Material Witness (36 page)

“Looks like you all were right.” He wiped at the sweat and dirt on his face. “
Mamm
went to quite some trouble to hide these, for whatever reason. So even if all we have are some very old canned vegetables …”

He paused, stared down at the quart jar in his hands a moment. When he raised his eyes, a grin played across his lips. “
Danki
. You pushed me to look for them. Her hands put them up, all those years ago, before I was even born. I don’t know why my
mamm
would have hid them, but she did. And now she wanted us to find them. They were precious to her, and that makes them precious to me, even if they’re only squash and carrots.”

“My jar doesn’t look like vegetables, Levi.” Gavin had rubbed the dirt off his container and was holding it up to the light. Callie leaned closer to better see what was inside. The glass of the jar had darkened with age, but she could tell the contents were shiny and circular.

“We might as well all open them at the same time,” Levi muttered.

The jars weren’t fastened with wax, but the tops had been rusted on tight. Slight popping sounds filled the night as each person broke the seals age had created, which protected the contents of their jars against fifty years of weather, nearly twenty thousand mornings and nights, critters that crawled through the earthen cellar, and men and women who walked above.

Callie refused to glance up even when she heard murmured cries of surprise. She was determined to remove the top to her jar and see its contents before she looked at anyone else’s.

“Stocks? Who puts stocks in a jar?”

“Mine has bills. Hundred-dollar bills.”

“Where would she have gotten this much money?”

“Maybe from her in-laws — my grandparents.”

The lid on Callie’s jar wouldn’t budge no matter how she cranked on it.

“Mind if I help you, Callie Grace?”

The words were more gentle than a caress and sent a delicious shiver down her spine. When she nodded, Shane encircled her with his arms and gave the lid of the jar one tug. It made a small popping sound as the seal broke.

“You almost had it,” he lied, smiling down at her.

And suddenly she didn’t care what was in the jar. She turned in his arms, gazed up into his eyes, and knew whatever was in the jar wasn’t nearly as precious as what she was seeing.

Which was silly.

He’d opened a jar for her, not braved a dark night and protected her from a monster.

But the truth was that Shane had saved Callie from more than one monster. He’d saved her from at least three, and she knew — looking deep into the darkest, kindest eyes she’d ever seen — that he would defend her from more, as many more as she managed to encounter.

“Are you going to look in that jar, or stand there and hold it?” Gavin asked. “Mine had gold pieces. Imagine that. She must have had the bank get them from Fort Wayne.”

Callie thrust her jar into Gavin’s hands. “You can check mine for me.”

Shane grinned as he passed his jar to Deborah. “Guess I’ll hand over mine as well.”

“You two aren’t even going to look?” Deborah laughed as she juggled her jar to accept Shane’s.

In the background, Callie could hear Sadie’s and Levi’s voices. They sounded happy. She wasn’t sure what this meant to them or how it would affect the sale of the quilts. All she knew was that she needed to be alone with Shane for a few minutes.

So she slipped her hand in his and tugged him toward the door of the pump house.

“Where are they going?” Melinda asked.

“They’re not curious,” Deborah explained.

“We’re curious all right,” Shane growled.

Then he followed Callie out into the night, out under the cover of a million stars.

C
ALLIE COCKED HER HEAD
and studied her fiancé as he walked out on to the back porch to join her.

“Get plenty to eat?” Shane asked.

“Of your mother’s cooking? I might have to lie down in the Buick when we drive home.”

He sat on the swing next to her and set it to rocking. They gazed out over the valley as the sun painted the sky golden on a perfect Thanksgiving afternoon.

“Warm enough?” Shane asked, pulling a throw blanket around her shoulders.

“I am, but you can still kiss me if you want.”

So he did, and it made her toes tingle as always. Callie thought Max gave her a reproachful look, but he was as full as she was and couldn’t do more than moan softly.

“Gavin told me to say yes,” she admitted, when Shane stopped kissing her and returned to staring at the sunset.

“Gavin told you to marry me?”

She slapped his arm, but he grabbed her hand and wouldn’t let go. “He said, ‘Say yes when Shane asks you to go …’ but he never finished the sentence, and I didn’t know where you were going to ask me to go.”

“This was when we found the money?”

“And two weeks later you offered me this ring.” Callie looked down at the sparkling diamond. Not too big. Not too small. Just right. Shane Black knew how to do things just right.

“I’m glad you said yes.” He nuzzled her neck and she let out a yelp.

“Everything all right out there?” Shane’s father asked from the kitchen.

“Yes,” Callie and Shane answered in unison.

Callie thought about Shane’s remark. “To marrying you or to meeting your parents?”

“Both.”

“I am too.” She snuggled into his arms while the stars began to make an appearance. All she could think of as her eyes grew heavy was that Deborah was right. God did have a plan. “I am too.”

1. In chapter 5, Callie attempts to explain to Deborah the heart of her relationship with Mrs. Knepp. She compares it to not being accepted into a group in high school, then admits that “in my mind there was always going to be a day — sometime in the future — when we could call a truce.” Can you relate to Callie’s awkwardness at not being accepted by someone or a group of people? How did you react? Has there been a time when you held on to a grudge and wished you hadn’t?

2. In chapter 10, Melinda realizes, maybe for the first time, that the killer could be after her son Aaron. She has a moment of panic, and then remembers the words found in Jeremiah 29:11. Only part of the scripture is included in the chapter. The entire verse is one of my favorites.

3. Joshua’s meltdown in chapter 11 was so much fun for me to write, because I’ve been there with my own child! So often when I see young mothers with young children, I’m reminded of a professor’s wise words: “You’re seeing three minutes of a three-hour movie.” Isn’t that the truth? We don’t really know what’s going on in someone else’s life. Can you relate to Deborah’s problems with Joshua, and if so, would you have handled it the same way or differently?

4. After Shane and Callie kiss, she realizes she must make a leap of faith — she can no longer straddle the fence of their relationship (chapter 13): “There was no middle ground. It was either trust and take the leap, or back up and somehow endure this thing alone.”

Callie’s relationship with Shane very much parallels her spiritual journey at this point. In other words, sometimes God uses people to help us make those leaps of faith. Have you experienced a similar moment?

5. At the beginning of chapter 17, Melinda recalls her mother’s advice, the biblical advice to “lean not unto your own understanding.” She knows this is good advice, but knowing it and being able to do it are two very different things. What are some practical things we can do to depend on God’s understanding during times of crisis?

6. In chapter 20, you read from Esther’s point of view that “God had worked in her heart. He had given her back her faith in the goodness of life.” This is no small thing! Esther had previously lost more than her husband, Seth, to a terrible accident. She had lost her faith in the goodness of God. Do you think it’s possible to ever completely heal from such a tragedy?

7. We have a nice image of Deborah ministering to Melinda in chapter 23. “When she applied pressure to the small cut,
fresh blood poured out, staining the cotton.” Sometimes it’s the small daily things that remind us of Christ’s sacrifice. What has occurred in your daily life recently to remind you of the gift of grace?

8. The Swap! Oh my. In chapter 25, we see that Aaron and Matt have once again pulled The Swap! Why are they doing this to their parents? Are they bad children? Do they understand it’s wrong? And in this case, does the end justify the means? (P.S. did you ever do anything similar when you were a child, or since?)

9. We learn about Shane’s background in chapter 26, about the tragic death of his sister, how the person who killed her was captured and imprisoned, and how that affected his family. This scene helps us to understand how Shane has become the man, and the officer, that he is. In reality, can God use something terrible in our lives for good?

10. In chapter 30, Levi reveals his attitude toward his brother. He knows he will never be able to win Thomas’ freedom, but he still has hope for his salvation when he says to Shane, “Because you didn’t kill him … I will have time to try and win my
bruder
’s heart. Time to pray for him and time to minister.” How is this an expression of God’s grace?

ack
— oh

aenti
— aunt

bedauerlich
— sad

boppli
— baby

bopplin
— babies

bruder
— brother

daadi
— grandfather, informal

daed
— father

danki
— thank you

dat
— dad

Dietsch
— Pennsylvania Dutch

dochder
— daughter

dochdern
— daughters

eck
— corner

Englischer
— non-Amish person

fraa
— wife

friend
— friend

freinden
— friends

gelassenheit
— calmness, compo-sure, placidity

gern gschehne
— you’re welcome

Gotte’s wille
— God’s will

grandkinner
— grandchildren

grossdaddi
— grandfather

grossdochdern
— granddaughters

grossmammi
— grandmother

gudemariye
— good morning

gut
— good

in lieb
— in love

kaffi
— coffee

kapp
— prayer covering

kind
— child

kinner
— children

mamm
— mom

mammi
— grandmother, informal

naerfich
— nervous

narrisch
— crazy

nein
— no

onkel
— uncle

Ordnung
— set of rules for Amish living

rumspringa
— running around; time before an Amish young person has officially joined the church, provides a bridge between childhood and adulthood

schweschder
— sister

was iss letz
— what is wrong

wunderbaar
— wonderful

ya
— yes

Falling to Pieces

A Perfect Square