Amish White Christmas Pie (16 page)

He positioned another piece of wood on the chopping block.
Whack!
—the wood split in two as his ax came down.
Maybe Karen would be better off with someone like Leroy. Can I ever get over the bitterness and pain of my past to secure my future with Karen? Maybe I’m not cut out to be a husband or father. Will I eventually destroy my family, the way Pop did? Is there a chance there won’t be a December wedding after all?

Will gritted his teeth and set another hunk of wood in place.
What am I thinking? It would break my heart if Karen chose Leroy or any other man over me. What I need to do is find a way to keep Leroy from hanging around Karen so much
.

A slow smile spread across Will’s face.
I know exactly what I should do. I just have to figure out the best way to do it
.

A
re you planning to be home from work by dinnertime tonight?” Megan asked as she followed Frank out to his truck on Monday morning.

“As long as all my guys are back working today, I shouldn’t have to make any deliveries. If that’s the case, I’ll be home on time.” He kissed her and was about to climb into his truck when he turned back around. “To tell you the truth, I kind of enjoyed driving a big rig again—especially when some of my deliveries took me through Amish country. Did I tell you about the young Amish man with red hair I saw last week?”

“I don’t remember you mentioning that.”

“I know this probably sounds foolish, but when I first saw him, I thought he might be Will.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“Yeah, I found out his name is Joseph Fisher and his dad owns a buggy shop on Churchtown Road.” Frank pulled his fingers through his hair. “I’ve got to get over the idea that every red-haired Amish man I see might be Will.”

Megan touched his arm. “Maybe you won’t have to keep wondering where your son is.”

“What do you mean?”

“On Saturday I placed an ad with
The Budget
.”

His eyebrows arched upward. “You did what?”

“I put an ad in the notice section of
The Budget
, telling your story about leaving Will with an Amish couple in Lancaster County and asking anyone who knows Will or the Amish couple to contact you.”

“I can’t believe you’d do something like that without asking me.” Frank grimaced. “If you called the ad in two days ago, how come you’re just now telling me about it?”

“I probably should have told you sooner, but you worked Saturday, and on Sunday, you slept half of the day, so I didn’t think about it until now.”

He grunted. “You probably wasted our money. I doubt that anyone will respond to that ad.”

“You never know. The Amish couple you left Will with might subscribe to
The Budget
. If they do, they’re likely to read the notice and hopefully contact you.”

“I won’t get my hopes up,” Frank said as he climbed into his truck. “If Regina and Mark Stoltzfus moved from Lancaster County so they could have my boy, even if they do read the notice, I don’t think they’ll respond.”

Karen had just left the dry goods store and was preparing to go to Shipshewana when Will showed up.

“Wie geht’s?” he called as he stepped down from his buggy.

“I’m doing fine. So much better now that I have no pain and I’m finally about to get my wedding dress made.” She smiled. “I’m also back working in the store.”

“Glad to hear it.” He joined her outside the buggy shed. “Are you going somewhere?”

She nodded. “I’m meeting my friend Vonda Nissley for lunch. Then I have another appointment with the oral surgeon.”

Will’s eyebrows puckered. “I was hoping I could take you to lunch today and then over to my place to see Sandy’s hundlin.”

“I’m sorry, Will. Maybe we can make it another day this week.” She hated to disappoint him. He seemed in a good mood today—better than the last time he’d dropped by to show her his new horse.

Will opened the buggy shed door and pushed her buggy outside. “Would you like me to get your horse and hitch it to the buggy?”

“Sure, if you don’t mind.”

“Don’t mind at all.”

“How’s your new horse working out?” Karen asked as she followed him to the barn.

“So far so good. Of course I haven’t had him long enough to know for sure.”

“Have you given him a name yet?”

Will nodded. “Since he’s got a white blaze on his forehead, I decided to call him Blazer.”

“Seems like a good name to me.”

“What restaurant will you and Vonda be having lunch at today?” Will asked as he hitched Karen’s horse to her buggy.

“The Blue Gate in Shipshewana. We’re supposed to meet at 12:30, so I’d best be on my way.”

Will helped Karen into the buggy and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I’ll see you soon.”

She nodded and got the horse moving. In the side mirror, she saw Will climb into his buggy. When he got to the end of the driveway, he turned in the opposite direction of the way she was heading.

Maybe I should have invited him to join Vonda and me for lunch
. She sighed.
But I guess it’s too late for that
.

Regina looked up as Mark entered the store. “I spoke with Bishop Miller a few minutes ago,” Mark announced, “and he said the Kings’ harness shop burned to the ground last night.”

Regina gasped. “That’s terrible! What happened, do you know?”

“I guess a propane tank blew up, and the whole place caught on fire. The bishop said there’s going to be a work frolic in a few days to rebuild the harness shop.”

“Will you be going to the frolic?”

Mark nodded. “I’m sure our son will want to help out, too.”

Regina smiled. “Will’s always been willing to help others in their time of need. He’s turned into a real fine man. Remember when we first met him? He was so polite, but I’ve never seen a six-year-old boy who could put away as many cookies as Will did that day.”

“He’s always had a pretty good appetite.”

Regina grabbed her jacket from the wall peg near the door. “Speaking of appetites, why don’t you come over to the house with me while I fix some lunch?”

“Is that a hint that I should help you fix it?”

“Only if you want to. I mostly thought we could visit.”

Mark chuckled. “Jah, okay.”

“What brings you by our place today?” Leroy asked when Will stepped into the Eashes’ blacksmith shop. “Is that new horse of yours in need of some shoes?”

Will shook his head. “I was on my way to Shipshewana for lunch and thought I’d drop by and see if you’d like to join me.”

Leroy quirked an eyebrow. “You want me to go to Shipshewana with you for lunch?”

“Jah.”

“Mind if I ask why? I mean, you and I have never been that close.”

“Well, I…uh…thought maybe we ought to try to mend some fences between us—for Karen’s sake, you know.”

“I suppose that would be a good idea.”

“So are you free to join me for lunch?”

Leroy glanced at his brother Gerald. “Do you think you and Dad can get along without me for a few hours? Will wants to treat me to lunch.”

Will grimaced. He hadn’t actually planned to treat Leroy, but if that’s what it took to get him to go, he’d gladly pay the bill.

“Jah, sure, you go ahead,” Gerald said. “Dad should be back from lunch most anytime, and I can manage on my own until he shows up.”

“Great! I’ll see you later, then.” Leroy grabbed his jacket and followed Will out the door.

“Before we head out, there’s something I’d like to say,” Leroy said as he climbed into Will’s buggy.

“What’s that?”

“I hope you don’t still think I ran the bid up on that horse just to make you pay a big price.”

Will shrugged.

“I told you the other day that I really wanted that horse. I just couldn’t go any higher than I did.”

“Jah, okay.” Will gathered up the reins and directed the horse onto County Road 8. “Blazer’s a fine horse. I can see why you wanted him.”

“I did want him, but I like the horse I got, so I have no complaints.”

“I’m curious to know something,” Will said.

“What’s that?”

“How come you wanted a new horse? Was there something wrong with the one you had?”

“Tinker’s a good horse, but he’s getting up in years and isn’t as fast as I’d like him to be. So I gave him to my mamm, and she’s real pleased, because she likes a slower, more easygoing buggy horse.”

“I see.”

“Changing the subject,” Leroy said, “which restaurant do you plan to go to for lunch?”

“The Blue Gate. They have some pretty good Dutch-style meals.”

Leroy smacked his lips. “That’s true. The desserts they have are pretty tasty, too.”

As they continued to travel toward Shipshewana, they talked about the chilly November weather, their new horses, Papa Mark’s dairy cows, Sandy’s puppies, and the blacksmith shop Leroy ran with his father and older brother. By the time they arrived at their destination, Will had decided that Leroy wasn’t such a bad fellow when he wasn’t hovering around Karen. If Leroy had a girlfriend of his own, he and Will might even become friends.