Going Home (22 page)

Faith felt like a helpless fly trapped in a spider’s web. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the day with a bunch of somber women who could sew better than she could and whose
idea of fun was to talk about the weather, who’d been sick in their family, or who’d recently had a birthday. But she hated to say no, since Mama wanted to go and would need someone to drive her there. “Jah, okay,” she finally said. “Mama and I will be at your quilting bee.”

“I was wondering something, Mama,” Faith said after Barbara left for home.

“What’s that?”

“How did you and Papa meet, and how’d you know he was the one you should marry?”

Wilma smiled as she stared across the room, allowing herself to remember the past. “Well, as you know, your daed’s two years older than me.”

Faith nodded.

“All through our school days, I had an interest in him, but he never gave me more than a second glance.” She took a sip of tea. “Anyway, when I went to my first young people’s singing, I made up my mind I was going to get your daed to notice me one way or another.”

“What happened?”

“Menno—your daed—had taken off his straw hat and laid it on a bale of straw in the Millers’ barn. When he wasn’t looking, I snatched the thing up and hid it behind some old milk cans.”

Faith leaned her elbows on the table and cupped her chin in the palms of her hands. “Then what?”

“Well, your daed spent the next half hour searching for his hat, and in the meantime, my two brothers, Henry and Levi, decided to head for home. Only thing is, they left without me.” She snickered. “I think they did it on purpose because they knew how much I cared for your daed.”

Faith added more water to her teacup. “I can’t believe you would do such a thing, Mama. It doesn’t sound like you at all.”

Wilma slowly shook her head. “I’m not perfect, Faith. Never claimed to be, neither. Besides, I had to do something to get that man to look my way.”

“I assume he did, since you’re married to him now.”

“After I discovered my brothers had run off without me, I conveniently found your daed’s hat. When I gave it to him, I just happened to mention that Henry and Levi had gone home and I had no ride.”

“Of course, Papa volunteered to give you a lift in his buggy.”

“He sure did.” Wilma grinned. “Not only did he drive me home, but when he dropped me off, he let it be known that he thought I was pretty cute. Even said he might like to give me a ride in his buggy after the next singing.”

Faith opened her mouth as if to comment, but the tooting of a car horn closed the subject. “Guess that must be Doris.”

“We’d better not keep her waiting,” Wilma said. “Wouldn’t be good for me to be late to my first appointment.”

Noah whistled as he flagged a group of six-foot pine trees with
white plastic ribbon. The ones that were six and a half feet would get green and white ribbons. The trees he selected would be sold to wholesale Christmas tree lots. Amos and Griggs were at his side, vying for attention.

“Go play somewhere else, fellows,” Noah scolded. “Can’t you see that I’m a busy man?”

The hound dogs responded with a noisy bark and a couple of tail wags; then they bounded away.

A short time later, Hank showed up, offering Noah a bottle of cold water. Noah took it gratefully, as it had turned out to be a rather warm day.

“Thanks. With the weather being so hot, one would never guess it’s fall. Sure hope it cools off some before folks start coming to choose their trees.”

“That won’t be long,” Hank said as he flopped onto the grass between the rows of trees where Noah had been working. Noah followed suit, and the two of them took long drinks from their bottles, then leaned back on their elbows.

“I brought you and Sandy one of my lemon sponge cakes,” Noah said. “Dropped it off at the house before I started work.”

Hank licked his lips. “Umm. . .sounds good. Maybe we can have a piece after we eat the noon meal.”

Whenever Noah made lemon sponge cake, he thought about Faith and the cake he’d given her that first Sunday after she’d returned. He’d gotten to know her better since then, and the more time he spent with her, the more he cared about her. He hadn’t heard any more from either his mother or Wilma about Faith leaving Webster County, so he hoped she might have
given up on the idea. Either that or she’d never planned to go in the first place. Could be that Wilma Stutzman had misread her daughter’s intentions. Maybe Noah had, as well, for Faith certainly seemed to have settled into the Amish way of life again, except for not being baptized and joining the church. Noah saw Faith’s staying as an answer to prayer and figured in time she would make things permanent by joining the church—if she wasn’t involved with that English fellow he’d seen her with, that is. Oh, how he wished he could get up his nerve to ask about that, but he’d let it go so long now that it might seem odd to Faith if he questioned her about it.

“So what’s new in your life?” Hank asked, pulling Noah’s thoughts aside.

“Not so much.”

“Are you still helping that little Amish girl with her reading?”

Noah nodded. “Melinda’s doing better in school, but I’ve had such a good time helping her that I think I’ll keep going over awhile longer.”

Hank shot him a knowing look. “You sure it’s not the child’s mother you’re going to see?”

“As I’ve said before, Faith and I are just friends.” Noah’s face heated up. Hank was right. Even though Noah enjoyed helping Melinda with her studies, the real reason he wanted to keep going over to the Stutzmans’ place was to see Faith. He took another swig of water and clambered to his feet. “Guess I’d best get back to work. These trees won’t flag themselves.”

Hank stood, as well. “If you don’t want to talk about your
love life, it’s fine by me.” He winked at Noah. “Just be sure I get an invitation to the wedding.”

Noah nearly choked on the last bit of water he’d put in his mouth. Was the idea of marriage to Faith a possibility? He doubted it, but it sure was a nice thought. “Changing the subject,” he said, “I was wondering how things are going with you and Sandy these days.”

Hank shrugged and reached up to rub the back of his neck. “About the same, I guess. She keeps busy with her things, and I keep busy with mine. We don’t talk much unless there’s something that needs to be said.”

“Have you thought any more about adopting a baby?”

“Nope. I’ve been afraid to bring it up for fear she’ll say no.”

“I’ll continue to pray for you,” Noah said. “But if you want my opinion, I think you should come right out and tell Sandy you’d like to adopt.”

“I’ll give it some thought.” Hank gave Noah’s shoulder a squeeze. “Thanks for being such a good friend.” He started to walk away but turned back. “Oh, and if you ever decide to start courting that woman you’re
not
interested in, you can count on me for some good advice.”

A
s Faith and her mother headed down the road in their buggy toward the Zooks’ house the following week, Faith found herself dreading the day ahead. Spending time with Barbara made her think about the past, something she would rather forget. But Mama had been insistent about them going to the quilting bee, and since they’d been getting along pretty well of late, Faith didn’t want to do anything to upset the applecart. Soon enough, she would tell her folks about her plans to leave Webster County, and she wanted the time they had together to be free of disagreements.

“I’ve sure been looking forward to the quilting bee,” Mama said, glancing over at Faith and smiling. “I’ve been cooped up so much since I broke my leg that I like any reason to get out.”

“Does that include going to physical therapy?” Faith asked.

“Jah. Even that.”

“Did the last session hurt much?”

“Some, but the therapist said it’ll get better as time goes on.”

“Then I’m sure it will.”

They rode in silence for a while. Mama pointed to the schoolhouse as they drove by and said, “It’s good that Melinda’s doing better in school.”

Faith nodded. “That’s mostly because of the help Noah has given her.”

“Noah’s a good man,” Mama said, reaching over to touch Faith’s arm. “He’s kind, trustworthy, and can cook better than most women I know. I think he’ll make a fine husband and father some day.”

“I’m sure he will.” Faith thought about the young woman she’d seen Noah with some time ago and wondered if she might be his future wife.

“I was wondering. . .”

“What were you wondering, Mama?”

“I was wondering if you’re feeling ready to take classes to prepare for church membership and baptism yet.”

Here it goes again
. Faith’s teeth snapped together with an audible
click
. Maybe if she didn’t respond, Mama would drop the subject.

“Faith, did you hear what I said?”

“Yes, I heard; and no, Mama, I’m not ready.”

“Oh.”

They rode along in silence awhile longer; then Mama spoke again. “Melinda seems to like Noah a lot.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And I believe the feeling’s mutual.”

“You’re probably right.”

“How do you feel about Noah?”

Faith shook the reins to get the horse moving faster but gave no reply.

“Faith, are you listening to me?”

“I heard you, Mama. Just didn’t know how to respond, so figured it was best not to say anything.”

“You don’t know how you feel about Noah?”

Faith released a sigh and squinted as she looked over at her mother. “Noah seems like a nice enough man, but I don’t feel any particular way about him.”

Mama grunted. “Have you tried?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means, have you allowed yourself to get to know Noah well enough so you can tell whether you might have a future with him?”

Faith’s hands shook as she pulled back on the reins and guided the horse and buggy to the side of the road.

“Why are we stopping?”

“So I can concentrate on what I’m saying to you without worrying about driving off the road because I’m feeling so upset.”

Mama’s eyebrows furrowed. “Now why would you be upset?”

Faith curled her fingers into the palms of her hands as she resisted the temptation to pop her knuckles. “I’m upset because you keep bringing up Noah and listing his many virtues.”

Mama opened her mouth as if to comment, but Faith rushed on. “I’m not interested in a relationship with Noah or any other
man, so please stop trying to match me up with him.”

Mama blinked a couple of times. “I—I just thought—”

“I know what you thought.” Faith drew in a deep breath to steady her nerves. “My husband abused me, Mama,” she blurted out. “And I—I don’t think I could ever get married again.”

Mama’s mouth dropped open, and her eyes widened. “He—he abused you?”

Faith nodded. “Greg had a terrible temper, and whenever he drank, he became mean and physically abusive.”

“Did he hurt Melinda?”

“No, just me. But I was worried that if she ever said or did the wrong thing, he might take his anger out on her, too.” Faith swallowed hard. “Our marriage was not a happy one, but Greg was a good agent, and he got me lots of shows.”

Mama touched Faith’s hand. “I’m real sorry. I had no idea you had been through so much.”

Faith took up the reins again. “I’d rather not talk about this anymore. It’s too painful, and the past is in the past.”

“Oh. Okay.”

In silence, Faith guided the horse onto the road again.

A short time later, she found herself sitting in the Zooks’ living room, surrounded by eight other women. Besides her and Mama; Barbara, and her mother, Alice; Noah’s mom, Ida; and four other women from the community attended.

The women enjoyed lots of friendly banter as they worked with needle and thread, bent over a quilting frame, making hundreds of tiny stitches that would hold the top of the Double Wedding Ring quilt together. Barbara’s mother, who was a left-handed
quilter, sat at the corner of the frame. “I imagine it’s been awhile since you did any kind of quilting,” she said, looking over at Faith.

Faith nodded. “That’s true, but even when I helped my mother work on quilts during my younger days, I never did so well.”