The Search (31 page)

Betsy was looking up at Billy with her red lips in a big
O
of surprise. “Why do you ask, Billy?” Then she leaned up against him and put her lips on his and he felt his mind start to spin. Kissing Betsy always had that effect on him.

Later, after he dropped her at home and was driving the buggy back to his farm, he realized that she had answered his question with a question and given him no answer at all.

As soon as Bess had left with Billy and Maggie to go to the youth gathering, Jonah hurried to Lainey’s cottage. Yesterday, he had said goodbye to Sallie and her boys and Mose, and he wanted to be the one to tell Lainey the news of their departure, before Bess had a chance to tell her at church tomorrow. He found her in the backyard of her cottage, trying to turn sod over with a shovel.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

She looked up, surprised to see him, and wiped her forehead with her sleeve. “Making a space for a vegetable garden.” Then she turned her attention back to the sod.

It was hard work, what she was doing. But that wouldn’t stop Lainey, he realized as he watched her huff and puff. If she made up her mind to do something, she would see it through.

“Maybe I could help,” he offered.

She gave him a sideways glance. “No, thank you.” Her tone was crisp.

He came closer and put a hand on the shovel’s handle. “The place you’ve chosen gets too much afternoon shade. A vegetable garden needs at least six hours of sunlight a day.” He scanned the yard. “Over there, away from the cottage, would be better.”

She blew air out of her mouth, exasperated. “You’re right.”

She released her grip on the shovel and sat down on the porch steps. He set the shovel against the house and sat down next to her.

“I’ll dig the sod for you. This week. Right now, even.”

“I can get Billy to do it. You’ve got your . . . houseguests . . . to tend to.”

He glanced at her. “Lainey, she . . . they . . . they’re gone. Sallie and Mose and her boys . . . they went back to Ohio.” He dropped his cane, leaned back against his elbows, and stretched out his legs, crossing one ankle over the other. “Autumn is coming, and Sallie’s boys need to start school and Mose needs to tend the business. I need to stay here and see to my mother’s estate.” He lifted his head. “Sallie and I . . . we had a talk the other night. There isn’t any Understanding between us . . . not anymore.”

Lainey stared at her balled fists in her lap.

“It’s for the best,” Jonah continued, his voice steady and strong. “We have different . . . ideas of marriage. We want different . . .” We want different people, he wanted to say, but he didn’t finish the sentence. He glanced at her between sentences, wondering what she was thinking. Unlike Bess, whose every thought revealed itself on her face, Lainey was hard to read. She was cautious and careful about her feelings. He watched her intently, waiting for a response.

Lainey lifted her head and looked at the area Jonah had pointed out as a good spot for a vegetable garden. “Maybe . . . maybe that might be a better spot for the garden.”

“It’s important to start with the right spot,” Jonah added with a smile, not at all sure they were talking about a garden plot. He rose to his feet and reached for the shovel. “The right spot makes all the difference.”

He took off his jacket and threw it on the ground, then marked out the space for the garden before he began to dig. Lainey found a spade and worked alongside him, breaking up clumps of grass.

Jonah felt happy and whole for the first time in what felt like forever. The deep calm had been missing before, but not now. Not anymore.

Yesterday afternoon, Lainey had been stunned when Jonah told her that Cheerful Sallie had returned to Ohio. As he spoke, she kept thinking this was a moment when people pinch themselves in case they’re dreaming. She kept her hands in a tight ball and pinched the inside of her palms, just to make sure. And it hurt! she found, relieved.

He had dug up a patch of earth for her to make a garden and agreed to stay for dinner in lieu of payment, and soon everything slipped back to normal between them. He stayed after dinner and helped her with dishes, leaving only when he thought Bess might be due in from the gathering. She could tell he didn’t want to leave, and knowing that made her heart sing.

And today, Jonah said he wanted to go with her to the hospital to learn about all of the postoperative treatment that Simon’s convalescence would require. She was pretty sure Jonah must think she was crazy to take him in, but he didn’t say so. Instead, he helped her think through the details she would need for Simon, such as ordering a hospital bed. And then he listened endlessly as she described her plan to start a pie-baking business. She wouldn’t be able to work at the bakery anymore because she needed to be available for Simon. Mrs. Stroot crumbled when she had told her this morning that she was quitting the bakery. She crumbled even more when Lainey told her she planned to bake pies from her home.

“You’ll run me clean out of business!” Mrs. Stroot had wailed.

“I’d never do that to you, Mrs. Stroot! Never! How could I possibly hurt a person who has been so good to me? I thought I’d only make pies on days when the bakery is closed. I just need enough money to cover the mortgage.”

Mrs. Stroot shook her head and wiped her tears. She gave Lainey a satisfied smile. “I have a better idea. I’ll buy your pies and sell them here. Fifty-fifty.”

They shook on the arrangement, and Lainey had her first customer.

Lainey could hardly wait to tell Jonah about the conversation with Mrs. Stroot. He had barely lighted from the buggy when she rushed to meet him with her news. “She wants me to bake pies for her every week! She said I could vary the fillings by what’s in season. And we even talked about down the road. That’s what she called it. ‘If this works out, Lainey, down the road, we can think about adding your signature cinnamon rolls.’ ” She looked at him with her black eyebrows raised in delight above her wide blue eyes.

The brackets around Jonah’s mouth deepened ever so slightly, and his eyes tightened at the corners. Quietly he said, “Well then, perhaps we should see about getting you an oven.”

Her face fell. She hadn’t thought about such practicalities. It was so like her, to jump into a lake before she learned to swim. Her enthusiasm for her plans always did carry her away. Of course she would need an oven! And a refrigerator. And a stove top. Her kitchen was sparse, only a table and two chairs, provided by Bertha. “I’ll have to go to Lancaster for that.”

Jonah tilted his head. “Are you thinking you’ll use electricity? The cottage isn’t set up.” Then his gaze shifted beyond her.

She knew what was behind that question. She had planned to be baptized this fall, but that had to be postponed because of Simon. If she were baptized, she would have to shun Simon. She would wait.

Jonah had never asked her about joining the church. She was getting to know him well enough to know that he was watching and waiting, letting time provide the answer. “No. Not electricity. Bess has been teaching me how to cook on a propane stove top. And how to use a woodstove too.”

Jonah looked back at her. “You could get those things, used, at an auction.”

She nodded. “Then I’ll go to an auction.”

Jonah stifled a patronizing smile. “Make out a list and I’ll get what you need.”

“I can take care of these things.”
I can take care of myself
, was what she meant.

Jonah gave a short laugh. “Might be a little hard to purchase items at an Amish auction, Lainey. You don’t speak Deitsch.”

Now her spine stiffened. “I’m learning.” But she was a long, long way from being fluent.

He walked up to her. “I’m offering to help. Would it be so hard to accept it?” He searched her eyes.

Yes,
she thought, suddenly shy.
More than you could imagine.
She’d always had a hard time accepting help from others. Depending on others. Trusting others.

But she was trying to get past that obstacle. It was part of what she was learning this summer. How could she become Amish if she didn’t learn how to rely on her community? It would be like missing the forest for the trees.

She wiped her hand on her apron and held it out to him to shake. “Then I accept your help.”

Jonah looked at her extended hand, then took her hand in his. They remained that way for only the briefest moment, touching palm to palm; she was the one to pull away.

She gave him a shy smile. “Thank you.”

Dear Robin and Ally,

Isn’t the start of autumn wonderful? The air is getting crisp in the morning and evening, and apples are falling off the trees! Don’t you just love autumn?

So . . . perhaps there is a man of interest in Lancaster County after all.

Love,

Lainey

P.S. By the way, did I happen to mention that I’m becoming Amish?

Jonah took the time to find out what the state requirements would be to get permits and a license for a commercial kitchen. Then he drove a wagon to an auction and purchased a used propane refrigerator and stovetop oven, delivered them to Lainey’s cottage one hazy and humid September afternoon, and hooked them up for her. The sky had begun to cloud over and the kitchen grew dim, so Lainey held a lamp over his head while he worked. She studied his face in the shifting light of the flame. Once, he caught her eye and smiled. She considered how attractive he was—the type of man who was clearly comfortable in his own skin and had grown up unaffected by his good looks.

When he finished, he stood and turned on the gas to the stove. When she saw the pilot light fire up, she clapped her hands together and said, “How can I ever thank you?”

Jonah looked down at her. He was quite a bit taller than she was. “I should be thanking you, Lainey.”

She wanted to ask why but could see he had something on his mind. He seemed to be carefully arranging his thoughts, so she remained quiet.