Faithful to Laura (4 page)

“Maybe you need to hear it again.”

Adam forced himself not to shake his head. Time to change the subject. “So I was thinking about helping you plant feed corn next year. It would save on buying the winter grain.”

“I thought farming wasn’t
gut
enough for you.”

He gripped the top rail of the fence. The hard wood bit into the skin of his palm. “I was wrong. I’ve missed it.”

His father scratched his chin through his beard, still looking at the pasture in front of him. “You missed the hard work? The early hours, the sick cows, the unpredictable weather?”

“Ya.”
Wasn’t it enough to tell him he wanted to work for him again?

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Emma.” His father didn’t look at him. “Does that have something to do with it?”

“This isn’t about Emma and me. It’s about us. Working together again.”

“Because we were so successful at it the first time.”

Adam pulled off his hat and gripped the brim tightly. “
Daed
, please. I’m really trying.”

There was a long silence, then his father said, “I can’t promise anything right now.”

Anything involving me
. The unspoken words floated between them, souring the conversation. Again. Adam was done. “I’m going inside. To check on
Mamm
.”

“You do that.”

Adam left. He had so much to prove to everyone—Emma, his father, his mother. Especially God. He wasn’t sure he could do it. But he had made the commitment, and he would see it through.

It would take time for those he loved to trust him again. But he was willing to work at it.

He was willing to wait.

C
HAPTER
3

“You’ve been quiet lately,
sohn
. Something on your mind?”

Sawyer blew the sawdust off the top of the coffee table.

Particles danced in the sunlight that beamed through the window of Byler and Sons.

“No,” he said. He moved his palm against the wood, feeling the rough texture. He gripped the sanding block and ran it over the surface. The scratching sound filled the silence between him and his father.

“Nothing you want to talk about, I take it.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” He moved the sanding block faster, waiting for his father to go. It wasn’t like him to stop work in the middle of the day to chat. Lukas Byler ran the family business with precision, the same way he made his furniture, and the store had flourished since his father had retired several years ago.

Finally Sawyer stopped sanding and looked at his father. “Is there something
you
want to talk about?”

His dad looked at the ground, crossing his thick arms across his chest. “I’ve been trying to find the right time to say this.

Guess there really isn’t a right time.”

Sawyer dropped the block on the table. He glanced around the shop. His uncle Tobias, Lukas’s older brother and business partner, was in the back office. He steeled himself against a sudden rush of dread flowing over him like an icy waterfall. “What is it?”

“Your mother and I wondered if you’ve come to any conclusion about the future.” He stroked his beard and looked up at Sawyer, who was several inches taller.

He leaned against the work table. “I haven’t given it much thought.” It wasn’t the truth, of course. Lately his future—or lack of it—had been the only thing on his mind.

“We don’t want to push you into making a decision. We never wanted you to be someone you’re not. If you want to quit the business and
geh
to college, we’ll support that.”

“I know. And thanks—
danki
.” His adopted parents had never required him to live by the strict Amish
Ordnung
, only asked that he be respectful of their faith and, more importantly, respectful of the Lord. “I owe you both so much.”

Lukas shook his head, his straw hat slipping a bit. He pressed on the crown, securing it in place. “You don’t owe us anything, Sawyer. You’re our
sohn
. You were from the day you started living with us, before we adopted you.” He smiled, his dark eyes shiny.

Sawyer’s eyes burned. It wasn’t like his father to show emotion. “I wish I could tell you I want to join the church. Or that

I want to go to college.” He sighed. “Some decision, any decision. But I just don’t know what I want to do. Isn’t that stupid?”

“
Nee
. It’s not
dumm
. Not after what you’ve been through, losing your parents, living with us as a teenager, away from your friends. Many young people struggle with this choice even when they’ve lived all their lives as Amish. This decision, it’s not to be taken lightly. I’m glad you’re giving it a lot of thought and prayer.”

Thought, yes. Prayer, not so much
.

A bell rang in the front of the shop, preventing Sawyer from saying anything else. Lukas nodded at him and headed to handle the customer. Sawyer turned, facing the rough table.

By the time he finished it, the surface would be smooth as satin, without a single splinter or notch. But it would take time to get the wood to that point, where it would be a beautiful piece of furniture.

Time, and lots of work.

The aroma of roasted coffee beans filled the Shetler kitchen as Emma sliced the still-warm cherry pie. She handed a piece to
Grossmammi
, then one to her sister Clara. She met her sister’s eyes as she handed her the dessert. Clara smiled. She sat close to her husband, Peter. The tension between them, once so palpable to everyone, had eased.

Grossmammi
straightened her curved back as much as she could. “Emma, sit down so we can get started.” She met each of their gazes, resting on Emma’s last. “We haven’t had a
familye
meeting since the fire.”

Peter turned pale. “I’m so sorry for what
mei
cousin did.”

“You can’t take responsibility for Mark’s troubles.”
Grossmammi
touched her coffee cup but didn’t pick it up. “Or his actions. Mark’s decisions are between him and God.”

Emma thought about Laura, who had gone upstairs to her room right after supper. She was glad Laura couldn’t hear any of this. “Have you heard from him, Peter?”

“
Nee
. I did write his parents and told them what happened.”

Peter twirled the fork in his hand. “They didn’t seem surprised.

I don’t want to say this, but it appears they’ve all but turned their backs on him.”

“He’s in the
bann
?” Emma asked.

“Not officially, since he hasn’t been home for months. But when—or if—he returns, he will be disciplined by the church.”

“And by the law,” Clara added.

“We don’t know that yet.” Peter laid his hand on her slender arm. “But remember what the police said. He committed arson. And he attempted to kill Adam and Laura. They will press charges if Mark ever comes back to Middlefield.”

“And we would condemn him as well?”
Grossmammi
asked.

“For what he did?” Clara gripped the edge of the table. “I think he should get the justice he deserves.”

Leona took a sip of her
kaffee
. “God will dispense that justice.”

“And until that time, we have to forgive him.” Clara’s mouth twisted into a frown of disgust.

“Ya.” Grossmammi
peered over the top of her wire-rimmed glasses. “We do.”

Emma sighed. “Do we have to talk about Mark anymore?”

Her grandmother shook her head. “
Nee
, he’s not our concern, other than praying he finds his way back onto God’s path.

In the meantime we need to decide what to do about the workshop. Are we going to rebuild the fabric store?”

They all looked at Clara. “We don’t have to. Peter has a
gut
job now, and I’ve started taking in sewing. I already have three orders for winter coats.” She looked at Emma. “Do you still want your shelter?”

Emma’s mouth dropped open. At one time she’d wanted to convert the workshop and equip it to take in stray animals. But she had given in to Clara’s demand for a fabric store. “Are you sure?”

Clara nodded. “I am.”

“Then it’s settled.”
Grossmammi
smiled. “I think your
grossvadder
would be happy with the decision.”

“I just wish we hadn’t sold all of his tools,” Clara said.

“We didn’t,” Peter said.

“What?”

“I saved a few things.” He glanced at Clara. “There were some items I didn’t want to part with. I thought we could hand them down to the
buwe
.”

“You didn’t tell me,” Clara murmured.

“I didn’t want to upset you. You were so set on raising money to build the fabric store. I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t helping.”

She pressed her lips together before she spoke, her voice soft.

“I’m glad Junior and Melvin will have something from him.”

A short while later, Clara and Peter prepared to leave. Emma stepped out on the porch with Clara while Peter went to the buggy.

“What made you change your mind?” Emma asked her sister.

Clara shivered. Her thin legs were covered with black stockings, but they seemed to offer her little protection from the evening chill. “I realized that I was only thinking about money.

Not about what you really wanted.”

“But I know you were worried about me and
Grossmammi
surviving after
Mammi’s
death. I understood.”

Clara snuggled deeper into her jacket. “It wasn’t just that. I was mad at Peter for not having a job. I worried too much about paying the bills. But we always had enough. God never let us
geh
without.” She swallowed. “Peter didn’t deserve the way I treated him.”

“He loves you, Clara.”

“I am lucky to have him.” The horse whinnied. “I don’t want to keep him waiting.”

“All right. See you at church, then.”

“
Ya
. We’ll be there.”

Emma watched them drive away. She smiled. After years of strife, she and her sister were finally on solid ground.