A Season for Tending (12 page)

“I know just what you mean.” His sarcasm rang out clearly as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Because it’s totally immoral to play an instrument. Reports have it that God never did like anyone strumming chords, not even in the Old Testament.”

Her heart pounded as he heaped his casual disrespect onto her. The church’s stance on musical instruments was one of those really difficult topics. She didn’t understand why the Old Order Amish took the view they did, but she accepted the church’s position. It made sense to avoid being the center of attention when the whole congregation couldn’t participate. Also, it seemed reasonable to accept what she’d been told: outside of a church setting, music easily became filled with ungodly lyrics and devilish beats that appealed to the sensual side. But apparently Arlan thought the whole topic was some kind of joke.

She bet Samuel could have a helpful conversation with Arlan.

The screen door popped open, and Mamm walked into the house. “The morning was beautiful and cool, but the temps are soaring now.” She held her dirt-covered hands away from her as she went to the sink. “I put off weeding that garden for far too long. They’d threatened to take over.” She flicked on the faucet and scrubbed her hands. “Going to Samuel’s, are you?”

Catherine glanced at Arlan, wondering how he could do something that might cause his parents grief. “Definitely.”

Mamm pulled a carton of eggs out of the refrigerator. “And if you take him the pie you made, you’ll be able to play with little Hope instead of simply talking about her nonstop.” She got a bowl out of the cupboard and glanced at Arlan. “Your sister finally has a dog. Did you know that?”

“Cool.” Arlan set his glass on the counter. “Where is it?”

“
It
is a she.” Catherine got an insulated carrier from the cabinet and set it on the counter. “Her name’s Hope, and she’s staying at Samuel’s. She’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever laid eyes on.”

Mamm pinched her cheek. “That’s how I felt about you the first time I held you in my arms.”

Mamm would have loved having a large brood of children, but after Arlan was born in a home delivery, she had complications and was rushed by ambulance to a hospital. Whether right or wrong, the doctors felt it necessary to remove her uterus. She was unconscious, and Daed gave them permission.

Mamm kissed Catherine’s forehead.

“Well.” Arlan dusted off his clean hands, a motion that meant he was brushing them off or at least this conversation. “I’m outta here. That’s all the gushy stuff I can take for the day, the month, the year.”

Mamm held up an egg. “I was going to make you something to eat.”

“No thanks.” He ran up the steps. “I’m jumping into some real clothes, and I’ll be gone in less than a minute.”

“Where’s he going?” Catherine moved the pie to the cooling shelf just inside the open window.

Mamm put the egg back into the carton and slid it away from her. “Not sure.”

“He sleeps half the day and then just leaves?”

“He’s been hauling hay for weeks in this heat, and it’s his day off. He’s earned it and however he wants to spend it.”

Catherine plunged her hands into the sink of lukewarm, sudsy water and began washing a few more dishes.

“Don’t go worrying about him.” Mamm wiped sweat from her forehead. “He’s fine. Both of you grew up way too fast, but I can’t treat him like a child just because I want him to be that way. He’ll be a legal adult in a little more than a year.”

Catherine envied her friends who had many little brothers and sisters that they helped and nurtured as they grew up. Arlan was never one to be babied. Now many of those same friends were married and starting their own families. Samuel didn’t understand how hard it was to be in her position. But all she could do was remain patient with him and look forward to the day when they started having children. Her mother would love it. “Mamm, did you have to wait for Daed to be ready to get married?”

Arlan bounded down the stairs, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. “Bye.” He ran out the door while they both said good-bye.

Mamm put the carton of eggs in the refrigerator. “Now, where were we?”

“I asked if you wanted to get married long before Daed did.”

“No. But everyone’s story is different. You know your father. He isn’t afraid to make a decision based on feeling. The minute he fell in love with me, at nineteen years old, he asked me to marry him. Of course we ended up living with his parents for about five years. But Samuel’s not like your father. It’d kill him to follow his emotions ahead of what’s logical.”

“He agreed to get a puppy. That wasn’t based on purely rational thought.”

Mamm grinned. “Oh, I’d say he has plenty of give in him concerning what others need or want, especially you. But you are not a puppy that can be put in a crate or in the barn while he carries on with work. You are his life, and
he wants to carefully plan for your future, knowing you will be with child soon after you’re wed.”

“That’s what I needed to hear.” She finished washing the baking utensils she’d used earlier, dried them, and put them away. Then she eased the pie into the insulated carrier and went to the barn. After hitching up her rig, she set the pie on the floor of the carriage and headed for Samuel’s place.

Fifteen minutes later she pulled up at the Kings’ house. His Mamm was in the backyard, using a broom to whack a braided rug hanging from the clothesline. Billows of dust filled the air with each hit.

Catherine parked the rig at the hitching post and took the pie carrier with her.

“Hi, Catherine.” Her future mother-in-law stopped beating the rug. “Samuel’s not here.” Elizabeth worked the kinks out of her back. “He got a call from Leah early this morning, asking him to come get her at her cousin’s house. She and Dorothy went camping last night.”

Camping?
Catherine knew better. Leah’s cousin had probably gone to the same party that Leah got all dressed up for last night. Dorothy’s father was a preacher in Lancaster, one of the church leaders meant to uphold the Old Ways. How difficult it’d be on him if he knew what his daughter had been up to.

“How’d he get there on a Saturday morning?”

Elizabeth handpicked tiny clumps of lint off the rug. “His uncle’s driver, Craig, came from Lancaster and got him. Good thing someone in this family has a business with a full-time driver.”

“I guess so.” Catherine appreciated that Craig never failed to stop what he was doing to drive any of the Kings to Lancaster when they needed it. But once Samuel arrived at his uncle’s, Craig would return to his carpentry work, leaving Samuel to hitch a horse to a buggy to get around. “You haven’t heard from him since he left this morning?”

“Not yet.” Elizabeth brushed the balls of lint from her hands.

Catherine imagined that neither of Samuel’s parents knew the real story behind his picking up Leah. No matter. She’d find out soon enough.

“Is that your special blueberry pie?”

“Ya.”

“He’ll love it. You’ll stay for dinner, right?”

Catherine had hoped she’d ask. “I will now.”

“Good. Go ahead and put the pie in the kitchen. Then I suspect you’ll be wanting to go see that new pup of yours.”

“I hope you don’t mind her being around.”

Elizabeth grinned. “Not at all. She’s a cute little thing, and the girls are thrilled.”

Catherine took the pie to the kitchen, where Samuel’s youngest sisters were making biscuits. “Hello.”

Thirteen-year-old Katie looked up from kneading a lump of dough. “Hey, Catherine.” She raised flour-covered hands and wiggled her messy fingers. “Want a big hug?”

She laughed. “Maybe later.”

“How about from me then?” Eleven-year-old Betsy left the round cookie cutter in a square of rolled-out dough and wrapped her arms around Catherine’s waist.

After returning the hug, Catherine took her pie out of the carrier and put it in the icebox, disappointed that Samuel wouldn’t be able to eat it while it was still warm. “How do you like the puppy?”

“Are you kidding?” Katie sprinkled more flour on the cutting board. “We go out to the barn every chance we get.”

Betsy pressed the cookie cutter into another section of dough. “Which has been ever so much fun.” She lifted the circle and set it on a baking sheet.

Catherine wouldn’t ask them to join her now. They had a chore to finish. “I’ll go see her, and you two come when you’re done.”

“We’ll be there later. But we’re likely to have to bake and throw out a few batches before we get it right. Mamm’s determined we get the hang of making biscuits … 
today
.”

“Sounds good.” Catherine left the house and went to the barn.

Hope was in a stall, but it wasn’t like the solid wooden stable at Christian’s place, so Samuel had lined it with chicken wire. The cocker spaniel ran around in circles when she saw Catherine, barking as she had at the Lapps’ place. Hope jumped up on her hind legs, her front paws resting on the fencing.

Catherine picked her up and stroked her soft fur. Despite the turmoil she felt over Arlan and Leah, Catherine found solace in the puppy. Samuel had known that when he put the pup in her arms. If only he were as eager to marry her as she was him.

She found an old towel to play tug of war with Hope. The puppy roughhoused for a while, and then Catherine sat on a bale of hay, and Hope snuggled into her lap and took a nap.

It seemed as if only minutes had passed before Katie and Betsy joined her. They chatted and played with the puppy, and when the dinner bell rang, Catherine turned to the girls. “It can’t possibly be that late already.”

Katie giggled. “That’s how we were this morning. There’s just something about a new puppy that makes the hours fly by.”

“Apparently so.” Catherine put the puppy into the pen. Why wasn’t Samuel back yet? He’d have come to the barn to let her know if he was home.

Elizabeth was punctual about mealtimes, so Catherine hurried the girls to the house, and they washed up before sitting down at the table. Samuel’s Daed, Benjamin, was there, but none of the other King men were. Although Catherine enjoyed Elizabeth’s delicious apple-glazed chicken and stuffing and the girls’ biscuits, she couldn’t stop wondering what was keeping Samuel. It wasn’t unusual for him to sit and chat with his family in Lancaster over coffee or something, but surely he would’ve planned to be back in time for dinner.

Jacob and Eli finally came in from the field, saying the day’s work load had taken longer without Samuel. As the men started filling their plates, Catherine heard a car drive up outside. She excused herself and went out the front door, straightening the folds in her apron. Samuel and Leah got out of the car.

Neither looked happy.

Samuel had been at the dinner table for ten minutes, and he couldn’t take much more of listening to Leah tell half-truths. He rubbed his aching head, and Mamm got up from the supper table. She passed Samuel two Advil.

“Denki, Mamm.” He picked up his glass of water and swallowed the pills.

“Gern gschehne.”
Mamm took a seat again. “Leah, I can’t believe you and your cousin pitched a tent in someone’s berry patch.”

“What tent?” Leah asked. “I slept under the stars. It was warm enough.”

“I doubt the person who planted those berries intended for a couple of teenage girls to simply set up camp and help themselves.” Samuel’s Daed crossed his arms over his chest.

“I didn’t help myself.” Leah swallowed a mouthful of stuffing. “And the woman who owns the patch is Rhoda. She didn’t mind me being there.”

Samuel picked at his food. Their parents didn’t question her story, and Samuel intended to add nothing. He simply sat there.

Samuel glanced at Catherine. How well was she holding up?

Daed picked up the saltshaker. “Samuel, what’s your take on all this?”

“Leah slept in the patch. Rhoda found her and fed her, and then Leah helped pick berries, so I’m hoping she paid the woman for any inconvenience she caused.”

Leah nodded. “I did. Trust me.”

Samuel stiffened at Leah’s “trust me.” The meal continued with very little else said.

When everyone was finished, Catherine put her fork on her plate. “Anyone ready for dessert?”

Samuel appreciated her effort, but he’d eaten enough to assure his family he was fine. That’s all he could stomach right now.

Katie’s face glowed. “Catherine brought one of her blueberry pies.”

“Maybe later.” Samuel set his napkin on the table. “I wouldn’t do it justice right now.” With a brief glance at Leah, he rose and left the room.

Although Catherine usually stayed in the kitchen to help clean up after a meal, he was glad when she excused herself and followed him outside.

She took his hand. “Want to go see Hope?”

“What?”

“Our puppy, silly.”

He’d forgotten about the dog. “Oh. Ya, sure.” He tightened his fingers around hers. The moment they stepped into the barn, Hope started barking. Samuel had to do something useful and mindless, so he brushed the horses.

Catherine grabbed the towel again and tussled with Hope. While he spread a scoop of oats into the horses’ troughs, she dropped the towel and came to the short wall of a stall. “You calm enough yet to talk?”