The Healing (39 page)

“Good morning, Mrs. Fisher,” Titus said, standing beside Suzanne as she stood in front of the dresser, pinning up her hair.

She leaned into him, liking the sound of that. “Good morning, husband.”

He nuzzled her neck with his nose. “Are you as tired as I am this morning?”

“Jah. Yesterday was a long day, and according to tradition, since we’ve spent our first night in my parents’ home, we now have to help with the cleanup from the wedding, so we’ll be even more tired by tonight, I expect.” She set her head covering in place. “So I guess we ought to go downstairs and see if my mamm has breakfast started, and then we’ll get busy cleaning the barn.”

“We’ll need to say good-bye to those in my family who’ll be leaving today, too, and I think we ought to do that first,” Titus said. “I know they want to get an early start.”

She smiled. “It was nice having most of your family here for the wedding.”

“It sure was, but I wish my twin brother’s wife would have come with him.” Titus’s brows puckered. “I’m worried about Timothy. From some of the things he’s told me, I think he’s unhappy in his marriage.”

“That’s a shame. We’ll have to remember to pray for Hannah and Timothy.”

“You’re right. Unless things change between them soon, they’re going to need a lot of prayer.”

“Now that you’re here, I’ll get breakfast started,” Mama Fannie said when Samuel entered the kitchen after doing his chores.

“That’s okay. I’m not hungry this morning.”

“What happened? Did you eat too much at the wedding meal yesterday?” Dad asked as he shuffled into the room.

Samuel merely shrugged in reply.

“Is there something troubling you?” Mama Fannie questioned. “You’ve been acting kind of strange ever since we came home from the wedding last night.”

“It’s nothing,” Samuel mumbled. He grabbed a mug from the cupboard, moved over to the stove, and poured himself a cup of coffee.

“I wish we didn’t have to go home tomorrow,” Mama Fannie said. “I’d like to spend more time with you and the kinner.” She glanced over at Dad. “Couldn’t we stay until next week? It would be nice if we could be here for Leon’s birthday.”

Dad shook his head. “We need to get back so Timothy and I can finish harvesting the fields. Besides, next week is also Timothy’s birthday, and he’ll want to be home with his wife and daughter.”

“It’s Titus’s birthday, too, you know,” she reminded.

“That’s right, and I’m sure he’ll be perfectly happy celebrating it with his new bride.”

“Maybe we could stay here and celebrate Leon’s birthday, and Timothy can go home without us.”

“Nope,” Dad said. “We need to get back for the harvest.”

Deep wrinkles formed across Mama Fannie’s forehead. “Sometimes I wish you’d give up farming. It ties you down too much.”

“Farming is what I do.” Dad took a seat at the table. “Wouldn’t know what to do if I wasn’t farming.”

Mama Fannie sighed. “There are times when I wish you were still running the general store and I was managing the quilt shop. We saw more of each other then than we do now, that’s for sure.”

“Things change, Fannie,” Dad said. “Naomi and Caleb are doing a fine job with the store, and Abby enjoys running the quilt shop.”

Mama Fannie handed him a cup of coffee. “You’re right, and I wouldn’t take that away from them. I just wish—”

“Daadi, do something, quick! Lucky’s chasin’ Esther’s katz!” Penny hollered as she raced into the room.

Samuel’s heartbeat picked up speed. “Is Esther here?” Surely she wouldn’t have come to watch the kids today. She knew Samuel’s folks wouldn’t be leaving until tomorrow.

Penny shook her head. “Esther’s not here, Daadi. The katz I’m talkin’ about is the one she gave us awhile back. Said it would help keep the mice down. Remember?”

“Oh, that’s right,” Samuel said with a nod. His brain felt so fuzzy this morning—probably because he hadn’t slept well last night. He’d tossed and turned most of the night, his thoughts going from Elsie to Esther.

Penny stood on tiptoes and tugged on Samuel’s shirtsleeve. “Are you gonna make Lucky stop chasin’ the katz?”

He grunted. “There’s no need for that. If the cat doesn’t like being chased, he’ll either climb the nearest tree or find a safe place to hide in the barn.” Samuel pointed at Penny. “And if the cat does go up a tree, don’t you get any ideas about trying to rescue him.”

“I won’t, Daadi. I know better than that now.”

“Good.”

Mama Fannie pulled Penny into her arms. “I’m going to miss you, sweet girl.” She looked over at Dad. “Are you sure we can’t stay a few days longer?”

Dad shook his head. “Nope. But we’ll come back and visit again sometime next year.”

Mama Fannie’s shoulders slumped as she turned toward the stove. Seeing how much she missed his children made Samuel wonder if he’d made a mistake moving away. Maybe it would be better if they moved back to Pennsylvania. At least then he wouldn’t have to see Esther and be reminded of what he could never have. He’d have to think on that awhile; he didn’t want to make another mistake. The kids had settled in here quite well, and they might not want to leave Kentucky. For that matter, he didn’t want to leave either. He just wasn’t sure how he could continue living here without seeing Esther all the time.

No matter what he decided about moving or staying, tomorrow when Esther came to watch the kids, he’d have to tell her that he wouldn’t be courting her anymore and that he planned to look for someone else to take care of the kids. He just wished there was an easy way to say it. Better yet, he wished more than ever that he didn’t have to say anything at all. Since his family had seemed so pleased about him courting Esther, he decided it would be best not to tell them about his decision until after they’d gone home. He didn’t want to spoil the last of their visit with a bunch of questions, or worse yet, deal with Mama Fannie offering her opinion on things.

W
hen Esther arrived at Samuel’s the following day to watch the children, she was surprised to see that his folks were still there. She’d figured they would have wanted to get an early start on their return trip to Pennsylvania and would have already left.

Do Titus’s parents know he won’t be courting me anymore? Esther halted her footsteps as a sickening thought popped into her head. What if Samuel’s parents are the reason he’s decided to stop courting me? Maybe one or both of them told Samuel they didn’t approve of him seeing me
.

She swallowed hard and drew in a deep breath, her feet feeling like lead with each step she took.
If I just knew why he’d made this decision, maybe I could do something about it
.

Esther stepped onto the porch and knocked on the door. It felt strange knocking on her own door, but with Samuel’s folks still visiting, she didn’t feel right about walking right in.

Marla opened the door and gave her a hug. “Sure am glad to see ya, Esther. Wish I didn’t have to go to school today so we could do somethin’ fun.”

Esther gave the girl’s head a pat. “We’ll do something fun when you get home this afternoon.”

When Esther stepped into the living room, she saw Fannie sitting on the sofa, holding Jared in her lap. Leon and Penny sat on either side of her.

“It’s nice to see you again, Esther,” Fannie said, offering Esther a friendly smile. “The kinner and I were just talking about how much they like having you care for them.”

Relief flooded Esther’s soul. If Fannie was being so friendly and had said such a nice thing, surely she couldn’t have influenced Samuel to stop courting me. Maybe Fannie doesn’t even know about the decision he’s made
.

Esther smiled at Fannie and said, “I enjoy being with the children, too.”

Fannie stroked the top of Jared’s head and bent her head to kiss his pudgy cheek. “It’s been nice being with them these past few days, but I wish we could stay longer. I really miss Samuel and the kinner.”

Esther nodded with understanding. She missed her folks, too, but since Samuel and his children had come into her life, she’d been less lonely and had found a new purpose.

“I also wish we’d had more time to get to know you better,” Fannie said. “Maybe when Samuel and the kinner come to Pennsylvania to visit us, you can join them.”

Esther had to force a smile this time. If she and Samuel wouldn’t be courting anymore, he sure wouldn’t invite her to go with them to Pennsylvania.

“Abraham and I are very happy with Titus’s choice for a wife,” Fannie added.

“Jah. I think Suzanne and Titus will be very happy together.” Esther removed her shawl and outer bonnet and hung them on a wall peg near the door. She was about to take a seat in the chair across from Fannie, when Samuel stepped into the room. He halted, and his face turned red when he looked at Esther.

“Oh, I … uh … didn’t realize you were here,” he said, dropping his gaze to the floor.

“I just came in a few minutes ago.” It made Esther unhappy seeing his reaction, as if they’d just met.

He gave a nod and looked at his mother. “Dad and the others are bringing all the suitcases downstairs.”

Fannie set Jared on the floor and stood. “As much as I hate to say it, I guess it’s time for me to say good-bye.”

When Bonnie stepped into the kitchen after feeding the chickens, she heard the phone ringing. She hurried across the room and picked up the receiver. “Bonnie’s Bed-and-Breakfast.”

“Hi, Bonnie. It’s Allen. Thought I’d better check up on you this morning.”

She shifted the phone to her other ear. “Why would you need to check up on me?”

“You looked awful tired when I saw you at the wedding, and after you said how busy you were, I wondered if there was anything I could do to help out.”

“In what way?” she asked.

“I have a few hours free this afternoon, so I thought if you had some chores you needed to have done, I could swing over there right after lunch and do ‘em for you.” Before Bonnie could reply, he added, “On second thought, maybe I could pick up some deli sandwiches and we could eat lunch together before I do the chores.”

Bonnie leaned against the kitchen counter and closed her eyes. As appealing as the thought of having lunch with Allen was, she wouldn’t feel comfortable having him here today—especially when she’d decided not to spend any time with him alone.

“You still there, Bonnie?”

Her eyes snapped open. “Yes, I’m here. I … uh … appreciate your offer to bring lunch, but I really don’t have time for that today.”

“Oh, okay. How about if I just drop by later then and do whatever chores you need to have done?”

“That won’t work either.”

“Why not?”

“The types of chores I need to have done are things only I can do.” Bonnie paused and waited for his response, and when he said nothing, she added, “I do appreciate your offer though.”

“Sure. Any time you have something you need to have done, just let me know.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“Take care, Bonnie, and I hope you have a good day.”

“You, too. Bye, Allen.”

When Bonnie hung up the phone she went to the sink, turned on the cold water, and splashed some onto her face. She didn’t know if she felt so hot and sweaty from her trek outside or from trying to get out of seeing Allen today. She’d allowed herself to care for him and knew the only remedy was to put a safe distance between them.