A Cousin's Prayer (3 page)

When Katie came downstairs the following morning, she heard whispered voices coming from the kitchen. A sense of dread balled in her stomach when Grammy said, “I agree with you, Jeremy. Katie’s been living with us long enough. Under the circumstances, I think it’s best if she remains here with you and JoAnn.”

Katie rushed into the kitchen, but before she could open her mouth to protest, Mom turned in her chair and said,
“Mir hen yuscht vun dir ghat.”

Katie’s head bobbed up and down as she swallowed around the lump in her throat. “I know you were talking about me. I heard Grammy say she didn’t want me to go back to Florida with her.”

Grammy shook her head. “I never said that, Katie. I said I thought under the circumstances that you need to stay here.”

“What circumstances?”

Grammy rose from her chair and slipped her arm around Katie’s waist. “Grandpa and I won’t be living in Florida much longer, so—”

Katie’s mouth fell open. “What? Where are you going?”

“We’re moving to Wisconsin to be closer to my sister, Mary. She’s been widowed for sometime and is having some health problems, so we’ve decided to move there and help her out.”

“That’s the reason my daed didn’t come to Indiana with my mamm,” Mom said. “He needed to stay in Sarasota and get the house ready to rent out.”

Katie groaned as she sank into a chair at the table. “Why wasn’t I told about this sooner?”

Grammy’s face turned crimson. “We didn’t want to upset you. Your grandpa and I thought that after you came back here and saw everyone again, you’d be more receptive to the idea of staying.”

Katie folded her arms and frowned. “I was looking forward to going back to Florida. I ... I like it there.”

“We know you do, but we’re not going to be there, and it’s best that you stay here with your folks.”

Katie gave a woeful shake of her head. “I can’t stay. There are too many painful memories here.”

“You can’t run from the past for the rest of your life,” Mom said.

Katie clasped Grammy’s arm. “Can’t you just go to Wisconsin to help Mary for a while and then move back to Florida when she’s better?”

“I’m not sure she’ll ever be better, and we’re going to do what we think is best for Mary,” Grammy said.

Doesn’t anyone care what’s best for me?
Katie bit her bottom lip in an effort to keep from crying. She knew she was being selfish, but the thought of Grandpa and Grandma leaving Florida, where she’d felt safe these last several months, made her nausea return. She’d be happier in Florida. She’d even made a few friends there. How could they expect her to stay here with all her painful memories?

“Maybe I could get a job and rent your house in Pinecraft,” Katie said, feeling more desperate by the minute.

Grammy shook her head. “We’ve already found someone to rent it.”

“Now that we’ve got everything settled,” Dad said before Katie could protest further, “let’s eat breakfast so I can get to work making windows in my shop, and you and your mamm can open your stamp shop.”

Mom looked over at Katie. “I was hoping you could work by yourself for a few hours this afternoon while I go to my dental appointment.”

A sense of panic seized Katie, and she gripped the edge of her chair. “You want me to work there alone?”

Before Mom could reply, Grammy spoke up. “If there’s anything I can do at the shop, I’d be happy to help out.”

Katie breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t worked in the stamp shop for several months. The thought of waiting on customers made her feel apprehensive. “I’d appreciate the help,” she said with a nod.

“Would you like some more eggs?” Freeman’s grandmother asked, smiling at him from across the table.

He shook his head. “No thanks. I’ve got lots to do today, so I’d better get out to my shop.” He stood.

“How late do you plan to work today?” Grandma asked.

Freeman shrugged. “Don’t know. Guess that all depends on how much work I get done.”

“I hope you’ll be finished in time for us to take Fern out to supper like we’d planned.”

Freeman’s forehead wrinkled. “We’re taking Fern to supper?”

Grandma sighed. “I’m glad she went to town early this morning to do some shopping. I wouldn’t want her to hear that her bruder has obviously forgotten that today’s her birthday.”

Freeman’s face heated up. “Oh, that’s right. Guess it must have slipped my mind.”

Grandma held up her hand. “No need to offer an excuse. Just make sure you’re done working in time to take us to supper.”

“Okay.” Freeman started across the room and was about to pluck his hat off the wall peg when he turned back around. “Do you have any idea what Fern might like for her birthday? Has she dropped any hints?”

Grandma shook her head. “She’s given me no hints, but I know she’s been working on a scrapbook the last few months. Maybe some rubber stamps would be appreciated.”

“Is that what you planned to give her?”

“No. I made her something for her hope chest.” Grandma sipped her coffee. “If you can spare the time, why don’t you go over to the Millers’ stamp shop today and see what you can find.”

Freeman nodded. “I’ll try to do that during my lunch hour.”

Grandma smiled. “Would you like me to take a sandwich out to you shortly before noon so you can eat while you’re riding over to the Millers’?”

“That won’t be necessary. I’ll pick something up on my way back home.” Freeman plopped his hat on his head and hurried out the door.

When he entered his shop a few minutes later, he lit the gas lamps then quickly set to work on a bike one of their English neighbors had brought in for repairs.

He’d only been working a short time when the shop door opened and Eunice stepped in.

“Wie geht’s?” she asked with a cheerful smile.

“Can’t complain. How about you?”

“I’m doing well.” Her smile widened as she moved closer to him. “Looks like you’re hard at work.”

He nodded. “Always have something to do, it seems.”

“I’m still enjoying the bicycle my daed bought for me.”

“Glad you like it.”

She squatted down beside him and leaned so close that he could see the smattering of light-colored freckles on her nose. “The bike you’re working on looks like a nice one. How many speeds does it have?”

“It’s a 21-speed, just like yours.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

Freeman motioned to the back of the bike. “The wheel’s bent, the chain’s messed up, and one of the pedals is broken.”

“What happened?”

“Wally Andrews, the owner of the bike, took a bad spill the other day.”

“Was he hurt?”

“Just a few scrapes and bruises.” Freeman grimaced. “The bike took the worst of it.”

“You sure seem to know what you’re doing. How long have you been repairing bikes?”

“Since I was sixteen. My uncle in Ohio trained me well.” Freeman reached for the wrench lying on the floor beside Eunice. “The last time you were here, you mentioned that you’d been looking for a job. Have you found one yet?”

She shook her head. “No one seems to be hiring right now. Things are tight all over.”

“I know. Hopefully, once the tourists begin pouring into Shipshewana when the flea market opens next month, some jobs will come open.”

“I hope so.” Eunice offered him another pleasant smile. “If you’re not too busy this afternoon, would you like to come over to my house for lunch? My mamm fixed too much chicken corn soup for supper last night. You’d be doing us a favor if you helped us eat some of it for lunch.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I have an errand to run during my lunch hour.”

Her pale eyebrows furrowed. “That’s too bad. If you came for lunch, it would give us a chance to get better acquainted.”

“Maybe some other time.”

A light danced in her eyes. “You mean it?”

He nodded.

“How about coming over for supper this evening?”

“I can’t. Today’s my sister’s birthday. I’ll be taking her and my grossmudder to supper.”

“Oh, I see.” Eunice sighed. “I’m going to be busy helping my mamm with the garden the first part of next week, but what about Saturday? Would you be free to have lunch with me then?”

Freeman shook his head. “That’s the day of the school program and potluck meal. Since my sister’s one of the teachers, I think she’d like me to be there.”

“Oh, that’s right, I’d forgotten about the program. When would you be free?”

“How about the following Saturday?”

“All right then.” Eunice stood and smoothed the wrinkles in her dress. “Guess I’d better let you get back to work. See you at church tomorrow, Freeman.”

As the door shut behind Eunice, Freeman slapped the side of his head. “I hope she doesn’t think we’re a courting couple just because I agreed to have lunch with her in a few weeks.”

By the time Katie and Grammy had been working in the stamp shop a few hours, Katie had begun to relax. She’d almost forgotten how much she enjoyed the work.

Grammy placed a stack of off-white cardstock on one of the shelves. “There are so many interesting things in this shop. I think it must be a fun place to work.”

Katie nodded. “I was just thinking that. When I worked here with Mom before I went to Florida, and we weren’t waiting on customers or stocking shelves, we used to take a few minutes out to work on our own scrapbooking projects. We also liked to make cards that we could give to our friends and family on special occasions.”

Grammy nodded. “Your mamm has sent me several of her homemade cards over the years, and I’ve always enjoyed getting them. I think a homemade card’s so much more personal than one that’s bought in a store.”

Katie was about to comment when the bell above the shop door jingled and Loraine walked in. “How are you today?” she asked, stepping up to Katie. “I was worried when you left the wedding meal.”

“Didn’t Ella tell you I left early because I wasn’t feeling well?”

Loraine nodded. “But I wanted to come by and find out if you’re okay.”

“I’m fine now.”

“Glad to hear it.” Loraine slipped her arm around Katie’s waist. “It’s good to see you working in the stamp shop again.”

“Looks like I’ll be working here from now on, because Grammy and Grandpa are planning to rent their place out and move to Wisconsin. That means I won’t be going back to Sarasota.”

Grammy explained about her sister’s ill health then turned to Katie and said, “It’s almost lunchtime. If you don’t need me for anything right now, I think I’ll go up to the house and fix us something to eat.”

“That’s fine,” Katie said with a nod. “We can eat it out here so I won’t have to close the stamp shop.”

Grammy smiled at Loraine. “If you’re not here when I get back, I’ll see you at church tomorrow. I’ll be leaving for Florida on Monday morning to finish getting ready for the move, so Sunday will be my last chance to say good-bye to everyone.”

“It’s been nice seeing you again,” Loraine said. “I hope things go well with your move.”

After Grammy left the shop, Katie started putting some stamps on the shelves. “Are you and Wayne getting settled into your new house?” she asked Loraine.

“Pretty much. We moved our wedding gifts over there yesterday after we’d finished helping clean things up at my folks’ place. You probably heard that Wayne’s parents lost their house when the tornado hit last winter, so they’ve been living in Wayne’s house ever since. They’ll continue to do so until their new house is finished.”

“How long do you think that will be?” Katie asked.

Loraine shrugged. “Don’t know. Crist and Wayne have been so busy in the taxidermy shop that they haven’t had much free time to work on it. Now that spring’s here, many of our Amish neighbors are busy planting their fields, so I doubt they’ll get much help on the house from them, either.”

“I hope it goes okay with you and Ada living under the same roof. I know you two didn’t always get along so well.”

“Things are better between Ada and me now. I don’t think it should be too difficult to have her and Crist staying with us.”

Katie motioned to the stamps she’d put on the shelf. “Mom said these recently came in, so if you need any new stamps, you might wanna choose ’em now before they’re all picked over.”

“Actually, I need to run some errands in Shipshe right now,” Loraine said, “but maybe I’ll come by sometime next week and take a look.”

“Okay. I’m sure they won’t all be sold by then.”

Loraine gave Katie a hug. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, and I’ll see you at church tomorrow morning. It’ll be at Ella’s folks’ place.”

Katie nodded. She hoped sitting in her uncle’s barn with a crowd of people wouldn’t bother her as much as it had during Loraine’s wedding.

Loraine waved as she went out the door. A few minutes later, the bell above the door jingled again. Thinking it might be Grammy with their lunch, Katie continued to stock the shelves and didn’t look at the door.

“Can ya help me find something my sister might like?” a deep voice asked.

Startled, Katie dropped the stamps she’d been holding. When she turned and bumped into Freeman, she gasped.

“I ... I didn’t realize you were here,” Katie stammered. “I mean, I thought it was my grossmudder who’d come into the shop.”

Freeman smiled. “Nope, just me. Today’s my sister’s birthday, so I came in to see if I could find her a gift.”

Katie’s hand shook as she motioned to the stamps she’d already put on the shelf. She didn’t know why she felt so nervous all of a sudden. She’d been perfectly calm a minute ago. “We just got in a new supply of stamps. Maybe she’d like one of them.”

“This one’s kind of nice.” Freeman picked up a large rubber stamp with a hummingbird on it. “Ever since Fern was a
maedel,
she’s liked to feed the hummingbirds that come into our yard. I’m thinkin’ she’d probably like this.”

“There’re a couple other hummingbird stamps over there.” Katie pointed to the shelf a few feet away. “They’re older ones, though, so she may already have them.”

“She couldn’t have gotten much, since we’ve only been back in Indiana a few months ourselves,” he said.

“My mamm’s not working here today, but if you’d like to come back tomorrow, we can ask if she knows what stamps Fern has bought.”

“I can’t wait that long. We’re going out to celebrate Fern’s birthday this evening, and I’m sure she’d be real disappointed if I didn’t have a gift to give her.”

“Guess you’d better buy one of the newer ones then.”

“I’ll take the humming bird stamp, and also this one,” he said, reaching for one of the larger stamps with a sunflower on it.

The bell above the door jingled once more, and Katie turned. Rita Howard, one of their English neighbors, stood in the doorway. Rita was a robust woman with curly red hair and deeply set blue eyes. As she ambled across the room toward Katie, the floor vibrated.

“I left my boys outside to play while I look around,” Rita said. “I hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine.” Katie figured having the rambunctious boys playing outside would be better than having them in the shop where they were likely to run all over the place and mess with things.

“When I was in here on Monday, your mother said she’d be getting some new stamps by the end of the week. Did they come in yet?” Rita asked.

Katie motioned to the shelf she’d been stocking. “They’re right here.”

“Oh good.” Rita rushed toward Katie, nearly knocking her over.

Katie stepped back and bumped into Freeman. “Excuse me.”

Wham!
A baseball crashed through the window and hit one of the shelves, knocking several stamps to the floor. Katie screamed, and Rita rushed outside. At least no one had gotten hurt, and from what Katie could tell, nothing had been damaged, but her legs shook so badly she could barely stand.

Freeman grabbed Katie’s arm. “You’re trembling like a newborn colt tryin’ to stand. Maybe you ought to sit down.”

Feeling very unsteady, Katie wobbled across the room and sank into the chair in front of her mother’s desk.

“I’ll get you something cold to drink.” Freeman hurried into the bathroom and returned with a paper cup full of water. “Here you go,” he said, handing it to Katie.

“Danki.” She took the cup and gulped down some water.

“Feel better?”

“A little.”

“Take a few deep breaths. That should help you relax.”

Katie did as Freeman suggested.

Ding!
The shop door opened and Rita stepped in. “Sorry about the broken window,” she said, stepping up to the desk where Katie sat. “Guess my boys were playing too close to the store.” She reached up to rub her forehead. “I should have left ’em home with their dad today.”

“Other than the broken window, no harm was done,” Katie said.

“I’m glad of that, and I’ll pay for whatever it costs to replace the window.” Rita glanced toward the door. “I’d better gather up my boys and head for home. I’ll come by sometime next week when the kids are in school and look at the new stamps you got in. Maybe by then you’ll have a new window and will know how much I owe you.” Without waiting for Katie’s reply, Rita scurried out of the store.

Katie remained at the desk while Freeman picked up the stamps that had been knocked to the floor. When he was done, he handed Katie the stamps he’d chosen for Fern. “I’d better pay for these and get back to work. I’ve been gone longer than I’d planned.”

Katie rang up his purchase and had just put the stamps in a paper sack when Grammy burst into the room. “A
deichel
broke, and there’s water running all over your mamm’s kitchen floor!”

“What pipe?” Freeman asked.

“It’s under the sink. I tried to shut it off, but the valve wouldn’t budge, and I don’t know where Katie’s daed keeps his tools.”

“I’d better take a look.” Freeman rushed out the door, and Grammy and Katie followed.

When they entered the house, Grammy halted inside the utility room. “We’d better take off our shoes. The kitchen’s turned into a flood zone.”

Katie slipped off her shoes, and when she entered the kitchen, she gasped. Water shot out from under the sink, and the floor looked like a small lake.

“You two had better wait out here while I check things out,” Freeman said. “It wouldn’t be good for either of you to slip and fall on the floor.” He plodded through the water and squatted in front of the sink. “Ah, I see the problem. The pipe has a huge hole in it. Must have rusted out.” He glanced over his shoulder at Katie. “If you’ll find me a wrench, I’ll get the water turned off.”

Katie sloshed through the water and opened the drawer where Dad kept his tools. She grabbed the wrench, sloshed back, and handed it to Freeman.

“If your daed has another pipe and some plumbing supplies, I think I can fix this,” he said after he’d shut off the water.

“I think there might be some plumbing tools in the shed, but I don’t know if there’s any pipe or not,” Katie said.

“Shouldn’t we get this water cleaned up first?” Grammy asked, sticking her head through the open door.

Katie nodded. “I’ll work on getting the water off the floor while Freeman looks for the plumbing supplies.”

Freeman hurried out the door, and Katie got out the mop. By the time he’d returned to the kitchen, she had some of the water mopped up.

“Found a pipe that I think will work,” he said, going down on his knees in front of the sink.

While Katie finished mopping and towel-drying the floor, Freeman installed the new pipe.

Grammy stepped into the room and pointed to the water marks that had been left on the wall. “Your daed will have a conniption when he gets home and sees this, not to mention the broken window that’ll have to be replaced in the stamp shop.”

“You’re right,” Katie agreed. A horse and buggy pulled into the yard, and she glanced out the window. “Someone just pulled up in front of the stamp shop. Guess I’d better go see who it is.” She hurried out the door and stepped onto the porch in time to see Ella climb down from her buggy.

“What happened to the window in the stamp shop?” Ella asked when Katie joined her on the lawn.

“Rita Howard was here with her boys. She left them outside to play while she came in to look at stamps.” Katie grimaced. “Between that and a broken pipe under our kitchen sink, this has not been a good day.”

Ella draped her arm across Katie’s shoulders. “You look upset. Don’t let a few mishaps ruin your day.”

“My day’s not ruined. I’m just frustrated, that’s all.”

Ella motioned to the other horse and buggy tied to the hitching rail near the shop. “Whose rig is that?”

“It belongs to Freeman Bontrager. He came by to get some stamps for his sister’s birthday. He’s in the house putting a new pipe under the sink.”

Ella smiled. “I’m surprised Freeman isn’t married already. A man as helpful as him will probably make someone a real good husband.”

Katie stared at Ella. “Are you interested in Freeman?”

Ella’s mouth opened wide. “’Course not. I was just saying that he’ll make a good husband.” She motioned to the stamp shop. “Are you open yet, or have you closed for the day?”

“We’re still open. Is there something you need?”

Ella nodded. “I need a stamp pad with blue ink for my daed’s business invoices.”

“No problem. We have plenty.” As Katie led the way to the stamp shop, she thought about Ella’s comments concerning Freeman making a good husband.
I hope she wasn’t hinting that I should take an interest in him, because I’m not interested in any man.
Uninvited tears blurred Katie’s vision.
I’m in love with Timothy, and I always will be.