The Choice (40 page)
Carrie looked at Esther, stunned. Esther had never gone with her father or Andy to the hospital when they needed attention. Not once.
Abel smiled. “That would be nice, Esther.”
Andy’s eyes went wide. “But if she comes that means I can’t watch television,” he whispered to Carrie, who gave him a look that read, “Too bad.”
Abel went down to the carriage house to get the horse. Carrie dragged the tongue of the buggy to help him hitch the horse. As Abel backed the horse into the buggy traces, Carrie looked up in surprise.
“Abel Miller, bist du narrisch?”
Are you crazy?
“You’ve got the wrong horse.”
Abel shook his head, eyes fixed on fastening the buckles to Schtarm’s bridle. “I’ve been working with Schtarm. He thinks he’s finally ready to be a buggy horse.”
Carrie raised her eyebrows. “He thinks so? Or knows so? Because I’m not climbing in a buggy with a runaway horse.”
Abel finished clasping the last buckle, then turned to her. “He knows. He’s ready.”
As Abel went to the barn to pick up Andy, Abraham approached Carrie, waiting by the buggy. “Abel has been bringing Schtarm to my farm for the last few weeks. We’ve picked up where Daniel started, getting that horse buggy broke.” He helped Carrie up. “I think Schtarm has finally worked out all the things that were troubling him.” He covered Carrie’s hands with his big, worn ones and gave them a squeeze. “You know, about being a buggy horse.”
Carrie nodded, knowing exactly what he meant.
In the emergency room of the hospital, Andy’s heel was stitched up while he was given another infusion of Factor IX. Abraham kept Andy amused with stories about his boyhood. Esther seemed amused too, Carrie noticed, wondering if something sweet was brewing between Abraham and her. Abel offered to get coffee for everyone, so Carrie walked with him to the cafeteria.
Abel bought the coffees and pointed to an empty table in the crowded room. “Let’s sit for a minute, since Andy has company.” “I still can’t get over having Esther here,” Carrie said, pulling a chair out.
Abel nodded in agreement. “God is always working to bring folks together.”
He really should be a preacher, she thought. He had a way of gently redirecting people to God. “Schtarm did well, Abel. We were here in half the time that it usually takes.” She stirred cream and sugar into the coffee in her cup. “Yonnie was right about you.”
He lifted his eyebrows in a question as he took a sip of his coffee.
“She said you could fix anything. Engines, motors, horses.” Carrie blew on the top of the Styrofoam cup to cool the coffee. “People too.”
Like me
, she thought.
He helped to fix me.
Abel shrugged off her compliment, but seemed pleased. “Grace bicycled over this afternoon while you were cleaning up after lunch. She was on a break and had to get back to work, but she wanted you to know that someone new is managing Honor Mansion. Veronica has been promoted and is moving to New York City. In fact, Grace said she had already left.” He took another sip of coffee. “Grace also mentioned that you paid a visit recently to Honor Mansion.”
Carrie made her eyes go all round and innocent, like Andy’s did when he tried to act as if he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“So, were you planning on telling me anytime soon about that particular visit?”
Carrie inhaled, as if she was about to say something, then shook her head.
Abel leaned forward on the table. “Let’s make a pact. No more secrets.” He held out his hand to her. “Deal?”
She smiled and took his hand, giving it the one-pump Amish handshake. “Well, then, since we’re not keeping secrets, I suppose there’s something I should tell you. Mattie gave me some news today when she came over to help with the raising. Sol is moving back home. Come summer, he’s starting baptism instructions.”
“This summer? He’s taking the baptism classes this summer?” A strange, almost sickened look came over Abel’s face.
She nodded. “That’s what Mattie said.” Carrie looked down at her coffee. “She said they’re to be married in November.”
“What?” Abel inhaled sharply, leaning back in his chair. He whistled. “I never saw that coming.”
“My dad used to say that folks marry for all kinds of reasons.” Abel gazed at Carrie, his eyes dark and fathomless. “So what do you say about it?”
“I’m happy for Mattie and Sol. I really am.” She and Mattie had time for a long heart-to-heart talk while cleaning up today’s lunch dishes. She admitted to Mattie that she had loved Sol like crazy for a while, and in some ways she always would. “But it wasn’t you who came between us, Mattie,” she told her sincerely. “That was God’s doing.” She and Sol weren’t meant for each other. And one thing Carrie knew: no woman but Mattie could ever help Sol to be his best self.
When Abel didn’t respond, she glanced at him and saw him quickly look away. He was holding his hat in his hands, running it around and around by the brim. When he finally looked at her, his face was solemn. “Things haven’t exactly turned out the way you thought they would, have they? It isn’t exactly what you asked for.”
In Carrie’s mind, she reviewed the day, this wonderful day, of barn building and family building, a day filled with hope. “No. It’s not. It’s more. My life is more than what I ever could have asked for.”
Their eyes caught and held, and held and held, and this time they both knew that neither one was letting go. He reached out a hand, palm forward, and she placed her palm against his, weaving their fingers together. Her stomach did a flip-flop; she’d been waiting for this conversation since the walk with the deacon last week. She could tell Abel was measuring his words carefully. She saw him swallow hard.
“Carrie, I can’t imagine living the rest of my life without you. I love you. Be my wife.” He grinned that crooked grin. “Be my Amish wife.”
Carrie studied him for a moment, his brown hair curling at the ends around his collar, his beautiful melted-chocolate eyes, the cleft in his chin. Sometimes, she realized, the very thing we think is a problem turns out in the end to be God’s protection. When Sol left her for baseball, she thought her heart was permanently broken. God had a different idea for her, a better one. God led her to Daniel, who led her to Abel.
She tilted her head. “Is it as simple as that? You love me, I love you.”
“As simple as that.”
They shared a smile, as deep and as intimate as a kiss.
On the surface, Carrie appeared to be a person who wasn’t firmly grounded. Describe the changes she underwent.
Aside from providing Carrie with a home, what did Daniel give to her? What did she give to him?
How did Carrie’s perceptions of faith and prayer change? At what point did she have a sense of her own self? What caused that growth?
Jacob Weaver, Carrie’s father, never wanted Solomon Riehl to marry Carrie. He said, “I won’t let my daughter marry a man who takes care of himself first.” Was his opinion of Sol too harsh? Why or why not?
What kind of a person was Esther Weaver? What compels her to adhere so strictly to the laws and traditions of the Amish faith?
What core beliefs did Mattie have that allowed her to be a loyal friend to Carrie despite loving Sol?
Did it surprise you when you read that Mattie and Sol had become engaged? Did you think Sol loved her? Or needed her? Or both?
How would you describe Carrie and Abel’s relationship? What drew them together?
Why did Emma choose eloping with Steelhead over being Amish? What kind of future do you see for them?
Did it bother you that Carrie had evidence to pin arson charges on Veronica McCall but chose not to? The Amish prefer to suffer injustice rather than to instigate legal suits. Do you think Carrie stood her ground? Or did Veronica McCall get the upper hand?
If you had to identify yourself with just one of the characters in this novel, who would it be? Why?
Did you learn anything new about the Amish life in reading this novel?
Suzanne Woods Fisher
’s interest in the Anabaptist cultures can be directly traced to her grandfather, W. D. Benedict, who was raised in the Old Order German Baptist Brethren Church in Franklin County, Pennsylvania. Benedict left the colony amicably and eventually became publisher of
Christianity Today
magazine.
Suzanne is the author of
Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a
Complicated World
. Her work has appeared in many magazines, including
Today’s Christian Woman
,
Worldwide Challenge
,
ParentLife
,
Christian Parenting Today
,
Marriage Partnership
, and many others. Fisher lives with her family in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Visit Suzanne’s website at
www.suzannewoodsfisher.com
.
Books by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Amish Peace: Simple Wisdom for a Complicated Life
L
ANCASTER
C
OUNTY
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ECRETS
The Choice
First, last, and always, to the Lord God, for giving me the opportunity to write for his sake.
A special thank-you goes to the Lancaster Barnstormer baseball team for letting Solomon Riehl pitch his fastball for their team. And also for sharing time and knowledge, answering my questions, and reading through the manuscript to help correct errors.
Thanks also to my favorite first readers who graciously agreed to read and critique that first draft. The Ugly Draft. Lindsey Ciraulo and Wendy How. Your keen insights and guiding comments (“Now, did you happen to notice that Carrie has three arms in that scene?” and “Why are there two Mondays in that week?”) are invaluable!
Thanks to my dream team: agent Joyce Hart of The Hartline Literary Agency and those at Revell: Andrea Doering, Barb Barnes, Janelle Mahlmann, Twila Brothers Bennett, Claudia Marsh, Deonne Beron, Carmen Pease, Sheila Ingram, Donna Hausler, and everyone else who has worked so hard on my behalf.
Many thanks to the Amish families I met, who graciously opened their homes and their hearts and let me share their world for a little while.
And, of course, thanks to my family for being so supportive of this writing gig: Steve, Lindsey and Josh, Gary, Meredith and Tad.
