A Home for Lydia (The Pebble Creek Amish Series) (8 page)

Tin Star gazed at him distrustfully as Aaron harnessed him to the rig and turned him onto the blacktop road. Lydia had at least told him that raisins were the secret. Raisins! He’d heard of spoiling horses—he’d been guilty of it a time or two himself—but he’d never considered raisins.

As he followed the road away from town, he focused on what he would say to Elizabeth. He hadn’t seen her in many years. He’d been a young boy then and uninterested in
onkels
,
aentis,
or family time. His main concern had been when he could be back outside. It didn’t matter if he was playing baseball or working in the fields. Even at the age of twelve, when his
onkel
Ervin had moved away, he’d felt a desperate need to be outdoors.

That much he remembered clearly. Probably because it hadn’t changed much over the years.

He hadn’t a clue what his
aenti
was like. There had been letters, of course, but he hadn’t read them. Sometimes in the evenings his
mother had read them aloud to the family. He hadn’t paid much attention. He’d been focused on scouring the
Budget
for animals to add to their stock or reading the weather forecast, trying to determine how it would affect their crops. He had much to learn, much to catch up on in regard to farming and livestock. His father and grandfather knew a lot, but he was interested in the newer methods—not necessarily
Englisch
methods, but new Amish methods.

It had chafed against his nature that he had to wait through eight years of schooling to be able to study the subject that most interested him. Once he was free of the schoolhouse, he’d thrown himself into learning all he could about farming and being successful at it.

Now he was twenty-three, things were finally going very well at the farm in Indiana, and where was he? Stuck in Wisconsin. The injustice of it rankled him.

He was so busy brooding over his situation that he nearly missed the lane Lydia had warned him would be hard to see.

Yanking abruptly on Tin Star’s reins, he turned the buggy south and across Pebble Creek. The house that sat back and to the right was not his
onkel
’s. Lydia had been adamant about that. This first house had fertile land, and Aaron considered for a moment how productive the crops would be once the fields dried out from the recent flooding.

With a shake of his head, he pushed those thoughts away.

He wasn’t staying, and if he were, he wouldn’t be farming. He’d be stuck maintaining the cabins, which he had no desire to do.

Behind the river and the farm was another homestead.

This one reminded him of the cabins. As his heart settled into a sense of disappointment he was quickly growing accustomed to, he realized the rambling house with little land was his
onkel
’s home. On closer inspection he saw that the home wasn’t in as bad a state of disrepair as the cabins—the yard was neat, the fences were maintained, and the small barn looked to be in good condition.

It was only that the area was very small. There was no room for crops, and Aaron couldn’t understand being satisfied with such a
place. Had his
onkel
’s heart been given over completely to the cabins? Was that why he could live on a place with such little space around it?

There was a small garden area to the west side of the home for growing vegetables, and a pasture area to the east for the horses. Ervin had anticipated what he would need for his family and purchased exactly that. What he hadn’t predicted was the size of his family—the house looked as if he had added on to it at least twice, building toward the back each time.

The moment Aaron pulled up in front of the house, a woman walked out on to the porch. Peeking out from behind her dress was a little girl in a black prayer
kapp
.

Aaron tied Tin Star to the fence surrounding the small garden area, under the shade of a tall maple tree, before walking over to the porch.

“
Gudemariye
. You probably don’t remember me, but—”

“Of course I do, Aaron. It’s
gut
to see you. Come in, please.” Elizabeth was younger than he expected. Probably in her early forties and somewhat on the plump side. She was pretty in the way of healthy Amish women. He’d heard his parents talking of the fact that she would have no problem remarrying after waiting the appropriate year. It occurred to him, as he followed her into the house, that their assessment was probably true.

“
Danki
for coming. It’s a long trip from Indiana.”

“Of course I’d come, Elizabeth. We wouldn’t leave you to take care of things alone.” He glanced around the sitting room. It looked the same as his parents’ home, simply furnished and clean.

“Come into the kitchen. I have some
kaffi
on the stove.”

“Sure. That would be
gut
. It’s still cold here even though it’s May.”

“June is beautiful, though.”

She poured some
kaffi
into a mug waiting on the counter before refreshing her own mug. It was almost as if she had been expecting him. But how was that possible? He’d told no one he was coming by today. It didn’t seem she could have known he had arrived in town just yesterday.

Then again, women seemed to have their own form of communication, almost like the
Englischers
telephone system.

“I’m sure summers here are very nice.” He almost added that he wouldn’t be around to see it, but remembered his parents’ warning not to be rude. So instead he gulped his
kaffi,
which was boiling hot. Wincing, he tried to think of how best to begin.

“Ervin, he…” Elizabeth stared down at her hands.

When she glanced up with tears sliding down her cheeks, Aaron searched his mind for what to say. His father had given him a final talk about money, traveling, and interacting with the
Englisch
, but he hadn’t mentioned emotional women.

His mother had reminded him to watch his manners and to remember the
Ordnung
. As far as he knew, that set of rules didn’t cover this situation.

Elizabeth sniffled and swiped at her cheeks.

“
Was iss letz?
” The young girl was immediately at her mother’s side, holding an Amish doll fixed up in a black
kapp
and apron like her own.

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“Why are you crying?” She slid the doll onto her mother’s lap. “Do you want to play with my
boppli
? She always makes me feel better.”

“
Danki
, Beth.” She whispered something else to the girl, who ran off to the sitting room and began to draw. “I’m sorry, Aaron. You’re going to think I’m a mess.”

“No. Of course not.” He searched his mind for what else to say. “I’m sure this is difficult for you.”

“It is. Yes. Ervin was a hard worker and wasn’t sick at all, so his passing was a…” Her voice started to wobble, and she swiped at her cheeks. “It was a…”

“Surprise?” He jumped in before she had time to begin crying again.

“
Ya
.” She glanced up, the hint of a smile replacing the grief on her face. “So you understand.”

In truth, he had understood nothing since landing in Cashton or Pebble Creek or wherever he was, but he nodded. Elizabeth went on to explain about Ervin’s heart attack and how he hadn’t suffered because it had been so sudden. She added that
Gotte
had been merciful in taking him quickly.

Agreeing with her seemed to calm her and stop the flow of tears.

How did men do this? Why did they marry if it meant dealing with emotions and tempers and who knows what that he hadn’t seen yet.

Elizabeth stirred cream into her
kaffi
. “It was such a surprise. The night before we were talking about our spring garden and how the rains were heavier this year. He went out to tend to the horses, and he never…”

This time Aaron let the silence stretch between them.

Finally, Elizabeth repeated what he’d heard his parents pronounce when they had read the letter notifying them of Ervin’s passing. “It was
Gotte’s wille
that he pass, though he was only fifty-two.”

“
Ya
. I suppose it was.” Aaron finished his
kaffi
and wondered how long it was proper to wait before he turned the subject to the real reason he’d stopped by. He needed to finish here and head back to the cabins. Already the sun was high in the sky, and the list of repairs in his pocket was long.

Beth ran into the room, but instead of going to her mother’s side, she stopped a few feet shy of Aaron.

“I believe she has something for you,” Elizabeth murmured.

Written across the top of the page in lopsided German script was his name. Her name was signed at the bottom. She’d colored a picture of him standing in the field with tall stalks of corn growing all around him. In the page’s bottom corner was one her father’s cabins.

“
Danki
, Beth. This is very nice.” He didn’t mention that in the picture his arms reached nearly to the ground and his head was the size of a large melon. “May I keep it?”

The little girl smiled and nodded.

Aaron said, “I see the family resemblance.”

“Ervin often said so.”

Beth stepped closer and pointed to the picture. “My
mamm
told me you like to work in the fields.”

“
Ya
, I do.”

“That’s why I drew the corn.”

“It’s beautiful corn.”

Beth ran a finger along the picture, tracing a blue line across the bottom of the page he hadn’t noticed before. When she reached the corner of the drawing where she’d sketched the cabin, she said, “But now you’re going to stay here in Pebble Creek instead and help us. ’Cause
dat
’s gone.”

Aaron glanced up and caught Elizabeth studying him.

“Go pick up your crayons now, Beth. We’ve chores to do in a few minutes.”

When the little girl had left the room, Aaron cleared his throat and tackled the subject he’d been avoiding. “When was the last time you were out to visit the cabins?”

“It’s been a while. I offered to help, but Ervin hired Lydia and said there was no need. Mostly I handled things here at the house and worked in the garden, and Ervin and Lydia took care of matters at the cabins.”

Aaron nodded as if that made sense.

“I know business has been slow, Aaron. We were hoping that once Amish Anthem opened, more tourists would visit the Cashton area.”

“What is Amish Anthem?”

“It’s the large hotel in town. Well, it’s not actually a hotel now. It was many years ago before it closed and fell into disrepair. An
Englisch
developer purchased it and remodeled it into a tourist attraction.”

“We have similar places in Indiana.”

“It turned out to be much better for our area than what was first planned, though the owner is not a particularly pleasant man. That’s all a long story that you probably don’t have time for, but the point is that Gabe Miller stepped in and things changed.”

“Gabe?”

“Yes. Do you know him?”

“He gave me a ride yesterday.”

“There are two Plain districts in the Cashton area. Gabe lives on the more conservative side, but he convinced both districts to become involved, and because of that the establishment downtown is better than it would have been, in my opinion.”

“But it still hasn’t helped business at the cabins.”

“I suspected as much, though Ervin didn’t speak about it. He brought home what we needed for me and the
kinner
.” Elizabeth ran her thumb around the top of her
kaffi
cup. “Ervin felt strongly that
Gotte
led him to open the cabins, that he was to offer a place of solitude and peace for people to come to—a place where folks could rest and draw closer to
Gotte
. Along the banks of Pebble Creek seemed the perfect place to do so.”

Beth sang as she picked up her drawing supplies in the sitting room.

And Aaron felt, maybe for the first time, the full weight and responsibility of being an adult.

“Perhaps it hasn’t been long enough,” he suggested.

“Amish Anthem opened three months ago.”

Aaron stood, pulled the list out of his pocket, and stared at it. Finally he raised his gaze to Elizabeth’s.

“How bad is it?” she asked quietly. There was something in her eyes, something in spite of her earlier tears that convinced Aaron she had the strength to hear the truth.

“It’s not
gut
.” He pushed the piece of paper across the table. Waiting, he looked beyond her to the neighbor’s farmland that stood in water. Farmland he knew must be fertile, lying so close to the river, lying in this valley where there was such abundance.

“I’m not a carpenter, Elizabeth. I’m a farmer, and I don’t have to tell you how young I am.” He reached for his hat and pushed it back on his head. “But a business is a business. If we can make the repairs listed on that sheet, and get the word out that the cabins have been upgraded…There’s a chance things will turn around.”