A Widow's Hope (28 page)

Julia was awake and sitting up. A smile stretched across her weary face when Hannah entered the room. “Oh, you spoil me,” she said. “I was just about to come down. I’ve stared at these four walls till I’ve memorized every crack in the plaster and even named the spider that lives between the window and the screen.”

Hannah raised the shades, revealing a watery world. “You might wish to stay abed another day. We’ve got more rain today—too many days in a row to count.” Drops beat against the glass hard enough to rattle the frame.

“
Ach,
poor Simon. He’ll never get his hay cut if this keeps up. He wanted to plant a second crop by the first of July.” Julia struggled to
sit up straighter in bed while Hannah plumped pillows behind her back. When Hannah set the tray before her, Julia looked pleased. “Fried eggs, my favorite, with bologna. I am hungry at long last.” She sipped the coffee after inhaling the aroma deeply. “What would the world be like without coffee?”

“Much groggier.” Hannah sat on the edge of the bed. “Tomorrow you’ll start physical therapy. Will the neighbor drive you?”

“
Jah,
Simon found a therapist in Berlin. Mrs. Lee has a daughter there to visit during my appointment. But I can take the buggy myself once the pills start to work. It’s not that far.” Julia took a small forkful of eggs.

Hannah thought about the pills and the future steroid injections too. “After I fix sandwiches for Simon’s lunch, I’m going to Sugar Creek if you’ll be okay for a couple hours. I want to deliver my wool to the English shopkeeper. I’ll take Phoebe and Leah along to keep them out of the soggy yard. Emma will be home if you need anything. She plans to cut fabric for a new dress.”

Julia smiled, the lines around her mouth deeply set. “She’s quite a good seamstress—much better than I was at her age. Why don’t you take her with you and leave the other two with me? They can work the flash cards or play with their dolls here and keep me company.” Julia pointed at the built-in window seat with a cushion big enough for two little girls. “I’d love to spend the afternoon with them, and Emma needs things from the bargain store and the fabric shop. It would be good for her to get out—she’s been hovering over me worse than a mother hen. Make a couple extra sandwiches, and we’ll be fine. Okay, Hannah?”

“Of course,” Hannah agreed.

Emma would be great company if Julia didn’t need her this afternoon. Her niece asked countless questions about the sheep, the loom, and the wool business that Hannah seldom had time to properly answer. Emma seemed genuinely interested, and Hannah wanted to encourage her whenever she could.

Julia ate every bite of the breakfast and finished a second cup of coffee. The color in her cheeks began to return with the hot food. With a plan in place to provide Julia with everything she needed to feel better, Hannah finished the morning chores humming a tune. While fixing a tray of tuna sandwiches, she thought of Ephesians 4:2: “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowances for each other’s faults because of your love.” Helping her family filled her heart with joy.

“Aunt Hannah,” Emma called from the back door. Her basket brimmed with fresh eggs—what had been Leah’s task until she got distracted with deep puddles. “
Mamm
said I can go with you to Sugar Creek. I love Little Switzerland; the town is so sweet. Can we stop at the chocolate shop and maybe have supper at Sweet Thyme?” Her skin glowed with the vitality only the young possessed.

“The chocolate shop, maybe, but we’ll be cooking supper at home for the rest of the family,” Hannah said patiently.

“Of course, but do I have time to change my dress and
kapp?
This one’s so wrinkled.”

Hannah nodded, even though she thought Emma looked fine. Her niece was rapidly reaching the age where looking her best started to matter, unlike her duckling little sister.

The ride to Sugar Creek took longer than anticipated because Hannah stayed on back lanes and kept off the state routes. June meant plenty of tourists in the four-county area that was home to most of Ohio’s Amish. Many of the English who came to shop and sightsee for the day weren’t accustomed to winding roads and slow-moving buggies. Wherever possible, Hannah used the township roads frequented by the locals. Once in Sugar Creek, she had no trouble locating Stitch-in-Time Shoppe on the main thoroughfare. She tied her horse behind the store and found Mrs. Dunn on the loading dock.

Audrey Dunn apparently wasn’t depending solely on Hannah’s flock to supply her customers. A young
Englischer
of about seventeen
was carrying in bag after bag of wool from the back of his pickup truck.

“Good afternoon, Hannah,” called Mrs. Dunn. “What perfect timing. This is James Davis. He and his parents raise organic sheep near Charm. Between the two of you, I might be able to start supplying the customers I already have. And my assistant tells me new orders keep coming in from our website.”

Hannah had heard of websites but didn’t exactly know what they were.

“James, this is Mrs. Brown from Winesburg,” said Mrs. Dunn.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” the young man said, sweeping an Indians ball cap from his head and extending his hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Hannah said, shaking his hand.

“Afternoon, miss,” James Davis said, smiling at Emma.

Emma stood as motionless as a statue in the park. Crows would come to rest on her shoulders if she remained like that any longer. Not a word came from the girl who had chattered all morning.

The young man nodded politely at Emma and then turned back to the shop owner. “I have one more bag to unload, ma’am, and then I’d be happy to bring in Mrs. Brown’s wool too.”

“Good idea, James,” Mrs. Dunn said. “Thank you.” To Hannah she said, “Come have coffee with me. I’d like your opinion on natural dye sources and colors.”

“Emma, please help James with the bags,” Hannah said softly. “Then you can fetch water for the horse.” Hannah started to follow Audrey Dunn inside but turned back to Emma. Her niece was staring at the boy as though she’d never seen a handsome, polite young sheep farmer before.

But then again…she probably never had.

With a face quite flushed, Emma followed James onto the loading dock and toward the buggy…after a gentle push from Hannah.

Too bad,
Hannah thought. Young Mr. Davis was just so…English!

“We were worried sick about you two,” Simon said the moment Hannah stepped down from the buggy. “Here it is, almost dark, and you two women are still out on unfamiliar roads alone. And there’s no dinner for the family.” Simon stamped his foot, raising a cloud of dust in the driveway.

Hannah was tired from the long drive back from Sugar Creek. Mrs. Dunn had kept her longer than planned to discuss the items she wanted Hannah to make on her loom and agree on a quota of wool. Then she had to wait in a long line at the pharmacy for Julia’s medicine. Emma had gone to the dollar store and the chocolate shop with James Davis after Audrey Dunn assured Hannah he was a trustworthy young man. She didn’t like letting her niece out of sight, but Emma had nearly begged. And Hannah feared she would offend her new business colleagues if she didn’t allow Emma half an hour in two crowded stores.

By the time they set off for home with their coffee in to-go cups, Hannah could have drunk a quart by herself. Emma prattled about “James this” and “James that” all the way back to Winesburg. But it wasn’t dark. Plenty of daylight remained even with the sun below the treetops.

“We had a good map, Simon. No chance of getting lost,” Hannah said, releasing the horses from the traces. “And dinner will be ready in thirty minutes. I’ve already washed the vegetables for our salad, and ham steaks and cauliflower won’t take long to heat up.”

Simon took the reins of the horse. “You shouldn’t have taken Emma with you today on your little excursion. I want her home helping Julia while I’m out in the barn or fields, or visiting shut-ins in the district. Julia shouldn’t be left in the hands of a six-year-old and an eight-year-old.” Simon had never demonstrated such an outburst of temper before. He must be very worried about this wife.

But Hannah was also concerned about her sister—the very reason
for her trip to Sugar Creek. “Taking Emma and not Leah and Phoebe was Julia’s idea,” Hannah said. “Emma had some shopping to do.”

“Shopping?” Simon repeated the word as though it were akin to skydiving or deep-sea fishing.

“Yes, shopping,” she answered, her own temper flaring like a candle in the breeze. “A young woman occasionally has to go shopping for personal needs.” Hannah pulled the reins back, deciding to put the horse away herself.

“I’ll take care of my gelding, Hannah. If you and my daughter are done with your ‘
personal needs,
’ I would greatly appreciate having someone fix dinner. And the next time Emma wishes to gallivant off, she needs to check with me first. I am still her father.” Simon stalked off, dragging the horse behind him.

Hannah stood in the barnyard with her hands balled into fists, counting to ten…then to twenty. She had to count all the way to one hundred in
Deutsch
and English before she could enter her sister’s house to prepare the evening meal.

The all-day rain caused a change of plans for Seth too. Because it was impossible to plant the back acreage with more field corn, he decided to head back to his friend’s house. Noah would be receiving a delivery of wood today, both floor joists and framing timbers for the house for his parents. No matter what the weather, the lumber could be unloaded and stacked near where it would be used. And an extra pair of hands would be useful.

Now Seth felt glad to have left Phoebe with Hannah and Julia. Despite how much he missed his daughter, a construction site with a big, gaping hole in the ground was no place for a child—especially as Phoebe loved to race at full speed whenever she had a notion to change her location.

Noah stood on the back of a flatbed truck, directing his sons.
They were stacking the lumber close to the new house’s foundation. “You’re just in time,” Noah called as Seth pulled into the yard. “We’re almost down to the joists on the bottom of the pile. They’ll be too heavy for the boys, but two big, strong men should be able to handle them.”

Seth turned around to see if someone else had walked up behind him. “Oh, you mean you and me?” he said with a laugh. “Let me put my mare in a dry stall out of this rain, and I’ll give you a hand.”

“I hope you’re still in good humor after we get the truck unloaded. I think they added roof rafters to the order too.” Noah jumped down and walked over to shake Seth’s hand. “You are a sight for sore eyes. I didn’t expect you to stop by today.”

“Unless I switch crops to either rice or cranberries, I gotta hold off till we get a few sunny days. My fields are too wet to set another crop.” Seth went to put his horse in the barn and then returned and rolled up his sleeves. “Just tell me where you want to stack ’em. I’m ready.”

A few hours later, they had not only unloaded and stacked the delivery but started building several walls. The men built the walls lying down on the gravel with kiln-dried two-by-fours to be stood in place later. Both setting floor joists and lifting walls could be done on Saturday when more men could come to help.

Noah offered a cold drink to Seth once their work for the day was finished. The two stood under the barn eave, looking at what they’d accomplished. “I heard the elders paid a call out to your brother’s house the other night,” Noah said. He pressed the cold bottle to the side of his face. The rain might have stopped, but the humidity had risen to oppressive levels.

“
Jah,
I’m sure the ministers have plenty to talk about with the preaching service at Simon’s this Sunday.” Seth gazed out over Noah’s soybean fields. Luckily water wasn’t standing in between the rows.

“They came to talk to his sister-in-law, Mrs. Brown, not to the deacon,” Noah said with his customary directness. “Hearing that
you two were friends, I thought I’d mention it because they were talking about shunning.”

Seth’s attention snapped back from the bean field. “What in the world did they go to see Hannah about?”