The Amish Baby Finds a Home

by Barbara Cameron

  Mary stepped out onto the front porch and blew that hope away.

  “Bye, Mamm. I should be home by six thirty.”

  “I’ll be waiting. Have a gut day, both of you.” She waved at Liz as she pulled up.

  Hannah didn’t have to look back to know her mudder was staring after her. She didn’t have any idea what she was going to say to her when she got home tonight. The only thing she could do was pray that John’s mudder would show up and take him.

  Gideon stepped from the van. “Guder mariye. Let me help you strap him in.”

  “Danki.” She handed John to him.

  John babbled happily at him and patted his cheeks.

  “Well, guder mariye to you, too.” Gideon laughed and looked at Hannah. “He’s quite a talker.”

  “He hasn’t stopped since he woke up,” she told him with a smile. “Good morning, Liz.”

  “Good morning to you, too.” Liz turned in her seat and grinned widely at them. “Gideon put the car seat in. Said you still have your little visitor.”

  “Yes.” She watched Gideon struggle with the seat belt.

  “Makes me miss my grandchildren,” Liz said. “Can’t wait to see them next month when they visit.”

  Gideon finished strapping John in and looked relieved. He gestured for Hannah to take her seat and walked around to the other side of the van to take his.

  “Liz! Wait!”

  Hannah glanced out her window and saw her mudder hurrying down the sidewalk. She rolled her window down.

  “You forgot your lunch!” Mary handed it to her. “Good morning, Liz,” she said, poking her head in. “Thank you for waiting.” Her glance slid over to Gideon, then John in his car seat between him and Hannah. She paused and looked back at Gideon. “Guder mariye, Gideon.”

  “Guder mariye, Mary,” he said.

  She stepped back from the vehicle. “Everyone have a good day,” she said cheerfully. “See you when you get home from work,” she told Hannah.

  After a quick wave to Mary, Liz checked for traffic and then pulled out onto the road.

  Hannah glanced at Gideon and found him looking at her. Then, feeling like someone else was watching her, she looked up and saw Liz’s eyes on her in the rearview mirror. Liz quickly shifted her attention back to the road but Hannah felt warmth rush into her cheeks. She gazed out the window at the passing scenery.

  Liz stopped and picked up more passengers. Greetings were exchanged, and then silence reigned as they approached town and the van stopped to let off passengers.

  Gideon and Hannah got off at his stop as usual—but this morning they entered the shop with John.

  “I’ll make coffee,” he said as he did every day. But today he hurried to the back as if he didn’t want to talk right away.

  Hannah put her things down on the counter then sat on the stool with John.

  He came back a few minutes later with a mug of coffee fixed the way she liked it and sat behind the counter with his own cup. “So what did you tell your mudder about John?”

  Hannah winced. “She came home from my aenti’s just as I was leaving. I told her we’d talk later.”

  “What are you going to tell her?”

  “The truth. What we know of it. What else can I do?” She looked at him. “I’m hoping John’s mudder will show up today and everything will work out.”

  When he didn’t answer and simply sat, staring into his coffee, she took a deep breath. “Gideon, what did Eli say after you went home last night?”

  Chapter Five

  Gideon stared into his coffee, searching for words. He looked up at Hannah. “He swears the boppli’s not his. No matter what I said to him I couldn’t get him to say any different. As soon as we got home, he went in his room and locked the door.”

  He glanced over at John and smiled when he saw the kind watching him with owlish eyes. “Eli’s always been the moody one. You know that. But something’s been really bothering him for months. I usually know what he’s thinking—my mudder’s always said that that’s because of our zwillingboppli bond. But I don’t know what the problem is this time and he won’t talk to me about it. For the last year, maybe last year and a half, he’s stayed in his room a lot, and doesn’t go out with friends like he used to. I talked to my mudder about it a few weeks ago but she couldn’t get anything out of him, either.”

  He shoved his hand through his hair. “Last week I suggested Eli speak to the bishop and he’s barely talked to me since.”

  Restless, he stood and paced. “He wasn’t in his room when I got up this morning. I don’t know where he is.”

  He looked out the window, then turned to her. “I couldn’t sleep all night. What do we do if the mudder doesn’t come back?”

  As if he knew they were talking about him, John screwed up his face and began crying.

  Hannah rose and walked around, bouncing him a little in her arms. “There, there, lieb. Your mamm is coming soon.” She swayed from side to side but still he cried. “Look, look at all these toys,” she said as she walked down an aisle. “Soon you’ll be a big bu and have toys like this to play with.”

  The tears dried up as John stared at the brightly painted wooden toys.

  “I’m schur she’ll come soon,” Hannah said. “She has to be missing him. He’s such a gut boppli.”

  “But she might not. We have to think what to do.”

  He saw Hannah glance at the clock on the wall. “All we can do is take it one day at a time. As for today, I can take care of him.”

  “Danki, Hannah,” he said fervently.

  Gideon gathered up the diaper bag and her lunch tote. He lifted her purse and draped the strap over her shoulder. “I’ll walk the two of you to your shop.”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “It’s the least I can do.” He held the door open for her then turned to lock it.

  The sidewalks were already beginning to fill with locals and tourists. One Englisch woman smiled when she saw them and lifted her cell phone to take a photo but changed her mind when Gideon frowned. No doubt she was a tourist and wanted a souvenir.

  “She didn’t mean any harm,” Hannah murmured.

  “How would she feel if someone did that to her?” he growled.

  She shifted John and dug in her purse with one hand for her shop key. Gideon took it from her and unlocked the door, then held it open so she could walk inside. He closed the door and took her things into the back room.

  When he returned, she was taking off John’s sweater as he lay in the crib. She glanced up and tilted her head. “Why the frown? Are you still upset about that woman?”

  “Nee. I’ll see you at lunchtime unless you need me to help with John.”

  She nodded. “Danki.”

  He stood there for a long moment, staring at her and the boppli. Then he turned on his heel and left her to walk back to his shop. He wasn’t just worried John’s mudder might not come back for him. Hannah was being wunderbaar about the situation, but it wasn’t right that she was the one doing all the work. Exposing herself to questions from her mudder…perhaps even gossip from those in the community.

  Before this happened, he was getting ready to ask her to marry him. He didn’t want anything to change that. But John’s sudden appearance was going to change things a lot. If John was Eli’s he needed to marry the mudder, and if he married her that meant Eli would take over the farmhouse. He and Eli had made a pact that whoever got married first got the house…Then where would he and Hannah live if she agreed to marry him? He unlocked his shop door and flipped the Closed sign over.

  When he turned around, he saw the mirror image of himself sitting behind the shop counter.

  Their gazes locked.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Eli shrugged. “I promised to give you a few hours today, remember?”

  “It would have been nice if you’d let me know you’d remembered. You weren’t in your room when I checked this morning.”

  “I had something
to do.” He shoved himself to his feet. “I’m getting some coffee.”

  Frustrated, Gideon followed him into the back room and watched him pour a mug from the percolator on the stove.

  When Eli turned he didn’t look surprised that Gideon had followed him. “Look, I’m going home if you’re going to hassle me.”

  Gideon stood there and folded his arms across his chest. “I want some answers and I want them now.”

  Eli slammed the mug on the table and started for the back door.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “Home.”

  Gideon grabbed at his arm and Eli swung around and hit him in the jaw. He saw stars for a moment, then he shook his head and rushed at Eli, pinning him to the wall by the door. They glared at each other, their faces just inches apart.

  “Hit me!” Eli yelled. “Go ahead! You know you want to!”

  Gideon shook his head and backed off. “Nee. I just want you to take some responsibility. You can’t deny John is your sohn.”

  Eli dragged out a chair and slumped into it. He shoved his hands in his hair. “I’m not ready to be a dat!”

  “Well, that’s too bad because you are.” Gideon sat at the table. “Who’s the mudder?”

  “Emma. Emma Graber.”

  Gideon frowned. “She left town a year or so ago,” he said slowly. “So that’s why?”

  Eli nodded but didn’t meet his eyes. “Go ahead and say it. I’m a jerk. I’ve never been as gut as you.”

  His eyes widened. “What?”

  “You know it’s true. You’ve always been the gut sohn, never getting into trouble, always knowing you belonged. Well I might look like you but I’m not you! I’ll never measure up to you!” He put his head in his hands. “Only one person has ever understood me, and she’s not here anymore.”

  Eli jerked to his feet and slammed out of the room before Gideon could stop him. Shocked, Gideon could only stare at the door.

  He didn’t know how long he might have sat there, but he finally became aware that someone was banging on the shop door. He hurried to it and had his second shock of the day.

  “Emma!”

  Chapter Six

  Where is he?”

  Gideon stared at the woman who strode into the shop and glanced around.

  “Emma,” he repeated. Now it was so clear why Hannah had said he reminded her of someone. John had Eli’s big blue eyes but the way John always tilted his head and studied him reminded him of Emma. But while John’s gaze was nearly always happy, Emma’s was now filled with anger.

  “John’s—”

  “I know where John is,” she said in a testy voice. “I wouldn’t have left him if I’d thought Eli would get someone else to watch him.”

  “So you’ve been watching what’s been going on?”

  “Of course. Where is Eli? I saw him come in.”

  Gideon touched his sore jaw. “He just stormed out of here. You can check the back room if you don’t believe me.”

  He watched her hurry into the back to do just that. She returned moments later.

  Emma frowned at him. “He hit you? Why?”

  “I was talking to him about taking responsibility for John. He didn’t like it.”

  She stood there, arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot impatiently as she appeared to think about what he’d said. Then she heaved a big sigh. “Where did he go?” she asked finally.

  “I don’t know.”

  There was a loud rapping on the door. Gideon glanced over and saw a woman peering in the glass.

  “I need to open up,” he said. “Give me a minute. Please.” He walked over and unlocked the door. “I’m so sorry, I’m a little late opening up.”

  “No problem. I heard you have some wonderful dollhouses,” the older woman said.

  “Let me show you where I’ve got a display of them,” he told her, leading the way. “They’re all handmade. I have Englisch houses and Amish houses.”

  “Oh, they’re lovely!” she exclaimed, bending to peer in the window of one of the rooms in a two-story wooden house. “I think I’m going to find it very hard to decide.”

  “You take your time and let me know if you have any questions,” he said, keeping a wary eye on Emma as she stood by the counter.

  He walked back over to her, thinking she’d changed since he’d last seen her. She was just nineteen—twenty by now, he remembered, but she seemed to have matured. He supposed she’d had to grow up fast since she’d been responsible for a boppli all by herself.

  “We can’t talk right now,” he said in a quiet voice. “Do you want to have some coffee, wait until my customer leaves?”

  She frowned and shook her head. “I’ll walk down and see Hannah. I miss John and I need to thank her. It isn’t right that she took care of him when I meant for Eli to.”

  Gideon reached out and touched her arm, then quickly withdrew it when he realized he’d startled her. “Don’t leave again, Emma. Let me help you.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “You’re a gut man, Gideon. Why did I have to fall in love with the wrong bruder?”

  Her words hit him like the blow he’d taken to his jaw. “Emma” was all he could manage.

  Then he realized his customer was approaching him. “Give me just a minute, Emma.”

  “Nee, I’m going to go see John and talk to Hannah.”

  “Promise you won’t leave again.”

  Emma sighed. “Promise.”

  “Hannah and I have been having lunch while things aren’t too busy. Can I pick you up something from the coffee shop? I can bring it and we’ll talk.”

  She nodded. “I like the turkey sub.” She reached into her purse but he waved his hand.

  “My treat.”

  “See you in a while.” She left the shop.

  Gideon turned to his customer.

  “I think I have to have the yellow house,” she gushed, her face pink with excitement. “It’s more than I should spend, but my oldest grandchild is going to think I’m the best grandmother in the world!”

  He grinned, his spirits lighter now that Emma had shown up, and pleased with the easy sale. “Did I tell you there’s a ten percent discount for grandmothers?” he asked and was reminded of his own late grossmudder’s sweet smile when she beamed.

  It took some time to complete the transaction, carefully box the dollhouse, and then carry it to her car. When he returned to his shop he had a spurt of customers. Sometimes he’d sit and wonder where they were, and then it was as though a half dozen would walk in at the same time and he’d wonder if a tour bus had unloaded outside. So it was more than an hour before he could pick up the phone and call Hannah.

  But the shop’s landline rang busy. He hung up. He’d see her soon.

  * * *

  Hannah walked around the shop carrying John as she helped answer a customer’s questions.

  When the bell jingled over the shop door, John quivered in her arms and squirmed, making happy jabbering noises. She smiled. He was such a people lover…But then she realized there was something about his movements that seemed even more vigorous than he’d been with other visitors.

  Even before she’d seen the person who’d entered the shop Hannah knew it was John’s mudder. She felt it in his movements, felt it in her bones, as she turned around. He held out his arms and his face lit up like a sunbeam.

  “Emma. Emma Graber,” she breathed. “You’re John’s mudder.”

  Emma walked forward and held out her arms. Tears were running down her cheeks as she took John and held him close. “Oh, my boppli, I missed you so!”

  Tears rushed into Hannah’s eyes as she watched their reunion. “He missed you, too. Oh, he didn’t cry,” she said quickly. “But I could tell he wanted his mudder.”

  “Danki for taking such gut care of him. You must think I’m a terrible mudder.”

  Hannah shook her head. “It’s not my place to judge.” She saw a customer approaching with several bolts of fabric in her
arms.

  “Sit while I help her,” Hannah told Emma. “Don’t leave. Please.”

  She smiled and nodded. “I promised Gideon I wouldn’t.”

  “This blue flowered fabric just came in,” Hannah told the customer as she took the bolts from her arms. “How many yards do you need?”

  The two of them chatted as Hannah unfolded each bolt and cut the yardage needed from each. She stacked the cut pieces, wrote up the sales slip, and helped the customer add some matching thread and quilt backing. Then she walked over to the counter, rang up the sale, and tucked everything in a brown paper shopping bag. The customer was local, so she added a flyer about quilting classes, and tied the handles with a scrap of fabric kept by the register.

  “Thanks so much for stopping by the shop. Come again!”

  “I sure will. You have a good day.”

  Hannah waited until the customer left, then walked over to where Emma sat beside the crib holding John.

  “I love your shop,” Emma told her as she glanced around at all the tables and shelves crammed with fabrics. “It’s a happy place. I worked in a quilt shop in Ohio while I was waiting to have John. I really enjoyed it.”

  “So that’s where you’ve been?”

  Emma nodded. “I didn’t feel I could stay here. You know my dat. If he knew I was pregnant he would have made me marry John’s dat or he would have thrown me out of his house. I had a friend there who offered to let me live with her.”

  “That’s a very gut friend.” Hannah wanted to say she knew who John’s dat was, but she couldn’t think of any way to say it. “Emma, would you like some tea or coffee?”

  “I’d love some tea.”

  As Hannah rose to get it she heard the rumble of someone’s tummy. When Emma blushed and looked embarrassed she realized the sound wasn’t coming from John.

  “Would you like something to eat? It’s also almost time for a you-know-what for you-know-who.”

  “I can wait for lunch.”

  “Well, maybe a cookie or two to tide you over.”

  Emma laughed. “I’d love a cookie.”

  Hannah busied herself making tea and warmed a bottle for John. She took the cookies she’d packed for her lunch and spread them on a plate. She always brought extra because Gideon loved cookies. Didn’t matter what kind they were, the man couldn’t seem to get enough.