Ella's Wish (32 page)

“I’m not sleepy,” Mary said but fell asleep quickly. Sarah still had her eyes open and her thumb in her mouth.

That was one thing that would have to change as soon as possible. Ella’s mamm never let her brother and sisters suck their thumbs very long. It deformed the teeth, her mamm had often said.

Silence settled on the basement, and the stitches stretched out before her.
How glad I am for Ronda’s help. Many hours will go into this quilt, but in the end, the effort will be worth it. The finished product will warm the buyer’s heart—and mine too
.

“
Da Hah’s
way of blessing,” her daett said. “When one works with the hands, the blessing goes to both the giver and the receiver.”

Feeling the need for a break from the needlework, Ella thought about her journal.
Would this not be an excellent time to write in it?
By tonight, the first day the girls were back, she would be too tired to write.

The news from this morning almost demanded it, and so with a silent step, she slipped upstairs, hoping each step didn’t squeak too much and that Ronda wouldn’t wonder why she went upstairs in the middle of the afternoon. Grabbing her journal, she also picked up the repainted sign and went outside and hung it on the hooks.

Back down in the basement, she opened the tablet and began.

Dear Journal
,

How strange life can get. Preacher Stutzman proposed to me this morning, just like that. I don’t know what the man was thinking. Surely he could see that I have no feelings whatsoever for him, and yet I love his daughters. The most surprising thing is that I didn’t say no. Could this be Da Hah’s way, or is my life all messed up?

I’m sure I know what the bishop will say—if I ever tell him
.

I have no idea what my answer will be. The man even apologized for the hard preaching at Aden’s funeral, as if he knew this bothered me…even when I had never told him so. He’s a strange man, but then all of life is very strange right now
.

I suppose I could just tell them both no and remain single, like I planned all along. The thought of being someone’s wife after losing Aden is hard to imagine. How will it feel to have another man’s arms around me? I don’t even like to think about it
.

I think, though, that I will have to say yes to one of them. The hard part is to just make the best choice possible. What God has in mind, only He knows. I sure don’t. There are still moments of bitterness when I wonder why, but as strange as it may seem, the girls have softened those feelings faster than anything else has
.

Could this be a sign of what I am supposed to do? I don’t know. I wish Aden would send some sign, like it seemed he did when I had to make the decision about the house. But all is silent in the heavens. Maybe he thinks I can make my own decisions now. That would so be like him—not to interfere in my choices. He would want the best for me now that he’s no longer here. Yet what is that?

Can’t he see that better than I can? Can’t he send an angel back to tell me or do some little thing to show me the way to go? Yet, I’m just Ella, one girl among millions on this earth. Many are in worse shape than I am, and I’d best be thankful for what I have
.

I need some answers, and that right soon. Perhaps my answer will be evident by seeing if the bishop makes a move. I don’t really know why what he does is so important to me, but somehow it is. I should know by Saturday—whether he does what I expect him to do. He’ll be back that night, and we’ll have to see
.

Ella shut the pages gently, slid the tablet under the couch, and returned to her quilt, humming a hymn softly to entertain herself.

Minutes later gravel crunched in the driveway. Stretching her fingers, Ella got up, glanced out the basement window, and saw a car parked by the barn. A lady, in her thirties or so, had stepped out of the car, and a young girl—a daughter perhaps—followed her. The two looked around, said something to each other, and then walked toward the house.
Are they here to see the quilt shop?

The children were still asleep, and Ella hoped they wouldn’t be awakened. Business came first, anyway. The girls could go to bed early tonight, if necessary.

“Good afternoon,” she said, greeting the woman at the door.

“Good afternoon,” the woman said with a nod. “Is this the quilt shop?”

“Yah,” Ella said, motioning them inside. “I have girls sleeping, but don’t worry about them. It goes with having a business in your basement.”

“Oh, we can come back later,” the woman said, stopping just inside the door.

“Nee,” Ella said, “please come on in. I don’t have much to show anyway because we just opened. But you can see the quilt we’re working on right now.”

The woman crossed the room with her daughter close by her side. She ran her fingers across the stitches on the new quilt and then raised her head to look at the quilt displayed on the wall.

“That’s our sample,” Ella said, “and right now we’re just making this one kind. The centerpiece is a copy of the house.”

“I noticed,” the woman said, smiling. “Is this one sold?”

“Yah,” Ella said.

“Have you another ready to sell?”

“Nee,” Ella said, “not yet.”

“I’d take one if you did. Perhaps we can stop by next time we are through here. Maybe then you’ll have more like this one?”

“Yah,” Ella said. It was clear that she could make quilts ahead of time, and then sell them.

“Your girls are still sleeping,” the woman whispered with a soft smile. “Thanks for the tour.”

Ella held the door open for her.
I will enjoy making and selling quilts
. Da Hah
has been gracious by giving this idea to me
.

Toward evening and just before Joe came home, Ronda called to Ella from the top of the basement stairs, “What did that lady want? Did you sell a quilt?”

“She would have bought one,” Ella said, “if we had one ready.”

“We need to work steadily and have more quilts ready to sell on the spot,” Ronda said, smiling from ear to ear.

“I think so too. I’m thrilled at the opportunity, but it does look like we have a lot of work to do.”

“Yah, it does,” Ronda said as buggy wheels turned into the driveway. She quickly closed the basement door, and soon Ella heard the front door open. Next she heard excited voices and then the heavy steps of a man on the hardwood floor above.

Ella fixed soup for supper, fed the girls, and had them in bed by eight. She stepped outside when the stars came out. It was a clear night with not a cloud in sight from horizon to horizon.

The bright sweep of the stars seemed silent tonight. Gazing up at the sky, she sought out the familiar figures she knew—the seven sisters, the little dipper, and the sword that hung from the hunter’s belt.

“Dear God, please help me,” she prayed, but there seemed to be no answers tonight. Ella pulled her gaze away, stepped back inside the house, and prepared for bed. She needed her sleep for the week ahead.

Thirty-nine

E
lla started the washing machine early the next morning and carried the finished laundry outside to hang on the line. She set up a ladder so Mary could climb up, help pin the clothes to the line, and then turn the wheel, which sent the wash out toward the windmill. Sarah squealed with delight and handed the clothespins up to her sister until she tired of the exercise. Mary stuck it out until the last piece of wash was rolled out.

“Good morning,” Ronda called from the kitchen window.

“Yah, that it is,” Ella said, waving. The morning air improved her spirits a little.

Back in the basement, Ella completed the next load of wash and made another trip to the line with the girls. She held Mary’s and Sarah’s hands on the walk back while Mary dragged the hamper with her other hand.

“Let me take that,” Ella said when they came to the driveway. “I don’t want it to drag on the stones.”

“When I’m big, I will carry it like you do,” Mary said, beaming.

“Yah, you will,” Ella said, thinking how great it would be to be Mary’s mamm and watch her grow up. Ella pushed the thought away.

She worked on the quilt till lunch and then fixed soup for the girls.

Soon afterward an older lady drove her car up the driveway. Ella opened the basement door for the woman while holding baby Barbara in her arms. “Hello. Please come in,” she said warmly.

“Oh, she’s such a cute baby,” the woman cooed. “Such a darling.”

“Yah, she is,” Ella agreed.

“You have quilts?” the woman asked and stepped inside.

“Only the one we’re making,” Ella said, pointing to the quilt she and Ronda were working on. “There’s the display of the finished product. We just make that one kind right now.”

“Oh, just the one,” the woman said. Ella couldn’t tell if there was disappointment in her voice.

“We’re just starting up,” Ella said. “We might branch out later, but not for now. We just have the one, and the one we’re working on is already sold.”

“Ah, then, you must take orders and ship them? I hope you do because we live in Ohio and can’t come through here that often.”

“I do. In fact we plan to ship this one when we’re finished.”

“Do you have anyone to help you? With three children—”

“Yah, the lady who lives upstairs helps me. We could have another quilt done in four months, we think.”

“Then I’ll take it,” the woman said. “It’s a beautiful design. I’ll just leave my address and such.”

“Yah, that will be fine. We will ship the quilt C.O.D. Is that okay?”

“Oh sure,” the woman said, writing her name and address on the piece of paper Ella gave her.

Ella drew in her breath.
What if I can’t get it done in time—even with Ronda’s help?

“It’s good doing business with you,” the woman said as Ella held the door open for her.

Only moments later Ronda opened the basement door and called down the stairs, “Was that another sale?”

“It was,” Ella said, laughing nervously. “I think I’d better take the sign down now. I can’t go on selling like this, and we can’t work this fast.”

“Then I’d best get busy,” Ronda said. “My, but this is fun. And don’t take the sign down. They can always just look. You want your shop to be well-known so people will stop by. Just think, they’ll soon be standin’ in line at the door.”

“I doubt that,” Ella said, relaxing a little.

“Your mom just drove in with Clara,” Ronda said. “I suppose you didn’t hear them with the
Englisha
car driving out.”

“Ach,” Ella gasped, “Mamm’s here, and the house is all a mess.”

“It’s not,” Ronda said. “Stop worrying. It just looks worked in. Isn’t that good? Your mamm will understand.”

Ella still rushed behind the curtains where the girls were playing, picked up things, and then grabbed the dolls the girls had left on the couch.

“Who comes?” Mary asked. “Is it someone to look at the quilts again?”

“No. Mamm’s coming.”

“Mamm?” Mary asked, wrinkling her brow. “But we have a mamm. How can she come?”

“It’s
my
mamm,” Ella said.

“You’d better marry him,” Ronda said from the top of the stairs. “Don’t say I didn’t tell you.” Then she closed the door.

Ella stopped her straightening for a moment, wrapped her arm around Mary, and looked at her eye-to-eye. “Mary, I just take care of you. Your real mamm is up in heaven. Your daett will find a good mamm for you some day.”

Mary’s eyes clouded over. “But I already have one. There’s one in heaven, and then there’s you.”

Ella bit her lip. She glanced up to see her mom walking past the basement window and carrying a paper bag. Clara walked behind her.