Almost Amish (20 page)

Gary hopped down and walked around the buggy, smiling toward the group. “Who wants to give him a carrot or two? I just happen to have some in my pocket.” He pulled a plastic bag out of his jeans pocket, which held several carrot pieces.

Whitney took a deep breath, smoothed down her skirt, and said, “Wish me luck.”

Susan reached over and squeezed her arm. “You’ll be amazing.” A group of teenagers walked past on the far side of the road, headed toward town. They were laughing a bit too loud, making it seem to Susan they were more concerned about appearing to have a good time rather than actually having one. Things were so hard at this age. She was thankful that Angie was doing so well in spite of the divorce and all the changes. Still, she couldn’t help but worry about her.

Gary climbed back up into the buggy. “All right, next stop.”

A few minutes later, they walked through Walmart’s long aisles, and for a few minutes Susan felt utterly overwhelmed. Having been isolated for a few weeks, it seemed huge and loud and crowded.

Gary picked up the items he was after, and then went to stand in the self-checkout line. “You seem distracted.”

Susan shrugged. “I’m just a little worried about Angie, is all. You know, teenagers. That’s their job, to keep their mothers distracted and worried.”

He laughed. “Yes, I think you’re right. Tell you the truth, it doesn’t get a lot better when they get older. My oldest daughter is twenty-seven. She just went through a nasty divorce. The whole thing just ate me up.” He shook his head. “Only thing you can do is just trust them to God.”

“That one’s easier said than done sometimes.”

“You won’t get an argument from me there.” He picked up the plastic bags filled with tools and sandpaper and started toward the door. “Angie has a good head on her shoulders, though. I wouldn’t worry overmuch about her. She’ll be just fine.”

“I hope so.”

They made the return ride also in silence as Susan turned the words over and over in her head. She had no idea how long they’d been riding when Gary reached over and put his hand on top of hers. It jolted her out of her thoughts, at least for long enough to be shocked. “You know, you can talk to me about anything. I’d like to help you in any way I can.”

Susan looked down at his tanned hand, still resting atop hers, and for just a brief moment allowed herself to think about how nice it would be to share some of her burden, not carry the entire load by herself. But that wasn’t reality—not her reality anyway. In her reality, Gary was just a hired hand who knew nothing about the struggles she faced. Still, his offer stirred something inside her that made it impossible to rebuff him completely. She drew in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

He pulled his hand away and clucked at the horse. As they reached the apartment complex, the sounds of laughter and squeals grew louder and louder.

“The horsies are back. The horsies are back.” Several kids ran toward them until one of the counselors called them back.

“Bye, everyone, see you next week.” Whitney waved as she started toward them.

A little girl broke free of the group, ran up, and threw her arms around Whitney. “I wuv you, Whitney.”

“I love you too, Jasmine.” She returned the hug before sending the girl back to the group. She was still waving after she climbed into the buggy. They started moving and immediately Whitney said, “I think that might have been the best night of my life! You know, they didn’t even notice my weird clothes. All they cared about was having someone to give them a little attention. None of the other stuff really seemed to matter.”

Somehow it all came out in one breath.

“Too bad the rest of the world’s not a little more like that. Hmm?” asked Gary.

“Yeah.” Whitney yawned. “That was fun, but I’m beat. Tomorrow morning’s going to come a little too early for me.”

They pulled up beside the house, and the lights were all off downstairs. “Looks like everyone else must be worn out, too,” Gary said.

Susan climbed down from the buggy. “Thanks for taking me with you. It was nice to get out.”

“I enjoyed the company. Maybe we can do it again next week?”

The smell of bacon lingered in the house long after the eggs, cantaloupe, and biscuit-and-gravy breakfast had been consumed. The kids had already left for school, and Susan had headed to the shack for her sit-down interview.

Julie savored the silence.

This week’s filming had been all about Amish breakfast, everything from cinnamon rolls and raisin bread to the more hearty fare of this morning. Thankfully, it had been a team effort, instead of all the pressure being on Julie or Susan to perform. The meals had all turned out rather well, Julie smiled to herself. Susan would have to be happy with that.

Julie saw the shack’s door open and Susan emerged, headed back to the house with her typical, purposeful stride. No doubt she would have a list of assignments for the day, so Julie took a seat at the kitchen table and waited.

“Kendra wants you to come over for an interview. Meanwhile, I’m going to get busy sanding down the windowsills. We got some paint on our trip into town last night.” Did Julie just imagine it, or did Susan blush?

“What’s the interview about?”

Susan shrugged. “She didn’t specify.”

“Okay.” Julie ran her fingers through her hair as she walked across the way. She must look a mess. But she supposed this is the way she looked through all the live-action filming as well. Why should a sit-down interview be any different? She pushed open the door. “You wanted me for an interview?”

Kendra crossed two things off a clipboard and said, “Yep, just for a few questions. Have a seat; we’ll get you all set up.”

A stylist ran a quick brush through her hair, but other than that, Julie was left untouched. Not for the first time, Julie thought she might be glad she couldn’t actually watch these episodes.

“How have you enjoyed the traditional breakfasts this week?”

“I love all the traditional breakfast food. It’s not something I eat much of at home, so this was actually a treat.”

“Why don’t you make traditional breakfasts at home?”

“No time. And they’re messy. It’s interesting to me, though, since they lack all the modern conveniences, that Amish women don’t cook food that is less labor intensive. It’s funny, isn’t it, that so many people envy the Amish way of life? We say it is simpler. But simpler is harder. A lot harder. We’ve got all these great tools—computers, electric mixers, blenders. All these things are supposed to simplify are lives, so why is it we believe that it’s those who
don’t
use any of these things that have the simplest life of all?”

Kendra and the cameraman looked toward each other. They exchanged a smile between the two of them that Julie did not at first understand. Then she realized she’d been rambling. “Sorry about that. I got a little carried away.”

“No, no. That was perfect.” Kendra made a couple of notes on the paper in front of her. “You’re free to go back now. Thank you for coming.”

“Sure.” Julie stood up and started for the door, feeling like a complete idiot.

“Did Susan tell you what next week’s adventure is?”

“No.” Julie was hoping it had something to do with spending quality family game time, or something like that. “What is it?”

“No electricity.”

“You’re kidding.”

“No, but I’m guessing that by the end of the week you’ll all wish I was.”

“I’m pretty certain I already do.” Julie could hear the sound of their laughter as she walked from the room. This week was going to be the hardest one yet.

The kids sat around the living room, each staring at the walls of the farmhouse as they absorbed this latest piece of news. They sat in miserable silence for what seemed like forever.

“Maybe it won’t be all that bad. I mean, we don’t use electric lights or cooktops anyway.” Whitney twirled a piece of her hair around her index finger.

“Have you noticed that it’s a
bit
hot and humid in this part of the country? What do you think it’s going to be like in here without air-conditioning?” Brian tried to spike up his hair with his fingers. Since Kendra had confiscated his gel last week, it was wasted effort.

“Hot.” Whitney sighed and put her chin in her hands. “So when does this fun phase begin?”

“Midnight.” Susan rocked the chair in short, rapid clips. “And we’re going to make the best of it. We’re going to show America that we are not just a bunch of soft Californians.”

Silence.

Julie looked around at the group, saw the panicked look on all the kids’ faces. “Well, let’s make the best of this. Angie, what was it you were saying about a lot of Amish people moving into their basements for the summer?”

She nodded. “That’s what I read. But we don’t have a basement here.”

“No, but we could move our bedding downstairs where it will be a little cooler. We could have a giant camp-out in the living room for the week.”

“Oh boy.” Whitney snorted. “That sounds dandy.” She looked at the other kids and shook her head, causing a ripple of giggles. “How are we going to keep our food cold?”

Susan began to rock a bit more slowly as the details began to come together. “I think the original plan was to bring in an old-fashioned icebox, but somehow that fell through. Kendra said they will bring us a large cooler, and keep us supplied with enough ice blocks to keep our food from spoiling.” She rocked back and forth. “Of course, we’ll have to use caution and not open it any more than we have to.”

Brian stood up and stretched. “Well, that’s that, then. Hey, Whitney and Angie, you want to come check out Saturn? It should be positioned for optimal viewing right about now.”

“May as well.” The slump in Whitney’s shoulder was purposeful; Julie knew that. She wasn’t going to say any more about this, but she wanted everyone to know she was displeased with the situation.

Julie sat down with the quilt and began to sew the next row together. “Susan, you want to help me work on this?”

Susan shook her head. “No. I think I’ll go scrub the bathroom one last time. That floor just drives me crazy.”

Julie was left alone with her sewing, giving her time to think about what lay ahead for them this next week. It wasn’t going to be easy; that was for sure. But how many people in the world lived in hotter temperatures than this and had never even heard of electricity? How many people lived in this part of the country without air-conditioning? She assumed a fair amount of them did. Of course, a good portion of California, including their own home, went without air-conditioning, but the humidity was much less, and the nights far cooler. No, this would be a good reminder for them to appreciate what it was that they took for granted on a daily basis. She focused her attention on making short, precise stitches.

She wasn’t sure even how much time had passed when the kitchen screen door opened.

“Knock, knock.”

“In here, Kendra.” Julie wondered why it was that Kendra bothered to say the words, when she was already inside anyway. It wasn’t like they could keep her out.

“Where is everyone?”

“The kids walked down to check out some stars, and Susan is cleaning the bathroom.” She resisted adding the word “again.”

“I see.” Kendra took a seat on the wooden bench. “Your sister-in-law is intent on keeping this place spotless, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is.” Julie felt exhausted just thinking about Susan’s self-imposed house cleaning.

“Do you think she cleans to excess?”

Julie shook her head. “No. I mean, look at this place. It is spotless.”

“But you personally don’t spend as much time cleaning as she does.”

There it was. The same old “you’re not doing enough” type statements that inundated Julie in her regular life—not enough hours at the school, not enough work at church, not enough house cleaning at home, not enough time with her family, not enough, not enough, not enough . . . the words were all around her. Julie shrugged. “I guess not.” She returned her focus to making an even backstitch.

“I’ve been hearing you’re really good at that.” Kendra came closer and looked at Julie’s project.

Julie pulled a stitch tight. “Apparently I have the most non-marketable skill of any woman in our generation.”

Kendra laughed. “So . . . how did the family take the news about no electricity?”

“They’re not thrilled about it, of course. But I’m sitting here thinking it will be good for all of us. Not fun, mind you, but it’s just one week. We’ll see how spoiled we really are in our daily lives.”

“I bet a lot of our viewers will agree.” She moved toward the bathroom. “I’ll just go check in with Susan.”

Julie stood up to stretch, then went to the window and looked out. The night was especially dark, and it was difficult to see anything past the security light over the barn door. She thought about the kids and wondered why they’d been gone so long. It shouldn’t take that long to look at Saturn, especially Whitney, who had long since tired of those kinds of things.

Then piece by piece, a puzzle began to assemble in her mind. The night was dark. Very dark. Because the sky was full of clouds. Which meant that they weren’t actually looking at Saturn, and hadn’t been, in spite of the fact that they’d all been gone for over an hour.