The Gift (28 page)

Adam glanced at the clock and grunted. “Someone should’ve woken me up.”

“I was gonna,” Carrie spoke up, “but Amy said no.”

Adam looked at Amy, but she barely gave him a second glance. She was too busy chewing her sandwich.

“She said you must be tired,” Linda intervened, “so we just let you sleep.”

“I would have gotten a good night’s sleep if it hadn’t been for Coal barking in the middle of the night,” Adam explained. “Did any of you hear him carrying on?”

“I didn’t hear anything. Did either of you?” Linda asked her sisters.

Carrie shook her head.

“Me, neither,” Amy said.

“Guess it could have been something down by the pond that had him alerted.” Adam figured the girls must have really been tired to be able to sleep through all that barking. He grabbed his straw hat and plunked it on his head. “I’d better get outside and tend to the animals. They probably think I’m not coming to the barn at all.”

“Want me to help?” Linda asked. “I’m almost done with my lunch.”

“That’s okay. I can manage.” Adam figured he could get the chores done quicker if he didn’t have her trudging after him, asking a bunch of silly questions or stopping to play with the dog or one of the barn cats.

He watched as Amy took a napkin and wiped Carrie’s hands and jelly-stained mouth. Then she cleared off the table and put water in the sink to do the dishes. Adam couldn’t help thinking that someday the girl would be a good mother.

When Adam stepped out the door he nearly tripped over Coal, who lay stretched out on the porch. “Thanks for keepin’ me awake last night,” he mumbled, nudging the dog with the toe of his boot.

Coal lifted his head lazily and grunted. Then he stood, shook himself, and ambled into the yard with Adam.

Adam snickered when the dog yawned in a whinnylike manner. “Serves you right. Now you know how I feel when I’m tired and have to get up.”

As Adam walked across the lawn, he noticed several bruised and battered apples. They were too far from the apple tree that was on the other side of the yard, so he figured the girls must have found the apples lying on the ground and tossed them onto the lawn. As soon as he finished his chores he’d go back inside and tell the girls that they needed to clean up the mess.

Nearing the barn, Adam halted, causing Coal to plow right into his leg. Adam couldn’t believe it. The window closest to the door was shattered, with a good-sized hole in it.

“That’s just great!” Adam jerked the barn door open and stepped inside. Going over to the broken window, he spotted a mangled looking apple on the floor. It didn’t take a genius to realize what had happened. “Those girls are really in trouble now,” Adam grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. He stood, moving his head in a slow circular motion, which relieved some of his tension. “The least they could have done was told me what happened. But no, they just sat there at the table, looking wide-eyed and innocent.”

Adam bent to pick up the apple, placed it on a shelf near the door, and fed the livestock. When that was done, he grabbed the apple and headed back to the house.

“Carrie! Amy! Linda!” Adam shouted when he entered the kitchen and found it empty. “I need to speak to you right now!”

A few minutes passed, then Carrie and Linda showed up. “Where’s Amy?” Adam asked, struggling to keep his temper.

“In the bathroom. Want me to get her?” Linda responded.

Adam shook his head. “You and Carrie can go to the living room and take a seat. When Amy comes out, the four of us need to have a little talk.”

The two girls looked at him strangely but did as they were told. Adam followed them into the other room and seated himself in his recliner, while they sat on the sofa.

“Is something wrong, Uncle Adam?” Linda asked. “You look like you’ve been sucking on sour candy.”

Adam folded his arms. “We’ll discuss it when Amy joins us.”

They all sat quietly, until Adam heard the bathroom door open. “Amy, would you please come into the living room?” he hollered. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

Amy shuffled into the room with a disinterested expression and flopped onto the couch next to Linda.

“I discovered a broken window in the barn, and this on the floor below it.” Adam held up the apple. “There were also several apples on the lawn.” He leaned slightly forward, squinting his eyes. “What I want to know is, which one of you did it?”

“Not me,” said Carrie.

“Me, neither,” Linda added.

Adam looked at Amy. If the younger girls didn’t do it, then she had to be the guilty one.

Amy pursed her lips and shook her head determinedly. “I never threw any apples, and since Carrie and Linda said they didn’t do it, you’d better ask someone else.”

“There’s no one else here to ask, unless you think the dog did it.” Adam gripped the arms of his chair. “And none of you had better leave this room until the guilty party fesses up.”

Carrie and Linda started to cry. Amy just sat, staring defiantly at Adam. “I’m not gonna say I did something when I didn’t, even if you make me sit here all day. I won’t say I threw those apples just to make you happy. Somebody else must’ve come into the yard and tossed the apples.”

Adam groaned. He wished Leah were here today watching the girls. She had a better way of dealing with them than he did. Maybe he’d been too harsh accusing his nieces, but if they hadn’t thrown the apples, then who?

Leah had been looking at bolts of fabric for a while when Priscilla and Elaine showed up. They’d promised to meet her and help choose the fabric for her wedding dress, as well as for the dresses they would wear as her witnesses. If Leah had planned the day better, she would have asked them to meet her at the pizza place for lunch, but that had been a last-minute decision.

“Have you found anything you like?” Priscilla asked.

“I’m thinking maybe this.” Leah gestured to a bolt of olive-green material. “Green seems to go well with my hair color.” She pointed to another shade of green. “I thought this might work for your two dresses.”

“Whatever you think’s best.” Elaine smiled. “After we leave here, I’m going right home to get started on my dress.”

“Same here,” Priscilla said. “With the wedding less than two months away, there’s no time to waste.”

“You’re right,” Leah agreed. “Since I’m at Adam’s on weekdays and have foot treatments scheduled on many evenings, I asked Adam if I can move my sewing machine to his house so I can sew during the day.”

“What’d he say?” Elaine questioned.

“Said it was fine with him. After all, once we’re married, I’ll be moving all of my things to his place.”

Priscilla bumped Leah’s arm. “It’s going to seem strange having one of us married and the other two still hoping.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before you and Elaine will have your wedding dates published during one of our church services.”

Priscilla shook her head. “That might be true for Elaine, but I’ve about given up on Elam. I may look for someone else—someone who might actually be interested in marriage.”

“Really?” Leah could hard believe Priscilla was giving up on Elam. “I thought you were going to give him more words of affirmation and see if that made him feel loved.”

“I did, but it didn’t work,” Priscilla said with a huff. “Now let’s pay for our material and be on our way.”

Cora’s head jerked when the front door opened. She’d been reclining on the couch since she got back from town and had nodded off while waiting for Jared.

“Do you know what time it is?” she asked sharply when Jared sauntered into the room, looking disheveled. His wrinkled shirt made her wonder if he’d slept in it last night.

“Sure, Mom. It’s five o’clock.”

Cora’s jaw tightened. “What time did I ask you to be here?”

He shrugged and tossed his backpack on the floor near the door. “I can’t remember.”

“I said three o’clock.”

He shrugged again. “So what’s a measly two hours?”

Cora sat up. “It’s not about the difference in time. It’s about you learning to do as I say.”

Jared sank into a chair. “Well, I’m home now, so that oughtta make you happy.”

“It does, but I wish you had listened to what I said and come home on time.” Cora studied her son, noticing that in addition to his shirt being wrinkled, it appeared to have several splotches on it. “What’s that all over your shirt?”

He looked down and brushed at the smudges. “Nothing much. Scott and I had a fight with some apples. Guess I ended up with most of ’em on my shirt.”

Cora frowned. “I’m sure Scott’s mother didn’t appreciate that.”

Jared made no reply.

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“Maybe a little.”

“If you’ll change out of those dirty clothes and take a shower, by the time you’re done I’ll have some pizza heated for our supper.”

“Where’d you get pizza?”

“I ate lunch at the pizza place in Arthur today. There was a lot left over, so I brought it home.”

“What kind is it?”

“Canadian bacon and pineapple.”

Jared wrinkled his nose. “Not my favorite, but I guess it’ll fill the hole.” Scooping up his backpack, he meandered down the hall.

Cora sighed and rose from her seat.
If that boy moved any slower, he’d stop.
She was glad Jared had made a new friend since they’d moved here, but his attitude sure hadn’t improved. Even his posture had an “I don’t care” stance. He still hadn’t gotten his hair cut, and even worse, he now wore it in a ponytail.
Think I’ll give Evan a call and see if he’ll have a talk with our son.

T
hanks for seeing me on such short notice,” Cora said as she settled into the recliner in Leah’s basement.

“It’s not a problem.” Leah smiled. “You’re the only person I have scheduled for this evening, so it worked out just fine. Often Monday evenings are pretty busy. I guess that’s because things happen over the weekend to cause people pain.”

Cora nodded. “That’s exactly what happened to me. I was unpacking some boxes from our recent move and ended up straining my back. In hindsight, I think I picked up one too many boxes, and knowing that reflexology can help with something like that, I decided to come see you before I resort to muscle relaxers or pain meds.”

“Do you ever see a chiropractor?” Leah asked as Cora removed her shoes and socks.

“I had a good chiropractor when we lived in Chicago, but I haven’t found one here yet.”

“I can give you the name of the one I go to,” Leah offered. “Before you leave, remind me.”

“Thanks, I will.”

Cora reclined her chair, and Leah put some massage lotion on Cora’s right foot and began massaging and probing, searching for sensitive areas. “You said you knew that reflexology can help with some back issues. Does that mean you’ve had foot treatments before?”

Cora nodded.

Leah was pleased to hear that. It meant Cora was a believer in the advantages of reflexology.
Unlike some people,
Leah thought as a vision of Adam came to mind.
Maybe after we’re married I can make a believer out of him. He needs to stop being so narrow minded.

“Is that spot sore?” Leah asked when Cora flinched after she’d touched a certain area just below her big toe.

“Jah, just a bit.”

“Jah? Did you just say yes in Pennsylvania Dutch?”

Cora snickered. “Over half the patients we see at the clinic are Amish, so I’ve been trying to learn a few Pennsylvania Dutch words.
Jah
is one of the easier ones, right?”

Leah nodded. “Jah, it sure is.”

Leah continued to work on Cora’s right foot. When she finished, she moved on to the left one. “How are things with your son? Did he enjoy the leftover pizza you took home last Saturday?”

“The kind I bought isn’t Jared’s favorite, and it didn’t do anything to help his attitude. Yesterday I gave his father a call and asked if he would have a talk with Jared.” Cora sighed. “Of course, my request fell on deaf ears. Evan’s only response was that he was too busy to talk right then. Oh, and then he said I needed to take a firmer hand with our son. Evan never seems to have time for Jared anymore. I guess other things are more important to him.”