A Heart Made New (22 page)

Charisma didn’t seem to notice their discomfort. “I wish I could afford a cell phone. I could call her first. If I knew her number.”

“You don’t know your aunt’s telephone number?”

“No idea.”

“At least you have the address. We’ll be there soon enough. Have you thought about what you’re going to say?”

“I haven’t thought of anything else since you forced me into doing this.”

Annie reined in her sudden irritation. After Charisma had realized Logan wasn’t going to get out of jail anytime soon, she’d been
inconsolable at first and then determined to move on with her life. She’d wanted out of the Shirack house just as much as Leah wanted her out. “Don’t you want to reconcile with your family before your baby is born? Don’t you want Gracie to know her grandmother?”

“It’s not all apple pie and quilting at my house.” Charisma’s voice hardened with each word. She faced the window on her side. “Not everyone lives in a time warp back to the frontier days like you do.”

Annie closed her mouth. Better to let this conversation rest. Charisma was nervous. She didn’t mean to be ugly; she was just scared. “I know.”

They passed a long time in silence, watching the green fields whizzing by the car window. Annie nearly dozed herself a few times, but was always jerked back to wakefulness by Charisma’s constant movements.

“I need to use the restroom.” Charisma leaned forward and poked David’s shoulder. “Hey, can you get your friend to pull into a gas station?”

Annie’s face burned. She focused on the back of David’s neck and watched it turn red. He swiveled far enough to catch her gaze. His rueful smile told her he didn’t blame her, even if she was the one who brought this woman into their lives and then asked him to play chaperone. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Ma’am? Who you ma’am-ing?” Charisma’s face darkened. “I’m only nineteen, not an old lady.”

“Michael, can you pull over at the next town?” David’s tone remained even. “We could probably all use a chance to stretch our legs.”

“The next stop
is
Wakefield.”

Annie closed her eyes in relief. The remaining twenty minutes passed in silence, except for Charisma’s long, loud sighs. They pulled into the outskirts of Wakefield and stopped at a gasoline station. It was a relief to put her feet on solid ground and stretch. The car seat and Charisma’s attitude made the backseat crowded. She watched Charisma stomp into the bathroom, Gracie on her hip. Michael headed into the store to get some cold drinks.

David leaned against the car next to her. “She’s a handful, isn’t she?”

He sounded amused. Annie didn’t see much humor in the situation. “I wish she could be a little more…”

“A little more like you?”

“I guess I thought staying with us would open her eyes to some things.”

“That’s a little prideful, don’t you think?”

Annie ducked her head. He was right. “I didn’t mean to be.”

“You have good intentions and besides, you have no way of knowing what seeds are being planted. It’s possible God brought her to you for a reason. Not only to take care of that child, but also to sow a seed. God will take care of reaping it.”

Annie liked the way he thought. Her whole day brightened. “You’re so smart.”

“No.” He straightened and kicked at a clod of dirt with a dusty boot. “I said some things to Mayor Haag about trying to make you and Mudder and Miriam testify I shouldn’t have yesterday.”

“Like what?”

His head down as if he were studying the ground, he related the conversation in a swift monologue that kept her from interrupting.

When he finally stopped talking and looked up, Annie moved away from the car. “You were right to tell her.”

“It sounded like a threat.”

“You were protecting your mudder. And me. Danki for doing that.”

“Everything I said was true, but I shouldn’t have intervened. It’s not my place.”

“I’m glad you did. It will relieve Luke’s worry too.”

He nodded, his face pensive. “There’s something else.”

His quick summary of his encounter with Sarah left Annie breathless. “She really thinks working for Mayor Haag will show she’s ready for our way of life?” she said. “Is she using electrical appliances? Answering the phone?”

“I don’t know.”

“Have you told Josiah?”

He pulled at his suspenders and let them snap. “Do you think I should?”

“Jah.” Of course she did. Men could be so slow. “He needs to know what she’s up to.”

“It’s not our business.”

“He’s your friend. My bruder.”

“He’s a man who has to make up his own mind about his future.”

Again, David was right. But Annie found it hard to accept. “At least don’t let him get blindsided about her working there.”

“Here comes Charisma.”

Michael converged on the car at the same time, ending any chance of more private conversation with David. Annie sighed and wiggled into her seat next to Gracie, David’s words still whirling around in her head. Relief made her bones feel weak. If David was right, she wouldn’t have to testify. She wouldn’t cause Luke any more grief. If they could just get Charisma settled at her mother’s house, all would get back to normal. Peaceful.

Five minutes later they pulled into a dirt drive that led to the front yard of a small, neat-looking wood-frame house surrounded by oak trees and blooming rosebushes. “This is it.” Michael turned off the engine and clicked off the GPS. “This is the address you gave me.”

In the silence broken only by the ticking of the hot engine, Annie surveyed the scene. Pots of red and pink begonias dotted the sidewalk that led to a porch where a tabby cat slept on a swing. Except for the porch light and the white car parked in the driveway, it didn’t look that different from her house.

“Maybe we should forget this.” Charisma gripped the door handle. “Maybe we should come back another day.”

Annie reached across Gracie and patted Charisma’s arm. The woman’s skin felt clammy. “We’ve come this far. Go say hello to your mother.” She glanced at the house. A gingham curtain moved in the front window. “I think they know someone is here. We’ll wait in the car.”

“No. No, I want you to come in.” Charisma shoved her door open. “They can wait with Gracie.”

The men could take care of the baby? Annie gave David an apologetic look. He smiled in response. She scampered up the sidewalk that meandered through the yard. Charisma seemed to have decided to get it over as quickly as possible. Her sandals slapped against the cement, then the wooden steps, and across the porch. She rapped on the door with a fisted hand.

The door opened. Annie knew at once that Charisma’s mother stood behind the screen door that separated them. She had the same blond hair, fair skin, long, thin nose, and wide mouth. Annie knew what Charisma would look like twenty years from now. The woman’s tight jeans and tighter T-shirt explained Charisma’s taste in clothes.

Charisma’s mother’s mouth was turned down, her expression questioning. The identity of her visitor hadn’t sunk in. Her gaze wandered over Charisma’s shoulder to Annie. Annie forced a friendly smile. The woman’s eyebrows stretched toward bangs that belonged on a much younger person.

“Mom, it’s me.” Charisma’s voice quivered with nerves. “I’ve come to see you.”

“Who’s this with you? Have you turned Mennonite on me or something?” The woman’s icy tone chilled Annie to the bone.

“Mom!” Charisma made the introductions. “Annie’s not a Mennonite,” she explained. “She’s Amish.”

Mrs. Chiasson still didn’t ask them in. Instead, she pushed through the screen door, forcing them toward the edge of the porch. The flowery scent of lilacs hung in a cloud around her. Annie coughed quietly behind the palm of her hand.

“What are you doing here?” Mrs. Chiasson’s gaze dropped to Charisma’s bulging waistline. “You left four years ago. I haven’t heard a single word from you and you show up on my sister’s steps looking like this?”

Charisma’s face turned scarlet. Annie moved closer so she could squeeze her hand. Charisma jerked away. “I thought with everything that’s happened you might want to help your only daughter out of a jam.”

Mrs. Chiasson opened her mouth. Squalls wafted from the car in
the driveway. She shut her mouth and Charisma brushed past Annie and bolted down the steps. “That would be your granddaughter,” she called over her shoulder. “I think you should meet her.”

Annie wavered. Stay on the porch with Mrs. Chiasson or return to the car with Charisma to retrieve Gracie? Before she could make up her mind, the screen door popped open again. This time a man dressed in a black western shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots stepped out. Annie stared up at him, mesmerized by his height and the odd menace in his stance. The blue eyes looking back at her from under thinning gray hair examined her from head to toe, the frown on his face growing.

The man thrust a huge white hand at her. “Sam Chiasson. Who are you?”

Annie managed to stutter her name. After a second or two, she remembered to accept his handshake. His skin was damp, and she fought the urge to wipe her hand on her skirt. “My friend and I brought Charisma home…brought her
here
,” she corrected. This wasn’t home to Charisma. She’d never been to Wakefield before. “To see her mother.”

His expression didn’t change. She saw no sign Charisma’s arrival meant anything to him. No joy. No curiosity. That scared her more than any show of emotion would have. He rubbed a hand over a stubby shadow of a beard. “She ran off a while back. We had no idea where she got to. Been with you the whole time, has she?” He sounded only mildly interested in a response. “How did she know Cynthia moved up here with her sister?”

“We only met recently.” Annie saw no reason to tell him how they met. She was more curious as to how Charisma could not have known her father had moved to Wakefield with her mother. “She got a letter. That’s how she knew about the move.”

Charisma marched up the sidewalk with a dazed-looking Gracie on her hip. The moment when Mr. Chiasson’s presence registered was obvious. She stumbled, slowed, then sped up. The determined look on her face faded, replaced by a resignation that broke Annie’s heart.
Annie ran down the steps. “Let’s go home.” She put a hand on Charisma’s arm. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

Charisma tugged free. “I thought you left him, Mom. Ricky said you left him and came up here to live with Aunt Tammy.”

“Your dad came after me. He’s changed, Charisma. He loves me and this family. We had our problems, but we worked them out like mature adults.” Mrs. Chiasson linked arms with her husband. He didn’t look at his wife, nor did he move closer. “That’s what married couples do. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you? Popping out babies like puppies. Where’s your husband? Don’t see one coming up the walk with you.”

“Charisma, please, let’s just go. You don’t want to stay here.” Annie tried to keep her anger out of her voice. She shouldn’t judge. “It’s better if we go. It’s better for Gracie. And the baby.”

“He broke my arm, Mom. My nose is crooked. You really think someone who does that to a little girl can change? Is he still hitting you, Mom? I know he doesn’t hit Ricky, because Ricky is bigger than him now. He only hits people who can’t hit back, right?”

Mrs. Chiasson’s face froze. Sam didn’t move. They stood there like statues of a happy couple in front of their happy home.

Blue jays arguing in the front yard shattered the silence.

“He hasn’t lifted a hand in anger in the three months he’s been here.” Her voice shrill, Mrs. Chiasson suddenly slid away from her husband. He didn’t try to hold on to her. She stuck her hands on her hips. “He’s worked on his problems, and I think maybe you should do the same. Maybe you could take some responsibility for the way you acted back then. You drove him to it. You know that, right? With your back talk and your running around all hours, breaking his curfew, hanging out with bad boys? Maybe he was just trying to straighten you out.”

“By breaking bones?” Charisma moved Gracie from one hip to the other. “That will teach me, right?”

“You just best watch your tone, girl.” Mr. Chiasson took two steps forward, his hands fisted at his sides. “Your mother’s right. It’s your back talk that gets you in trouble every time.”

As if the tension in the air had seeped into her, Gracie began to sob. “Want Annie. Annie.”

“Let’s go, Charisma. Please.” Annie took Gracie into her arms and hugged her warm body close to her. The little girl’s arms went around her neck in a frantic grip. She shouldn’t interfere, but how could she not protect a little girl? “You can’t stay here.”

She started down the sidewalk, hoping Charisma would follow. She should pray for these folks. Pray that Charisma could forgive them. She wasn’t sure she could forgive them herself. What did that say about her?

David leaned against the car so that he faced the house. She had the feeling he’d been watching and waiting, not interfering in other folks’ business as she surely had, but ready to help. He straightened and strode across the grass. “Let me take her for you.”

Gracie’s grip tightened on Annie’s neck. She whimpered. Annie shook her head. “I’d better hold her. All that yelling scared her.”

“What’s going on up there?” David rushed ahead of Annie and opened the car door. “Who is that man?”