The Betrayed Fiancée (9 page)

“They're probably in the barn somewhere. Even though he bought a new pair, I can't imagine he'd get rid of the old ones.” Arlene paused, blinking against tears about to spill over. “He was wearing those new boots the day Larry and I found him.”

“Well, your daed mentioned how he'd bought a pair of old cowboy boots at an auction one time and your mamm couldn't imagine why.”

“I remember those,” Elsie exclaimed. “Dad planted flowers in them.”

“Jah, and he told me your mamm ended up liking the idea.” Aunt Verna grinned. “So if you find those old duct-taped boots, I'd like to plant flowers in them. They hold a good memory for me of my bruder.”

“We'd be pleased if you turned Dad's old boots into your own special memory.” Arlene hugged Aunt Verna, and Elsie did the same.

When they entered the kitchen, Elsie stopped in mid-stride as soon as she saw Uncle Lester sitting in Dad's roll-about chair at the head of the table. Her chin trembled as she pressed her hand to her chest. The tears didn't seem to want to stop today. The sight of Uncle Lester sitting in Dad's spot was a vivid reminder that he was gone and would never occupy his special chair again. She would miss seeing Dad roll around as he often did, going from room to room. It had become his trademark of sorts. Elsie blinked rapidly.
Oh, Dad, if only you hadn't gone up in the tree house
.

After lunch, Elsie helped put stuff away. “I'm going to walk to the phone shack and check for messages. I doubt Doris has called, but there may be a chance. I shouldn't be long.” She headed out the door.

“Hey, wait up!” Arlene called. “I'll walk with you.”

Elsie waited for her sister to catch up. “Oh, good, you can hunt for
schpinne
for me.” She laughed.

Arlene snickered. “Well, it wouldn't be anything new. You could never handle it when a spider was in the bedroom we shared growing up. You'd say, ‘Arlene, would you please take care of it for me? Schpinne are creepy.' ”

“I can't deny it. I called on you a lot to do the nasty deed—only because Doris was too small, and the spiders were nearly as big as her.” Elsie elbowed her sister, chuckling. It felt good to find something to smile about.

When they got to the phone shack, Arlene stepped in and brushed away a web. “No messages,” she announced.

“Our sister must be doing okay. Guess we'd better get back to the house and box up some more stuff. I brought peanut butter cookies for us to snack on. I'll set them on the table soon.” Elsie pushed a wayward strand of hair back under her head covering before linking arms with Arlene.

As they headed to the house, Elsie hummed a silly tune their father used to play on his harmonica. There were so many memories of Dad she would always treasure. Someday, she would see him again in heaven.

Akron

When Kristi got off work that afternoon, she didn't bother going home to change out of her nursing uniform; she headed straight for Joel's place, hoping he'd be there. She had to find out why he'd taken money from their account and thought it would be better if they talked face-to-face. She didn't know how she'd gotten through the day without leaving early to confront Joel.

A light rain trickled down the windshield, so Kristi turned on her wipers. Listening to the steady
swish-swish
of the wiper blades, she thought about her perplexing relationship with Joel.
Could Mom be right about Joel? Maybe he's not a Christian. He could only be pretending to be one by going to church with me on Sundays. But it doesn't make sense. Joel grew up in the Amish church. He should be spiritually grounded
.

Kristi reflected on the information she'd found on the Internet. One site talked specifically about baptism and confession of faith. She'd learned those wishing to be baptized and join the Amish church must first take a series of instructional classes. On the Saturday before baptism took place, the candidates would be given the opportunity to change their mind.

I wonder why Joel didn't do that. Why'd he wait to leave until after he joined the church
? There were so many unanswered questions.

Kristi had also learned from the website that during the baptismal service, each of the young men and women were asked three questions: (1) if they were willing to renounce the world and be obedient only to God and the church, (2) if they were willing to walk with Christ and His church and remain faithful throughout their life, and (3) if they could confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God. They had to answer affirmatively to each question. Then the deacon poured water into the bishop's cupped hands, which he dripped over the candidate's head. The ritual of baptism signified the individual had formally become a member of the church.

“If Joel complied with all three things, how could he not be a Christian?” Kristi murmured. She pressed her lips tightly together.
But if Joel is a Christian, why is he ignoring his family and being deceitful with me? But then, we're only human, and everyone makes mistakes. I have my own faults to deal with
.

The first thing Joel did when he got home from work was to take a shower and change his clothes. Following that, he went to the kitchen to make a sandwich, since he didn't feel like cooking.

Joel was about to sit down when he heard a car pull into the yard. Going to the window and looking out, he was surprised to see Kristi get out of her car, wearing her nurse's uniform.

He hurried to the door, hoping everything was okay. Normally Kristi called before coming over.

The minute she stepped onto the porch, Joel sensed something was wrong. No cute dimpled smile or friendly greeting. Kristi's lips were pressed into a white slash as she held tightly onto her purse.

“Come in before the wind blows rain under the porch eaves.” Joel opened the door wider, and Kristi stepped inside.

He leaned down and pressed his lips against her cold cheek. “I'm surprised to see you. I didn't think we were getting together this evening. Is everything all right?”

“I–I'm not sure.” Kristi opened her purse and pulled out a slip of paper. “I went to the bank on my way to work this morning. When I made a deposit to our savings account, I was given this.” Kristi's hand shook as she handed it to him.

Joel didn't have to look at the deposit slip to know what was on it. The teller had printed the new balance on the back.

“Did you take money from our account without telling me?” Kristi's sharp tone hit Joel like a dagger.

He shuffled his feet a few times, while clearing his throat. “I…I admit, I did make a withdrawal, but you told me awhile back if I needed money I could borrow some from our account.”

She looked up at him defiantly. “You assured me you would never take any of the money without telling me about it.”

Joel gave his shirt collar a tug before rubbing the back of his neck. “Guess I must have forgotten to mention it. Sorry. I'll make sure it never happens again.”

“What I would like to know is what kind of problems are you faced with that you would need to take over half the money we'd saved?” She continued to stare at him through squinted eyes.

Joel squirmed uncomfortably. He wasn't about to tell her that because he'd bought an expensive car he couldn't pay his subcontractors. She'd think he was a louse—not to mention a risky choice as a husband.

Joel clasped his fingers around her hand. He felt relief when she didn't pull away. “As you may recall, I lost out on a big job a few months ago, and it set me back.”

She gave a slow nod. “You've been busy with work since then. I figured you were making enough to get caught up.”

Heat rushed to his cheeks, and he let go of her hand. “I'm not. Most of the jobs I've taken on have been small and didn't pay a lot. To save money, I've done many of them myself.”

Kristi's face softened some. “I wish you would have talked to me about this, Joel. Remember how I told you the speaker at the marriage seminar stressed the importance of communication?”

“Yeah, I know. I didn't want to worry you, though.”

“I'm more worried about you pushing me out of your life.” Her voice trembled.

Joel felt a sudden coldness deep inside. “I'm not pushing you out of my life, Kristi. I didn't want you to worry about something that was out of your control.”

“We could have talked about it and prayed together. I love you, Joel. I want honesty and trust between us.”

Joel pulled Kristi into his arms, holding her close. “I love you, too, sweetheart. Am I forgiven?”

“Yes,” she murmured against his chest. “But from now on, no more secrets please.”

Joel stroked her silky hair, then bent to kiss her lips. He hated keeping information from Kristi, but some things were best left unsaid.

W
ednesday evening, Kristi had finished eating supper when she heard the doorbell ring. Thinking it might be Joel, she hurried to answer it.

“Oh, hi,” Kristi said, when she opened the door and saw her mother on the porch, holding a paper sack. “What are you doing out and about?” Kristi held the door open while her mother entered.

Mom stepped into the hall then turned to face Kristi. “Your dad had a deacon's meeting at the church this evening, so I seized the opportunity to come by and see your new wall hanging.”

“It's draped over the back of the sofa in the living room.” Kristi gave her mother a wide grin. “Come on in. I'm anxious to see what you think of it.”

Mom handed Kristi the bag she held. “First, I have something for you.”

“What's in here?” Kristi asked, peeking inside.

“I stopped at the market on my way over and got a few things I thought you might like—apples, a butternut squash, and some spareribs they had on special.”

“Thanks Mom. I'll take these things to the kitchen and put the meat in the fridge. If you'd like to come along, I'll pour us a glass of cider.”

Mom smacked her lips. “Sounds good. I love cider this time of the year.”

“Same here.”

When they finished up in the kitchen and started for the living room, Mom paused and tipped her head. “Kristi, you look like you've lost some weight.”

“You think so?” Kristi wasn't about to admit she had lost a few pounds from all the stress of worrying over Joel and their relationship. Needing to change the topic, she hurried into the other room and pointed toward the couch. “There's the quilted wall hanging Joel's sister gave me. What do you think?”

“It's lovely.” Mom slid her fingers across the material. “How could she part with such a beautiful family heirloom?”

“Each of Joel's sisters has her own. Doris said their mother made even more, so it's not like I was given the only one.”

Mom removed her jacket and took a seat on the sofa. “How come you haven't hung the quilt on the wall?”

“I'm waiting until after Joel and I are married. Then we can decide where we want to hang it in our house.” Kristi sat beside her mother.