Upon A Winter's Night (16 page)

Though his hands were shaking, Josh cut off the lowest ladder rung as fast as he could and handed it to the sheriff as if he were brandishing a club. “Tell Lydia I’m very sorry, and I’ll be praying,” Josh said as they both sprinted toward the front door.

“Will do.” Sheriff Freeman ducked under the tape outside and tore toward his cruiser.

It was only then that Josh realized that “tell Lydia I’m sorry, and I’ll be praying,”
 
could have sounded like a confession of sorts, about Sandra’s loss and not the rush to save Lydia’s father.

* * *

“I’ll take care of things here,” Gid told them as Lydia wedged in next to
Mamm
on a hard bench along the side of the big, square, red EMR vehicle parked behind the furniture store. The driver slammed the door shut on the concerned faces of Gid and several staff, then got in the cab. They pulled quickly away. Lydia knew both local volunteer medics, one driving, one tending the IV drips in her father’s arms.
Daad
looked absolutely gray-skinned around the edge of the oxygen mask. In truth, he looked dead, but the heart monitor said he was still alive.

Mamm
gripped her hands, her own hands, rather than reaching for Lydia’s. “Too much strain,”
Mamm
whispered. “All this you got yourself into...”

In other words, Lydia thought as she tried to steady herself and fight breaking down,
Mamm
believed this was her fault. Suddenly, telling either of her adoptive parents that she was searching for her birth parents seemed the height of stupidity and impossibility.

As they started out through town and sped past their house, the sheriff’s car appeared from somewhere ahead of them, lights flashing, siren wailing to lead the way. She glimpsed Josh standing outside his barn. As they rushed past it looked as if the bright yellow police tape strung there had caught him in some strange spider’s web.

Just like when Lydia was in Sandra’s little red sports car, the houses and fields blurred by.
Daad
had to live. He just had to! Why hadn’t they insisted he rest more, lie down, leave more store business to Gid at this busy time?

But that thought terrified her, too: What if
Daad
didn’t make it? She would have to work more closely with Gid. The pressure from
Mamm
and the expectation from others would be overwhelming for her and Gid to become partners in more ways than one.

Suddenly, she recalled a saying—a superstition, her mother had called it. Years ago Connor had told Lydia that deaths came in threes and, back then in the community, they had. Now Victoria Keller was dead, Sandra was number two, but
Daad—
that was different, wasn’t it?

When they turned onto Route 30 East toward Wooster, the same way she and Sandra had driven there, the EMR turned on its siren, too. Though somewhat muted by the vehicle’s interior, the siren’s sharp shrieks and
Mamm
’s awful sobbing stabbed deep inside Lydia. She reached out to
Daad
’s
 
booted, bouncing foot and held on tight. If she lost him, she would be so alone, even in her own home.

16

T
hat evening, Lydia and
Mamm
sat slumped in the surgery waiting room at the hospital. Their shoulders touched—at least something did.
Mamm
either kept her eyes closed or stared off into space. She had not drunk the tea Lydia had brought her from the cafeteria. How Lydia wished
Mamm
would say something, but, on the other hand, it might be more accusations.

Lydia guessed it was pretty much after hours for scheduled surgeries, because they were alone, like two strangers who hardly spoke.

Finally, around nine, a surgeon, Dr. Bryan, still dressed in his light green outfit, came out to talk to them. “Mrs. Brand?”

They both stood. “
Ya,
and our daughter, Lydia,”
Mamm
said, and those few words brought more tears to Lydia’s eyes.

“Solomon came through the procedure quite well. During the angioplasty I explained earlier, we inserted a stent, a wire mesh tube to keep the offending artery open. That will improve the blood flow to his heart and relieve the angina—the pain. With new medications and rest, he should make a full recovery. But time will tell.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Lydia put in while
Mamm
just sucked in a sob and sat back down.

“One of you can stay in his room this evening, though he’ll be heavily sedated. He’ll be in cardiac care on the first floor. Mrs. Brand, have you thought of the name of his blood pressure medication? I know under the strain, neither of you could recall it before. Of course, we can phone his doctor for it tomorrow—”

“If
Maam
stays and I can find a way home, I can bring you the bottle of his pills so you can see the dosage and all,” Lydia offered.

“Ya,” Mamm
said. “In the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Sorry, I can’t remember, but it was a strange name.”

“I understand,” Dr. Bryan said. “Lydia, can I call for a driver to take you back to Homestead?”

At that very moment, a miracle. Two miracles in one night, because she’d been praying
Daad
could live a normal life again. And now Hank stood in the door with car keys in his hands as if delivered by an angel. If only Josh could be with him!

“Just one moment,” she told the doctor. “I see someone from home who has a truck.” She hurried over toward Hank.

“Josh isn’t here but he sent me,” Hank blurted. “How’s your dad doing?”

“As well as can be expected. A heart attack.”

“Josh said that’s what the sheriff thought.”

“He was there questioning Josh again?”

“More or less. They did an autopsy on Sandra. It may have been a blow to her head. Hopefully—if I can say it that way—when she fell, not that someone hit her.”

Though Lydia’s stomach had felt cramped for hours, she felt worse now. “It can’t be murder,” she whispered, then shook her head to get back to this reality. “Hank, if you’re heading home, I need a ride. My mother’s going to stay, but I have to get some things for her and
Daad,
including the name of his medicine.”

“Sure. That way you can report into Josh instead of me. But I’ll be out of town tomorrow, so I can’t bring you back here.”

“You’re a godsend as is. Just a minute.”

She promised her mother and the doctor she’d be back with clothing and her father’s medication first thing tomorrow.

“How did Josh’s worker know to come?”
Mamm
asked as the doctor left them. She glanced over and nodded at Hank, even gave him a little wave.

“The sheriff told Josh, who called Hank, I guess. I’ll be back as soon as I can tomorrow. Gid will have to run the store, then I’ll try to get in to help him as soon as I can.”

“
Ya,
you two work together, that’s good.” To Lydia’s surprise,
Mamm
gave her a brief, stiff hug.

“Take good care of
Daad,
” Lydia said, and hurried away.

* * *

“You’re not kidding, are you? So it might be murder?” Ray-Lynn asked Jack when he stopped at home for a quick sandwich and told her the current findings. As horrible as the possibility was that Sandra could have been killed, at least Jack was still confiding in her, though she knew all this would be common knowledge tomorrow.

He’d only taken two bites and was already on his way out the door again, sandwich in his hand. “I said the autopsy shows a blow to her head, that’s all,” he added, talking with his mouth full.

“But that could mean Victoria Keller’s death might be murder, too. Maybe bumping into that gate didn’t cause her death.”

He turned back in the half-open door, despite the cold air swirling in around him. “Don’t go doing my thinking for me, honey. The coroner’s accident versus murder disclosure is going to hit the big newspapers tomorrow, and I’ll be double busy. Thank God I’ve got the BCI techs helping. I think I can do the necessary interviews myself, but if not, I’ll call in one of their agents, too.”

She tugged him back in and closed the door. “So, am I supposed to tell you what I overhear at the restaurant tomorrow? My new manager and the servers sometimes report in to me so—”

“Marva is gonna work out as assistant manager? Hope so, to give you more free time. Then if I get a deputy in here, maybe we can live normal lives, but not now, not yet. Got burned with that last deputy, but I’m ready to try again. Thanks for the sandwich and the coffee. It’s a bit of a drive to Parma.” He reached for the doorknob again.

“Which means you’re going to talk to that guy whose father killed Lydia’s parents years ago?”

“Yeah. He’s kind of a hothead—but then I get the feeling Josh Yoder has a temper, too.”

“No way you’re going to look at Josh for this attack! I mean, you aren’t, are you? Sandra Myerson ticked off a lot of folks around here in a very short time, and that guy you’re going to interview had a motive, so please be careful.”

“Now, why in all that’s holy do I think I need a new deputy when I got you? Speaking of holy, the manger scene committee meeting go okay tonight?”

Ray-Lynn nodded. “Except I’m hoping you’ll be there for the presentation to keep the peace. Last year in Youngstown, some kids intentionally scared the animals and—”

“I know, but with all this going on, I’m not gonna chase camels and donkeys across the fields beyond the church. Ray-Lynn, I gotta go, and you’re obstructing justice, honey!”

He kissed her hard. His breath smelled of peanut butter, and he was rushing off again. But she loved him more than ever.

* * *

It was pitch-black as Hank’s truck rolled through the countryside, heading home. Lydia felt exhausted but somehow alert. Hank had said that Josh was staying strong through all this, focusing on the animals and the sets for the coming manger scenes at Ray-Lynn’s church and Hillside’s town square.

“I hope I can help him, especially the Community Church, since you can’t stay for all three hours of that,” she said. “I want things to go right for Ray-Lynn. She’s been good to me.”

“Yeah, well, I gotta say Josh is worried about you getting pulled into the media stuff surrounding Sandra’s death. Maybe it’s best you not help him right now—”

“No! I think that would look even more suspicious. I want to stop by the barn on the way home to tell him I’m on his side, Hank. Cheer him up. So have you heard anything else besides Homestead being infested with reporters?”

“Not about that. Saw them up close and personal, though, ’fore the sheriff cleared them out.”

“Then they migrated to the furniture store,” she said with a huge sigh. “I can’t blame them for
Daad
’s
 
heart attack, but they didn’t help.”

“There is one thing you should know, and Josh gave me permission to tell you, to let you hear it.”

“Hear what?” she said, turning toward him despite her seat belt.

He reached for his phone, which rested in one of the circular holes for drinks in his truck, hit a button, and this came out,
“Hi, Hank. Sandra Myerson here. Message for Josh Yoder. I’ve learned something interesting about Lydia’s mother, but I’ll save it to tell either you or her. I wasn’t going to tell her at first because it’s pretty upsetting. But I’m coming back to show you I can face those camels, cows and whatever else you have stashed in that barn. Maybe you’ll let me have a kitten for old times’ sake, or are they too young to leave their mother? Can’t wait to see them. Josh, don’t be mad at me. Sorry we had that fight. We can make up and be close again, even if we’re apart. See you soon.”

Lydia realized she was holding her breath. Hank clicked it off; the light on the phone went dead as he said, “She sent it the night before she came back to the barn and fell. And yeah, the sheriff heard it.”

“But about my mother—which one?” she whispered. “She must mean my real mother, Lena Hostetler Brand. Maybe now I’ll never know what she found out. I’ll have to go to the Hostetlers in the area, try to learn more about her, but what could it be that was upsetting? And if the sheriff heard that recording, it lets him know Josh and Sandra had a fight.”

“Yeah. Thought about that. Josh has, too, I’ll bet.”

“Now I definitely want to stop there to see him. If you have to go on, he can take me home or I can walk.”

“Sure, yeah, we can stop there. Lydia, one more thing Josh doesn’t know yet. I saw Gid Reich sort of hanging around your place as I drove by on my way outta town to the hospital.”

She sat forward so fast the seat belt pulled her back. Gid had followed her at least once before. She groaned, then realized why Gid might have been there. “Maybe he was overseeing getting all three of our buggies home from the store, maybe feeding the horses.”

“Yeah, that could have been it. But he was walking around your house, not the barn, when I saw him. Hey, we’re almost to Josh’s. Let me make sure he can take you home ’fore I head out.”

“Hank, I don’t know what he would do without you, and now me, as well.”

“I think you mean you’re thanking me, but you make it sound like he can’t do without you—and that just may be true. Maybe you two should join forces, and one thanks to me will be enough.”

She blinked back tears as he turned the truck toward the Yoder barn, then drove around to the back. “It’s a thought,” she whispered, “but the reality of Josh and my really being together is pretty hard to get to from here, for now.”

Hank knocked on the back barn door and a weary, mussed-looking Josh opened it. He hadn’t even shaved, so did that mean he was starting his beard? Yet he’d never looked better to her. She almost threw herself into his arms but stood her ground.

“How’s your
daad?
”
 
Josh asked when he saw her behind Hank.

“A heart attack. They put a stent in, and he should be okay, but he’ll be there for a little while, then need a lot of downtime.
Mamm
’s with him. I came home to get some things for both of them.”

“Thank the Lord, he’ll be all right.”

“Can you take her home if I leave now?” Hank asked. Lydia realized she and Josh had their gazes locked as though no one else was there, so she tore hers away.

“
Ya,
sure, I can get her home,” Josh told him. “I owe you big-time.”

“Just glad to help. See you tomorrow,” he said, then patted Lydia’s shoulder and walked away.

“Come in,” Josh said, taking her hand to pull her inside. “Everyone here has missed you so much.”

They only got as far as his office when his arms went hard around her. They clung together, then the kissing started. He picked her up, sat down on a hay bale with her sprawled across his lap. If the sheriff suspected Josh of hurting Sandra, she didn’t. She trusted him, needed him, wanted him.

Her bonnet dropped back, her prayer
kapp
went askew and her braid fell free. She didn’t mind the roughness of his beard against her cheeks, but craved his kisses that went on and on, warming her, no, burning her clear down into her belly. His hands raced along her back, cupped her bottom. His free hand seized her ankle, then ran up her stockinged leg to her knee and thigh, ruffling up her coat and dress. They ignored the random brays and camel snorts and
baas
as they breathed in unison, and her lips opened under his to give him access to her mouth, her tongue. She couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think—

Breathing hard, Josh finally broke the kiss and smoothed down her hems. “I’ve got to get you home. You shouldn’t be here—at least not this late. I don’t know what I’d do without you, through all this. But I do know what I want to do with you, and we can’t—like this.”

Still feeling dizzy, she held hard to him with her head on his shoulder, pressing her lips into the warmth of his neck, not sure she could even stand up on her own. When she opened her eyes, hoping to stop the spinning of the world, she glimpsed the mother cat and kittens in a feedbox nearly at their feet.

“You—you brought them down from the haymow,” she whispered.

“Ya,”
he said, not looking at them but nuzzling her neck under the tumble of her hair. “The sheriff was here again, gave me permission. That’s when the call came in to him about your father collapsing at the store.”

He set her aside, stood and lifted her slowly to her feet. “Did Hank let you hear Sandra’s last phone call like I told him?”

She nodded and reached back to pin up her heavy braid then shoved it back under her
kapp.
“When I can, I’m going to reach out to the Hostetlers in the area, my birth mother’s family. I’ll bet Sandra interviewed some of them, and they told her something really disturbing about Lena Hostetler Brand.”

“You also realize from that call that the sheriff has proof that Sandra and I had a falling-out.”

“Well, she and I did, too, and I’ll tell him that.”

“You know I wouldn’t have hurt her!” he insisted, gripping her shoulders in his hands to make her look up at him.

“I believe her death was an accident, or I wouldn’t be here.”

“But the sheriff has new evidence that her head might have been hit with a cylinder-shaped object—maybe a ladder rung when she fell.”