A Mother's Secret (5 page)

Barbie Glick smiled at her son, Joshua, on her way to the kitchen where she helped the other women prepare to serve the food to the men.

“
Mammi
,” her granddaughter Lillian said as she sidled up beside her. “Have you met Lena Esh?”

Barbie shook her head. “I don’t think I have.”

“She was sitting with Anna Mary and me.” Lillian motioned toward the other side of the kitchen where her best friend, Anna Mary Esh, stood with a girl who had the same brown hair and eyes. “That’s Lena. She’s Anna Mary’s older sister who just moved back here from Ohio. She’s almost thirty.”

“She just moved back here?” Barbie filled a tray with dishes of peanut butter spread as she spoke. “Where was she living?”

“She lived with her cousins for a few years, helping to take care of her sick
mammi
in Sugar Creek, Ohio, and then decided to join the church and come back to be with her family. She’s working in the Esh family’s bakery now.” Lillian picked up a pitcher of coffee and grinned. “She’d be perfect for
Onkel
Josh. You said you’d like him to finally get married. Maybe she could be the one to steal his heart.”

“Oh,
ya
?” Barbie studied the girl, taking in the slight frame and pretty smile of the church’s new member. “You think so?”

“Oh
ya
.” Lillian pushed the ribbons back from her prayer covering. “Lena is really sweet, and she already thinks
Onkel
Josh is handsome. I pointed him out to her earlier. Anna Mary told me Lena is eager to get married and start a family. I think Lena and
Onkel
Josh would get along just fine.” She motioned toward the door. “I’m going to go fill coffee cups.”

“I’ll be right there with the peanut butter spread.” Barbie carried the tray over to where Lena was talking with Anna Mary while they filled bowls with cheese spread. “
Gude mariye
.”

Lena and Anna Mary returned the greeting.

“I hear you’re working at the bakery,” Barbie said to Lena while balancing the tray in her hands.

“
Ya
.” Lena nodded while glancing down at the bowls of cheese spread. “I love to cook and bake.”

“That’s
wunderbaar
.” Barbie smiled. “I also hear you lived with your cousins for a while.”

“I did.” Lena’s shoulders hunched a little. “I cared for my grandmother for a number of years. After she passed, I realized I was supposed to come back to my family, find a husband, and be his helpmate. That’s what God intended for us to do.” She smiled at Anna Mary and then looked at Barbie again. “I want to fall in love and get married soon. I’m almost thirty, so I feel like it’s time to start a family.”

Anna Mary nodded, causing the ribbons to bounce from her prayer covering. “We’re glad you came back.”

“I’m so
froh
to be back. I missed my family so much. And the bakery is so fun.
Mei mamm
says I’m a really
gut
baker. She says I’ll make a husband
froh
because I’ll make
gut
food and keep him well fed.” Lena’s cheeks blazed a bright pink. “I don’t mean to be prideful.”

“You’re not prideful,” Anna Mary told her sister. “Lily says I’m a
gut
teacher’s assistant too. I love teaching with Lily. Maybe you can help me make some
kichlin
to bring in for the scholars next week. They would love to have some of your chocolate chip
kichlin
.”

“That’s a
gut
idea.” Lena’s smile was wide with excitement. “I want to see your schoolhouse too. You have to invite me to come in and visit the class one day. Do you think the scholars would like chocolate chip
kichlin
or another kind? I can always make oatmeal raisin and peanut butter. What about peanut butter with chocolate chips?”

Barbie nodded slowly while she listened to Lena discuss her
favorite cookie recipes. The young lady’s demeanor and voice were humble, and she seemed respectful when she talked to Barbie.

Barbie’s smile widened as a thought filled her—Lena was the complete opposite of Hannah, her former daughter-in-law, who never heeded Barbie’s suggestions or took her advice on child-rearing or housekeeping. No matter how much Barbie tried to train Hannah to keep a house and raise her children the way she had raised her boys, Hannah did the opposite.

Lena would be the perfect, dutiful, respectful daughter-in-law who would be certain to listen to Barbie and obey her. And Barbie was certain that if Lena did marry Joshua, Lena would never consider leaving the community and taking away Barbie’s grandchildren as Hannah had done last year. It was obvious that the young lady took her church vows seriously and was determined to be a dutiful helpmate to her future husband.

Barbie was intent on getting Joshua married. He was nearly forty, and she longed for more grandchildren—especially since Hannah had left the community and taken two of Barbie’s precious grandchildren with her. She saw Amanda and Andrew periodically, but she missed them desperately at church.

Lena would be the perfect wife for Joshua. She was young and pretty, and she could bake and cook. Barbie was certain Lena could keep a house too. If not, then Barbie would teach her how. She just had to point Lena out to Joshua and motivate him to leave the farm and start dating. Her son worked constantly and never attended the gatherings for the older singles in the community. She had to get him to step away from the farm and start living a full life.

“I think the scholars would love your peanut butter
kichlin
,”
Anna Mary said after Lena stopped talking about recipes. “That’s a
gut
idea.”

“Lena,” Barbie said, “have you gone to any of the socials for the older singles since you’ve come back?”

Lena shook her head. “No, I haven’t gone yet.”

“You should go,” Barbie said. “You’ll meet the bachelors in the community. I know there are some older bachelors who could use a
gut
fraa
like you.”

Anna Mary jabbed her sister’s ribs. “I told you that you should go. It’s the only way you’re going to meet someone. You said you want to get married.”

Lena shrugged. “Okay. I’ll go.”

“
Gut
.” Barbie smiled as she started toward the door. She had successfully convinced Lena to go to a social gathering for the older singles in the community. Now if she could just get Joshua to go and meet Lena.

After lunch, Joshua had said good-bye to his friends and was hitching his horse to his buggy when his father walked up behind him.

“How was the auction?” his father asked as he began to help him.

“It went really well.” Joshua nodded. “I sold five horses.”

“
Gut, gut!
”
Dat
clapped his hands. “You’ve gotten busy. You should consider hiring more help.”

“There was one issue at the auction. A
bu
threw a rock at Buck and now Buck has a gash in his rump. Cameron Wood came over last night and stitched him up.”

“That’s awful,”
Dat
said. “Is Buck all right?”

“He’s fine. I found the
bu
who did it. He’s going to start working for me tomorrow to repay the vet bill debt. The
bu’s
name is Benjamin Lapp. He’s fifteen.” Joshua gestured toward his father. “You know his
daadi
.”

“I do?”
Dat
looked confused.

“You went to school with him. Titus Lapp. He lives over in Gordonville.”

“Oh
ya
! Titus Lapp.”
Dat
fingered his beard as he spoke. “He married a
maedel
named Miriam, and they have two
kinner
.”

Joshua shrugged. “
Ya
, that sounds right.”

Dat
leaned against the buggy. “How is old Titus?”

“
Gut
, I guess.” Joshua shrugged. “Maybe he’ll come to the farm with Benjamin sometime and you can stop by and see. Benjamin is going to help out until the summer.”

“Sounds like the
bu
needs to do some work. And you need the help, so it will work out perfectly,”
Dat
said.

“
Ya
, I hope so. The
bu
is small. He actually looks a lot younger than he is, but maybe working on my farm will help him develop some strength and muscles. I know it’s helped Danny fill out some.”

“What are you two talking about?” His mother walked around from behind the buggy.

Joshua shared the story of the boy coming to work for him, and she crossed her chubby arms over her wide dress and nodded in agreement.

“Sounds like a
gut
plan.”
Mamm
suddenly smiled. “Did you see the new
maedel
at service today?”

Joshua shook his head while he finished hitching the horse. “No, I didn’t.”

“Her name is Lena, and she’s Anna Mary Esh’s older
schweschder.
You know Anna Mary. She’s Lily’s teacher’s assistant at the schoolhouse. She started helping Lily out at the school a couple of months ago.”

Joshua tried not to frown as his mother talked on about things that didn’t really interest him. “I know Anna Mary.”

“Oh,
gut
. Anyway, her older
schweschder
Lena just came back to Paradise after living with her cousins. She wound up joining the church out in Sugar Creek, but she wanted to come back here to be with her
mamm
and
dat
. She’s almost thirty. She’s working at the Esh family’s bakery, and she likes to bake and cook. You should meet her.”

“
Mamm
,” Joshua began, doing his best to keep his voice even despite his growing agitation, “please don’t start trying to fix me up with someone. I told you already I’m too busy to date. I have a business to run.”

“Listen to me, Joshua.” His mother gripped his sleeve. “It’s not natural for you to be alone. You need a
fraa
to run your household for you. You can’t do all the cooking and cleaning yourself. I won’t be here to take care of you forever. You need to stay strong and healthy so you can run your farm. You need a
fraa
to cook
gut
food for you.”

Joshua gritted his teeth to bite back disrespectful words. “
Mamm
, I take
gut
care of myself, and I don’t expect you to cook or clean for me. I can handle it all on my own. I’ve done pretty well since I moved into the
haus
on the farm. I haven’t starved yet, have I?”

“No, no, you haven’t. You look healthy so far.” She waved off his rebuttal. “Just give me a chance to tell you about Lena. She’s perfect for you. She’s young and
schee
. She’s just what you need.
You’ll get to know her, marry her, and you’ll have a houseful of
kinner
. Don’t you want what Gideon had?” She sniffed, and her blue eyes misted over with tears when she mentioned his late brother. “Gideon was such a
gut dat
. I know you can be one too. Hannah has taken two of
mei grandkinner
away from our community. You can bring us more
grandkinner
. You can help repair my broken heart.”

Joshua looked at his father, hoping he would change the subject and stop his mother from ranting about the painful subject of Gideon, Hannah, and the children they all missed. Instead of chiming in, his father looked resigned to his mother’s determination.

“Just go to a social and meet Lena,” his mother continued. “You’ll like her, Josh. I’m certain you’ll want to get to know her better.”

“Fine,” Joshua said with a sigh. “I’ll go to a social and meet her, but don’t start planning my wedding just yet. I never said I was desperate to get married. You’re just desperate to get me married.”

“
Wunderbaar!
You’ll finally go to a social!” His mother clapped her hands. “I know you’ll be
froh
to meet Lena.” She looked past him and gasped. “There she is with Anna Mary. Look toward that group of
maed
. They’re standing with Lily.”

Joshua looked toward a group of young women talking by the pasture fence and spotted a young woman standing with his niece and her friend. The young lady was average height and had light brown hair. She laughed while Anna Mary and Lily seemed to be talking nonstop beside her. She angled her face toward Joshua, and he noticed her delicate features. Lena then smiled at Lillian, and her face seemed to light up. Joshua had to admit she
was attractive, but what did he know about dating? He’d pined for Hannah for nearly half of his life, and she’d walked away from him and the community without looking back.

“You should go talk to her now, Joshua.”
Mamm
nudged him with her hand. “Just go say hello.”

Joshua eyed his mother. “I can’t go talk to her now. I need to get home and feed the horses.” His mother opened her mouth to speak, and he raised his finger. “I told you I will go to a social. Please don’t push this. You know I don’t like to be pressured into things.”

“Okay, okay.” She nodded. “That will be just fine.”

“I’ll see you both later. I’m going to head home.” Joshua shook his father’s hand and gave his mother a quick hug before climbing into the buggy.

He guided the horse out to the main road while thinking about his mother. He loved her, but sometimes he wished she would concentrate on something else. She’d always pressured him to find someone and get married, but lately it seemed to be her one focus, her one goal in life.