A Miracle of Hope (The Amish Wonders Series) (6 page)

Josiah was pleased to see the truck pulling into the yard. He didn’t want to discuss his marriage to Lindie with Simon yet.

His father-in-law slowly made his way over. “I expected you to tell me last
nacht
that you got married.”

Josiah swallowed. “You knew?”

“Last week the bishop told me of your plans.”

Josiah continued to the lumber barn and, once there, unlatched the door. He wasn’t going to ask Simon for more details on that conversation. Instead, he shoved the wooden door across its track and waited for the truck to back into place. Even though he pretended not to be interested, he couldn’t help but wonder if everyone in their district had been made privy to the details of his marriage. Not that he had told anyone, including the bishop, the exact details.

“I am one of the ministers.” Simon broke the silence.

He kicked at a wood shim and it skipped over the snow. “I’m
sorry. I should’ve told you myself.” He wished the bishop had told him that he and Simon had talked. Another reason to keep closemouthed about his and Lindie’s arrangement.

“Well, given your situation . . .”

Josiah understood that his father-in-law was unable to continue. He didn’t want to talk about his situation either. Josiah waved at Hal as he climbed out of the truck cab.

Hal, a stocky man in his late sixties, ambled to the back of the rig where Josiah and Simon stood. A much younger version of Hal, his teenaged grandson, leaped down from the passenger side.

Josiah wished Hal would cut the engine while they compared paperwork. The truck’s exhaust fumes irritated his throat. He turned and coughed into his gloved hand.

Hal handed Josiah the paperwork. “They wanted me to tell you this was a partial shipment. Apparently Badger Creek had some bad weather and couldn’t get to the trees.”

“I heard talk of the ice storm and wondered how it would affect them.” Badger Creek was another settlement, sixty miles north. They supplied the pine lumber he used to build pallets and the maple, oak, and ash he used to build furniture. He usually ordered enough in November to get him through the entire winter.

“They said it will be at least another week.”

“That’s fine. I have an order of Christmas wreaths to finish anyway.” Josiah scanned the invoice. Everything appeared in order.

“That works fine for me too. I’d just as soon recline in my easy chair and watch U of M.”

Josiah assumed Hal was talking about football, but up in their neck of the woods, most
Englischers
talked about hockey. Not that
Josiah was a fan of either sport, though he found it interesting when Hal would arrive with the radio blaring a football game. Hal had been squawking about retiring and sitting in his recliner since Josiah and his father-in-law started the mill ten years ago.

Hal’s grandson opened the rear of the trailer and dropped the ramp. A few minutes later he drove a mini-forklift out with the first pallet of wood stock. With Simon showing where the wood should be stacked, the order was unloaded in minutes.

Josiah signed the invoice and handed it to Hal. He coughed again into his hand.

“Catching a cold?”

“No, it must be something in the air.”

Hal shrugged. “You have anything to send out?”

Josiah shook his head. “Not until after Christmas. But I picked up a new account. Is Ohio too far for you to drive?”

“Depends how often. I still want to retire one day.”

Josiah smiled. “Probably four times a year.”

“Oh, that ain’t nothing. Me and the boy can handle that run,” he said, heading to his rig.

“Gut.”
Josiah figured it wouldn’t be a problem when he arranged with Eli to supply wood for his banister business.

Hal shot a wave out the window as the truck rolled out of the drive. Josiah coughed hard to clear his lungs.

“Maybe you’re catching a
kalt
.” Simon slid the barn door shut.

He shook his head, although he had been feeling run-down the past several days. Stress. And the night before last he noticed a rash had broken out on his chest. He’d attributed most of that to Lindie’s arrival. At least he’d prayed it was only stress. Now he wasn’t so sure. Three times this week he had woken up with night sweats.

Josiah coughed again. “I need something to drink. Do you want
kaffi
?”

“Nay, denki.”

Josiah didn’t just need something to wet his throat, he wanted to check on Lindie and Hannah.

Lindie couldn’t restrain her curiosity. The envelope Eli had handed Josiah at the bus station lay in plain sight on the kitchen table propped up against the saltshaker. Dare she count what it had cost to marry her off? The sign language book rested on the table also. She should work on learning how to communicate with Hannah. But she reached for the envelope instead and flipped it over. Sealed. Its thickness conveyed a large sum of cash. Money her brother perhaps had to borrow. She wished more than ever that she’d never tried to attend that singing. But wishful thinking couldn’t turn back time.

The door creaked open and Lindie dropped the envelope and stepped away from the table just as Josiah entered the kitchen. He coughed into the crook of his arm as he crossed the room, then pulled a glass from the cabinet.

She breathed easier. He didn’t seem to notice that she’d been inspecting the envelope.

He gulped the water, draining the glass. “Where’s Hannah?”

“She hasn’t
kumm
out of her room.”

Lines deepened across his forehead and he darted toward the hallway.

Lindie followed as far as the kitchen entrance, stopped, and craned her neck around the wall.

Josiah continued toward the bedrooms and disappeared into the child’s room.

Lindie wrung her hands. She hoped she hadn’t said anything to get Hannah in trouble with her father.

A few moments later Josiah exited the room, his facial expression relaxed. He smiled as he approached Lindie in the hall. “Hannah’s fine.”

“Were you worried about her being alone in her room for so long?”

“I was worried she’d slipped out of the house unnoticed. She doesn’t handle change very well. I thought maybe she went off to the woods.”

“Alone?” The hair on Lindie’s arms stood on end at the thought. “You need to tell her that’s dangerous.”

Josiah gave her a less than enthused look, but said nothing.

“She’s okay to stay in her room?”

“She’s fine. She’s drawing a picture.” He grabbed the envelope from the table, then turned to leave.

“What do you want me to make for lunch?”

“I’m
nett
fussy. If you don’t find what you need in the pantry, canned goods are in the basement, and meat is in the
icehaus
,” he said over his shoulder as he left the room.

She inched toward the sitting room. Hiding behind the wall, she caught a glimpse of him seated at the desk.

Josiah opened one of the drawers with a key, placed the envelope inside, then relocked the drawer. He sat there a moment, his elbows resting on the desk and fingers massaging his temples. Then he pushed back the chair and looked toward the kitchen.

Lindie spun around and leaned against the wall. As his footsteps drew closer, she scurried over to the sink, grabbing the glass
off the counter. She was filling it when he entered her peripheral vision.

Josiah’s mouth twisted as he scanned the counter.

Either her hands had turned clammy or the glass was sweating, but it nearly slipped from her grasp. “Thirsty?” She handed him the glass and grabbed the dishrag. The counter was clean, but she wiped it down anyway. She would do anything to exhaust some of her nervous energy.

“I haven’t met your mother-in-law yet. Do they live close by?”

“
Mei
mother-in-law is deceased, and Simon lives in the
grossdaadi haus
, which is attached to the back of the workshop.”

“It must have been hard for Hannah to lose her
mamm
and
mammi
.” Lindie was a teenager when her parents died. If she hadn’t been so close to her sister-in-law, despair might have overtaken her. Lindie was grateful that Eli and Margaret had taken her in.

“
Jah
, Hannah has had a lot to cope with.” His face grimaced and he looked away. A moment later he said, “I suppose I better get back to work.”

“
Jah
, me too.” She continued cleaning the counter until he left the kitchen. Curious if she could see the
grossdaadi haus
, she stepped to the window. Black smoke billowed from two stovepipes extending from the roof of the workshop. The farthest pipe must be the woodstove in Simon’s place. From where she was standing, she couldn’t see anything that indicated a house was attached to the barn. She started to move away from the window when a woman driving a buggy came into view.

Chapter Five

L
indie rose to her tiptoes and craned her neck, trying to get a better view out of the kitchen window. Josiah waved at the driver and walked over to the buggy. A dark-haired woman in her midthirties climbed out and greeted Josiah with an overly friendly smile.

Lindie hadn’t heard him mention having other relatives who lived in Cedar Ridge besides Simon, but she and Josiah hadn’t spoken much either.

The woman wore a coy expression and kept her head bowed. She stood so close her shoulder practically touched his. She wasn’t acting like a relative. Obviously she wasn’t aware that Josiah was a married man now. Did he not notice that the woman was flirting with him? He walked around the back of her buggy.

They were standing close enough to the porch that their conversation would have drifted inside. If only the weather was favorable to open the window.

Lindie sighed. How could she consider eavesdropping on her new husband?

Josiah rounded the corner of the woman’s buggy, a large wicker laundry basket in his arms. Following close behind him, the woman carried a covered baking dish.

Lindie moved away from the window as the woman followed him up the porch steps. Muffled chatter about how the woman knew he liked the meal she’d made was drowned out by the sound of stomping feet at the door. Lindie strained to hear Josiah’s reply, but his voice was too low.

The front door creaked open.

Lindie grabbed the wet dishrag and began scrubbing the counter.

“
Denki
for the meal. I’ll take it to the kitchen,” Josiah said.

“Well, ah . . . I thought maybe—”

“Simon is expecting me back in the barn.” He didn’t wait for the woman’s response. “I appreciate you stopping over with the laundry and supper,” he said, softening his tone. “Let me walk you to your buggy.”

Let me tell you I’m married
was what Josiah should be saying.

A few moments later the door opened again. This time his heavy footsteps marched closer to the kitchen.

Lindie continued scrubbing the counter.

“You don’t have to make anything for supper.”

She lifted the rag. “That was thoughtful of your sister. Why didn’t you invite her in for
kaffi
?”

“She’s
nett mei
sister.”

“Cousin?”

He shook his head.

Lindie resumed scouring, as if beet juice had stained the countertop.

“Weren’t you cleaning the counter a few minutes ago?”

She shot him a sideways glare. “I thought this was what you
wanted from our arrangement. Someone to clean and cook.” She stared at the dish on the table. “But I guess you don’t need someone to cook after all, do you?”

“
Nett
tonight.” He motioned to the sitting room. “And you don’t have to catch up on the laundry either. Hannah can put her clothes away, and I’ll sort through mine and Simon’s when I
kumm
in later.” He eyed the counter. “I suppose you won’t stop scrubbing until you strip the finish off that surface,
jah
?”

She tossed the rag into the sink and planted her hands on her hips. “Why did you marry me? You seem to have all your needs taken care of.”

He stared at her a moment.

Another man wouldn’t allow his wife such boldness without rebuking her. Still, she wouldn’t be made a fool of.

He closed the gap between them. “According to your
bruder
, you needed a fresh start.” He turned away, then stopped. Facing her once more, he said, “And what makes you so sure
all
my needs are taken care of?”

Lindie swallowed. She didn’t have the nerve to ask what he was referring to, and yet he raised his brows as though prompting her to say something. Her eyes burning, she blinked several times to clear her teary vision. Her brother paid Josiah to marry her—what more did he want?

She sprinted past him, out the door. Somehow she had to gain control of her emotions. They were playing havoc with her stomach.

“Lindie,” Josiah said, stepping onto the porch. “I didn’t mean to make you cry. I know being pregnant does some crazy things to your—”

“How much did
mei bruder
pay you to marry me?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Eli gave you money to marry me. How much did you charge for a marred
fraa
?”

His brows furrowed and he cocked his head. “It’s too
kalt
out here. Let’s talk inside.”