A Sister's Secret (26 page)

“That he’s still feeling confused and wonders if maybe he’s meant to do something else with his life besides what he’d planned.”

“He could have been referring to the honey business. Maybe he’s having trouble lining up customers and is thinking about doing some other kind of work.” Dad pointed in the direction of his shop. “Cleon’s carpentry skills are pretty good. Maybe he would consider coming to work for me.”

“You already have Luke working for you, Dad, and I don’t think you have enough work right now to keep three men busy, do you?”

He shrugged. “Never know what the future holds.”

Grace wrapped her arms around her stomach as she was hit by a sudden wave of nausea. She’d been feeling a little dizzy lately and kind of weak but figured it was because she hadn’t been eating much since Cleon left. Then again, it might be caused by stress or a touch of the flu.

Dad placed his hand on her shoulder. “Try not to worry so much. Just pray and leave the situation in God’s hands.”

Grace squeezed her eyes shut and willed her stomach to settle down. It was easy enough for Dad not to worry; it wasn’t his mate who’d gone off to Pennsylvania.

***

“Say, aren’t you one of those Amish fellows?”

Cleon turned to the middle-aged English man who shared his seat on the bus and nodded. “Jah, I’m Amish.”

“I thought so by the way you’re dressed. And from the looks of that beard you’ve got going, I’d say you might be newly married.”

Cleon scrubbed a hand down the side of his face. “Jah, I’m married.”

“Me, too. Been with the same woman for close to twenty years. We’ve got three great kids—two boys and a girl. How about you?”

“I’ve only been married a couple of months.” Cleon chose not to mention Anna. She was Grace’s child, not his. Truth was, he and Grace might never have any children.

“Where you from?”

“I live in Ohio, between Berlin and Charm.”

“Holmes County, right?”

“Jah.”

“I heard that’s the largest Amish settlement in the United States.”

Cleon nodded.

“So what are you doing in Pennsylvania?”

“I’ve had business here.”

The man studied Cleon intently. “Do you farm for a living?”

Cleon shook his head. “I raise bees for honey, and we also use the wax to make candles.”

“Ah, I see. Were you trying to set up some new accounts, then?”

“Jah.”

“I’m in sales, too. I sell life insurance.” The man stuck out his hand. “My name’s Lew Carter, and I work for—”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but I’ve got no use for life insurance.”

The man looked stunned. “If you’ve got a family, then you ought to make some provision for them in case something were to happen to you.”

“The Amish don’t buy any kind of insurance. We take care of our own.” Cleon turned away from the man and stared out the window at the passing scenery. Maybe it was time to finish up his business here and face his responsibilities at home.

Chapter 27

“Church was good today, jah?” Mom asked as she glanced over her shoulder and smiled at Grace. They were riding home in their buggy with Dad, Mom, and Martha sitting in front, and Grace, Ruth, and Anna in the backseat.

Grace nodded in response to her mother’s question. The truth was she’d barely heard a word that had been said during any of the sermons today. She’d been fighting waves of nausea.

“It was hard for me to see Luke at church today,” Ruth whispered to Grace.

“I can imagine. Did he say anything to you after the service?”

“He never looked my way.” Ruth sighed. “It’s probably for the best since he wants to be so close-mouthed and not share things with me.”

“Luke was late to work again on Friday; did I mention that?” Dad asked.

Ruth looked stunned, but it was no surprise to Grace that Dad had overheard their conversation. Mom often teased him about being able to hear a piece of sawdust fall if he was listening for it.

“Did he say why he was late?” The question came from Martha.

“Made some excuse about having an errand to run after he left home and it taking longer than he expected.”

“Did you believe him?” Ruth asked.

Dad shrugged. “Not sure what I believe where Luke’s concerned. He’s got a mind of his own, that’s for sure. I think he actually believes he knows more than me about working with wood.”

“I’m sure Luke’s just trying to share his ideas,” Martha put in.

Martha’s defense of Luke made Grace wonder if her sister might have more than a passing interest in Ruth’s ex-boyfriend.

“When Luke finally showed up for work on Friday, I smelled smoke on his clothes.” Dad shook his head. “Sure hope he’s not messing with cigarettes during his rumschpringe.”

“Did you question him about it?” Mom asked.

“Nope. Didn’t think it was my place to be askin’.”

Ruth’s cheeks turned pink, and she cleared her throat a couple of times. “I ... uh ... think it’s possible he’s doing a lot of things he shouldn’t be.”

“How do you know that?” Dad asked.

“Well, he’s got a—” She fell silent. “Never mind. It’s not my place to be saying.”

Dad gave the reins a quick snap to get the horse moving faster, as the animal had slowed considerably on the last hill. “Well, whatever Luke’s up to during his rumschpringe, my main concern is his work habits. I made up my mind last week that if he was late to work again I would fire him, and I should have done that on Friday morning.”

“Why didn’t you, Roman?”

Dad reached over and patted Mom’s arm. “Figured you would tell me I ought to give the man one more chance.”

She chuckled. “You know me well.”

Grace leaned against the seat and tried to relax. She and Anna would be moving into their new house tomorrow morning, but it would be without Cleon. She shivered. All this waiting and wondering if he would ever come home was enough to make her a nervous wreck. No wonder her stomach felt upset much of the time. If it weren’t for Anna, she would be utterly miserable.

She reached over and took her daughter’s hand, and the child smiled at her.
Thank You, God. Thank You for giving my daughter back to me.

***

“Do we have to go?” Anna asked as Grace placed a stack of linens into a box she would be taking over to their new home. “I like it here.”

Grace smiled and nodded. “I know you do, but at the new house, you’ll have your own room. Won’t that be nice?”

The child stuck out her lower lip. “But I’ll miss Aunt Martha.”

“She won’t be far away. She’ll come over to see us, and we’ll go see her and the rest of the family, too.”

Anna’s forehead wrinkled. “Poppy never comes to see me like he promised.”

“That’s because he lives far away, and he’s still not feeling well, Anna.” Grace gently squeezed the child’s arm. “He writes you letters, though.”

Anna stared at the hardwood floor. “I miss him.”

“I know.” Grace drew Anna into her arms, but the child just stood, unmoving. One step forward and one back. If there was only something she could do to put a smile on her little girl’s face this morning.

Grace’s gaze came to rest on her cedar chest. The faceless doll! Why hadn’t she thought of it sooner?

She hurried across the room, flipped open the lid, and dug into the contents of the cedar chest until she located the doll. “Look what I’ve found, Anna.”

“What’s that?” The child’s eyes opened wide, and Grace was pleased that she’d captured her interest.

“It’s the doll I made for you when you were a baby.”

Anna’s forehead wrinkled as she pursed her lips. “It’s got no mouth.” She touched the side of her nose. “No nose.” She pointed to one of her eyes. “No eyes.” She shook her head. “She ain’t no doll.”

Grace resisted the temptation to correct her daughter’s English. Instead, she got down on her knees beside Anna and cradled the doll in her arms. “It’s hard for me to explain, but Amish people make their dolls without faces.”

“How come?”

“It has to do with a verse from the Bible that talks about not making any graven images.”

Anna tipped her head and squinted. Obviously, she had no idea what Grace was talking about.

“It’s fun to pretend, don’t you think, Anna?”

The child nodded. “Last Sunday after church, me, Esta, and some of the other kids took turns pretending to be a horse pulling a buggy along the road.”

“Then let’s pretend this doll has a face.” She looked up at her daughter to get her reaction, but Anna’s expression didn’t change.

Grace tried again. “Let’s start by naming the doll.”

Still no response.

“How about if we call her Sarah?”

“I don’t like that name.”

“How about Phoebe? I had a friend named Phoebe when I was a little girl, but she moved to Wisconsin.”

Anna shook her head.

Grace released an exasperated sigh. “What would you like to call the doll?”

“Martha.”

Grace nodded. “Martha it is, then.” She touched the doll’s face again. “Let’s pretend that little Martha has eyes. What color should they be?”

“Blue. Like Aunt Martha’s.”

“Okay. What color hair should the doll have?”

“Aunt Martha has brown hair.”

“True.” She extended the doll toward Anna. “Would you like to hold her now?”

Anna reached for the doll and snuggled it against her chest. “I like the doll with no face.”

Grace smiled. She might not have completely won over Anna, but she was making a bit more headway every day. And now she could see her daughter cuddling the doll Grace had made for her when she was a baby.

Chapter 28

Roman looked up from sanding a chair and frowned when Luke entered the shop. “You’re late again, boy. What’s the problem this time?”

Luke stayed near the door as if he was afraid to come in. Was he dreading another lecture or worried that Roman might fire him? That’s what he’d planned to do if Luke showed up late again without a good excuse.

“Well, how come you’re late, and why are you standing by the door?”

Luke made little circles in a pile of sawdust with the toe of his boot as his gaze dropped to the floor. “I ... um ... I’m late because I had an errand to run on the way here.”

Roman set his sandpaper aside and straightened. “I warned you about this habit of being late. Said if it happened again, I’d have to let you go.”

Luke lifted his gaze. “Are you sayin’ I’m fired?”

Roman nodded.

Luke shuffled his feet a few times. “I know you and me haven’t seen eye to eye on some things, but—”

“That’s true, we haven’t.” Roman took a step toward Luke, and a whiff of smoke permeated his nostrils. Either Luke had taken up smoking, as Roman had suspected, or the boy had been hanging around someone who did.

Luke’s eyebrows drew together. “I know you have a fair amount of work right now, and if I leave, you’ll be shorthanded.”

“That’s my problem. I’ll do fine on my own until I can get someone else.”

Luke shrugged. “I think you’re gonna regret having fired me.” He pulled a pair of sunglasses from his shirt pocket, turned on his heels, and headed for the door.

Roman grunted and went back to sanding the chair.

***

“Now how’d that happen?” Judith muttered as she made her way across the yard to check on her drying laundry. The line was down, and clothes were strewn all over the ground. At first, she thought the towels she’d hung must have been too heavy and caused the line to break, but after closer inspection, she realized that the line had been cut. “Who would do something like this?”

She bent to retrieve one of Roman’s shirts and noticed a pair of sunglasses lying on the ground a few feet away. No one in her family wore sunglasses like that, and her heart started to race as she realized that whoever had cut the line had probably lost their sunglasses during the act.

Grabbing up the glasses along with one of the dirty shirts, Judith hurried toward Roman’s shop. She found him bent over his workbench, sanding on the legs of a straight-backed chair. “There’s been another attack,” she panted.

He rushed over to her. “What’s happened? Has anyone been hurt?”

She shook her head as she held up his shirt. “My clothesline’s been cut, and now everything needs to be washed again.”

“That’s it—just a broken line—and you’re all in a dither?”

“It didn’t break on its own, Roman. I checked the line, and it was obviously cut.” She showed him the sunglasses. “I found these on the ground not far from the clothes.”

He reached for the glasses. “These look like the pair Luke had in his pocket. He put them on as he was leaving my shop.”

Judith glanced around the room. “Where’d Luke go?”

Roman shrugged. “Don’t know. I fired him.”