A Perfect Square (30 page)

The bishops were guided by the Scripture.

Was this judge a Christian? Would she rule with compassion?

Nothing Judge Stearns could say in the next few minutes would bring Katie back to her family. What had happened had been a horrible mistake. Taking away more of Samuel’s life, more of his freedom, wouldn’t change any of what had already happened.

It wouldn’t give the Lapps back their daughter. Nothing could replace that loss. And only God could heal their pain.

“I’d like the defendant, Samuel Eby, to please rise and approach the bench.”

Samuel was escorted back in front of the small podium that stood in front of the judge, the same place he had been standing through the morning’s proceeding. This time, though, his posture was straight, and when he glanced around, it seemed his gaze passed slowly over Callie, Deborah, and Esther. She noticed his left arm was still shaking, but she gave the boy points for mustering as much courage as he did.

“Your lawyer sent me a message via the bailiff that you wish your plea to remain guilty. Is that correct, Samuel?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I want you to know that this court has received a petition from Timothy and Rachel Lapp asking that your sentence be commuted. However it’s not in my authority to do that. As explained before, I must rule within the bottom quadrant of what the law requires.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Samuel brushed at his eyes with his arm sleeve.

“Then by the power vested in me by the state of Indiana and
the upper district court, I, Judge Beverly Stearns, do find the defendant, Samuel Eby, guilty of obstruction of justice. I sentence you to one year in the state prison, with time served to count toward that sentence.”

A groan came from the direction of the Lapps, but Judge Stearns pushed on with her sentencing. “I further sentence you to one thousand hours community service and five years’ probation.” The judge hit her gavel against her podium, the sound echoing through the chambers, slicing off another portion of Samuel’s life. Then the woman stood, gathered her things, and exited the room.

When Samuel turned to face them, Deborah expected to see despair, fear, maybe even anger. What she didn’t expect to see was quiet acceptance.

Rachel and Timothy rushed forward, trying to reach Samuel, but the guards stopped them.

“Don’t worry, son.” Timothy spoke around the guards. “It’s nine months. You’ll be home before next winter.”

Reuben didn’t say a word, though he, too, was standing. He met Samuel’s gaze over the small group of people, and Deborah knew that something passed between them. She knew because Samuel again drew back his shoulders before nodding once and turning to walk out of the courtroom.

C
ALLIE PULLED HER COAT
tightly around her as the January wind threatened to whip it away. She didn’t mind a bit. The feel of the sun on her face, the scent of fresh air, made it all worthwhile. Why was it that a courtroom felt so claustrophobic? It was only a room, but it seemed like so much more.

If you worked there did you become accustomed to it? Did you grow used to watching lives being shredded and weighed, like Jonas’ wheat had been in the fall?

Snow piled up along the street. Callie was experiencing her first Indiana winter, both the joys and the loneliness of it. Fort Wayne was large, but not nearly as large as Chicago. In March, she and Deborah would be traveling to the Windy City together for the quilt exhibit. Bishop Elam had approved the venture at the beginning of the year. Callie wondered what Deborah would think of the busy streets and myriad skyscrapers.

She wondered how she’d feel — back in a metropolitan area.

The driver Deborah had hired idled at the curb. Callie had offered to drive everyone, but in the end it was decided they’d need a bigger vehicle. Callie presumed the car behind theirs was for the Lapps.

“Quite a serious look on your face. Tell me you’re not planning
a shopping trip.” Shane placed his hand on her back, letting it rest there as they stood on the steps waiting for everyone else in their party to catch up and find their way outside.

“Shane Black, I would not think about shopping at a time like this.” Callie tucked her hair behind her ears and found herself wishing Max were with her. She hadn’t spent enough time with her dog the last few days. Perhaps she could talk the driver into stopping at the local pet store on the way out of town. It had one of those treat bars for dogs with the biscuits he liked so much.

“Where did you go, Harper?”

“Hmm?” Callie looked up into Shane’s dark eyes, thought of warm chocolate, and felt herself melting.

“I lost you for a minute, and you look as if you’re still not back.” He reached down and tried to tame her hair, which was flying in a thousand directions. “Maybe you
should
go shopping. Buy yourself a hat.”

“Maybe you should buy me a hat!” Callie batted his hand away, felt the color rise in her cheeks when he laced his fingers with hers. The last three months she’d shared many late-night phone calls with Shane and more than one cup of coffee with him at Margie’s. She didn’t know what to think about her relationship with Shane Black. What she did know was she liked the delicious way her heart tripped when he was around. Maybe what Deborah had told her was right. Maybe time would sort things out, and there really wasn’t any rush.

“I think I might do that. I know just the place that sells gorgeous hats.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, really.”

“There you two are. We were looking for you inside.” Deborah hurried down the steps, holding onto her dress with one hand and her
kapp
with the other.

Callie pulled her hand out of Shane’s grasp as she fumbled in her purse for sunglasses, but she didn’t take a step away from him. After the scene in the courtroom, she needed the steadiness of him next to her. The thought occurred to her that he was almost as comforting a presence as Max.

Esther, Tobias, and Reuben completed the circle of friends.

“Do you think Samuel will be all right?” Esther asked. “I can’t stand the thought of him being locked up through the spring and summer.”

“The boy will make it.” Reuben’s voice was strong and steady, surprising Callie with its confidence. “He can’t turn back and choose a different path.”

Shane reached into his pocket for his keys. “Katie’s parents will be a help to him. They want him to return to their farm when he’s released.”

“They consider him their son. After being on that farm, we can see how sorely Timothy Lapp needs a young man around the place.” Deborah smiled, but it was weak, just like the winter light shining down on them. “More than that though, I think he had become a part of their family long before he and Katie married.”

The words hung there between them for a moment:
married, family, son.
And then another breeze skittered the words away, a horn honked somewhere down the street, and Shane looked at his watch.

“I have a few errands to run, maybe even a little shopping to do.” He winked at Callie. “Guess I’ll be seeing you back in Shipshe.”

“Guess so,” Tobias said.

They climbed into the van, Callie choosing a seat near the back, and Deborah settling next to her.

“Want to tell me what that was about?”

“What what was about?”

“Shane Black holding your hand and winking at you.”

“Was he holding my hand?”

“And winking at you.”

“Maybe something was in his eye.”

Callie glanced over at her friend and smiled. Esther and Tobias sat in the seat in front of them, heads together, murmuring. Reuben had opted to ride home with Adalyn, which surprised everyone.

“Were you able to contact Samuel’s mother?” Callie asked.

“
Ya
. We phoned her as soon as the judge finished. She’s upset, but also relieved that his sentence is less than a year.”

“Does she wish she’d come? To see Samuel? I can’t imagine not being there for my child.”

Deborah turned to study her. “She’s prayed for him every night and written letters. Traveling would have been difficult and wouldn’t have changed the outcome.”

When Callie nodded, she continued. “I remember Emma just barely. She was such a sweet thing. Samuel is her only child, which is why she wrote to Reuben. She wanted someone to watch out for him. Reuben is the one person she contacted occasionally over the years.”

“Did Reuben and Emma once love each other?”

Deborah ran her hand down the strings of her prayer
kapp.
“Not in the way you’re thinking. Emma was older for one thing, but she did help Reuben. Reuben felt he owed Emma a great debt.”

“Great enough to sacrifice his life?”

Tobias turned around. “He didn’t believe that would be necessary. Reuben always trusted that things would work out. He believed in — “

“
Gotte’s wille
?”
Callie asked.

“
Ya
.” Esther smiled. “You’re learning our language well.”

As they drove away from the courthouse, Callie had an odd feeling, like when it’s very cold outside and you take a nice big
drink of hot tea. You can sometimes feel the warmness travel down your throat and into your stomach. She felt that way now, felt that combination of opposite extremes at the same time.

Looking at the courthouse, she felt such sorrow over Samuel and the loneliness he would face that she wanted to break down and cry — just lean her head on Deborah’s shoulder and sob out a good one. And she knew that Deborah would probably reach into her pocket for the clean handkerchief she always kept, pat Callie on the shoulder, and not say a word about it.

The wind rattled the van, reminding her of the coldness of winter, of how harsh some things could be — like Samuel’s sentence, and Callie actually shivered.

In light of the suffering she’d witnessed inside the courthouse, some of the things Callie focused on in her day-to-day life seemed somewhat petty: for example, her feud with Mrs. Knepp, which had continued into the cold dreariness of winter.

She’d also spent long winter nights struggling with her feelings about Shane. She had finally come to terms with the fact that just because she was ready to move on with her life after Rick’s death didn’t mean she was being disloyal. In some ways it meant she was honoring who he had taught her to be.

Thinking about this, Callie felt a warmness despite the physical cold of winter — it was the warmth of true friendship. Looking around the van, remembering Shane’s hand on her back, even thinking of Gavin and Trent and Melinda waiting in Shipshe, the warmth Callie was feeling grew and radiated all the way to her fingers and toes.

Their lives weren’t perfect, like the squares in Deborah’s quilts, but the way they fit together, the way they cared for one another and supported one another, the way they had all come into each other’s lives at the exact time when they needed each other …

Watching out the window as Fort Wayne fell away and the Indiana countryside slipped into view, Callie realized there was
only one explanation for those things. Their lives were stitched together by a divine quilter, and she could trust the pattern would be a good one.

T
HE EARLY
J
ULY SUN
had finally begun to set when Samuel jumped out of the back of the farmer’s pickup truck. He waved, settled his hat, and stared at the farmer’s taillights as the man continued to drive down the two-lane road.

Then he began to walk.

Two miles. He would be there before dark.

How many times had he replayed this moment in his mind? But even Samuel’s imagination hadn’t been able to call up the way the sunset colored the western sky or the smell of the corn growing in the fields — nearing its time for picking. Or Reuben’s pond turning from light to dark to midnight blue.

Samuel stopped when he reached the edge of the pond, still a fair ways from the house. He stopped at the place where Katie had first seen the old farmhouse. Taking in a deep breath to steady his nerves, he pulled the oft-read letter from his pocket and smoothed it against his pant leg.

The six months after his hearing had almost been a blessing. He could see that now. He hadn’t been ready to face Timothy and Rachel — to tell them he couldn’t live on the farm where memories of Katie were so strong. And he didn’t want to live in the
Englisch
world. His work in the prison shops and good
behavior had quickly reduced the nine months remaining on his sentence to six.

Six months to pray, to seek forgiveness, to try to find peace within himself and a way to continue life once he was released.

He looked down at the words he’d long ago memorized.

Samuel folded Reuben’s letter, placed it back in his pocket, and began walking the final distance to the farmhouse. In the distance, he could see the woman, Esther, was standing on the porch, her hands resting atop a very large stomach — no doubt her time to have her child was near. The tall man, Reuben’s cousin, was unpinning laundry from the line. He looked like a poplar tree, he was so gangly. Reuben stood next to the barn, brushing a horse with sure, steady strokes. A young girl stood beside him, helping.

Pulling in a deep breath, Samuel walked toward his new life.