Shunned and Dangerous (An Amish Mystery) (16 page)

F
or the first time since opening the shop over the summer, Claire bypassed her office and went straight to the main room. There were only so many times she could look at the numbers. She was spending money faster than it was coming in, and at the rate she was going, Heavenly Treasures would be closed inside ten weeks, twelve at best.

The one and only saving grace was the knowledge that Esther’s wedding would happen first. Somehow, knowing she wouldn’t have to let Esther go lessened the sting of packing up her dream and calling it a day.

But then there was Aunt Diane . . .

No, there was no getting around the pain Claire’s inevitable exit from Heavenly was going to cause the innkeeper.

“You look as if the weight of the world is on your shoulders right now.”

Startled from her thoughts, Claire grabbed hold of the counter for support and jerked her head in the direction of the front door. There, just inside the entryway of Heavenly Treasures, stood Martha, quietly clasping her hands while glancing over her shoulder toward the sidewalk. “The bishop says God will provide. He will make all things right.”

“I think God is looking after those with far bigger problems than mine.” Claire forced herself to focus on the here and now, or, at the very least, the here and the previous night. “Do you always listen to everything Bishop Hershberger says, Martha?”

“Yah.”

“Seems to me you might do better to listen to your heart once in a while, too.”

“I do not know what you speak of.”

Warning bells began to clang in her head, the sound, she assumed, designed to keep her from saying something she’d regret. Yet, despite the mental reminder that Martha was Esther’s mother, she continued on, undeterred, the connection between Martha and Jakob every bit as important. “I respect your way of life. I have since I was a little girl. I think the way you rely on one another over technology is to be commended. I admire the way you all work so hard, making your own way in life. I admire your large families and the respect you have for one another. And I admire your ability to turn the other cheek when you are wronged . . . but I will never understand how the Amish can offer forgiveness to a stranger for something like
murder
, yet refuse to give it to one of their own for becoming a
police officer
.”

Martha met Claire’s gaze with one that was hooded, maybe even a little sad. “Jakob knew what would happen if he left.”

“Do you really think that makes it better somehow? Do you really think that knowing what would happen and actually living it is the same thing? Because I don’t. I’ve only known your brother a few months now and even I can see how much his decision has cost him.” She brushed a shaking hand through her auburn hair and began to pace, the frustration over her financial situation and her anger over Jakob’s treatment the previous night propelling her back and forth across the room. “He gets that he will never have a real relationship with you and your husband, or with Esther and the rest of your children. But is it so wrong for him to get a smile? To get a quick wave? To squeeze his hand as you go by? Because from where I’m standing . . . and where I was standing
last night
, I don’t see why such tiny courtesies could be so wrong.”

“That is how it must be in front of the bishop.”

Claire wanted to argue, to tell Martha to be proud of the fact she and Jakob were rebuilding their foundation one clandestine meeting at a time, but to do so would be to potentially harm the progress they’d made so far. Besides, Jakob had never come out and said he was still meeting his sister by the pond. Claire only assumed and Jakob neither confirmed nor denied.

Like it or not, Martha was not only Jakob’s sister but Esther’s mother, as well. To continue bemoaning an injustice that wasn’t going to change no matter what she said was futile. Instead, she gave up and steered all further conversation toward safer territory.

“If you give me a second, I’ll step out to your buggy with you and help you bring in whatever creations you have for me this week.” Any hope she had for keeping the store going until mid to late January was due, in no small part, to Martha’s hand-painted milk cans and footstools. Positioning the Amish woman’s work in the front window virtually guaranteed Claire’d make a sale by the end of the day. Unfortunately, the kind of detail Martha put into each item took time, and even two or three footstools a week wasn’t enough to keep Claire’s head above water any longer. Still, some time was better than no time.

Especially when that time would enable her to see Esther married and happily embarking on her new life with Eli before Claire was forced to take down the Heavenly Treasures’ shingle.

“I do not have any items for you today. There is much to do these next few weeks to prepare for Esther’s wedding. There will be many guests. My painting must wait until her wedding day is over.”

“You—you don’t have
anything
with you today?” she stammered above the sudden roar in her ears. “No spoons? No milk cans? No
stools
?”

Martha’s left brow raised ever so slightly beneath her kapp. “That is right. I have nothing. Is there something wrong, Claire?”

Yes, she wanted to shout. I’m months—perhaps now,
weeks
away from losing the only dream that’s ever truly been my own.

But she couldn’t say that aloud. Not yet, anyway. Not until she could say it without crying. Not until she was able to figure out her next plan. Instead, she hitched her shoulders upward in what she hoped was a casual shrug and turned back to the empty pad of paper and the day’s to-do list she’d planned to write. “So how can I help with Esther’s wedding? May I host the shower? I’m sure my aunt would let us have it at the inn. It’s big enough to accommodate a nice number of ladies.”

“What is a shower?”

The question took her by surprise for a moment and she looked up. She’d grown so used to the Amish dress code and the sight of their buggies that she’d almost forgotten there were more differences—vast differences.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.” She came around the counter once again, this time patting one cushioned stool while claiming the other. “Please. Come sit. Instead of me babbling on about the way the English prepare for a wedding, I’d much rather hear how things will be done for Esther in the days leading up to her big day.”

Slowly, Martha crossed to the stool and sat. “I would like to hear of this shower. That is an English custom I do not know.”

“Okay . . .” Claire scooted her stool back a smidge and did her best to describe the age-old tradition that was slowly falling by the wayside in favor of the more raucous bachelorette party preferred by a growing number of brides-to-be. “Well, a shower is essentially a big party that is thrown—usually by the bride’s friends or family—in honor of the bride-to-be. Only women are invited to the party and it’s given as a way to celebrate the new role she’ll soon have as a wife. The guests bring gifts—things she’ll use in her new home. Perhaps a toaster or a mixer . . . or sheets and a blanket for the couple’s bed . . . that sort of thing. Useful things that help them start off in their new life together.”

“The Amish give gifts, too, but they give them after the wedding,” Martha explained. “On the day they are to be married, people come from many places to celebrate the day. There is much food and happiness. But it is later, over the next few days and weeks, that the man and wife drive to their guests’ homes to collect the gifts.”

For the first time since she’d arrived at work that morning, Claire felt the knots of tension in her neck and shoulders dissipating, her fascination with the Amish way of life and the chance to learn yet another interesting facet of their existence providing a brief but welcome reprieve from reality. “You mean Esther and Eli will go to people’s houses
after
the wedding in order to get their gifts?”

At Martha’s nod, Claire took full stock of the answer and the subsequent questions that found their way past her lips. “Esther told me there can be as many as three hundred people at a wedding. If even a third of those are adults and married, that’s still fifty-odd homes they have to visit.”

“It is done to encourage Esther and Eli to visit. We do not telephone as the English do. We talk on the porch or in the kitchen. It is what we do on non-church Sundays. It is what we do when the work is done.”

“It is a part of your life I truly envy. People spend so much of their time these days looking down at their contraptions instead of looking up and saying hello to one another.” Claire lifted the pen from the top of her to-do list and lazily twirled it between her fingers. “Being able to connect with people again is one of the things I will treasure most about my time here in Heavenly. It has been such a blessing.”

“Are you leaving?”

Uh-oh . . .

Dropping the pen onto the pad of paper, Claire slid off her stool and clapped her hands together in what she hoped was an award-worthy attempt at changing the subject. “Do you know what sorts of things would help Esther and Eli as they go off on their own? Any particular items they need for their kitchen?”

“Esther thinks fondly of you, Claire. She would be saddened if you left.”

She blinked against the prick of tears that burned at the corners of her eyes. Should she tell Martha? Impress upon the woman how badly she needed new items if the shop was to last through the holiday season?

No. When the time came to share the news of her closing, Esther should be the one she told. Not Martha. “I am so happy Esther has Eli. He will look after her and give her a good life.”

“Eli will be a good husband for my daughter. When God sees fit to give them children, he will be a good father, too. But you, Claire, are a good friend. To Esther, to Eli, and to me.”

She swallowed in a futile attempt to clear the lump Martha’s words lodged in her throat, the tears she worked valiantly to thwart ready to spill down her cheeks at a moment’s notice. “Esther is the first real friend I’ve had in a very long time and I treasure every moment I get to spend with her. Through her, I have met so many wonderful people—people like you and Eli.”

“You will come to the wedding, won’t you?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world.” And it was true. Wild horses couldn’t drag her from Esther’s wedding. “It will be my honor to be there to celebrate her special day with all of you.”

Martha stilled her fidgeting hands atop her lap and eyed Claire closely. “Perhaps, one day, we can all share your day with you.”

Confused, she drew back. “
My
day?”

“Yah. The day you will marry my brother.”