An Unbroken Heart (12 page)

Without warning her legs buckled beneath her. Powerless, she crashed to the floor.

“Joanna!”

Abigail crouched on one side, Sadie on the other, Aden in front. Sol and Rhoda stood
behind Aden, looking down at her, their eyes wide with surprise.

“Are you okay?” Sadie asked.

“You shouldn't have carried that cake yourself,” Abigail admonished.

“Let me help you up,” Aden offered.

But Joanna couldn't move. Triple fudge cake was everywhere—on the floor, on her
dress,
on
her hand. Then she saw the lovely white plate her mother had used specifically
for
birthday
cakes. Now it lay broken on the floor into four large, jagged pieces.
A
combination
of physical pain and shame welled inside her. “I'm sorry,” she whispered,
looking
down
at her cake-stained dress. “I ruined everything.”

“You didn't ruin a thing.” Sadie put her arm around Joanna's shoulders.

Joanna ignored her. She tried to push herself up from the floor, but her legs wouldn't
cooperate.
What
kind of wife would she be to Andrew if she couldn't even get up off
the
floor
on her own?

“Here,” Aden said, moving in front of Abigail and reaching around Joanna's shoulders.
“I've got you.”

Tired of fighting everything, she let Aden help her to her feet. As soon as she could
reach her crutches she grabbed them and went to her bedroom as fast as she could.
She shut the door behind her, plunked down on her bed, and started to sob.

Minutes later a knock sounded at the door. “Joanna.” It was Sadie. “It's me and Abigail.
Please, let us in.”

She closed her swollen eyes. They wouldn't leave until she agreed. She quickly dried
her tears. “
Kumme
in.”

The door opened and Sadie poked her head inside. “Are you all right?”

“Of course she isn't.” Abigail blew past Sadie and walked into the bedroom. She knelt
on
the
floor in front of Joanna. “That was quite a tumble you took. Are you hurting
anywhere?”

Every muscle in her body throbbed, but she shook her head. What she really hurt was
her pride, which again was foolish since she wasn't supposed to be prideful. Knowing
that didn't dispel her embarrassment at falling down in front of her sisters, Aden,
and his family. As she had done several times that day, she collected her faculties
and tried to smile. “I'm just a little sticky.”

Abigail frowned but didn't say anything as Sadie sat next to Joanna on the bed.

“I'm sorry for ruining Aden's birthday,” Joanna said to Sadie.

“You didn't ruin anything. We had a delicious supper, and Aden mentioned this was
one of the best birthdays he's ever had.”

Joanna wasn't fooled. “He said that because he's nice.”

Sadie looked at her with all seriousness. “Trust me. He didn't say that to make anyone
feel better. Aden is nice, but when it comes to family, he wouldn't fib about something
like that. And as far as the cake,” she added, a smile twitching on her lips as she
turned to Abigail,” “it's not like you're the first person to drop a dessert in the
kitchen.”

“Excuse me.” Abigail lifted her chin as she stood. “
Nee
one told me
Mamm
had just
waxed
the
floor.”

“Four hours earlier.” Sadie snickered. “That floor wasn't slippery. You were clumsy.”

“Humph.” Abigail crossed her arms over her ample chest. “I'm sticking with my waxy
build-up theory.”

Joanna remembered the incident. Two years ago the family was eating supper when
Abigail remembered that she'd left a blueberry pie in the buggy, a gift from Joel
Zook's mother. Abigail had dashed out to retrieve the dessert, then run back inside
and tripped over her feet, falling headfirst into the pie. At the time it was funny,
but right now Joanna couldn't muster a chuckle.

“You were the only one who got to taste it,” Sadie continued, her cheeks flushed
with
mirth.
She looked at Joanna. “See? Compared to blueberry pie, a little fudge
cake
on
the floor is nothing.”

“I'll make Aden another one. I promise.” Joanna started to get up despite her body
rebelling against the movement. “And I'll clean up the mess—”

Sadie put her hand on Joanna's shoulder. “Aden and Sol are taking care of it. Rhoda's
doing the dishes. Everything in the kitchen is under control.”

“You can surrender
yer
domain,” Abigail said with a slight smirk. “At least for now.”

“Besides,” Sadie added, “you need to rest.”

Abigail's smile widened, her eyes filled with silent knowing. “It's been a big
daag
for you.
Ya
?”

Joanna clutched the skirt of her cake-covered dress and gave Abigail a warning look.
Obviously she hadn't said anything to Sadie about Andrew's proposal. Joanna should
tell Sadie herself, but not right now. The thought of talking about her impending
marriage made her want to hide under the covers.
I'll tell Sadie tomorrow.
“All right.
I'll take it easy for the rest of the night.”

“Thank you for finally listening to reason.” Abigail went to the dresser. “Do you
want me to bring you
yer
nightgown?”

“
Nee
. I can do it.”

Sadie stood and joined Abigail at the door. “If you're too tired in the morning,
don't worry about making breakfast.”

Joanna clenched her teeth. She knew her sisters meant well, but their hovering was
getting on her nerves. “I'm sure I'll be fine in the morning.”

Abigail and Sadie exchanged a glance. “All right, then.
Gute nacht
,” Abigail replied,
and both she and Sadie left.

Joanna's sore shoulders slumped with relief. She looked at the cake on her dress
and sighed. She'd have to take a shower, but she wasn't ready to get up yet. The
muscles in her legs were still shaking. She took off her
kapp
and put in on the bed.
Cake crumbs clung to the strings. She was too tired to do anything but lie down and
close her eyes. Only for a few minutes, then she'd get up and take her shower.

Her eyes flew open as Andrew entered her thoughts. She still couldn't shake the
feeling
she
was traveling the wrong path.
But how could that be when marrying Andrew was what
she had always wanted?
Lord, help me get through the next two weeks and the wedding.
I love Andrew. Please give me peace about marrying him.

CHAPTER 7

A
s soon as Andrew arrived home from work, Irene told him about Asa's return. He'd
changed his dirty work clothes, wolfed down his supper, then headed to Asa's house.
As he walked there, his mind turned to Joanna. Not to his proposal, but to how good
she had felt in his arms when she reassured him she still wanted to get married.
Picking her up and swinging her around hadn't been too smart of him, but he'd been
so caught up with relief that he'd lost his senses for a bit. And that wasn't the
only time in the kitchen that he hadn't been thinking straight.

He was finding it harder to keep himself respectful around her. From the moment she'd
let him near her, he'd wanted to do more than touch her hand, hug her, or kiss her
cheek. He'd wanted to show her how much he loved her. Every part of her, including
the scar, including her unsteady legs, including the pain she carried inside from
the accident and losing her parents. But once again he held back, reminding himself
he had to be careful. Joanna was like a fragile flower—she needed to be handled
delicately and fully appreciated for her beauty and sweetness. He didn't want to
make another huge mistake with her. Yet that hadn't stopped him from pushing for
a quick wedding—again, something else he hadn't planned on.

Now that he'd had time to think about it, he had to battle a creeping fear that despite
his intentions, he'd made another big error. Was this the right time to rush into
a wedding? Then again, was there really any reason to wait? They loved each other.
And she had agreed to his rushed timeline. If she hadn't she would have told him
no.

On the way to Asa's, he tamped down his growing fear. The thought of not spending
the rest of his life with Joanna scared him more than a fast wedding. No, he'd done
the right thing. Whatever jitters he felt now would disappear once he and Joanna
were married.

When he reached Asa's house, he expected his friend to be as glad to see him as he
was
to
see Asa. And that was true. But what Andrew hadn't expected was for Asa's
place
to
be a complete wreck. As a child Andrew had spent a lot of time at the Bontragers',
and
their
house was always neat and tidy. Now there were fist-size holes in the living
room
wall,
the wood floor was stained black in spots, and graffiti marked everything
from
the
baseboards to the ceiling.

“What in the world happened?” Andrew asked once he'd stepped inside.

Asa sighed, running his hand through his black mop of hair. “I'm still trying to
figure that out. The former owners let the
haus
go into foreclosure before they left.
Christopher Beachy let me know. When I stopped by a month ago—”

“You were in Birch Creek and didn't tell me?”

“Just to check out things. It was a quick trip.”

Andrew frowned. Asa wasn't meeting him in the eye, and it wasn't like his friend
to come to town and not contact him or anyone else. If he had, Andrew would have
heard about it. “You could have asked me to watch the
haus
. I would have made sure
nix
happened to it.”

“I didn't want to impose.”

“Asa, we're friends.”

“First thing I saw was that the back door was busted. I don't know if there were
squatters here or if the former owners did the damage. Doesn't matter. I still have
to clean it all up.”

So Asa was ignoring his offer of help. That wasn't like his friend, either.

Asa blew out a breath and put his hand on his hip. “I cleaned up the garbage they
left behind. Let me tell you, it was a lot.”

Andrew glanced around the empty living room. What used to be a cozy area where the
Bontragers gathered was now bare. “Where are you staying?”

“In
mei
old bedroom upstairs.”

“You got furniture up there?”

“
Nee
. There's a sleeping bag, though. It's pretty comfortable.”

Andrew crossed his arms and looked at Asa squarely. “All right, out with it. And
don't tell me
nix
is going on, because I know that's not true.”

Glancing away again, Asa said, “It's a long story. I'd offer you a seat, but . .
.” He gestured around the living room, then shoved his hands into the pockets of
his pants. He was stalling, which also wasn't typical behavior from Asa.

“Is
yer familye
okay?” Andrew asked.

“
Ya
. Both
mei schwesters
are married and live in Shipshewana.”

The mention of marriage brought Andrew's engagement back into focus. He'd planned
to tell Asa about it after he and Joanna told his mother and Irene tomorrow. Soon
enough everyone in the district would know, but Andrew wanted the most important
people in his life to hear the news first. While he hadn't kept in touch with Asa
over the years, he still considered the guy his closest friend. But for now, he
was more concerned with getting to the bottom of Asa's peculiar behavior. “That's
great to hear.”

“Yep.
Mei
parents moved in with Hannah and her husband six months ago. Everyone's
happy and content in Indiana.”

“But you weren't?”

Asa shrugged.

Getting Asa to talk was like pulling out a stubborn nail from a rusty horseshoe.
“You didn't like Indiana?”

“I liked it fine. Had a girlfriend, a serious one. Talked about getting married,
even.” He tilted his head and looked at Andrew. “I'm not making much sense, am I?”

“
Nee
, not a bit. If this
haus
is in foreclosure and you're planning to get married,
why are you here?”

“I bought the
haus
last month.”

Andrew's eyebrows raised. “So you're getting married and moving to Birch Creek?”

“
Nee
. I broke up with
mei
girlfriend three weeks ago.”

“What happened?”

Asa pressed his lips into a tight line for a moment before answering. “
Nix
. She was
nice. Pretty. I loved her . . . at least I thought I did.” He glanced away. “I reckon
she's not happy with me right now.”

Rubbing his chin, Andrew said, “Asa, I really don't understand this.”