A Season for Tending (30 page)

He was confident about what he wanted—had been since the idea of her canning their cider apples first came to him. He’d gone over her visit in his mind dozens of times since she left, and his frustrations with himself and Catherine had only grown. He should’ve told Catherine about Rhoda and vice versa. If he had, Friday would’ve gone so much smoother.

Catherine. He loved her, but his patience with her was wearing thin of late. What would possess her to tell Arlan that Leah was pregnant? Leah had a right to be upset. As a future member of the King family, Catherine should protect the family, not lie or gossip about them. If rumors that Leah was pregnant spread through the community, regardless of the source, Leah would blame Catherine.

The faint smell of coffee and frying sausage drifted into his room from under the closed door. Having showered and shaved before bedtime last night,
he slid into his clothes and headed downstairs for the coffee pot, aided only by the dim light from the gas pole lamp in the kitchen.

The floorboards under him groaned, and his Mamm turned to face him.

“Marye.”
She slid a pan of biscuits into the oven.

Samuel rubbed his eyes before grabbing a coffee mug. “Good morning to you, too, Mamm.”

“It just finished perking.” She turned off the stove eye under the percolator.

He poured the steaming liquid into his cup, plunked a spoon into it, and then sat in a chair near the oven.

A set of footsteps coming down the stairs, too light to be Jacob, Eli, or Daed, surprised him. Who else would be up while it was still dark outside?

“Leah?” Samuel blinked. “You’re up early.”

“I was too restless to sleep.” She went to the sink and ran water over a washrag.

Mamm put her hand on Leah’s back. “Your appointment with that specialist can’t get here soon enough for me.”

Leah hugged Mamm, which struck Samuel as odd. A few weeks ago she would’ve pulled away, silently blaming and punishing Mamm for everything that wasn’t going her way.

“Denki.” She squeezed the excess water from the cloth and pressed it to her lips.

Mamm returned to the stove, where a pan of sausage sizzled.

Leah sat across from Samuel. “I have the answer.”

“I’m glad somebody does.” He smiled at his sister. “I hope this isn’t about getting revenge on Catherine.”

Mamm turned to face them, the spatula in her hand dripping grease from the sausage. “Why would she want that?”

“He’s kidding, Mamm.”

Mamm went back to her cooking.

Samuel lowered his voice. “You didn’t tell?”

“I most certainly did. I made sure Catherine knew that I knew and that you knew what she’d said about me. That’s enough.”

“I appreciate your not saying more than that.”

Eli thudded down the stairs like a stiff old man. He rubbed his eyes. “We need rain, not just for the crops, but so I can get a day to sleep in.” He went to the refrigerator and poured a glass of orange juice before sitting next to Samuel.

The back door opened, and Jacob strolled into the room, looking as if he’d spent the evening in a brawl—and lost. His shirt was untucked and unbuttoned, bunched oddly around his suspenders.

Leah leaned toward her brothers. “Where’s
he
been?”

“My guess is he’s been staring at the summer kitchen.” Eli stifled a yawn. “That’s where I saw him late last night.”

At the summer kitchen? “Was he there all night?” Leah asked.

Eli shrugged.

Jacob got closer, and they hushed. He yawned while Mamm passed him a cup of coffee.

“What’s all the whispering for?” Jacob took a seat.

“I told Samuel that I have the answer.” Leah propped her elbows on the table.

“About the orchard?”

“Ya. Samuel, call Rhoda. Tell her I’m sick. The girl has a so-called cure for everything.”

“That’s right.” Samuel had forgotten about his conversation with Rhoda concerning Leah. “I talked to her about your symptoms, and she wanted to mix up some teas.”

“I seem to be the topic of a lot of conversations.” Leah brushed granules of sugar off the table. “Anyway, set a time, and let’s go visit her—you, Jacob, Eli, and me.”

Samuel considered his sister. “All of us?”

“Us four, ya.”

Without any doubt Leah didn’t want Catherine to be part of it. Well, neither did Samuel, not on this mission and not until she rethought some of her ways.

“Leah may be onto something.” Jacob stirred his coffee. “Rhoda has a short history with each of us, except Eli. And she has chemistry with each of us. I saw it.”

“Ya.” Leah arched her back, stretching it. “Everyone but Catherine.”

“Let it go, Leah.” Jacob stirred his coffee. “Samuel and Catherine have enough chemistry for everyone combined.”

“Yuck.” Leah faked a gag.

Samuel dipped two fingers into his coffee and flicked the liquid at her. “What does our chemistry with Rhoda have to do with the business deal?”

Leah wiped the drops off her face. “When people like you, they’re much more willing to do business with you.”

Jacob took a sip of his coffee. “Leah’s absolutely right. I saw that happen time and again when working away from the farm.”

Eli stretched. “Could we do this with a call, maybe use the speaker phone?”

Samuel set his mug on the table. “I thought of that idea when I woke, but we need a chance to break the ice, and a call may not do that. If Rhoda closes the door in our face one more time, we can’t approach her again.”

“But once we’re there,” Jacob said, “we ask nothing of her concerning Kings’ Orchard. Just let the visit be an icebreaker, ask for suggestions concerning Leah, and invite her to Friday night’s cookout again.”

Samuel looked down at the dark coffee in his cup. “She’s still likely to turn down working with us.”

“Maybe.” Leah pushed a string to her prayer Kapp behind her shoulder. “We’re not trying to make her do something she doesn’t want to do, are we?”

Jacob removed the mug from his lips. “Leah, don’t ask Samuel that question.”

“Jacob’s right,” Eli chuckled.

“You know, Leah, you should join the orchard crew for breakfast more often.” Samuel lifted his mug to toast her. “You’re good at thinking things through.”

“Good, I’ll be the brains of the outfit, and as long as no one needs any real work from me, we’ll get along fine.”

Jacob grinned. “That’s what Samuel says.
All
the time.”

“Great,” Samuel said. “Two jokesters to contend with. We’ll have to rename our orchard from Kings’ Orchard to, uh, something else.”

“That was brilliant, Samuel.” Jacob took a sip of his coffee.

“Somebody give me a break.” Samuel rubbed his face with both hands. “It’s been an exhausting few days, and no one has solved the issue of Rhoda needing a bigger kitchen to provide the kind of help we require.”

“I’ve been thinking about that too.” Leah looked from Samuel to the others. “It’d mean asking favors and owing money we’re not sure we can pay back, but, hey, what is family for?”

Samuel shook his head. “No. We’re not going to tax Uncle Mervin’s construction business by asking him to do us a favor. This economy has them struggling too.”

“Let’s take this one step at a time.” Jacob set his mug on the table.

Leah nodded. “If Rhoda agrees to partner with us, we’ll figure out everything else.”

Samuel didn’t know what had changed Leah of late, but he liked what he saw. Over the years he’d worked with his grandfather, Daed, and brothers to operate the family business, but with Leah joining in the efforts, she made them feel like a team.

Now if they could get Rhoda on board, they’d become a powerful alliance.

TWENTY-NINE

From inside her cellar, Rhoda heard a car door slam shut. It couldn’t be Landon at ten o’clock in the morning. She let the blueberries in her hand fall back into the sink of cool, clear water. After grabbing a hand towel, she went outside, pausing on the concrete pad at the foot of the cellar stairs. The early-morning downpour that had chased her inside had turned to a gentle mist.

She went to the top of the steps. An unfamiliar driver remained in his extended-cab truck, and Samuel King was standing on her driveway, looking at her garden. Two passenger doors on the vehicle were open, but she could only see who was on this side: Jacob and Leah.

Both of them were studying her fruit patch.

Thoughts and emotions swirled. She wanted to be left alone, sort of, but she couldn’t deny that she hungered for a new adventure. Besides, how long had it been since her peers did anything but avoid her?

When she’d ridden through the apple orchard, she’d felt like a kite sailing high on a March wind. But she’d had a crash landing, although even now she wasn’t sure what had caused it. One moment a steady wind kept her soaring, and the next she was plummeting. She knew one reason was based on a solid business fact: she and her cellar kitchen were no match for what the Kings needed. And then there was the discovery that Samuel had a girlfriend. On one hand, that was no more than a simple disappointment. On the other, it was ridiculous that he hadn’t given any hint he had someone. And she didn’t like the idea of working with someone who manipulated his girlfriend so she’d be gone for the day.

Samuel went to the gate and peered inside, trying to see past the trellises hanging thick with raspberry vines. “Rhoda?”

She drew a breath. “Over here.”

The four of them turned from the garden toward her home.

“Hi.” Samuel crossed the driveway. “I started to call first, but then, well … I hope you don’t mind.”

“To what do I owe this surprise?”

“Our driver ran out of gas.” Jacob grinned.

They were so welcoming, and being pursued by successful business owners stirred something within her. Something new.

A sense of camaraderie between peers.

She held up her index finger and thumb, indicating an inch of space. “That story would hold a tiny bit more clout if your driver hadn’t left his engine running.”

“Your dog ate my homework.” Jacob looked at his siblings, all of who were blank faced and yet somewhat amused. “Ya, that’s it.”

Rhoda put the towel on her shoulder. “I don’t own a dog.”

Jacob nodded at Samuel. “He has one I’ll pay you to take.”

Rhoda broke into laughter, and some of her disappointment from Friday faded. She liked Jacob’s sense of humor.

Samuel stepped forward. “We were hoping, among other things, you’d have some advice or maybe something on hand to help with Leah’s stomach ailments.”

“I put a box of licorice tea bags in the mail to her Saturday morning, along with instructions. They’ll probably arrive today. I also ordered licorice root when I got home on Friday. I expect it to arrive tomorrow or Thursday. Even so, it’ll take me a few days to turn it into something she can steep and drink. The fresher the ingredients and the more natural state they’re in when I begin grinding them, the better they’ll be for her. I have a few tea bags on hand if she’d like me to fix her a cup now.”

“You don’t waste any time when you set your mind to something,” Samuel said.

Jacob removed his hat and slapped Samuel in the chest with it. “What he
meant to say was, that was very thoughtful, and we appreciate that you went out of your way like that. As a punishment for Samuel’s poor people skills, I think you should take his dog. I’ll help by bringing her to you.”

“Samuel,”—Rhoda removed the towel from her shoulder—“I’d guard that dog if I were you.”

“Ya,” Jacob said, “because there is no way that mutt will guard you.”

Rhoda chuckled. “Leah, would you like some tea right now to see if it’ll help?”

“If it’s not too much bother.”

“It’s not. The last of the tea bags are in my cellar, and you’re all welcome to come, but it’ll be a tight squeeze.”

“I’ll wait out here”—Eli pointed to the vehicle—“with the driver.”

The rest of them went into Rhoda’s cellar. She put a kettle of water on the gas stove to boil.

Jacob glanced around. “This is where you do all your canning?”

“It’s not much to look at, but it’s functional.”

“It is that, I suppose.” Jacob peered into the pot that Landon described as looking like a cauldron as it hovered over the fire. “I guess that makes it much more functional than an Amish girl behind the wheel of a truck with her foot on the brake while two men
try
to push it.”

“Just what are you saying about my driving skills, Jacob King?”

He grinned. “All I’m going to.”

She suppressed a smile. He was far more charming than she was comfortable with.

Her cellar was primitive, to say the least, and it still surprised her that Samuel believed she could be of help to him and his family’s business.

The tea bag needed to steep fifteen minutes, and between Jacob’s wit, Samuel’s keen interest in her business, and Leah’s gratitude, the time flew. By the time Leah took one sip of her tea, most of the awkwardness between them had melted.

Leah rubbed her stomach. “It sort of numbs it, doesn’t it?”

“Licorice is one of the most versatile herbs in the world.” Rhoda got a washrag off the sink and wiped down the work station. “It has an emollient effect, soothing mucous membranes, such as the throat and stom—” Oh dear. She was prattling. When she looked up, every pair of eyes was on her. “Sorry. It’s my passion.”