The promise, p.10
The Promise, page 10
On the highway she increased her speed. It wasn’t long before they left the lights of the town behind. Sarah tried to concentrate on driving and not on the feel of Levi’s body hovering close behind her. She drove as fast as she dared. When she turned off the pavement onto Lincoln Road, she had to slow down unless she wished to bounce him off the back. At one sharp turn, he wrapped his arm around her to keep his balance. Just as quickly he jerked it away. “Sorry.”
“No problem,” she said, wishing it were true.
She had never been so glad to see the turnoff to her family farm. She slowed down at the low-water bridge over the creek. An inch or two of water was already spilling over the top of it, but she had no problem crossing it. She had to gun the engine to climb the last steep hill above the creek. As she pulled up to the house, a light came on upstairs. Joshua or Laura Beth must’ve heard them coming.
She left the engine running and turned to get down. It was then she noticed that Levi was soaking wet from the water that poured off the back side of the canopy. He had been huddled over her so the water wouldn’t blow in on her. His teeth were starting to chatter. She had been rushing to get home, not suspecting that he was getting chilled in the process. Wearing wet clothes while a person was standing still was uncomfortable enough, but wearing them while traveling in the open at forty miles an hour was another thing altogether. And he was just foolish enough not to complain.
“Levi Raber, get down and go into the house this minute. I am not letting you drive off until you get dry and warm.”
He stepped off the tractor and rubbed his hands up and down his arms. “Has anyone told you that you are a bossy woman?”
She heard Joshua’s chuckle from the porch. “Bossiness runs in the family. I can attest to that. Come in. I’ll find you something to wear.”
Laura Beth came out with a bathrobe over her nightgown and holding a lantern in her hand. “Stop laughing and go get the man some dry clothes.”
“See what I mean?” Joshua skirted away from his wife’s reach, took Levi’s arm and led him into the house.
Sarah turned the tractor off, climbed down and hurried to the cover of the porch. “I’m sorry we woke you.”
“What are you doing home already? I thought you were staying at the hospital until seven in the morning.”
“Ernest came to visit and upset Mrs. Raber. She decided she didn’t want anyone with her. The nurse asked us to leave.”
Laura Beth’s eyebrows shot up. “Ernest upset her? I can’t imagine that.”
“I was shocked, too. He said he was in love with her before she married Levi’s father. Do you know anything about it?”
“I don’t but that isn’t surprising. Most Amish couples keep their courtships a secret. I would have been too young to pay much attention. I do vaguely remember the wedding. There wasn’t anything odd about it. I wonder if that’s why Ernest never married.” She led the way into the house and into the kitchen. “Do you want some hot tea or cocoa?”
“I do but I’ll fix something for Levi and myself. You go back to bed.”
“I believe I will.” Laura Beth left the kitchen and went upstairs. Sarah heard Joshua’s footsteps going that way a short time later.
The kettle was whistling when Levi walked in. “I appreciate the loan of the clothes.”
Sarah turned around and started giggling. Joshua’s pants were too long. Levi had rolled them up. Joshua’s jacket sleeves hung over Levi’s knuckles. She pressed a hand to her lips. “You and I are going to have to find a way to stay dry when we get together or at least take along an extra set of clothing.”
He held his arms wide. “I thought staying out of a canoe and away from the lake would do it. Reckon I was wrong.”
“Lavender tea or hot cocoa?” She turned back to take the kettle off the heat.
“I’ve never had lavender tea. I would like to try some.” He took a seat at the table.
“With the lavender tea you must try my lavender cookies.” She opened the cookie jar on the counter and pulled out a handful. She divided them up onto two saucers and carried them to the table. She returned to the counter and put her homemade tea bags into two mugs. She poured in the hot water to allow them to steep and carried the mugs to the table.
He pulled one toward him and wrapped his fingers around it. “It smells good.”
“Try a cookie.”
He picked one up and looked at it closely. “Are those real flowers in the icing?”
“Lavender buds. It’s okay—you can eat them.”
He took a small bite. “Not bad.”
“Not bad? I’m overwhelmed by your praise.”
“Are you fishing for compliments?”
She held her index finger and thumb close together. “A tiny one wouldn’t hurt.”
“Okay, they are actually goot. Which surprises me because I don’t think about eating flowers very often.”
“Many flowers have edible parts. I will spare you the botanical lecture about lavender that my sister loves to give. Unless you are dying to know more. I’ve heard it so many times I can recite it by heart.”
“Do you like the flower business?”
She checked to see if he was teasing but he looked serious. “I love the flowers almost as much as my sister does. I particularly enjoy taking our baked goods to the farmers’ market and visiting with people who don’t know anything about lavender or about the Amish. Many of them have some funny ideas about us.”
“I love it when they ask if it’s true that we don’t pay taxes. I always wanted to whip out my property tax bill and tell them it’s just a donation to the county.”
She giggled. “I know. We don’t pay Social Security taxes or Medicare because we don’t use them. The government gets enough from us in income taxes, sales taxes and the gasoline taxes we pay to run our tractors. My favorite is the one about the blue door.”
“What’s that one?”
“If an Amish man has a daughter of marriageable age, he paints the door of the house blue. I’ve never been to an Amish house with a blue door. Have you?”
“Nee, and I’ve been to more than a few homes with marriage-aged daughters.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you’re on the hunt for a wife?”
“Nee. Not me. I’m usually delivering a trotter for a family’s marriage-aged sons. Nothing looks better pulling a courting buggy than a high-stepping horse.”
“I thought you only raised racing horses?”
“Less than two percent of standardbred horses will ever make it into a race. Some aren’t fast enough or won’t hold their gait. Sometimes the young horses get injured and their competitive racing days are over, but they can still pull a buggy. Those are the kind of animals that wind up pulling Amish buggies all around Lancaster, as do the horses that are too old for racing but can easily take the Amish family to church and back on Sundays.”
They sat sipping their tea in silence. Finally he stood up. “I should head home and try to get a little sleep. Would you do me a favor and call the hospital to see how she is before I go?”
“Of course.” Sarah pulled her phone out of her apron pocket and dialed the number. She handed the phone to him when it started ringing. She could tell by his expression that the news was good.
He closed the phone and handed it back to her. “She’s resting well and hasn’t had any more episodes of irregular heartbeats.”
“That’s goot news.”
They walked together out to the front porch. The rain had all but stopped. She looked up at him, trying to read the emotion in his eyes. He took a step away from her. “Guten nacht, Sarah.”
“Goot night, Levi. Thanks for keeping the rain off my back.”
He settled his hat on his head. “It’s what any friend would do.” He climbed on the tractor and drove away.
“Then danki, mei freind,” she said softly, knowing that was exactly how she had to look upon Levi. As a friend and nothing else.
* * *
LEVI TRIED TO put his feelings about Sarah in perspective as he drove home. He was more attracted to her than he had a right to be. She had her eye on Isaac. They might enjoy each other’s company and find shared humor in life, but that was all it was.
It was a little after five in the morning when Levi pulled up in front of the house. There was a predawn lightness in the eastern sky. He was surprised to see Isaac coming out of the barn with a feed bucket in his hand.
“Morning. Where have you been?” Isaac asked.
“I couldn’t sleep last night. I went to see Mamm. Sarah was sitting with her, and Ernest stopped in. He and Mamm got into an argument and her heart went into an irregular beat again.”
“Is she okay?”
“It went back to normal. She told the nurses she didn’t want anybody else in her room, so I took Sarah home.” He got down from the tractor.
“Ernest and Mamm were fighting? What about?”
“Something that happened before Mamm and Daed got married. Apparently Ernest was in love with her back then. He wouldn’t answer my questions when I pressed him about it later. He said it was up to Mamm to tell us about it.”
“That’s mighty odd.”
“So is seeing you up before the crack of dawn.”
“I wanted to get the chores done early so I could spend the day at the hospital. I’m glad you’re back. I wasn’t looking forward to a long buggy ride.”
“You could’ve called one of our Englisch neighbors to take you.”
“I thought about it. I would’ve done that if the hospital had called and said there was a problem, since you weren’t here. But I don’t want to put anyone out. It’s a little early to be making phone calls.”
“True. The tractor is all yours. What chores are left to be done?”
“Nothing. I fed the chickens and gathered the eggs. I left them on the kitchen counter. I fed the hogs, the cattle and the horses, and I turned the horses out into the pasture and cleaned the stalls. The horses will probably be muddy soon, if they aren’t already. I’ll help you brush them down when I get home this afternoon.”
Levi was surprised by his brother’s industriousness. “I appreciate the offer.”
“I realize I’ve been letting you do the bulk of the work around here and I figured it was time I started doing my share. This place needs a lot of fixing up. I don’t want Mamm to be ashamed of the place where she lives.”
“You talked about living here and farming with our grandparents after the summer you spent here. You loved this place. Do you still feel the same about it?”
Isaac let his gaze rove over the buildings and fields. “I guess I do.”
“We will work on fixing the place up together after Mamm gets home.”
“I’d like that idea. I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you in the past, Levi. I’d better go wash up. I don’t want the nurses to think I smell like a pigpen.” He smiled broadly.
“You can always stop by Sarah’s place and roll around in her flowers. That would make you smell goot.”
Isaac’s smile faded. “I’m not sure what I’m going to say to her.”
“Sarah is a kind woman. Talk to her like you would any friend.”
“You mean tell her I’m only going out with her so you and Mamm will stop bugging me about it? I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”
Levi stared at his brother’s mulish expression. Should he continue to encourage Isaac to start seeing her? He pushed his own feelings for her to the back of his mind, determined to keep them there. “She’s a sweet woman. Maybe that’s why God brought you here.”
Isaac took a deep breath. “I’m still hoping Brittany will change her mind and come out here. We could make a good life together. Mamm will grow to love her and it won’t matter that she isn’t Amish.”
Until this moment Levi hadn’t realized how much his brother was like their father. Isaac put too much heart and not enough thought into his plans. If Isaac’s new work ethics continued, he could make a good life on the farm. It would please their mother if he joined the church and married an Amish woman instead of leaving the Amish to marry an Englisch one. Levi dreaded to think what that would do to her ailing heart. Isaac had blinders on.
If that Amish woman was Sarah, it would be even better for everyone. Sarah would get her heart’s desire, and Levi could head back to Lancaster knowing his mother and his brother were in good hands. He would keep his promise to his father and earn back their broodmares and stables. Isaac might not know what was best for him, but Levi did. “When are you going to speak to Sarah?”
“Soon.” Isaac’s eyes narrowed. He tipped his head slightly. “When she realizes we aren’t meant for each other, are you going to ask her out?”
Levi could see the spark of conflict growing in Isaac’s brain. He decided to toss a little kerosene on it. “Of course.”
“Because this farm will go to you if you marry first?”
“That’s my plan. I’m sure you’ll be able to find work around here after I sell it. Ernest will know of someone who needs a hired man. Brittany won’t care what you do for a living, will she?”
He turned and walked into the house, leaving Isaac to stew over his words.
CHAPTER EIGHT
HENRIETTA WAS RELEASED from the hospital three days later. Levi and Isaac arranged for a hired car and driver to bring her home in comfort. She walked with Isaac’s help from the car to the house and sank into her favorite chair in the living room with a deep sigh. Levi exchanged a worried glance with his brother. She was not in any shape to take over the running of the household. Would she ever be?
Isaac knelt beside her. “Can I get you anything?”
She cupped his cheek and managed a weak smile. “Having my sons with me in my own home is all I need.”
The sound of a tractor arriving sent Levi to the front door. Joshua King brought his big blue tractor to a stop by the front steps. There were eight women seated in the trailer he had hitched on behind. Sarah was among them. Levi stepped out to greet them. They all got out by themselves except for the bishop’s mother. She got down with the help of a stepladder and several of the women. Most were Amish women, but two of them wore Englisch clothing. They unloaded cleaning materials and baskets before they trooped up his porch into the house, greeting him as they walked by.
Sarah was the last in line. She stopped beside him. “How is your mother doing?”
“She’s happy to be home.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” She followed the other women inside.
Joshua stayed on his vehicle. “I’m delivering some help for the day. I’ll be back to collect them around supper time.” He tipped his hat and drove off.
Feeling slightly bemused, Levi went into the house and stood in the doorway of the living room. All the older women were gathered around his mother, chatting happily. She caught sight of him and waved him and Isaac over. “These are some of the girls I went to school with. Wasn’t it wonderful of Sarah to think to bring them here?” She introduced them all. The only one he knew was her cousin Mary Jane. The smile on his mother’s face cheered him. This was more interest from her than he had seen in months. Sarah stood outside the group. He caught her eye and mouthed his thanks. Her sweet smile warmed his heart.
Martha Weaver, the bishop’s mother, raised a hand to still the chatter. “I’m going to put your sons to work, Henrietta. We don’t want you going up and down the stairs until you are fit. Your young men need to move your bed down here. Where would you like it?”
Instead of objecting as he expected, his mother pointed to the windows on the south side of the room. “There so I can keep an eye on my kinder while they are outside.”
“Spoken like a goot mudder,” Martha said. The women with her immediately began rearranging the furniture.
Levi looked at Isaac and tipped his head toward the stairs. “We have our orders.”
It didn’t take him and his brother long to disassemble and bring her bed downstairs. They had barely finished getting it back together and stepping out of the way before the women were stripping the sheets and replacing them with fresh ones.
His mother moved from the chair to her freshly made bed under her own power and settled back with a sigh on the pillows piled against the headboard. “This is much better than that hospital bed.”
The women set about cleaning the house, mopping the floors and dusting. Levi and Isaac got out of their way at Sarah’s urging. They stayed outside doing chores and fixing the fence of the small corral beside the barn where they would be close by if they were needed. He saw Sarah come out with several rugs in her arms. She laid them over the clothesline and began to beat them.
He nudged his brother. “It looks like Sarah is free. You should go speak to her.”
“I will when there aren’t a bunch of gossiping women watching us.”
“I’m not worried about what people will say. I reckon it won’t hurt to show Sarah which brother is the most helpful.” He put down his hammer and walked toward her. Instead of following as he hoped, Isaac went back to fixing the fence.
Levi took the rug-beating paddle from Sarah’s hand and began whacking the large oval blue rag rug from his mother’s bedroom. “I tried to get Isaac to come over, but I’m afraid my brother is feeling shy today. If he is looking this way, give me a big smile.”
She glanced to where Isaac was working. He was looking at them. She smiled brightly at Levi. “Why am I grinning at you like a fool?”
“To make Isaac a little jealous. What’s he doing now?”
“Pulling out a nail he bent over with his hammer.”
