A Sister's Secret (7 page)

“I’m sure I can manage to tie ’em in place on my own,” Luke said, moving toward the cabinets.

“Okay, but you’d better be certain they’re tied on good and tight. Steven’s a picky customer, and he won’t stand for any scratches or dents.”

“I’ll make sure everything’s firmly in place.”

They soon had the cabinets set in the back of the wagon Roman used for hauling, and as Luke began to tie them in place, Roman headed back to the shop. A short time later, he heard the buggy wheels rolling and Luke calling for the horse to “get-a-moving.”

“Sure hope he doesn’t get that horse moving too fast,” Roman mumbled as he reached for his ledger to begin making entries again. “That kid is either running late or moving too fast. No happy medium where Luke’s concerned.”

For the next hour and a half, Roman worked on the books. Every now and then, he glanced up at the clock on the far wall to check the time. He figured Luke should have been back by now—unless he stopped somewhere to eat his lunch.

The sound of a car door slamming brought Roman to his feet. A few seconds later, Steven Bates entered the shop, looking madder than a bull chasing a dog around the pasture.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t you like the cabinets Luke delivered? He did deliver them, I hope.”

“Oh, yeah. He got ’em a few feet from my driveway, and they slid off the back of your wagon and landed in the street—in several pieces.”

Roman’s face heated up. “How’d that happen?”

“Guess you didn’t get ’em tied on good enough.” Steven grunted. “Tomorrow’s my wife’s birthday, and now I’m in big trouble because our kitchen remodel isn’t done.”

Roman struggled to keep his temper from flaring. He should have insisted he help Luke tie on those cabinets, and he shouldn’t have trusted the kid to do them alone. “It’ll take me a few weeks, but I’ll make good on the cabinets,” he promised.

Steven shook his head. “Don’t bother; I’m done.”

“Done? What do you mean?”

Steven squinted his beady brown eyes as he rubbed the top of his balding head. “You’ve been late with work I’ve contracted you to do before, your work’s not the quality I expect, and now this! I’ll be taking my business down the road from now on.” He turned on his heels and marched out the door, slamming it with such force that the windows rattled.

Roman rushed to the door, but by the time he got there, Steven’s car had peeled out of the driveway, sending gravel flying in all directions.

A short time later, Luke showed up, looking more than a little sheepish. “Sorry to be telling you this, but—”

Roman held up his hand. “I already know. Thanks to you, I won’t be getting any more of Steven’s business.”

“I—I thought I had those ropes tied real good, and I can’t figure out how it happened.”

“Jah, well, what’s done is done, but now I’m out the money Steven owed me, so I’ll be takin’ it out of your pay to make up for what I lost today.”

Luke’s face turned bright red. “But those cabinets weren’t cheap. It’ll take me several weeks to pay you back.”

Roman gave a curt nod. “And you’ll work twice as hard as you’ve been workin’, too.”

Luke opened his mouth as if to say something more, but then he closed it with an audible click. “What have you got for me to do now?” he asked, turning toward the workbench.

“You can start by sweeping the floor in the back room, and when you’re done with that, I’d like you to clean the front windows.”

A muscle on the side of Luke’s neck quivered, but he just grabbed the broom from the closet and headed for the other room.

“Always trouble somewhere,” Roman muttered under his breath. “I knew I shouldn’t have hired that irresponsible fellow.”

The door to Roman’s shop opened again, and this time Martin Gingerich stepped into the room.

“Can I help you?” Roman asked as he turned to face the young man with light brown hair.

Martin nodded and glanced around the room as if he might be looking for something. “I ... uh ... came by to see if you’d have the time to make something for me.”

“All depends on what it is.”

Martin removed his straw hat and fanned his face with it a couple of times. “My folks’ anniversary is coming up soon, and I was hoping to give them something nice.”

“Did you have anything particular in mind?” Roman asked as he headed for his desk and took a seat in the chair behind it.

Martin followed and continued to fan his face while he stood on the other side of the desk, facing Roman. “Thought maybe they might like a new rocking chair.”

Roman leaned forward, his elbows resting on the desk. “I’m not braggin’, mind you, but I think the rocking chairs I make are pretty nice—real comfortable, too.”

“Can you have it ready in three weeks?” Martin asked.

Roman nodded. “Jah, sure. Shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Danki.” Martin’s gaze dropped to the floor, and he twisted the brim of his hat in his hands.

“Is there anything else I can help you with?”

“Uh ... no, not really.”

Roman pushed his chair aside and stood. “Okay then, I’ll put a card in the mail to let you know when the chair’s ready.”

Martin’s head came up. “Oh, no! Better not do that, or my folks will know about my surprise gift.” He shuffled his feet a few times. “I’ll just plan on dropping by here once a week to check on it.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m sure I’ll have it done in plenty of time for their anniversary.”

Thinking the young man would head out, Roman moved toward the front door. Martin followed, but when he got to the door, he halted and turned to face Roman again. “I ... uh ... heard that Ruth got a job in Berlin working at the bakeshop.” His voice sounded raspy, almost a whisper.

“Jah, she sure did.”

“Does she like it there?”

“I guess so.” Roman grinned. “Who wouldn’t like working around all those sweet-tasting pastries and pies?”

Martin nodded and glanced around the room again. “Heard you hired Luke Friesen a few months back, but I don’t see him anywhere. Does that mean he’s not workin’ for you anymore?”

Roman nodded toward the back room. “He’s doing some cleanup.”

“I see. Well, I’d best be on my way, I expect. See you soon.”

Roman shook his head as Martin headed out the door. That fellow was sure the nervous type. Nothing like Luke, who never seemed to think twice about what he said or did.

Chapter 7

Cleon pulled into the Hostettlers’ place, halted his buggy in front of the hitching rail, and climbed down. As soon as he had his horse put in the corral, he skirted around to the back of the buggy and lifted his bicycle out. Today was another beautiful Saturday with clear blue skies and plenty of sunshine, despite the drop in the temperature that typically came with fall weather. Even though he knew Grace had worked until three this afternoon, Cleon figured they had time to go for a bicycle ride before the sun went down.

He parked his bike near the barn and hurried around the house to the back door, where he found Judith sitting on the porch with a pan of plump, golden apples in her lap and a paring knife in one hand.

“It’s good to see you, Cleon,” she said, smiling up at him as he stepped onto the porch.

“Good to see you, too.” He glanced toward the door. “I’m here to take Grace for a bike ride. Do you know if she’s ready to go?”

“She’s upstairs changing her clothes, so if you’d like to have a seat and keep me company for a while, that’d be real nice.” Judith nodded toward the wicker chair that sat beside her own.

“I believe I will.” Cleon liked the way Grace’s mother always took time out to visit with him. Not like his mother, who stayed busy from sunup to sunset. But then, Judith didn’t have a home-based business where she had to feed several groups of hungry, curious tourists several times a week. Mom also had her candle-making business, and even though she had the help of Cleon’s sister with both jobs, she had very little time to sit and visit.

“It’s a fine day for a bike ride, jah?”

Cleon nodded. “What are your other two daughters up to this afternoon?”

“Martha’s out in the barn hovering over her dogs, like usual, and Ruth went for a walk with her friend Sadie.” Judith’s lips puckered as she lifted her knife and began to peel one of the apples in the bowl. “Ruth was supposed to go somewhere with Luke this afternoon, but Roman asked him to work today, so she made other plans, which might be a good thing in the long run.”

“What makes you say that?”

She shrugged. “If Luke’s giving Roman a hard time in the shop, then he might not be the best choice as a suitor for Ruth. She tends to be quite sensitive, and I’m not sure a headstrong man like Luke is what she needs.”

The back door swung open, and Grace stepped onto the porch, saving Cleon from having to respond.

“Ready to go?” he asked, feeling a sense of excitement at the prospect of being alone with her again.

Grace nodded and smiled. “Just don’t expect me to go speeding down the road. My legs are tired from work, and I’m not sure how far I can go without my strength giving out.”

“Would you rather we not ride our bikes? We could go for a buggy ride instead.”

She shook her head. “That’s okay. I need the fresh air, and the exercise my legs will be getting is different from walking or standing.”

“Okay then.” Cleon smiled at Judith. “I’ll have your daughter home in plenty of time for supper.”

Judith’s eyes twinkled. “You’re welcome to stay and eat with us if you like.”

“I might take you up on that offer.” Cleon lifted his hand in a wave and hurried down the steps after Grace.

***

“I can’t believe how well this weather is holding out,” Ruth commented as she and Sadie turned off the main road and headed onto a wide path into the woods not far from the pond where they’d had a picnic with Luke and Toby the week before.

“Winter will be here soon, which is why we need to do some fun things before it gets too cold.”

Ruth poked Sadie gently on the arm. “There are plenty of fun things you can do in the cold, you know.”

“Right. Sledding, ice skating, and snowball fights.” Sadie swung her arms as they clipped along at a steady pace. “Too bad Toby and Luke weren’t free to join us today.”

“My daed has a backload of work right now, and he needed Luke’s help today.”

Sadie nodded. “Since tomorrow’s church service will be held at Toby’s house, he had to help his brothers get the benches they’ll need.”

Ruth stopped walking and pointed to a shiny black pickup parked behind a clump of bushes. “I wonder whose truck that is. I don’t recall seeing it before, do you?”

Sadie shook her head. “No, but the last time we came to the pond, we never walked back into the woods.”

“You’re right.” Ruth squinted as they moved closer to the truck. “It’s empty, and I don’t see anyone else around but us.”

“Maybe it’s abandoned.”

“Or maybe someone hid it here.”

“Why would anybody do that?”

Ruth’s hands went straight to her hips. “Some fellows going through rumschpringe have vehicles they don’t want anyone to know about. You ought to know that.”

Sadie’s blue eyes widened. “You think some Amish fellow owns this truck?”

“Maybe so.”

“It’s not a new vehicle, but it’s clean and polished.” Sadie touched the chrome mirror. “I’d say whoever owns it feels a bit of
hochmut
and takes pleasure in keeping it nice.”

“If it belongs to an Amish fellow, then he’s not supposed to feel pride.” Ruth pursed her lips. “I hope he doesn’t like having a truck so much that he decides to leave the faith so he can continue to drive it.”

***

Grace’s legs were about to give out, and she was on the verge of asking Cleon to stop so she could rest when he pulled his bike to the side of the road and signaled her to do the same. “This hilly road is starting to get to me, and I’m feeling kind of tired,” he huffed. “Why don’t we push our bicycles awhile? That will make it easier for us to talk, too.”

She smiled in appreciation and climbed off her bike.

“I’m glad you were free to spend the afternoon with me, since this is the last chance we’ll have to be together for a week or so.”

“Oh, why’s that?”

“Didn’t I tell you that my family and I are leaving for Rexford, Montana, on Monday morning to attend my cousin Sarah’s wedding? We’ll be gone a week.”

She shook her head. “I don’t remember you saying that.” Of course, lately, she hadn’t paid much attention to anything that had been said to her. All she could think about was Gary showing up in town, and whether she should tell Cleon the truth about her past. After another restless night of tossing, turning, and mulling things over, Grace had concluded that it might be best if she revealed her secret now before Gary had a chance to say anything. If Cleon was as understanding as she hoped he would be, then maybe it would give her the courage she needed to tell her folks about it, too.

They walked in silence for a while as Grace tried to decide the best way to broach the subject of her rumschpringe days. Maybe it would be good if she led into it slowly, to see how he felt about things.