Amish Sweethearts (31 page)

“This morning,” Casey said. “They were out in the field. I was on base . . .” More muffled voices, then Casey came back on. “He said he’ll give you the details soon,” Casey said, her voice low.

“Can you give the phone back to Zane?” Shani asked.

“Sure,” Casey said.

“Mom?”

“I’m so thankful you’re okay. Know how much we love you. We’re praying for you. I’ll call Daddy right now.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Zane said. “I’m sorry I can’t talk more right now. I’ll call soon.”

Casey came back on the connection. Shani asked her to call if anything changed.

“Of course,” Casey said. “Just remember no news is good news. And that he’s on a lot of pain meds so it’s hard for him to communicate.” After the girl said good-bye, Shani couldn’t move.

Her worst fear had happened—Zane had been shot. But . . . he was alive. She stopped a moment and thanked God for that. Finally she headed toward the house to collect herself and call Joel. But her phone rang again. A number she didn’t recognize. She answered it anyway. It was Casey, calling from her own phone.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t want to give too many details in front of Zane. I’m outside now.”

“Sure,” Shani said.

“So . . . this is what happened. Zane shot Jaalal’s grandson.”

Shani gasped.

“Yeah, because the grandson shot at Grant but missed. There was a little boy right by Grant, but Zane scooped him up. That’s what Sarge said. Then Benham’s friend shot Zane—but Zane got him too.”

“Goodness,” Shani said, trying to process it all.

“Then Jaalal arrived with backup. It was Jaalal who attended to Zane. He said he wasn’t in on the shooting. Sarge hopes he can be believed, but our entire mission is at risk now. If Jaalal isn’t trustworthy, we need to find someone else who is.”

“Of course,” Shani said, her legs shaking as she walked up the steps to the house. “Is the little boy all right?”

“Yeah,” Casey said. “Those blankets Zane had probably saved his life. A couple of bullets hit the duffel bag, and it changed their trajectory. Away from the boy.”

Shani gasped again and stopped on the porch.

“Are you okay?” Casey asked.

“I’m fine. I’m going to call Joel now,” she said, realizing she was speaking slowly, a syllable at time. “Thank you so much for giving me the details. I can see it would be hard for Zane to tell me all that.”

“Yeah,” Casey said. “It gets worse though.”

Shani gasped a third time.

“Benham—Jaalal’s grandson—died. I think that is harder on Zane than his own injuries.”

“Of course it is,” Shani said, tears welling up in her eyes. He’d always empathized deeply with people who were in pain, no matter what they had done to deserve it.
Poor Zane.
They’d all prayed he wouldn’t have to kill anyone.

“Benham’s buddy is going to make it. He’s in the field hospital too. They’ll ship him out to Bagram, and once he’s well enough he’ll go to the jail there.”

She thanked Casey again, desperate to get off the phone and call Joel.

“Call anytime—I’ll answer,” she said, and then said good-bye.

As soon as she pushed End, Shani tapped on Joel’s number. He picked up right away.

“He’s going to be all right,” Shani said, “but Zane’s been shot. He’s at the field hospital.” Her legs gave way as she spoke, and she sank onto the rough boards of the porch.

“I’m on my way,” Joel said.

Shani told Joel all she could remember and then hung up when he reached his pickup. As she waited on the porch, she prayed for him as he drove home, asking God to keep him calm. He’d made so much progress in the years since his own injury. She hoped this wouldn’t bring him down again.

Adam kept playing with Trudy in their pretend house as Shani sat on the top step waiting for Joel. She didn’t want to call Eve or walk down the lane and tell Lila—to ask her to pray, to ask all of them to pray—until Joel arrived. She needed to see him first. Then she’d be strong enough to tell Adam and everyone else.

The children’s voices brought her comfort. A horsefly buzzed by, and Shani swatted at it. Then a blue jay flew out toward the first maple tree along the lane. She stood and headed down the steps, stopping at their driveway. She waited, hearing the children now and then, until Joel’s pickup finally appeared. He lowered his window and stopped as he neared her.

“Any more news?”

She shook her head.

He parked and then climbed out, leaning against his cane and wrapping one arm around her. “He’s going to be okay, right?”

She nodded. It wasn’t like it had been with Joel. He’d been unconscious for three days. They hadn’t known, for sure, until he woke up how bad his head injury was. And then it was iffy for a couple of more weeks until the swelling went down. And his leg had been badly damaged. Hopefully Zane’s shoulder would heal quickly. Thank God his head was okay.

“I told him I’d go to Germany if he ends up there, but he said not to make plans yet.”

“Yeah, we need to follow his lead. He’s not our little boy anymore.”

“I know,” Shani said. “I just hate to think of him all alone.”

“He won’t be alone.”

She nodded.

“We should tell Adam—but Trudy’s here.”

“We’ll just tell Adam that Zane was injured—then we’ll give him more details after we walk Trudy home.” They approached the children and told Adam, whose eyes grew huge. But he didn’t ask any questions.

Shani put her arm around Adam. “Right now it’s time for Trudy to go, so we’re going to walk her home.”

“Can’t she stay?” Adam asked.

“Not now, but maybe she can come back later,” Shani said.

The children ran ahead in the field, staying away from the cows that were huddled along the poplars, trying to crowd under the shade.

Joel took Shani’s hand. As they stepped through the gate to the Lehmans’ farm, Tim came out of the barn. He called out a hello. Joel waved.

“Did you take the day off from work?” Tim asked.

“Zane got hurt,” Adam answered. “Daddy came home to tell me.”

Tim took off his hat and shaded his eyes. “What happened?”

Trudy took Adam’s hand and started toward the house. “Lila was going to make banana muffins this morning. Let’s see if she did.”

Adam glanced at Shani, and she nodded in encouragement.

Tim squinted. “Does Adam not know?”

“Not all the details,” Joel answered. “Not yet. We didn’t want to tell him in front of Trudy.” Then Joel told Tim what happened to Zane. Even in the bright sun, Tim grew pale, probably thinking of what Simon could experience.

“Zane’s going to be all right,” Shani said. It helped to keep saying that. “But he asked us to pray, and to ask all of you too. And for the Afghan family he knows . . .” She could hardly bear to tell Tim the details, but she managed to. That Zane had shot Jaalal’s grandson to keep him from shooting one of the soldiers in the unit, and that the young Afghan man had died.

Tim shook his head. “What a tragedy, jah?”

Joel nodded.

Tim shook his head again. Then he hesitated for a moment and finally he said, “Go on and tell Lila. I don’t want to get the details wrong. I’ll keep the children busy.”

When they reached the house, Tim opened the door and called out, “Trudy and Adam, come with me out to the barn. I have something to show you.”

He sent the children on ahead and then shook Joel’s hand. “All of you will be in my prayers.”

Lila stepped onto the mud porch, wiping her hands on her apron. Her usually stoic expression had turned to panic. “Zane was injured?”

“He’ll be all right,” Joel said.

Lila motioned them in and then to sit at the table. Rose stepped from the living room to the kitchen. By the time Shani finished telling about the conversations with Zane and Casey, and Joel explained what he surmised about the situation, Lila had tears streaming down her cheeks. She stood, grabbed a clean dish towel, and wiped her face with it.

“We really do think he’ll be okay,” Shani said.

Lila whispered, “Excuse me,” and headed toward the hallway.

Shani stood, thinking she’d follow Lila, but Rose stopped her. “She’s all out of sorts lately.”

“What’s going on?” Shani asked. Usually it was Rose who was out of sorts. Not Lila.

“She broke up with Reuben. Dat’s afraid she’ll leave the church. She’s been really moody.” Rose leaned closer and spoke softly. “Simon thinks she’s in love with Zane.”

Shani’s head began to swim. “Rose . . .”

“I think Simon’s right. She and Zane were writing back and forth, but Dat found out and made her quit. She wrote Zane one last time, over two weeks ago, and said she couldn’t write anymore.”

Shani wondered if he’d received it—maybe not yet. Rose smiled just a little, clearly happy to have the scoop on something. “She broke up with Reuben right after that.”

“Goodness,” Shani said.

“This is none of our business,” Joel said, standing.

Shani stood, too, but then stepped to the hallway and knocked on the door to the girls’ room. “Lila?” She turned the doorknob and pushed just a little. “May I come in?”

When she didn’t answer, Shani stepped to the bed and sat down beside her, putting her arm around her shoulder. “Rose said that you’d been writing Zane.”

Lila took a deep breath. “We were but I told him we had to stop.”

“That’s what Rose said.”

She turned her face to Shani. “Do you think he got my letter already?”

“I have no idea. He didn’t say anything about it.”

“It was harsh—even though I didn’t mean it to be.” Lila leaned against Shani’s shoulder. “I’ve always cared for him.”

Shani drew the girl close. “And he cares for you too. You’ve been friends for such a long time.”

Shani knew there was more to this than Lila was willing to say. She knew it from the way Zane had acted the last three years too. Her son loved Lila, and it looked as if she loved him back.

Shani sat there until she heard Joel’s voice in the hallway saying, “We should go on home and let Tim get his dinner.”

She squeezed Lila again.

“I’m sorry,” Lila said. “I should have been the one comforting you.”

“No,” Shani said. “I’ll let you know when we hear from Zane again.”

“Denki,” Lila answered.

Shani forced herself to look Tim in the eye as she told him good-bye. She didn’t want any more conflict with their neighbor. All this time she thought Lila genuinely loved Reuben. But she’d been wrong.

She couldn’t see any way Lila would leave the Amish—and how could a soldier in the U.S. Army become Plain?

A week later, on a Friday, Shani spoke with Zane on the phone after he arrived at Walter Reed Medical Center. The CT scan, before Zane left Bagram, had shown the shoulder bone was broken but not shattered. He had been sent on to Landstuhl, where an army surgeon operated on and set his shoulder, but instead of a cast Zane only needed a sling. He’d need to do
physical therapy though, which was a relief to Shani. It meant he wouldn’t be going back to Afghanistan anytime soon.

As soon as she hung up the phone she told Joel, who was working from home that day, trying to catch up without interruptions, and then headed over to the Lehmans’ to tell Lila.

Rose answered the door and said that Lila was working at the Plain Buffet. Ten minutes later, Shani stepped through the door of the restaurant, inhaling the comforting scent of roast and ham and gravy and stuffing. Lila was holding drinks in each hand when she saw Shani.

She froze.

“Everything’s okay,” Shani said as she approached.

Lila exhaled and then said, “Let me deliver these.”

When she returned, Shani said, “Zane’s at Walter Reed. We’re going to go see him tomorrow. Can you come with us?”

Lila froze and then stuttered, “I don’t know—I doubt he’d want me to.”

“No, I think he would,” Shani answered.

“Did you ask him?”

Shani shook her head.

“Would you?”

“I’ll call him right now.” Shani pulled her phone from her purse.

Lila looked over her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”

Zane didn’t answer the first time, so Shani left a quick message and then tried again. He picked up on the fifth ring, the second time.

“Hey,” Shani said, “do you mind if Lila comes tomorrow?”