A Wedding for Julia (38 page)

“That’s
gut
. Hanson, he’s a fine doctor. Everyone says so.”

Julia attempted a smile but didn’t say anything. She was exhausted. They all were.

He should talk to her about hiring more help in the café, but they didn’t actually know how much money they were clearing yet. Wait another week, maybe two, and then they could sit down and look at the finances.

“Where’s Sharon?”

“Sitting upstairs with her. They both had some soup earlier.”

The rest of the meal passed in silence. Caleb wondered if anything else was wrong. He couldn’t imagine what. Ada was on the mend. Sharon seemed to be doing better. The little spat they’d had last week was behind them.

“Is there anything I can do to help get ready for tomorrow?”

“
Nein
.”

“You look as though you feel bad. Is something wrong?”

She glanced at him sharply but shook her head. “I just…my head is hurting. That’s all.”

He’d never known her to complain of a headache before. Probably it was the weather.

“I’ll do the dishes. Go lie down.” When she protested, he insisted. “You were up all night with your mother, Julia. I can clean up a couple of bowls.”

So she nodded and dragged herself up the stairs—it was the only word for it. He could hear her pulling one foot behind the other.
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp
. As if her shoes or her feet or her entire legs were too heavy to pick up and move to the next step.

The weather would cool. The first snow would fall, and they would all feel better. It was only a matter of time.

After Caleb finished the dishes he went upstairs. No one was in the sitting room, and there was no light on under his door. Caleb thought of going in to check on Julia, but he didn’t want to wake her. So instead he pulled out a pillow and blanket from the closet, made a comfortable bed on the couch, and within five minutes was asleep.

Chapter 31

S
haron didn’t change her eating habits immediately after her conversation with Wess. She’d gone upstairs, found everyone in bed, and pretended to read awhile. Actually, she’d sat and thought about what he’d said. Then she had gone to bed—same as always. She did not have nightmares. The terrible dreams of being chased as she ran through the rain seemed to be in the past.

The next morning they had realized how sick Ada was.

And Monday she’d done the laundry while Julia took Ada to the doctor. It wasn’t until Monday afternoon as she was washing dishes that she made up her mind she would like to go to town. She talked to Julia about it. They decided that Mattie, one of the girls in their district, could come in and cover the Wednesday morning shift.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Mattie has asked if I would give her a try. Wednesday morning will be a perfect chance for her to see if she likes it—”

“And if she’s any
gut
,” Caleb pointed out.

“That too, though I suspect we can teach her what she needs to know.”

Sharon didn’t know much about Mattie. Miriam had once mentioned she’d had problems with a boy a year or so ago. He was living in another town now and his name was Jerry Beiler. He was the bishop’s nephew, the bishop for the other side of Pebble Creek, which all meant nothing to her. They were a family from the east side of Pebble Creek. She’d barely learned the names of the people on their side—the west side.

Mattie would either work out or she wouldn’t. If she did, then they would have someone to help on extra busy days or when Sharon or Wess needed time off.

Caleb was off on Wednesday, and he said he didn’t mind taking her to town. He needed to pick up some supplies anyway. The ride along the two-lane road was pleasant, and she found herself feeling excited as she checked her purse one last time to be sure she’d placed part of her earnings in there. She’d spent very little of the money she’d made. The fall communion service had already occurred when she arrived, so she’d missed the offering. Instead, she set a portion of her tips aside for the spring offering. Whether she was home or still staying with Caleb and Julia by then, she wanted to be able to do her part.

The only other money she had spent out of her earnings had been to purchase candy for Victoria and Zoey. One of the guests at their restaurant delivered candy to stores in town, and he’d been happy to sell her a few chocolate bars from his sample case. The girls had clapped and squealed. Wess had joined them as his sisters were sitting next to Sharon on the porch swing, hands sticky from the sweet treat. He had rolled his eyes.

“I checked with your
mamm
first.”

“They’re still spoiled rotten!” But Wess’s smile spoke louder than his words did.

Because she worked five days a week, her envelope of money was growing. She’d even tried to pay Caleb and Julia for her room and board, but they had refused.

“You’re more than earning your keep, Sharon.”

The words left a warm glow inside her. Or maybe it was the way Julia had smiled when she’d said them.

Julia seemed preoccupied this week, still worried about something. Ada was improving with the medicine, so Sharon wasn’t sure what the problem was, but then adults had a lot more to worry about than teens did.

Her growing amount of money was her biggest worry at the moment. Christmas presents would need to be bought, depending on where she was living at the end of December. She should purchase some crocheting supplies today. Maybe she would look if she had time. She could crochet, knit, and quilt, but by far her crocheting skills were best. Those projects seemed to be finished much more quickly than others.

Would she be home for Christmas? Or would she still be here in Wisconsin? She had wanted to talk to her parents about it, but what would she say? What had changed? She hadn’t had the courage to call them, and anyway her parents didn’t like talking on the phone. She’d not even picked up a cell phone since the incident in Monroe. Aaron had a phone at the cabins for business, and she knew he would have been happy to let her use it. But what would she say if she called home? What would they say to her?

Her mother had written several times, but Sharon hadn’t answered yet. She meant to, and then in the evenings she always decided to put it off until the next day.

She and Caleb arrived in town, and he parked the buggy next to the feed store.

“Need help finding anything?”

“
Nein
.”

“Will an hour be long enough for you?”

“An hour will be fine, Caleb. Thank you.”

She turned away from the buggy and started down the street. The day was unseasonably warm, and she didn’t need her coat or even a wrap. Down the road, she could see Amish Anthem, the tallest building in town, but she didn’t think what she was looking for would be there.

She passed the city offices, a small café with checkered curtains, and a gas station. She saw the grocery in the distance and realized she was nearing the end of the two blocks which made up the downtown area.

Perhaps she would need to try Amish Anthem after all.

Looking left and right, she prepared to cross the street, and that was when she saw it—The Book Nook.

Maybe they would have what she needed.

A bell chimed as she pushed the door open. A large fluffy dog was lying on a rug in front of the register, but she stood at the sound of the bell, stretched, and then padded over and placed her cold black nose against Sharon’s hand.

“Dixie won’t bite, dear. She loves customers.”

Dixie was obviously a mixed breed. Sharon didn’t know a lot about dogs, but this one seemed to have a little German shepherd, some Labrador, and possibly poodle in her family tree. The result was big, curly, and gentle. Brown hair flopped over dark eyes that gazed up at her expectantly.

“Hi, Dixie.” Sharon patted the dog on her head and received a look of complete adoration for her trouble.

“What can I help you with today?” The owner was a small
Englisch
woman with graying hair, half glasses, and kind eyes.

Sharon described what she was looking for.

Tapping a neatly trimmed nail against the counter, Mrs. Shepard—Sharon could see her name tag now—didn’t answer right away. Then she smiled and pointed to the far side of the store. “Last aisle, at the end but at the top. Would you like me to show you?”

“
Nein
. I can find it myself.”

“Let me know if you need anything else.”

Because she was alone, except for Dixie, she was able to take her time and pick out exactly what she wanted. On her way back to the counter, she spied some stationary—simple but a pretty lavender, and lined, which was unusual. She preferred lined paper, as her handwriting tended to angle when she wrote until it looked as if her sentences were drooping off the page.

“I love this paper,” Mrs. Shepard said. “It’s a shame people don’t write letters as much as they used to. At least
Englisch
people don’t.”

Sharon smiled at the store owner’s use of the term. Apparently she had grown used to having both Amish and
Englisch
customers. “Yet
Englischers
have e-mail and such, which is much faster,
ya
?”

“Faster, but not as permanent.” Mrs. Shepard handed over her change. “Stop by and see Dixie and me again. Maybe by the time you do, we’ll have winter weather like we should.”

“That would be nice. I’ve never been in Wisconsin in the winter.”

“We have lots of snow, and it’s usually quite cold.”

“Sounds
wunderbaar
.” Sharon patted the dog one last time and had made it to the door when she remembered to ask about yarn.

“One block over, behind us. The Yarn Shop—it’s a small yellow house. You can’t miss it.”

She didn’t miss it. In fact, she could have spent her entire hour there among the yarns and patterns. She didn’t need a pattern, though, and she knew Julia and Ada had a basket of crochet hooks. So she settled for buying a lovely teal-and-purple variegated yarn—three skeins of it, enough for a shawl.

It wouldn’t make up for the things she had said to her mother, but it would be a start.

When she arrived back at the café, the lunch crowd was in full swing. She ran upstairs, dropped her two packages on her bed, and headed back down to the kitchen.

“How do you manage all day?” Mattie asked, her brown eyes wide and her cheeks flushed. “I’m exhausted.”