A Joyful Break (Dreams of Plain Daughters) (21 page)

He sighed. “I’ve been trying to avoid her as much as possible. She even tried to get me to take her home after work, but I’ve avoided that so far.”

“I got your letter. It was
wunderbaar
receiving it. I have so much to tell you. After praying I realized how wrong I’ve been about a lot of things. I forgive my father and I shouldn’t have blamed him. I made a big decision that will make you happy. I want to join the church. I’ll talk to the bishop as soon as I get back to Fields Corner.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I hope you can be baptized with Katie and Judith. How soon will you be home?”

“We’re leaving here tomorrow morning for Kentucky. Violet needs to catch a flight back to college on Wednesday. Adam’s going to help drive because Nick left yesterday to spend time with his father. I suppose Aunt Carrie will drive me home as soon as Adam goes back to college.”

“I wish I could get a driver to take me to Kentucky on Wednesday and get you, but that won’t be possible.”

She heard the door chime in the background. She hoped it wasn’t Mary again. “Do you have a customer? I heard the door opening.”

“
Ya
. Actually two came into the store. I’ll let them look around for a few minutes.”

She decided to mention the pictures of her and Nick. Although Samuel might never learn about the one photo and headline implying a romantic time on the bench, she would feel better explaining what happened. “Samuel, I want to tell you something. That photographer, Mr. Sullivan, sold pictures of me on the beach. Also one of our volleyball games was in the newspaper. I didn’t pose for any of the pictures. He even sold one of me talking with Nick about our mothers dying. He made it look like we were intimate and it wasn’t like that at all.”

“How did Sullivan manage to do that?”

“Nick asked me to walk with him on the beach to talk. I’d been swimming in the pool while everyone was inside the house. I wasn’t expecting him to come out to the pool but I went for a short walk with him. We sat on a bench but it was small. We were not sitting close because of a romantic thing at all. Unfortunately, Mr. Sullivan made it seem like we wanted to be close to each other. You can’t tell from the photo, that the bench is small. I’m afraid the headlines imply we are romantically involved, which is not true at all. I love you, Samuel.”

“I love you too. I’m glad you told me about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t all innocent on Nick’s part.”

She exhaled a deep breath. “He seemed a bit interested in me, but I never gave him any encouragement. I’m hoping he’ll realize how great Violet is. She’s crazy about him.”

“Rachel, you’re a beautiful woman. It bothers me a little that Nick saw you in your swimsuit, but I trust and believe you that nothing happened.”

“As soon as I got out of the pool, I put Aunt Carrie’s cover-up on.” She didn’t add that Nick helped her with the cover-up. That piece of information wouldn’t go over big with Samuel. “If I’d known he was coming out to the pool, I wouldn’t have gone swimming. I thought he was going to watch a movie with the others.” Now that she got the whole newspaper picture thing out of the way, she didn’t want to talk about Nick any longer. “Do you need to check on your customers?”

“They’re still browsing. I’ll check on them soon. First, I need to tell you something. I planned on calling you today to tell you that my
mamm’s
youngest sister died suddenly. We’re going to Kenton tomorrow to be there for her funeral. Peter’s going to take care of our livestock. Mary and a couple of her friends are going to take care of the bakery customers. I’ll close my store for Tuesday and Wednesday.”

“Tell your mother I’m sorry about her sister. That’s going to be hard on the ten children and husband she leaves behind.”

“I know.
Mamm
never thought her baby sister would go first. But God knows best. It’s just hard on us when someone close and dear to us leaves this world. Apparently my aunt complained of a backache and stomach ache after the birth of her youngest baby. She went to the doctor but it was too late. She died of a ruptured appendix.”

“That’s so sad. At first she must have thought the pain came from childbirth.”

“My uncle told the children how she’d gone to sleep and that she’s now in heaven with God. I think he’s still in shock that she’s gone but he’s trying to cope as well as he can.” He cleared his throat. “We should be back late on Wednesday. If you aren’t here, I can see if I can get a driver to take me to your Aunt Carrie’s.”

“I can’t wait to see you. I’ve miss you and my family.” She should mention to Samuel that she wanted to return to work in the bakery. Hopefully, not on the days Mary’s there.
Or maybe it’d be better to work when the eager Mary is there, so I can keep track of her. That’s silly. I don’t need to worry about Samuel becoming interested in Mary.
“You might say something to your
mamm
that I want to start working at the bakery a couple days of the week. Of course, she might not need me now with Mary working for her.”

“Are you kidding?
Mamm
will be thrilled to have you back. Me too. We can eat our lunch together again. I’m definitely happy you went to the ocean now. Getting away from Fields Corner seemed to work miracles. Hey, your twin brothers wanted to get away too. Did you hear how they wanted to get on a bus and travel all the way to Florida just to see you?”

“Yes,
Daed
called me from his new phone, and I heard about it. I’m glad he got the phone.”

“One of the customers is looking at me. I better go. I’ll see you soon. Bye, Rachel.”

After she said a hurried bye to Samuel, she looked for Aunt Carrie. She found her knitting a prayer shawl by a huge window in the living room. “Here’s your phone. I thought you had to go soon to the airport.”

Aunt Carrie stopped knitting to look at her. “Scott’s making several business calls before we leave. How’s Samuel?”

She repeated what Samuel told her about going to his aunt’s funeral with the rest of his family. Then concluded with, “Samuel said he can get a driver and get me at your house. That way you won’t have to make another long trip to drive me home.”

“That’s sweet of Samuel. I have a feeling he’s anxious to see you. I can drive you home Wednesday after we drop Violet off at the airport. I’ll just spend the night and enjoy time with my other niece and nephews.” Aunt Carrie laughed. “I wonder what it’d be like if my whole family lived at home. That’s definitely a strong advantage to being Amish. Families aren’t living apart and running off all the time to other places. With our cars and planes, we make it easy for our children to leave us. My house will be empty again.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, sitting on a small couch.

“I miss being a teacher’s assistant but I’m considering going to college.” Her blue eyes widened. “Can you imagine me going to college at my age?”

“That’s a wonderful idea. What are you going to study?”

“I enjoyed helping the children with their reading and felt I was good at it, so I’d like to become a reading specialist.” She put the shawl in a tote bag. “I have something I want you to have.” Aunt Carrie walked through the open doorway to the kitchen.

I wonder what she wants me to have.
When she watched Aunt Carrie pick her purse off the table, she hoped it wasn’t money.

While Aunt Carrie zipped open an inside pouch, she said, “I know, of course, that Amish don’t have pictures of loved ones, but I think you should have one of your mother. I didn’t want it to get bent so it’s in a paper frame inside this envelope.”

After the envelope was in her hands, Rachel slid out the picture. Her eyes filled with tears while she gazed at her mother’s lovely face. She looked carefree and happy sitting at their picnic table. “It’s a
wunderbaar
picture of
Mamm
. Did you take it?”

“Yes. I snapped it of her during the last visit I made before our parents were killed. I showed it to Irene on my digital camera. She laughed and said that I was always the sneaky one in the family. She hadn’t been aware of me taking her picture.” Aunt Carrie paused for a moment. “Irene had a great laugh. The kind of belly laugh that was contagious and made other people feel good inside.”

“She did have an awesome laugh. We used to laugh a lot together. She had a
wunderbaar
sense of humor.”

With a tissue from her purse, Aunt Carrie wiped her eyes. She sniffed a few times, then said, “I took the picture on the day you and the others played croquet in the front yard. I know how hard all of this has been on you, losing your sweet mother. It seems unfair her life was cut short already, but I remind myself that we must not question God’s will. He works in mysterious ways. We need to remember all the good times we had with her. Irene was a strong and beautiful woman with a compassionate heart. She had such a joyful interest in each person she met and as you know, was hard-working. She was a great helpmate for your father.”

“
Danki
for this picture. I’ll always treasure it.”

“People have asked me how Amish women can live such an oppressed lifestyle. I tell them how wrong that perception is, and how Amish women base their lives on Christian understanding and practices. The Plain lifestyle works so well because of the committed women making it continue for all of them.”

“That’s an advantage with you being raised Amish but now living as an English woman. You can explain our Plain way of life so well to others.” She remembered what Judith had told her yesterday during their phone conversation about their parents’ relationship. “Amish women are definitely in charge of many things in their lives, and we are not burdened.
Daed
and
Mamm
made many decisions together.”

“Those two had a great marriage. The past year has been rough on your father.”

“Do you think I can follow in
Mamm’s
footsteps and be a good wife and mother?” Her mother had done so much for all of them, and never complained about anything.

Aunt Carrie put an arm around her shoulders. “I have no doubt that you’ll be a
wunderbaar
wife and mother. Just like Irene was to you and the others.”

“I’d like to show this picture to Judith but not to Matthew and Noah.” She grinned. “They can’t keep their mouths shut. I don’t need to get in trouble before I even get a chance to talk to our bishop about joining the church.”

“I can give a picture to Judith, but I agree we’ll wait a few years to mention pictures of your mother to the boys.”

* * *

Late Monday afternoon, Rachel sat on her bed to read Judith’s letter. Although her sister had told her a few things on the phone yesterday that were probably in the letter, she looked forward to reading Judith’s thoughts.

Dear Rachel,

Samuel said that he talked to you and you arrived safely. I hope you are enjoying the beach. We are studying dolphins in school and the twins are wondering if you’ve seen any. Both boys did an excellent job on their reports about dolphins. Matthew made a clay model of a dolphin to include with his paper.

I have something important to tell you. I even thought of calling you from our school phone, but decided to write instead. I had a conversation with Daed the other night. I learned that he wanted to put a phone in a few years ago but mamm didn’t want him to. She said it was an extra expense and wasn’t needed. Remember how mamm enjoyed going to visit with Mrs. Maddox when she needed to make doctor appointments. I think using the neighbors’ phone gave her an excuse to take a break and enjoy another woman’s company during the day.

So, Rachel, it wasn’t Daed not wanting the phone but mamm. He said when it came to household matters; he let mamm make the decisions. Other matters, they many times made decisions together. He said how they had been a team.

I was angry at first at mamm that she didn’t take Mrs. Maddox’s offer to drive her to see the doctor, but I’m not now. My anger wasn’t going to bring her back to us.

Daed’s unhappy that Bishop Amos wants him to consider remarrying. The Bishop even has someone picked out for our daed. His sister. Apparently, she’s going to visit Bishop Amos soon. Daed’s not interested. He misses mamm so much.

Today I read in Romans a verse that made me think how we must remember that God’s will is best. We can’t judge others based on what we think is right or what we think is the cause behind any sadness. Society judges but we must forgive like Jesus did on the cross.

Be careful in the ocean water. If you see anything that remotely looks like a shark, get out of the water. I read that sharks migrate when spring is on the way. The two species that migrate up the east coast from the Caribbean are spinners and blacktip. They don’t eat people but like to bite. They might think your hand or foot is a fish. From what I read, they are responsible for a third of Florida’s shark bites. Once they realize they aren’t biting a fish, they let go. Hopefully, the shark migration is over in Florida, but in case it isn’t, I thought I should pass this on. I’d hate for you to get bitten by a shark.

Give Aenti Carrie and Violet my love.

Your loving sister in Christ,

Judith

P.S. We all miss you. I haven’t burned down the house yet. And no one has lost weight from my cooking.

Even though, she had already forgiven her father, she was glad Judith’s letter arrived before leaving Cocoa Beach. The Bible verse Judith referred to in her letter about not conforming to the pattern of this world made her feel strongly she was making the right decisions about her life. Nothing could stop her from telling the bishop she wanted to be baptized and to join their church. Part of her doubts had come from her mother dying young, but Nick’s mother died in a car accident. Life was fragile whether you were Amish or English.