Growing Up in Lancaster County (29 page)

Grandpa pointed to some potted plants on a nearby shelf. “I watered a few of those plants earlier, but I have some office work to do, so why don’t you water the plants over there?” He pointed to some plants on the other side of the room.

“Okay.” Rachel hurried to the sink, filled the watering can, and headed to a tray of purple and white petunias. She’d just started back across the room for more water when the greenhouse door swung open.

“Guder mariye
[Good morning],” their neighbor Anna Miller said when she stepped inside.

“Guder mariye,” Rachel said with a smile.

“Is your grandpa here?” Anna asked.

Rachel motioned to the small room Grandpa used as his office. “He’s at his desk, but you can go in if you like.”

“Danki.” Anna headed for the office, and Rachel scurried to the sink. As she carried the watering can back across the room, she noticed a praying mantis sitting on the shelf between two pots of pansies.

Rachel watched as it devoured a fly, one limb at a time. Rachel didn’t care much for dirty flies, but she almost felt sorry for this one because it had no chance to get away.

“It’s sure…A worm…”

“Jah, that’s right. It’s kind of…”

Rachel listened to Grandpa’s and Anna’s voices. She figured Grandpa must have spotted a worm someplace, which was strange, since he had no plants in his office.

“It wouldn’t be so bad…Wasn’t full of humility…”

Rachel set the watering can down. She eased closer to the office door to better hear what they were saying.

“I can’t really blame her…”

“I know what you mean…”

Rachel put her ear against the door. She wished they would talk a little louder.

Suddenly the door swung open, knocking Rachel to the floor.

“Ach Grandpa, you scared me!” She scrambled to her feet.

Grandpa stepped toward Rachel. “Are you all right?”

“I–I’m fine. It just knocked the wind out of me when you opened the door.”

Grandpa frowned. “Why were you by the door? I thought you were watering plants.”

Rachel’s face warmed with embarrassment. “I—I was, but I heard you and Anna talking about a worm, and—” She glanced over her shoulder. “Is there a worm in your office, Grandpa?”

He shook his head. “Of course not. I don’t know where you got such a notion. I never said anything about a worm.”

“He said it’s a
warm
day. Maybe that’s what you heard,” Anna said, entering the main part of the greenhouse. “And I said, ‘It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t for the humidity.’”

“I thought you said ‘humility,’” Rachel said.

Anna shook her head. “No. Never said a word about humility.”

Rachel stared at the floor. She felt foolish.

Grandpa frowned. “I think you’d better get back to work and stop eavesdropping, Rachel.”

“Okay.” Rachel shuffled back to finish watering the plants.

As Grandpa and Anna continued their conversation, Rachel tried not to listen. It was hard, though, because she was sure they were talking about interesting things.

“I think an African violet would be a perfect plant for her,” Grandpa said.

Perfect plant for who?
Rachel wanted to ask, but she knew Grandpa wouldn’t appreciate her listening to his conversation again.

“Jah, I’m sure she’ll like the plant, and I think…” Anna’s voice trailed off as she moved to the other side of the room.

Rachel wished she could follow, but she had more plants to water.

“That’s right; it’s not good to be alone. I’m sure you must miss…”

Rachel tipped her head and strained to hear the rest of what Anna was saying.

“Marriage is…” Anna moved even farther away, and then her voice sounded like a whisper.

Rachel gritted her teeth. She couldn’t hear any of Anna’s words now.

She raced to the sink, filled the watering can with more water, and started watering plants closer to where Grandpa and Anna stood.

“Thanks for stopping by, Anna,” Grandpa said. “When you see Sadie Stoltzfus, tell her I’ll be over later today. I need to ask her that question.”

Rachel’s ears perked up. Why would Grandpa go to see the widow Stoltzfus, who didn’t like kids and clacked her false teeth?

Anna paused and smiled at Grandpa. “A fall wedding will be nice, don’t you think?”

He nodded, and Anna hurried out the door.

Rachel stood like a statue in front of the flowers, her mouth hanging open. This couldn’t happen! No, it just couldn’t!

Grandpa nudged Rachel’s arm. “What are you doing? Catching flies?”

“Huh?”

“Your mouth’s hanging open. I wondered if you were trying to catch a few flies.”

Rachel clamped her mouth shut. Her hand shook so badly that some water sloshed out of the watering can and landed on her bare foot.

Grandpa snickered. “Now what are you doing—giving yourself a bath?”

Rachel tried to swallow around the lump in her throat. She couldn’t tell Grandpa what had upset her. If she said what she’d heard, he would know she’d been listening to his and Anna’s conversation.

“I—uh—guess I wasn’t watching what I was doing,” she mumbled.

He patted her arm. “If you’re done watering, I’d like you to put the watering can away and help me repot some plants that have grown too big for their containers.”

Rachel nodded. “I will…just as soon as I wipe up the water I spilled.”

As Rachel hurried to get a clean rag, she made a decision. She would have to find a way to keep Grandpa from marrying Sadie Stoltzfus!

By the time Rachel had watered all the plants and helped Grandpa repot several, it was time to go to the house and help Mom make lunch.

Rachel had just started across the yard when she spotted Jacob coming around the side of the barn.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said breathlessly. “I need to talk to you.”

Jacob eyed her with a curious expression. “What about?”

“Grandpa’s on the verge of making the biggest mistake of his life. He’s not thinking straight. He needs our help to…”

Jacob held up his hand. “Slow down, Rachel. You’re talking way too fast.”

She shook her head. “No, I’m not. You’re listening too slow.”

He glared at her. “I’m not listening too slow.”

Any other time Rachel might have argued, but right now she needed his help more than she needed to prove she was right.

“Grandpa’s planning to take a plant over to Sadie Stoltzfus this afternoon,” she said.

“How do you know?”

“I heard him tell Anna Miller.”

“So what if he’s taking a plant to Sadie? She lives several miles away. It’s probably hard for her to hitch the horse to the buggy and travel to Grandpa’s greenhouse,” Jacob said.

Rachel lowered her voice. “He’s not just taking Sadie a plant. He’s getting married again.”

Jacob raised his eyebrows. “Who’s he going to marry?”

Rachel groaned. “Aren’t you listening? I’m talking about the Widow Stoltzfus! When he takes her the African violet, Grandpa’s going to ask her to marry him.”

Jacob’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. I was in the greenhouse when Anna and Grandpa were talking about Sadie Stoltzfus. They talked about a wedding in the fall and about Grandpa needing a wife.” Rachel drew in a quick breath. “He said he’s going to see Sadie later today, to take her a plant and ask her a question.”

Jacob slowly shook his head. “You’re an
an lauerer
[eavesdropper], Rachel. You should quit nosing around and mind your own business.”

Rachel stomped her foot. “If we don’t do something to stop it, we’ll end up with a new teeth-clacking
grossmudder
[grandmother] who doesn’t like kinner!”

“This is none of our business, Rachel. If Grandpa wants to marry her, that’s his decision. You need to keep your nose out of Grandpa’s business and spend your time doing something else.” He poked her arm. “Maybe you should get busy and clean your room so it’ll be ready when Cousin Mary gets here.”

“I’ve been getting ready for Mary, but she won’t be here for a week or so.” Rachel pursed her lips. “Right now we need to concentrate on—”

“Listening to other people’s conversations can lead to trouble,” Jacob interrupted. “Besides, you don’t even know if you heard correctly.”

Rachel knew all about trouble. It seemed to follow her everywhere.

She squinted her eyes at Jacob and said, “If I did hear correctly, then we need to do something to stop it!”

Jacob shook his head. “That wouldn’t be right. If Grandpa wants to marry again, you should be happy for him.”

Tears welled in Rachel’s eyes. “I—I can’t be happy about this. If Grandpa marries Sadie, he’ll move out of our house, and she’ll—”

“How do you know Sadie won’t move in with us?”

Rachel gasped. “Do you really think she might do that?”

Jacob shrugged. “All I know is whatever Grandpa does, it’s his business, not ours.” He walked toward the house. “I don’t know about you, but I’m hungry. I’m going inside to eat lunch!”

Rachel sighed. She’d hoped she could count on Jacob, but he’d been no help at all! If anything was going to be done to keep Grandpa from marrying Sadie Stoltzfus, she’d have to do it alone!

R
achel, why aren’t you eating your lunch?” Mom asked, nodding at the half-eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich on Rachel’s plate. “Aren’t you hungry this afternoon?”

Rachel shrugged. “I have a lot on my mind.”

Jacob snickered. “She’s probably thinking up some kind of trouble to get into.”

Rachel glared at Jacob. “Am not.”

“I’ll bet you are, little
bensel
[silly child].”

“Oh, quit your jabbering. I’m not a silly child!”

“Jah, you are.”

Pap loudly cleared his throat. “That’ll be enough, Jacob! Leave your
schweschder
[sister] alone and finish eating your lunch so we can get back to the fields.”

“That’s right,” Rachel’s older brother Henry said. “We have a lot of work to do out there yet today.”

Jacob grabbed his sandwich and took a big bite.

Rachel did the same. She knew if she didn’t finish her lunch, Mom probably wouldn’t let her go back to the greenhouse. She needed to go out there so she could talk Grandpa out of going to see Sadie! She had to make him realize that Sadie wasn’t the right woman for him to marry.

Rachel wondered if she should say something to her folks about Grandpa marrying Sadie Stoltzfus.

I’d better not
, she decided.
If Grandpa hasn’t told them, he might not like it if I blab
.

Rachel crumpled her napkin into a tight little ball.
I wonder why Grandpa told Anna Miller about his plans. I don’t think he would have said anything to Anna if he didn’t want Mom and Pap to know
.

Rachel knew that Anna was one of Mom’s best friends. The next time Anna saw Mom, she was bound to say something about Grandpa getting married. Maybe it would be best to let Anna tell. Then Rachel wouldn’t get into trouble for listening to Grandpa and Anna’s conversation. When Mom heard the news from Anna, she might convince Grandpa that he was doing the wrong thing by marrying Sadie. After all, Grandpa was Mom’s dad, and she probably wouldn’t like the idea of him getting married again—especially not to a cranky old woman!

“Sure hope we get the rest of the hay cut today,” Pap said before picking up his glass to take a drink.

Henry nodded. “If we can keep my little
bruder
[brother] working this afternoon, we should be able to get it done.”

Jacob frowned at Henry. “I always work hard; you know I do!”

Henry thumped Jacob’s back. “Jah, most of the time.”

“You’d better all work hard this afternoon,” Grandpa said, “because some rain is heading our way.” He pulled his fingers through the ends of his beard and nodded. “Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, but I know it’s coming.”

“How do you know?” Jacob asked.

Grandpa rubbed his hands over his arms. “I feel it in my bones. They always ache a bit when rain is coming.”

“It’s true,” said Mom. “Even when I was a
maedel
[girl] my
daed
[dad] could forecast the weather by the way he felt in his bones.” She frowned. “If we’re going to have rain, I hope it holds off until I weed my garden.”

“If you need help with that, let me know,” Grandpa said with a smile. “When I’m not busy with customers in the greenhouse, I’d be happy to help pull a few weeds.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Mom said. “It’s been hard to keep up with the weeds this summer. They’ve been growing too fast. Of course,” she added, “Hannah’s growing nearly as fast. She can no longer wear the outfit I brought her home from the hospital in.”

Pap chuckled. “You’re right, Miriam. Why, it won’t be long until our little girl will be all grown up and running around this place causing all kinds of trouble.”

“Just like Rachel. Always trouble somewhere, right, Rachel?” Jacob jabbed Rachel’s arm just as she was about to drink her milk.

Whoosh!
Milk sloshed out of Rachel’s glass, trickled down her chin, and splashed onto the front of her dress.

Rachel opened her balled-up napkin and blotted her dress; then she frowned at Jacob and said, “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”