Cousin's Challenge (19 page)

Ella dropped into a chair at the kitchen table and fanned her face with the corner of a cotton dish towel. “Whew, it's so hot in here!”

Mama, who sat across from Ella, dropping lettuce leaves into a bowl, nodded. “I'm wondering if we should hire someone to put a second oven in your bakeshop so you don't have to use this one when you have a lot of baking to do. All the baking you've done this morning has heated up the house like nobody's business. Come summer, it'll only be worse.”

Ella nodded. “I try to do most of my baking in the morning, but it doesn't seem to make much difference. A hot oven makes for a hot house, That's for sure.” She sighed. “Don't see how we can afford to buy a second oven for the bakeshop right now, much less hire someone to put it in. What I'm making from the bakery is barely enough to put food on the table.”

Mama dropped a few more pieces of lettuce into the bowl and yawned. “Sure wish there was more I could do to help out, but I'm so tired much of the time.” She groaned. “I still can't believe the results of my blood test showed that I have diabetes.”

“The dokder said it might take awhile to get your blood sugar regulated, and you've only been on the diet he gave you a few weeks. I'm sure between changing your diet and taking the medication he prescribed, you'll feel better soon.”

Tears gathered in the corners of Mama's eyes. “When your daed and I were first married, I had the energy and strength of two women my age. I feel so worthless now.”

Ella swallowed hard. She hated to see Mama looking so sad. She left her seat and bent to give Mama a hug. “You're not worthless. You might not be able to do as much as you once did, but you do what you can, and That's what counts. So please don't worry about it.”

“‘I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me,'” Mama quoted from the book of Philippians. “Without His help I couldn't do anything. We just need to keep joy in our souls and praise on our lips as we trust God to provide for our needs.” She patted Ella's arm. “We'll be okay; you'll see.”

Mama's words made Ella aware that she still tried to do too much in her own strength. She motioned to the packages of cakes and cookies on the counter. “I'll be glad when spring's here and the tourists come to the area. If I do a little advertising, hopefully some of them will come out here to our bakeshop.”

“Your
bakeshop, Ella.” Mama's light tone contrasted with the serious expression on her face. “It's
your
bakery That's supporting us right now.”

“I've never thought of it as being mine. You and Charlene help out, and even the younger ones do whatever they can.”

“That's true. We all chip in whenever it's necessary, and we'll continue to do our best.”

“I know you will.” Ella glanced out the window and sighed.
“Ich bin bereit fer friehyaahr.”

Mama laughed. “Winter's barely started and you're ready for spring?”

“Jah. In the spring I'm planning to take some of my baked goods to the farmer's market in Elkhart, and when the Shipshewana flea market opens in May, I might sell some things there, too.”

“That's a good idea,” Mama said, “but you can't be in three places at once. With the exception of Charlene, and maybe Larry, the kinner can't run a stand by themselves at either one of the markets.”

“Maybe by then we'll be making enough money so I can hire someone to work the stands. Guess we'll have to wait and see how it goes.”

“Give me that piece of puzzle!” Amelia shouted from the living room.

“No! You took the one I was gonna choose!” Helen hollered.

Mama's eyebrows furrowed. “Sounds like two of my girls are arguing again. Seems like all Amelia and Helen have done since they got out of bed is argue and fuss.” She rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand. “I'll be glad when Monday comes and they're back in school.”

“It's not your turn! If you don't let go of that, I'll tell Mama!” Helen's shrill voice carried into the kitchen.

“All that chitter chatter is hurting my ears,” Mama said, dropping the lettuce and placing both hands against her ears.

Ella pushed her chair aside. She didn't care how loud the children hollered when they were outside, but not in the house. There was no excuse for them to be arguing that way and upsetting Mama. “I'll take care of their childish prattle,” she said as she hurried from the room.

Lonnie drew in a deep breath and smiled as he watched the cows in the stall closest to him crunch away on the sweet-smelling hay he'd given them earlier that morning. For the last hour, he'd been out in the barn, sanding the legs of the small end table he'd made to give Mom for Christmas. He rather liked being out here. It gave him a sense of peace to be alone with the animals. It was a good time to think. Unfortunately, all he'd been able to think about so far today was Jolene, and that bothered him. Whenever he was with her, his insides felt warm and comforted, but he didn't know if he could trust those feelings. Jolene had an inner beauty about her that went much deeper than her pretty face and sparkling blue eyes. He was sure Jolene's beauty started in her heart and shone through her eyes and smile. If being too sweet could be considered a flaw, then maybe Jolene wasn't as perfect as she seemed. There had to be something about her that Lonnie didn't like, but for the life of him, he couldn't think of what it was. He'd have to be careful not to let himself get any closer to her than he already had. He couldn't allow himself to fall in love again.

Forcing his thoughts aside, Lonnie stood and moved the stool he'd been sitting on closer to the stove. If it weren't for the warmth from the fire, his hands would have numbed quickly in the biting cold.

Someone touched Lonnie's shoulder, and he jerked around. He was relieved to see Wayne standing there and not Pop wanting him to do some chore that involved smelly pigs.

Wayne smiled and withdrew a notebook and pen from his jacket pocket. He wrote something on it and handed it to Lonnie. Lonnie was glad Wayne had written his thoughts, as he still wasn't able to read lips very well.

I have a few things I need to pick up in Shipshe and wondered if you'd like to go along. Thought maybe we could stop someplace for coffee and doughnuts.

“That sounds nice, but I'm in the middle of something right now.
”
Lonnie motioned to the legs he'd been sanding.

Did you make that?
Wayne wrote.

Lonnie nodded. “It's a surprise for Mom. I'm planning to give it to her for Christmas.”

Wayne's lips puckered like he had whistled. Lonnie missed not being able to hear the melody of a whistle.

Wayne picked up the tablet again and wrote something else:
I'm impressed. I had no idea you had a talent for woodworking.

“I've fooled around with it off and on ever since I was a boy but never figured anything I made was very good.”

Well, this sure is.
Wayne ran his fingers over one of the table legs.
You've done a fine job with it.

Lonnie's face heated. He wasn't used to receiving such compliments, especially not for his woodworking skills.

Would you be interested in coming to work for me?
Wayne wrote.

“In your taxidermy shop?”

No, in my new woodworking shop. I'm only helping my daed
part-time with taxidermy right now because there's not really enough work for both of us. But I've been able to sell several things that I've made in my woodshop to some of the furniture stores in the area. I think that might turn into a profitable business for me.

Lonnie wasn't convinced that the table he'd made was really that good, but feeling a sense of nervous excitement, he said that he'd be willing to try working for Wayne.

Wayne smiled and wrote,
Let's head for Shipshe, and we can talk about this some more.

The landscape was barely visible under the blanket of white that had fallen the night before, and Jake was on his way home after shoeing an unruly horse. To make matters worse, he'd had to fight slippery roads and blustery snow, both coming and going.

Good thing my truck has four-wheel drive,
Jake thought as he peered through the front windshield. He wondered how things would be if he sold his truck and joined the church. He'd have to drive his horse and buggy everywhere except for when he went places that would require him to hire an English driver.
Guess it would take some getting used to for me to let someone else haul me around, but if I were to get my own business going here, I wouldn't have to shoe horses anymore.

Jake thought about some of the fellows he'd grown up with and how many of them were married and raising families. He wondered if it had been hard for any of them who'd owned vehicles to give them up when they joined the church. He knew it hadn't been an issue for Wayne, because he'd never owned a car. Even if he had, Wayne loved Loraine so much that he'd probably have given up most anything in order to marry her.

Jake wondered if he'd ever feel that much love for a woman. Even when he'd thought he was in love with Loraine, he'd run off to Montana and done his own thing. Soon after he'd moved to Montana, he'd become interested in his boss's daughter, Roxanne, but that hadn't lasted long and had never been really serious. Maybe he was incapable of the kind of love Wayne had for Loraine. Maybe he really was selfish and self-centered, like Dad had accused him of being on several occasions.
Guess I need to pray more and ask God to take away any selfish desires that aren't pleasing to Him.

Jake's musings halted when he turned up his folks' driveway. He parked his truck behind the barn so Dad didn't have to see it every time he looked out the window.

As Jake started walking toward the house, a bird flew from a nearby tree, sending a shower of snowflakes onto his head. He brushed it off and hurried on.

As soon as Jake stepped onto the back porch, he heard his folks' voices coming from the kitchen window, which was open a crack.

“Er hot scheins sei verschtand verlore,”
Dad said.

Who seems to have lost his reason?
Jake wondered. He stood there a few minutes, listening; then, when he realized it was him they were talking about, he decided to wait a few minutes before going in so he could hear more of what they were saying.

“I blame you for nagging Jake to join the church and for trying to make him do things your way. Truth is, I think it's your fault Jake left home in the first place.”

“Stop badgering me. We've been through all this before.”

“But if you hadn't pressured Jake so much and worked him so hard when he was a buwe, I'm sure he'd have stayed in Indiana and would have joined the church by now.”

There was a long pause, and then Mom started up again. “I'm just heartsick that Jake will be going back to Montana soon. I've gotten used to him being here, and I'll miss him so much.”

Jake leaned against the wall and drew in a couple of deep breaths. First he'd had to deal with slippery driving conditions; then a contrary horse that didn't want to be shoed; and now this? The day couldn't get much worse!

“You baby Jake too much; That's what I've gotta say.”

“I do not baby him. I just—”

Jake opened the door and stepped into the kitchen. Mom and Dad looked up. Dead silence fell on the room.

Jake turned to Mom and said, “Where'd you get the idea that I'd be leaving for Montana soon?”

Mom blinked a couple of times. “I ... uh ... ran into Eunice at the grocery store the other day. She said you told her that you'd be leaving soon.”

Jake shook his head. “I never said any such thing. All I told Eunice when I met up with her at Jolene's the other day was that I needed to make up my mind soon about whether to return to Montana or not.”

“Have you made up your mind?” Dad asked, leveling Jake with a piercing look.

Jake dug his nails into the palms of his hands. He hated being put on the spot.

“Have you made up your mind or not?”

“You don't have to shout,” Mom said. “Is it any wonder Jake doesn't want to live near his family?”

Dad grunted. “That's not the reason, and you know it. Our son thinks he's too good for us. He's never been happy doing what he does best. Wants to own a bunch of wild horses like he's been tryin' to train out west.”

Irritation welled in Jake's soul. It took all his willpower not to dash out the door and take off down the road in his truck. “I wasn't
trying
to train horses, Dad. That was my job. I'm not bragging, but I think I did it rather well.” He glanced out the window at the barn. “Besides, the kind of horses I want to train aren't wild—they need to learn how to pull a buggy. And I don't just want to train horses,” he added. “I'm also hoping to raise a certain breed of horses that I can sell for profit. That's what I've been working and saving my money for.”

Dad folded his arms. “Makin' lots of money. That's all you're interested in, isn't it, Jake?”

“No, it's not! I want to raise and train horses because That's what I enjoy doing. And while I might be good at shoeing horses, I've never enjoyed it all that much.”

“Maybe you could train horses to pull our buggies here,” Mom said. “That would bring in even more money than you're making now filling in for your daed in his business.”

“I'll give it some thought,” Jake said.

“What is there to think about?” Dad hollered. “Do you have to think about it 'cause you don't know if you're staying here or not?”

“I wish you would lower your voice, Joe.” Mom's chin trembled. “This isn't the way God intended for family members to speak to each other.”