Heart in Hand: Stitches in Time Series #3 (3 page)

Anna hugged Mary Katherine, and then she stepped back. “It makes me think of the happiness I had with him, and I’m glad to see someone else having it.”

“Mary Katherine? Fannie Mae’s here to pick up her order.”

She hurried into the shop, and Leah walked over to the sink and took the towel Anna clutched in her hand.

“How are you doing?” she asked Anna as she turned back to the dishes.

“Will it do any good to say I’m fine?”

Her grandmother met her eyes. “
Schur
,” she said. “You can say it, but I know it’s not easy.”

Anna stared down at the bubbles popping in the sink. “So many people came up to me after Samuel died and said they
knew how I was feeling. But they didn’t. They hadn’t had a husband die. But you had. You knew.”

Leah slipped an arm around Anna. “But that didn’t mean I knew exactly how you felt. I didn’t lose my
mann
so soon after we married.”

“No.” Anna washed a plate, rinsed it, and handed it to her grandmother.

She felt the loss of comfort when her grandmother had to remove her arm to have both hands to dry the dish, but it helped her not to sink into self-pity at the moment.

“It helped when Waneta and I talked since her husband died young,” Anna said after a moment. “But then it wasn’t long before she remarried and moved away.”

“Another loss,” Leah said, setting the plate down and holding out her hand for another.

Anna nodded. “But it was so nice to see her happy again. I got a letter from her from Indiana last week. She had a little girl. They’re both happy and healthy.”

“I hope for that for you, too, if it’s God’s will. There’s no reason to believe that God hasn’t set aside another
mann
just as wonderful as Samuel for you.”

“I know,” Anna said, summoning up a smile for her grandmother.

But deep in her heart, she didn’t believe that.

“Well, well, look who’s here,” Naomi said, peering out the shop window.

“Who?”

“Gideon Beiler.”

“What’s he doing coming to our shop?”

“He’s got his daughter with him.”

“Oh, she’s so sweet.” Anna frowned. “But too quiet.”

“I’m going to go help Grandmother in the back room,” Naomi said, and she turned away.

“Wait! I need to finish this hat for—”

But Naomi had already hurried toward the back of the store.

Sighing, Anna got up and tucked her knitting in the basket beside her chair. She walked to the front counter and watched as Gideon strode toward the store, his daughter’s hand tucked safely in his. She looked a lot like her father with his sandy brown hair and brown eyes, but her face was more delicate and heart-shaped. Anna remembered Gideon’s wife and could see her in the way she looked up at him, lifting one brow as she listened to him.

Anna had always thought that Gideon was cute when they were in
schul
, and he’d grown into a handsome man, tall and strong and hardworking.

But like her and Samuel, Gideon and Mary had only had eyes for each other.

And like Anna, Gideon had been widowed early. Mary had died not long after Samuel.

Anna opened the door. “Welcome! What brings you to the store today?”

Gideon reddened. “I brought Sarah Rose to get some sewing stuff.”

“
Daedi
! Stuff?”

He spread his hands, looking clearly out of his element. “You know, whatever it is you need.”

She stared up at him. “I don’t need any of it. Save your money.”

Gideon looked at Anna. “I want her growing up knowing how to do girl things.”

“Girl things?”

He grew even redder. “You know. Sew. Knit. That kind of thing.”

Anna noted that Sarah Rose’s bottom lip was jutting out. “What sort of thing do you like to do?”

She shrugged. “I don’t care.”

Looking at Gideon, Anna tapped her lips with her forefinger. “Who’s going to teach her?”

“I—don’t know. I guess I thought we’d learn together.”

Anna pressed her lips together and tried not to laugh. After all, it was so terribly sweet that he was obviously trying to be both
dat
and
mamm
to her.

“Well, are you interested in knitting, quilting, what?” she asked him.

Gideon knelt down so that he could meet his daughter’s gaze eye to eye. “Let’s decide on something together.”

“But I like it when we play catch.”

“We can still do that. But I made a promise to your mother that I’d see that you would grow up a young lady, not a little wild thing.”

He’d certainly tried
, thought Anna. She’d seen the zigzag part in Sarah Rose’s pigtails as he learned how to do them in the early days after Mary’s death. There had been an occasional burn mark on a dress and that sort of thing, but gradually he’d learned. Anna supposed it wasn’t easy to know how to do such things. After all, he’d grown up male.

And a handsome one at that, she couldn’t help thinking now. Her cousins would probably be surprised that she was attracted to Gideon. But after all, she wasn’t dead.

Shaking off such irreverent thoughts, Anna gestured at the rocking chairs in the center of the store.

“Let’s think about this a minute,” she said as they took their seats. “Maybe we can figure out something you like.”

“My sisters have taken her to a quilting or two, but they said she’s not interested.”

“I never liked quilting as much as my cousin Naomi when I was growing up,” Anna said. “I didn’t have the patience for all those little stitches. Mary Katherine loved weaving from the time she sat down at a loom. I like working with yarn—just the feel of it, the colors, all the shapes and designs I can make. I think my favorite is making hats for babies. Like those over there. We call them cupcake hats because they look like little cupcakes.”

Sarah Rose smiled one of her rare smiles. “They’re silly.”

Anna saw Gideon shoot her a quick glance to see if his daughter had offended.

“I know.” Anna grinned at her. “That’s probably why I like them so much. We need something silly sometimes, don’t we?”

“There are lots of easy and fun projects to knit if you’d like to try one.” She looked at Gideon. “Men knit, too. Probably more often than quilt.”

He gave her a dubious glance but got up and held out his hand to Sarah Rose. “I’m willing to try.”

Anna led them to where the children’s crafts were grouped, and the three of them enjoyed a discussion of what might be a fun project. Father and daughter decided on the simplest knitted muffler, hers in shades of pink, her father’s in blue.

The bell over the door jangled as it opened.

“Gideon! So you took my advice!” a woman said loudly.

Anna recognized the voice. Gideon’s oldest sister had a voice that was like no other—loud and a bit shrill. She knew it wasn’t nice to think such a thing. But truth was truth.

“I thought you were going to get Sarah Rose some quilting supplies.”

It wasn’t polite to eavesdrop. But then again, Martha made it impossible for what she said not to be heard.

“This is what Sarah Rose wants to do.”

“But I don’t knit much,” his sister said. “I don’t know how much help I can be. I was thinking if she went to a quilting circle she could learn to quilt there.”

“But she did that and didn’t seem very interested,” Gideon pointed out. “So we decided to come here and see what she might like to try.”

Sarah Rose slid her hand into her father’s and gazed up at him. “
Daedi
will teach me how to knit. He’s going to make something, too.”

“Really?”

“It’ll probably be the blind leading the blind,” Gideon admitted. “But Anna helped us pick something simple.”

He picked up a multicolored skein of yarn and held it to his face. “What do you think of these colors?” he asked his daughter. “Do they flatter my skin tone?”

Anna couldn’t help smiling when she heard Sarah Rose giggle.
What a sweet sound
, she thought. She hadn’t heard her laugh since Mary died.

When she glanced at Gideon, she saw his grin widen. She must have made some movement because he looked over at her then. No one understood loss like one who’d suffered such a loss, and in that moment, she saw his expression lighten for a moment. She smiled, happy for him. He was so lucky to have someone in such a time of grief, someone who made it worth getting up each day.

She realized she’d stopped and forced herself to keep walking toward the front counter where Gideon’s sister stood, watching her. Her heart sank. The other woman was regarding her with a calculating look.
Oh no
, Anna thought. Martha loved to gossip. If she took a simple shared moment as more than it was, if she thought that Anna was interested in her brother, it would take little more for her to speculate—and maybe start
a rumor. Marriage, family—both were such touchstones of the Amish life that those who were widowed didn’t stay single long.

There were many reasons to be attracted to Gideon. But no man held a candle to Samuel . . .

And since Gideon hadn’t remarried, she suspected that no woman had matched Mary in his eyes, either.

“How can I help you today?” she asked Martha.

“I need some thread. These colors,” she said, holding out a piece of paper she’d taped pieces of several colors onto.

“
Schur
.” Anna walked over to the thread display and quickly found what was needed. “Anything else? No black or white? They’re used so often many people often forget to get them.”

“You’re right. I’ll take a large spool of each. You’re a good saleswoman.” She turned and nodded toward the display of baby hats. “And an amazing knitter.”

“Thank you.”

“Maybe you can give Sarah Rose and her father some lessons,
ya
?”

Anna avoided meeting the other woman’s eyes by concentrating on adding up the order and taking Martha’s money. She counted out change into her hand, then piled the threads and a schedule of upcoming classes into a bag.

With a big smile, she handed the bag to Martha. “All of our customers know we’re here to help however we can.”

Martha smiled and nodded. “
Ya
, I know.” She glanced back at her brother and wiggled her fingers. “See you on Sunday at
Mamm’s
.”

The bell jangled over the door as she left.

Mary Katherine joined Anna at the counter. “So, did she come in to check you out?” she whispered.

Anna shook her head. “Apparently she sent Gideon in to get something for Sarah Rose. I need to get back to them.”

She walked over to where Gideon stood considering a pattern in his hand. “You sure I can do this?”

“I remember you were very good with your hands in
schul
,” she said, then realized how that sounded. She blushed and unfolded the directions. “It’s just a matter of following directions, counting out rows, that sort of thing, see?”

Remembering what she’d told his sister, she smiled at him. “If you or Sarah Rose have any problems, just come see us here.”

Gideon glanced up and studied her. “You’ll help us with questions?”

Funny, but her throat went dry. “Any—any of us can help you.”

“But you’re the knitting expert.”

She nodded.

“Well, then, we’ll come see you if we have any questions.”

She started to nod again and then realized she probably looked like one of those silly bobblehead dolls that they sold in a nearby toy store. Turning, she looked for Sarah Rose and found her in an adjoining aisle, staring hard at an object in her hand. It was a thimble, one that bore a carved silver flower design.

“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” she asked.

Sarah Rose jumped and dropped the thimble. “Sorry,” she said as she scrambled for it.

“No problem. I’ll go ring up the things you and your
daedi
chose.”

Turning, she made her way back to the counter and added up the purchase, then reached for the schedule of classes and with a pen circled the knitting class before handing it to Gideon.

“You might want to attend a class since you’re taking up a new hobby,” she said.

“Me in a class with a bunch of ladies?”

“You never know, you might meet someone,” she teased. The minute the words were out, she wanted to call them back.

“And where do you meet men?” He watched her with an intensity she found unnerving.

Frowning, she shook her head. “I don’t.” She bit her lip, then took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. That was insensitive of me to suggest you’d want to meet someone. You might not be any more ready than I am. I just thought—”

“You just thought?” he finished for her.

Oh, well, in for a penny
, she thought. “I just thought since you have Sarah Rose you might be looking to get married again.”

“To give her a
mamm
?”

She lifted her shoulders and then let them fall. “It’s what many men do. It’s hard to raise a child on your own.”

“True. But I figure when God feels it’s the right time, He’ll send along the woman he has for me.”

His words threw her. “You think that God has more than one person set aside for us?”