Anna's Healing (24 page)

“How did you manage with all the rain we've had the last few weeks? When did you find the time?”

“Jacob was able to build these in sections in the barn. We moved them out this morning.”

Jacob stepped away from the back of her wheelchair. “See if you can do it, Anna.”

She gave the wheels a tentative push and her chair trundled a few feet.

“Nice and even boardwalk,” Samuel said. “
Gut
work, Jacob.”

“But why? And where does it end?” Anna's voice held a note of awe, and Jacob was relieved to see that she was smiling again—something she hadn't done in several days.

“Well, that's the best part.” He resumed pushing her chair. The boardwalk stretched from the wheelchair ramp on the porch to the first row of Erin's garden.

“You raised the plants.” Anna put her hand on top of the wheels and gave them another good strong push. She trundled past miniature rose bushes, moved slowly along a row of herbs, and stopped when she reached radishes, scallions, and cherry tomato plants. “You raised up the plants. You made garden window boxes.”

Anna made a three-point turn, something Jacob had never seen her do before, and turned to stare at them.

“We thought you might enjoy working in the garden again.” Jacob ignored the tears pricking his eyes. He didn't want to stain Anna's day with his own emotions, but the look of wonder on her face satisfied a spot deep in his heart.

“
Mammi
made you a tool pouch you can keep in your lap. There's even a strap to wrap it around your waist so it doesn't topple off.” Erin pulled the cloth bag from behind one of the plants, where she'd hidden it earlier that day. Peeking out of the top was a small hand-sized shovel, rake, trimmers, and a new pair of garden gloves.

“I hope you don't mind that I used your leftover scraps for the bag.”
Mammi
pointed toward the colorful prints. “Seemed to me that those cats and dogs wanted out for some sunshine.”

“I… I don't know how to thank you all. This is… it's
wunderbaar.
” Anna raised her face to the sun. “It's absolutely
wunderbaar
.”

“Guess you'd better show her the rest, Jacob,” Samuel muttered. Though his voice was a bit gruff, a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I'd best get back to the barn.”

“Aren't you all coming?” Jacob asked.

“Oh, I need to check on dinner,” Erin said.

“
Ya
, and I'll help her.” A mischievous look sparkled in
Mammi
's eyes.

Jacob had the distinct feeling they were purposely scattering in different directions so he could have time alone with Anna, and he didn't mind one bit.

“There's more?” Anna asked.

“
Ya
. It's not finished, but—” Jacob again stepped behind her chair and pushed it toward the ramp on the south side of the front porch. This time, instead of returning back to the house, he turned left toward the produce stand, which had been vacant all of spring and now the
first few weeks of summer. Erin didn't have time to work there, and no one wanted to leave
Mammi
out in it alone.

“It'll probably take a few more weeks to complete the boardwalk to the produce stand. It's good that the rains have stopped, which makes it much easier to lay the wood for the walk. I'm not sure it will be ready before we have to start working in the fields again, but I promise you I will finish it. Until then, you'll have to let one of us know when you want to come out here.”

“Why would I—” Anna's voice stopped as he paused at the back of the produce stand. They had widened the door for her wheelchair, and remodeled the inside.

“You lowered the shelves.”

“And the window, so you can easily help customers.”

“I can't imagine how much time this took.”

“Not so much, Anna, and you're worth it.”

“You expect me to work out here again?” Her voice rose in hope.

“Only if you want to. We were thinking that we'd begin with Friday and Saturday mornings if that's all right with you.” When she didn't answer, he hurried on. “Chloe already made a sign for the road. She left it here last time she visited. She didn't want to spoil the surprise until we were ready. I think folks will start coming again once we put it out—if you want us to do that.”

“Of course I do!” She rolled around the produce stand. She could hardly go three feet before she had to turn and go another direction, but she didn't seem to mind. “I feel funny admitting this, but I've actually missed this place.”

“Erin thought you might be ready to get back to work.”

“Work, yes. But it will also be nice to see people.” She laughed, probably at the look of surprise on his face. “Don't get me wrong. I adore you and Samuel and Erin and
Mammi
, but it's also nice to see different people, which I hardly ever do other than during Sunday services.”

Jacob turned around and leaned against the tabletop she would use for laying out customer's goods and accepting money.

“Are you saying you're tired of us?” He pretended to look hurt. “And here I thought we were such good company.”

“You are.” Anna rolled forward and back, forward and back. “It's just… um… the last week has been pretty hard.”

“I heard.”

“I don't know why. Sometimes it all seems too much.”

“That's understandable.”

“But this… and the garden. They give me things to look forward to.”

Jacob waited a moment, weighed the wisdom of what he longed to say, and then he knelt in front of her chair. “Don't you see, Anna? This is how it would be if we married. There is still so much you can do. It's only a matter of thinking it through and understanding what accommodations you need to be able to do it.”

“Jacob Graber. Are you saying you would build a house to fit me?”

“I could.”

“I know you could.” Her voice softened and she stared down at her lap.

“And I would.” He reached out and claimed her hand. “But we don't have to decide that now. All we have to do is find ways to help you through the rough spots. One day at a time, Anna.”

“Indeed.” She squeezed his hand, and then she ducked her head, pushing the chair through the back door of the produce stand, where she promptly became stuck.

“I believe you're going to need help there—”

“Until my carpenter finishes my boardwalk.”

“You need to get him right on that.”

“Yes, I do.”

Her laughter was light and too brief, but it was a drastic improvement from the girl sitting somberly on the front porch. One day at a time. Jacob thought those were wise words. What he hadn't told Anna was that he'd been meeting with Bishop Levi and they'd been praying together about Anna, about what they could do to help, and that God's will would be done in her life.

Perhaps they'd taken a step in the right direction. Working in a produce stand? That was a little thing, something children often did. But giving her back a sense of independence was a huge step.

The question was what they should do next.

CHAPTER 36

C
hloe walked toward the produce stand, her purse over her right shoulder, the bag from her mother over her left. The smile on her face grew the closer she came to Anna's window. It did her heart such good to see her friend again sitting in the same place she'd occupied the first day they had met. More importantly, Anna looked as if she was enjoying herself immensely.

“Do you have peaches? I heard you have peaches.”

“Check the sign,
Englischer
.”

“Yeah? I'm sure I saw the word
peaches
.”

“There are no peaches on the sign! Do we look like a peach grove?” Anna had been aiming for exasperated, but she couldn't hold on to it. Soon she was laughing right along with Chloe.

“You joke, but sometimes it happens. I had a woman stop by last weekend who wanted fresh mangoes. No kidding.”

“Who doesn't love a fresh mango?”

“I've never had one,” Anna confessed.

“Now I know what to buy you for your birthday.” Chloe was kidding, but Anna's expression became suddenly serious.

“I turn twenty-five in a few weeks—the first of July. Last year, I was still at home with my family. Think about it, Chloe. If I hadn't moved here…” A wave of her hand encompassed her legs and wheelchair. “None of this would have happened.”

Chloe sat in the lawn chair they kept near the booth window for customers who were older, turning it first so she was facing Anna.

“I know that look.” Anna rolled her chair back and forth. “You're trying to put a positive spin on my handicap.”

“No. No, I'm not.”

“Then what?”

“Selfish thoughts—mostly. If you hadn't moved here, we would never have met.”

“True.”

“I'm not sure I've told you how much you've helped me.”

“In what way?” Anna cocked her head to the side, waiting and watching.

“When we first met, my mom and I weren't particularly close.”

“Because…”

Chloe tapped the handles of the lawn chair. “I'd like to say because of my dad's death, but honestly I think the problem was due to my immaturity.”

“You blamed your mom?”

“Not exactly, but I had to lash out at someone, and I lashed out at the person left standing.” Chloe sat up straighter and stared out across the farmland. “I was so angry…”

“For sure and for certain I know what you're talking about.”

“You do.” Chloe turned back to Anna and smiled. “That's the miracle of this—that you do understand, that anyone can understand. After a while I wasn't angry anymore, but I didn't know how to bridge the distance I'd created. When you were injured, I began calling my mom more. We'd have long talks over the phone about faith and family and how to live through hard times.”

“Your mother seems like a wise woman.”

“She is. And now with your quilting, I've fallen in the habit of visiting her again. You've given me back my relationship with my mom, Anna. That's a very big thing.”

“Well, I suppose if you wanted to thank me you could at least buy some fresh vegetables.”

They both laughed, but then Chloe turned the conversation to where it had begun. “If you hadn't moved here, it might have taken me years to reconcile with my mom.”

“That was
Gotte
's doing, not mine.”

“I suppose. There's more though. If you'd stayed in Indiana, you wouldn't have met Jacob.”

Anna had shared Jacob's confession of love the week before when Chloe had visited. The information hadn't come as a surprise to her. The man was positively smitten, and it had been obvious to everyone but Anna for quite some time.

“
Ya
. I have thought of that. Also…” She hesitated as she looked back toward the house. “My
aenti
and
onkel
, they are very special people. They've changed too. They have become less closed up to me and to others. Something good did come of the accident, not to mention the time I've spent with
Mammi
. I can't imagine my life without her.”

“I'm glad you're seeing the bright side.”

Anna shrugged. “Not always, but it's a
gut
day today because I'm out of the house.”

“And you get to see my pretty face.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And…” She dramatically held the word for an extra beat. “I brought fabric!”

She set the bag from her mother on Anna's counter. “Mom loved what you sent her. She says your quilting has improved more in a month than hers did in a year.”

“I always knew how to quilt. I just never enjoyed it before. When you're quilting for someone else, when you're envisioning and praying for the child you're sewing for…” She let out a gasp as she pulled the fabric from the bed. “Frogs? She sent me
frogs
?”

“Happy frogs. Don't they look happy to you? We both thought you'd like the bright colors.”

“I love it, though to be honest I've never been a fan of frogs. They jump too quickly, and you never can tell what direction they're bound to hop.”

“I can take it back—”

“No, you don't. I will love quilting with them, but don't bring me any real specimens.”

They spent the next half hour catching up on the events of the last week. Twice they were interrupted by customers. Chloe moved to the side and pretended to study the corn maze behind them. It was coming along quite well. She had a hard time grasping that it had been nearly a year since she first met Anna.