A Hand to Hold (29 page)

Ruth looked at him. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Hope you can say that after our lesson.”

She lifted her chin, still smiling, still filled with confidence. “I know I will.”

“I better warn you, though. I’m not the best of students. Especially around a pretty teacher.” His comment made her blush, and he touched her heated cheek with his fingertip.

She looked up at him, but didn’t move away. “I have a rule against buttering up the teacher.”

“I’m not
gut
at following the rules, remember?” He chuckled as the color in her cheeks deepened.

The door swung open, and Zach and Ruth both turned to see Jacob Kline rush into the classroom. He skidded to a stop in front of her desk. “I forgot
mei
hat . . .” A puzzled look crossed his face when he saw Zach. “What are you doing here?”

Ruth glanced at Zach, then back at Jacob. “Zach’s checking on the window he replaced. I thought I felt a draft this morning.”

Zach frowned. Why was she lying to him? Then he understood. She had no idea Jacob knew he couldn’t read. She was keeping his secret. He put his hand on her shoulder. “He already knows.”

Her eyebrows arched. “He does?”

“Ya.”
He turned to Jacob. “
Fraulein
Byler is teaching me to read.”

Jacob’s eyes widened. “She is?”

He nodded. “You were right the other day, about not taking my own advice. So here I am. Ready to learn to read.”

Jacob looked dumbfounded. “I can’t believe you listened to me.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

He looked away. “I’m just a
dumm kinn
. What do I know about anything?”

“You know a lot.” Ruth came from the other side of the desk and stood in front of him. “You’re smart, Jacob. I’ve seen that in my classroom, and Zach has seen it too. I imagine your parents also know how intelligent you are. That’s why it frustrates all of us when you make bad decisions.”

“Like skipping school,” Zach interjected.

“And not doing your work.” She gave him a soft smile. “I’d like to see some changes in your behavior and work ethic, Jacob. I know you can do much better than you have been.”

He looked doubtful, something Zach understood completely. “Hey, if I can change, anyone can. How about we make a deal? I’ll learn to read, you stay in school and do your best.”

Jacob smirked. “What’s in it for me?”

“An
education
,” Ruth said.

“And . . . a trip to my secret fishing hole.” Zach grinned as Jacob’s expression changed from doubt to curiosity. “I guarantee you’ll catch twenty fish in one day.”

“Twenty fish?” His eyes lit up. “We need to
geh
there now!”

He held up his hand. “Nope, not until you get your grades up, and I finish my lessons.” He looked at Ruth. “Then we’ll let
Fraulein
Byler decide if we deserve the fishing trip.”

Stephen sat at the small picnic table outside the woodworking shop, his lunch spread out in front of him. His brothers sat with him, Tobias across and Lukas right beside. Most days they ate outside, except during winter. Stephen looked at his food—a club sandwich, potato chips, and three brownies. None of it appealed to him. As he had been since yesterday, he was preoccupied with Deborah and Moses.

Tobias and Lukas started talking about one of their regular customers who was being extra particular about an order. She had wanted everything done to perfect specifications and complained about every little thing, including price. “I have half a mind to tell her to take her special order elsewhere,” Tobias said.

“
Ya
, but we don’t want to lose her business.” Lukas stabbed a piece of cherry pie with his fork. “She’s bought a lot of pieces from us the past couple of years.”

“But is it really worth the aggravation?” Tobias wiped a bit of mustard from his bologna sandwich off his mouth and sandy blond beard. “It’s not like she’s our only customer.”

“But she’s a
gut
customer, one we want to keep. So we listen to her complain and do what she asks. If you don’t want to deal with her anymore, let Stephen do it. He’s always
gut
with the customers. Right, Stephen?” When Stephen didn’t answer, Lukas nudged him in the side.

“What?” Stephen looked at his brother.

“You’re not listening to us, are you?”

Stephen had to admit he only caught parts of their conversation. “You’re talking about Mrs. Baxley?”

“Ya.”
Tobias grinned. “We decided you’ll handle the customer relations with her from now on.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “I’d rather chew razor blades for the next twenty years.”

“Ouch,” Tobias said. He took another bite of sandwich as their father came out of the shop and joined them. He sat next to Tobias, and the three of them started talking about Mrs. Baxley again.

Stephen tuned them out. He couldn’t think about a persnickety customer, not when his mind was back with the Coblentzes. He’d meant what he said to Deborah last night—he would come out twice a day if he had to. Knowing Moses, he’d ignore the doctor’s advice and start working as soon as he could get out of bed. Deborah and Naomi would have their hands full taking care of him. They didn’t need the added burden of trying to run the farm too.

“Stephen?”

Stephen looked into the face of his father. His beard, although liberally threaded with silver, was still mostly dark like the hair on his head, which was a little thinner than it used to be. There were creases beneath his eyes, and he wore bifocals, which he needed for close-up work. His father had been talking more and more about retiring, and Stephen knew the shop would eventually go to all three of them, with Lukas being in charge. Even though he would have an equal share in a thriving business, he wasn’t sure he could see himself spending the rest of his life being a carpenter. And he’d been thinking about that more and more lately.

“
Sohn
, is there something wrong? You’ve been real quiet this afternoon. Like you’re a million miles away.”

He looked around to see that his brothers had already finished their lunch and gone back to work. His sandwich was untouched. He picked it up and started eating, wolfing down the food.

Joseph chuckled. “Slow down. You don’t have to be in such a hurry.”

“I have to get back to work.” He picked up his glass of water and took a long swig.

“You’ve been working a lot lately. Not only for me. I noticed you’ve been spending a lot of time with the Coblentzes.” He looked at Stephen. “You look tired.”

Stephen felt tired. But it wasn’t just from the physical labor. His feelings for Deborah and worry about Moses were taking a toll. Now he had something else weighing heavily on his mind. “Can I talk to you about something?” Without his brothers around, this would be a good time to do it.

Joseph folded his hands and placed them on the table. “Sure. What’s on your mind,
sohn
?”

“How did you know you wanted to be a carpenter?”

Joseph’s bushy eyebrows lifted. He took off his glasses and set them on the table. “I suppose I’ve always known. My
daed
taught me how to build furniture. It was a hobby for him, but I loved it. Any spare time I had I was out in the barn, making something or trying to teach myself a new technique. I’d check books out from the library, or sometimes I’d just experiment with some scrap wood. I think I was younger than you when I decided I wanted my own shop.”

“And you never had any doubts?”

Joseph shook his head. “Doubts about my profession?
Nee
. Doubts about my skills as a carpenter and a businessman? Of course, especially in the early years. But I trusted that God wouldn’t have planted the passion in my heart or given me the skills unless He had wanted me to be a carpenter. The first years of the business were hard, but we have been blessed. Not only with a steady stream of work, but also with you, Tobias, and Lukas. I consider myself a lucky
mann
to have three sons following in my footsteps.”

Stephen stared down at his half-eaten sandwich. A fly landed on the edge of the bread, and he swatted it away. His heart sank at the sound of his father’s words. He didn’t want to disappoint his
daed
, which would happen if he told him about his desire to become a farmer.

“Why do you ask?” Joseph leaned forward.

Stephen shrugged. “Just wondering.”

“Oh, I think it’s more than that. If there’s something you want to tell me, go ahead. I’d like to think I raised my
kinner
, especially my
buwe
, to be able to tell me anything.”

Pressing his lips together, Stephen took a deep breath. There was nothing else to do but tell his
daed
and hope he would understand. “I’m not sure I’m meant to be a carpenter.”

Joseph looked surprised. “What makes you say that?”

“I feel I’m meant to do something else. I
want
to do something else.” He picked at the crust on his bread, summoning the courage to say the words. He took a deep breath. “I want to be a farmer. Working with Moses these past couple weeks has proven it to me.” He looked at his
daed
, willing him to understand. “It’s not that I don’t appreciate the opportunity I have here, that you’ve given me all my life. I’ve never wanted for anything, and I have to thank you for that. I don’t think I ever told you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”

His father swallowed and looked away for a moment, then faced Stephen again. “
Danki
,
sohn
, for saying that.”

“That’s why telling you this is so hard. I don’t want you to think I’m turning my back on you or my
bruders
. That’s not it at all.”

Joseph looked at him squarely. “If you feel God is telling you to do something else, Stephen, then you need to follow the Lord’s lead. The shop will be fine.”

“But what about Tobias and Lukas? They’ll think I’m
ab im kopp
, and that their little
bruder
doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“Oh, I think you’d be surprised. And even if they do have that reaction, you can’t let them dictate what you’re meant to do. If God’s leading you in a different direction, then nothing any
mann
can say should keep you from the Lord’s path.”

Stephen nodded, appreciating his father’s wise counsel. “I’m glad you understand.”

“I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. When you were
yung
, you always liked going to your grandparents’ farm and helping out my brothers and uncles. I remember how I’d have to track you down at night and drag you inside. You were always in the barn or out in the field somewhere.” He smiled. “You know, I was once in your position.”

“You were?”

“
Ya
. Only it was just the opposite. I had to tell my
daed
that I didn’t
want
to be a farmer. I come from a long line of farmers, and I think that’s where you got your love for it. We all know how important farming is to the Amish, and turning my back on that legacy was hard. But farming wasn’t where my heart was. My
daed
understood at that time. It would be hypocritical of me not to understand you.”

Stephen’s jaw dropped. “I never knew that.”

“Telling your
mudder
was almost as difficult. We had already decided to get married, but I knew I couldn’t marry her until I told her the truth and my plans for the future. I explained that not only did I want to set up my own carpentry business, but I wanted to move to Middlefield to do it. There were already a glut of carpenters in Holmes, and I thought the competition would be less here. Turned out it was.” He looked down at his rough hands and laughed. “I was so scared the day I told your mother. I thought she was going to tell me I was crazy, or worse, break up with me.”

“Obviously she didn’t.” Stephen leaned forward, marveling at how his situation and his father’s paralleled each other. He’d never heard his father tell this part of the story of how he started his business.

Joseph’s eyes grew glassy. “She supported me. She said whatever I wanted to do, and especially whatever God was leading me to do, she would follow. Whether I failed or succeeded, we would do that together. She loved me, and she would go anywhere I asked.” He looked at Stephen. “Your
mudder
is an amazing woman. She was willing to leave her family and come with me to Middlefield, where she didn’t know anyone, because she believed in me and in my dream.”

Stephen nodded, seeing his parents in a new light, especially his mother.

Joseph put his glasses back on. “So what are your plans? Have you already found some land?”

He shook his head. “
Nee
, I haven’t looked. Right now I’m just trying to help Moses get back on his feet.” He told his father about the heart attack. “I’ll probably start looking for property in the spring. I’ll need to save up my money until then.”

“Sounds like you have it figured out.” He stood up. “I don’t think I’ve told you this, but I’m impressed with how you’ve helped Moses and his
dochders
.”

“Anyone would have done the same.”

Joseph shook his head. “Not the way you have.” He reached out and patted his shoulder, then turned around and went inside.