Amish White Christmas Pie (25 page)

W
hen Will stepped into the kitchen the following morning, Regina touched his arm. “Have you thought any more about that notice in
The Budget
from your daed?”

He gave a quick nod.

“What did you decide to do about it?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re not going to contact him?”

He shook his head and reached into the cupboard for a mug. “Is there still some coffee left?”

“I made a fresh pot after you and your daed went out to do the milking.” Regina got the coffeepot. “Do you mind telling me why you don’t plan to contact your daed?” she asked as she poured coffee into Will’s mug.

“For a long time after Pop left, I longed to see him. But then when I realized he wasn’t coming back, I came to think of you and Papa Mark as my parents.” He shrugged. “So after all these years have gone by, what’s the point in me seeing Pop again? If he’d wanted to get in touch with me, he’d have done so sooner, don’t you think?”

Regina took a seat at the table and motioned for Will to do the same. “What I think is that you’re being offered an opportunity to meet with your daed and find out why he never returned to our home in Pennsylvania. I’ll admit I had some misgivings about this at first, but after thinking it over, I believe you need to contact him and find out where he’s been all this time, don’t you?”

A muscle on the side of Will’s neck quivered as he stared into his mug. “Right now, I only want two things: to marry Karen and to forget I ever had a daed named Frank Henderson.”

“But you’ve said many times that you wished you knew where he was and that you’d like to ask him some questions.”

“I know, but I’ve changed my mind.”

She took a drink of coffee as she mulled things over. She set the mug down and decided to try again. “I think maybe you should reconsider, Will. I really don’t think you’ll ever put the past to rest until you’ve talked to your daed and heard why he left and never returned.”

Will grunted. “Any man who would abandon his own child doesn’t deserve to be anyone’s daed!” He pushed his chair away from the table and stood. “I’d better go back to the barn and see how Papa Mark’s doing with that cow. Maybe you should wait on breakfast until we both come in.”

“Jah, okay.” Regina knew that to say more would be futile. As soon as Will left the room, she opened the drawer where she’d put
The Budget
and took it out. She found Frank’s notice then copied down the phone number.
If Will’s not going to contact his daed, then I will
.

“What are you doing out here again?” Papa Mark asked when Will stepped into the barn. “I told you I could handle this. There was no reason for you to come out in the cold again.”

Will squatted beside the cow Papa Mark was working on. “The reason I came back has nothing to do with me thinking you couldn’t handle this cow.”

“What is the reason?”

“Mama Regina was giving me her thoughts on that notice in
The Budget
, and I didn’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“I see.”

“She thinks I ought to contact Pop and find out why he left and never came back.”

“What do you think, Will?”

“I think if Pop ever cared anything about me, he would have left a note like he told Mama Regina he was going to.” Will grunted. “And I think he shouldn’t have waited until now to try to contact me.”

Papa Mark nodded. “I have to agree with both of those things, but your daed is trying to find you now, so don’t you think you ought to find out what he has to say?”

“I don’t care what he has to say.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Jah.”

“You’re a man now, Will, and you have the right to make your own decisions. However, I think you might need to mull things over a bit before you make a final decision on this.”

Will gave no reply.

“I just want to say one more thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I believe that God has a reason for bringing people into our lives at certain times. He had a reason for bringing you into our lives when you were a boy, and maybe He has a reason for bringing your real daed back into your life now.”

Will shrugged.

“Enough said. Would you please get me some antiseptic?”

Will nodded, glad for the change of subject.

“Can I talk to you about something?” Karen asked her mother.

“Of course.” Mom motioned to the kitchen table. “Would you like to sit while we talk?”

“What about breakfast?”

“There’s no hurry. Your daed’s still outside doing his chores, and Cindy hasn’t come downstairs yet.”

“Okay.” Karen pulled out a chair and sat down.

“What’d you want to talk to me about?” Mom asked.

“It’s about Will and that notice we read in
The Budget
from his real daed.”

“You mentioned last night that you’d gone over to speak with Will about it.”

Karen nodded. “It was awful, Mom. You should have seen the look on Will’s face when I asked if he was planning to leave the Amish faith.”

Mom gave Karen’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “You had no way of knowing Will hadn’t seen
The Budget
. You had no reason not to believe what Susanna Chupp said she’d heard.”

Karen stared at a small hole in the tablecloth as she mulled things over. Would things have been better if she hadn’t said anything to Will, or would he have found out on his own?

“Was there something more you wished to say?” Mom asked.

“Jah. I’m concerned because I wasn’t able to really explain things to Will.”

“Why not?”

“Because after he read the notice in
The Budget
, he rushed out the door.”

“Why don’t you go over and talk to Will this evening after dinner?”

“You think I should?”

Mom nodded. “If you’re going to be his wife, you need to communicate with him about everything that’s important, don’t you think?”

“I do want to communicate with Will, but I don’t want him to think I’m trying to be pushy or that I want him to do something he doesn’t want to do.”

“I’m sure he won’t think either of those things.”

“Who won’t think what things?” Cindy asked as she stepped into the room.

“Karen and I were just discussing some issues,” Mom said.

“What issues?”

“Never you mind. Now let’s get breakfast on.” Mom motioned to the refrigerator. “Cindy, why don’t you get out some eggs and bacon while I get the stove warmed up?”

Karen rose from her chair. “Guess I’ll set the table.” As she opened the drawer to take out the silverware, she glanced out the window and realized it was snowing. She hoped it wouldn’t be more than a light dusting and that the roads wouldn’t get bad, because she really wanted to see Will.

M
egan paced the living room floor as she waited for Frank to get home. She had received a phone call from Regina Stoltzfus soon after Frank had left for work in reply to the notice she had put in
The Budget
. Since Frank wasn’t at home when the call had come in and had left his cell phone at home, Megan had asked Regina to call again this evening.

I hope she doesn’t call before Frank gets home
, Megan fretted.
I know he’ll want to talk to her. I wish I had insisted that she give me her number. I wish we had caller ID, because that would have given me her number
.

She went to the window and pulled the curtain aside. There was no sign of Frank’s truck in the driveway or coming up the street.

“I’m hungry, Mommy,” Kim said, tugging on Megan’s hand. “When are we gonna eat supper?”

Megan looked down at her daughter and smiled. “As soon as your daddy gets home.” She motioned to Carrie, lying on the sofa with a book. “Why don’t you sit beside your sister and see if she’ll read to you?”

“I don’t want to read to her,” Carrie mumbled. “She interrupts and asks goofy questions.”

Kim thrust out her lower lip. “Do not!”

“Yeah, you do!”

Megan patted the top of Kim’s head. “Why don’t you go upstairs and play until Daddy gets home?”

Kim hesitated a moment but finally scampered out of the room.

Megan returned to the window to watch for Frank’s truck.