked at the windows, she noticed how dirty they were.
“You must be Jonas’s special friend,” the woman said as Jonas led Rachel toward the chair.
Immediately, Rachel stiffened, and she thought she saw Jonas hide a smile once again.
“Nee, I’m just Rachel,” she retorted sharply. “Rachel Schwartz. I’m helping his maem and he’s taking me home.”
The woman looked from Rachel to Jonas and then back to Rachel again. There was a confused expression on her face as if she didn’t quite understand. But, rather than pose any further questions, she merely responded with a simple “I see.”
Somehow Rachel highly doubted that.
Oh, how she wished she had not come inside! Now this woman would surely gossip to others about her. There was nothing elderly women liked more than to speculate about the young members of their church: who was courting whom and when would the next marriage announcement be made? Rachel didn’t like to think of herself as being a source of gossip to the community busybodies.
“It’s over here, Rachel,” Jonas said in a soft voice. He led her to the large chair in the main sitting room attached to the kitchen. “She wants it in her sunroom over there.” He pointed through a wide doorway that opened to a pretty room off the side of the kitchen.
There was a wall full of windows—all of them dirty, she noticed—and Rachel understood why the widow would want the chair there. She could look out over the neighbor’s fields, watch the birds flying overhead, and see the crops as they grew throughout the spring and summer.
“That’s a fine place for the chair,” Rachel said, directing her statement to the widow. “I’d put it there myself if this were my home.”
Her comment pleased the older woman, who responded by smiling her appreciation.
“And, if you don’t mind my saying so,” Rachel began, carefully selecting her words, “I’d love to give those windows a quick spring-cleaning so that you can really see outside. Spring’s far too beautiful to be watched through anything less than crystal clear glass. At least that’s what my maem always says.”