Faithful to Laura (25 page)

“I reckon Lukas is still at home,” Laura said. “He’s taking care of something with Anna.”

“She’s not sick, is she?”

Laura shook her head. “Everything’s okay. I’m sure he’ll explain it to you later. Is it still okay if we
geh
eat now?”

Tobias’s gaze darted between Laura and Sawyer. He looked at his nephew. “That’s how you pick a
maedel
up for lunch?”

“Uh, sorry. Wasn’t thinking clearly.”

“I can tell.” Tobias waved them off. “
Geh
on. Be back in an hour.”

“We will.” Laura looked at Sawyer. “Ready?”

“For what?”

“Lunch. Remember you promised you’d take me to get one of those sandwiches you like so much.”

“Right.” He glanced to see where Tobias was, but his uncle had already gone inside. Sawyer leaned against the truck.

“Laura, I’m so sorry.”

“You can tell me on the way there.”

“To Middlefield Cheese? You’re serious. I thought you were covering for me.” He wasn’t hungry. But he didn’t want to be alone either. After nearly running over Laura, he didn’t need to be left to his own devices. At least not now.

“I didn’t want to lie to Tobias.” Laura moved closer to Sawyer. “We don’t have to
geh
eat. We can just
geh
for a drive. Or a walk. Whatever you want.”

This was a new side of Laura. He thought for sure she’d be mad at him for touching her. Which he’d been an idiot to do in the first place. He knew how sensitive she was about the scars, even though she didn’t let on. But the look of fear in her eyes as he’d brushed the sawdust off her cheek convinced him that she wasn’t over the trauma. Although her confidence seemed to grow with each day, there were some wounds that took a long time to heal.

He thought about the pond behind Johnny’s house. In the past few years it was his fishing hole, but the pond held more meaning than that. When he was hiding in the barn, he would pick up clothes and other items there from Johnny and Mary Beth. It was their drop spot, meeting spot, and eventually where they hung out with their friends. But over time, as Mary Beth spent more time with Christopher and Johnny with his job, he’d gone there alone. To fish. To think.

He turned to her.

“I know exactly where I’d like to go.”

Emma was preparing lunch when she heard a knock at the door. She set aside the bowl of chicken salad and answered the back door. “Clara,” she said. “I’m surprised to see you.”

Clara twisted her fingers together. “Can I come in?”

“Of course. You don’t have to ask.” She wasn’t used to Clara being so subdued. In the past she would have barged in, making some demand or another. Emma closed the door.

Clara’s smile was uneasy. “Can we talk?”

“Ya.”
Emma led Clara to the couch. Her sister perched on the edge of it. “Nothing’s wrong, is it?”

“Nee.”
Clara shook her head, looking away. She glanced back at Emma. “I . . . well, I wanted to know . . .”

“Know what?”

She took a deep breath. “Do you need help with the wedding?”

Emma’s eyes widened. Despite the improvement in their relationship, her sister still didn’t care for Adam. She never had, not since he had left Middlefield.

“I thought you might be surprised,” Clara said.

Emma nodded. “I know how you feel about Adam.” When Clara didn’t say anything, Emma added, “But I could use the help.” She sighed. “I don’t really know what I’m doing.
Grossmammi’s
helping, of course, but neither of us is as organized as you.”

Clara smiled for the first time since she arrived. “Peter might disagree with the organization part,” she said. “But since I’ve been through this before, I thought I could help you with a few things.”

“How about the whole wedding?”

Clara laughed. “Is it that bad? Isn’t Adam’s
mudder
giving you advice?”

“Not right now.” Emma didn’t say anything about her talk with her grandmother. While she didn’t want to keep secrets, everybody didn’t need to know what happened between her and Adam. “I think once it gets closer to the date, she’ll be more help.”

Clara nodded. “I also think we should put off building the shelter until after the wedding. Maybe even until the spring. If that’s okay with you. You should be spending time with your
mann
.”

Emma grinned. “Don’t worry, I will be. I agree about waiting until after the wedding, but I don’t think we should put it off until spring. The shelter will be a warm place for the animals during the coldest months of the winter.”

“All right. That’s up to you. It’s your shelter.” She smiled again. “Your dream.”

Emma smiled. “
Danki
. I know how hard it was for you to say that.”

Clara pressed her lips together. “It’s hard for me not to feel protective of you.”

“Or boss me around.” Emma tried for a good-natured tone, but a slight note of sarcasm slipped in. Years of resentment couldn’t disappear in a few months.

“You call it bossing, I call it guiding.” Clara shrugged, a half grin on her face. “Peter says I can be heavy-handed sometimes.”

“Sometimes.” Emma leaned forward. “Before we make any plans, I need to know something.”

“What?”

“I love Adam. I can’t wait to be his wife. I need to know that you can accept that. We’ll be
familye
soon.”

“Emma, your happiness is important to me. I can see he makes you happy.”

“He does. He makes me very happy.”

“Then I’m glad to have him as a
schwoger
.” Clara suddenly reached over and hugged Emma. “I’m glad this is all happening for you.”

Emma hugged her back. “Some days I have to pinch myself to believe it.” She pulled back. “I never thought I’d feel so wonderful.”

Clara held her sister’s hand. “Enjoy that feeling, Emma.

You deserve it.”

Leona stood in the doorway of the kitchen, watching Emma as she sat at the table. Emma was humming a slightly off-key version of a church hymn as she wrote in a small notebook. From the smile on her face and the rosy hue of her cheeks, Leona could tell she was thinking of Adam.

Emma looked up at her and smiled. “You just missed Clara. She came by to offer her help with the wedding.”

“Miracles never cease.” Leona leaned on her cane as she moved into the room and lowered herself into the chair across from Emma. “What are you doing?”

“Starting a list for the wedding.” She glanced up at Leona.

“There’s so much to do in such a short time.”

“
Ya
. That’s usually how it is with weddings.”

“I remember Clara’s.” Emma tapped her chin with the eraser end of the pencil. “How perfect she wanted everything to be.”

“I thought your
mammi
was going to have a fit from all the stress.”

Emma’s expression turned somber. She put down the pencil.

“I wish
Mamm
was here.”

“Me too, Emma.”

Leona gripped the edge of the table. Emma’s comment made what Leona had to say that much harder. As if it wasn’t hard enough. “I have something to tell you.”

Emma frowned. “I know that look,
Grossmammi
.” She leaned forward. “What’s wrong?”

Leona hesitated. Maybe she shouldn’t do this. She had prayed for guidance last night, once Norman had agreed to talk to Carol. Did Emma really need to know about her mother’s weakness? Would that taint her memory of her? Yet how much worse would it be if she found out some other way, and found out that Leona knew?

Emma had experienced enough betrayal and loss in her young life. There was no guarantee that she wouldn’t deal with more. But Leona didn’t want to be the source of it. Like ripping off a bandage, it would be painful now, but quick.

The secret had festered long enough.

Emma’s chest tightened. What else could go wrong? She finally had what she wanted, what she’d prayed for. Adam’s love. His promise to marry her. A better relationship with her sister. For the first time in years she looked forward to the future.

Yet the ache in her grandmother’s eyes promised to bring more pain. When would enough be enough?

“It’s about your
mammi
, Emma.”
Grossmammi
cleared her throat. Her grandmother continued speaking. About Emma’s mother. Adam’s father. Their indiscretion. A buzzing sound grew loud in her ears as she heard the words.

Emma couldn’t sit still any longer. She got up and paced across the room. “How do you know this?”

“Mary told me. Norman confirmed it when I confronted him.”

It made sense. Adam’s parents’ strange behavior when they heard about the wedding. Carol’s distance and noticeable despair. Everything finally fit. “Does Adam’s mother know?”

“I think she does.”

“I think so too.” Emma gripped the back of the chair.

“What about Adam?” Was he keeping another secret from her?

Grossmammi
shook her head. “I doubt it. Emma, I’m so sorry. Sit,
lieb
. Please.” When Emma sat down,
Grossmammi
reached for her hand.

“I didn’t want to tell you. I don’t want you to think badly of your
mudder
. She was a
gut
woman. And your
vadder
had just died.”