Heart in Hand: Stitches in Time Series #3 (10 page)

Jenny nodded. “Sometimes it’s not easy even for a person who writes for a job.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“Because I like it when something’s a challenge.”

“
Schul
is hard.”

“Tell me what your hardest subject is.”

“I’m going to go out and get the class started,” Anna said, rising. “Sarah Rose, take your time with the hot chocolate, and I’ll help you when you’re ready.”

She left them talking and as she reached the doorway, she glanced back and smiled when she saw how easily Jenny chatted with the child. Jenny had four
kinner
now—three widower Matthew had shared with her when they married, and a little boy she hadn’t expected to become pregnant with after her internal injuries from the bombing.

Gideon gave her a questioning look when she walked up to the knitting class. Anna told him that Sarah Rose was finishing her hot chocolate with Jenny, and he nodded. She noted that he seemed more comfortable holding the knitting needles in his big hands.

“I’ve been practicing,” he said in a low voice as she looked at the muffler he was knitting.

Once again several of the ladies watched their interaction with interest. Anna saw them exchanging looks. They’d obviously
decided a romance might be brewing. They lived locally, so she would have thought they’d be more aware that such things weren’t conducted out in public, but she knew they meant no harm.

Sarah Rose came out a few minutes later, her canvas tote bag filled with knitting stuff on her thin little shoulder. She climbed up into a rocking chair, got out her materials, and began knitting.

“Why, Sarah Rose, you look like you’ve been doing this forever,” Thelma remarked. “Pretty soon you’ll be able to help Anna teach.”

Demut
—humility—was practiced in the Amish community, but Sarah Rose reacted as any
kind
would: she glowed. “
Daedi
and I have been practicing,” she said, echoing his words.

Jenny came out and sat in a chair in the circle of students. She watched for a few minutes. When Anna walked past her a few minutes later to check the progress of her knitting, she looked up. “This looks relaxing,” she said. “Maybe I should try it. If I can do something simple to start out with.”

Gideon looked up and grinned. “Can’t get any simpler than this,” he said, holding up the long muffler he was knitting. “I recommend it.”

“I’ll try it,” Jenny said. “As long as I don’t have to go around with Smurf blue hands.”

Gideon grimaced. “How long will it take me to live that down?”

“Let’s get you some supplies,” Anna said.

“Said the spider to the fly,” Jenny murmured. “How much is this going to cost me?”

“I’ll give you the class discount,” Anna said with a smile.

“So who did you fall for first?”

“Excuse me?”

“Who’d you fall for first: the daughter or the father?” Jenny asked as they stood in front of the display of yarn.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Sarah Rose and her father are just taking knitting lessons to do something together.”

“Uh-huh,” Jenny said, nodding. She picked up a skein of yarn. “This would look good made into a muffler for Matthew, don’t you think?”

Anna nodded. “And you could get it done by Christmas.”

“Perfect.”

Anna chose a pair of knitting needles for her, and they walked to the cash register.

“I think I’ll join you next week for my first lesson,” Jenny told her as she pulled money from her purse. “I still have another errand to run. But I’ll ask Hannah if she can babysit for me this time next week.”

Anna handed her the bag with her supplies and her change. “That would be wonderful. I’ll enjoy having you in the class.”

“Looks like fun.” Jenny started to walk toward the door, then turned back. “And just for the record, I fell for the daughter first. Sarah Rose is a challenge, not like Matthew’s sweet little Annie was when I met her. But she needs you just as much, maybe more.”

She smiled. “And I suspect you’re like me, and you don’t mind a challenge.”

The bell jangled over the door as she left the shop, making Anna stare after her.

7

He saw her before she saw him.

She walked separate from the other
kinner
, and his heart ached when he saw the way her shoulders slumped and her feet dragged. Something was wrong with his little girl lately, and he just didn’t know what to do about it.

Had he been so busy with the farm and getting through the past year and a half that he hadn’t paid enough attention to her? Mary had been ill for months before she died, and even though Sarah Rose had been surrounded and cared for by a large and loving family, it hadn’t been her mother and father. In a way, with all the time her mother spent at the hospital with treatment, Sarah Rose had begun losing her before she was actually gone.

It had rained earlier, and the minute Sarah Rose saw the puddle on the side of the road he saw her expression brighten and her shoulders straighten. She glanced at the others, but they were already walking on and turning down their drive.

She bit her lip and stared at it, clearly torn.

Gideon felt the corners of his mouth twitch. He found himself moving forward, calling her name, and tried not to feel hurt that her expression wavered—she obviously felt
disappointed that he’d shown up when she wanted to jump in the puddle.

So he beat her to it.

He jumped in and splashed and laughed when she squealed as the muddy water sprayed over her shoes.

“
Daedi
! What are you doing?” she cried, staring at him as if he’d grown two heads.

“Jumping in a puddle. What does it look like?”

“
Daedis
don’t do that!”

“Well, maybe they should,” he said, giving it one more big jump and splash. “You should do it.”

She tilted her head and studied him. “Really?”

“Really,” he said.

He took her books from her and stood back. “Go for it. Clothes can be washed.”

Sarah Rose didn’t wait for a further invitation. She jumped; she splashed; she stomped around in circles until nearly all the water was gone.

The sound of a buggy approached. Gideon turned and saw Anna in the front seat. He got a feeling in his chest not unlike what Sarah Rose must have felt when she stomped in the puddle. Well, okay, it had been fun for him, too.

She stopped and looked at his muddy legs. “Having fun?”

“
Ya
. Aren’t we, Sarah Rose?”

She nodded vigorously. “He did it first,” his daughter informed her with wonder in her voice.

Gideon loved seeing the sparkle in her eyes. He held out his hand to Anna. “Want to join us? There’s still some water in the puddle.”

A laugh slipped out. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I have on my favorite shoes. Maybe next time.”

Gideon elbowed his daughter. “Says she wants a rain check.”

“What’s a rain check?”

“She can have another chance later.”

“Oh.” Sarah Rose considered that. “Can I?”

“May I?”

“
Schur
you can,” she said grandly, as if she were a queen granting a royal favor.

Anna laughed. “I think he meant you should say, ‘May I?’ ”

“Oh.
May
I?” she said with great emphasis.

“We’ll see. Depends on if we get the mud out of those sneakers.”

“I’ll go take them off right now and put them in a bucket of water.”

“Good idea.” He handed her the books he’d been holding. “Put yourself in a big tub of water and see if you can get the mud off you, too. Then—”

“I know. I know. Chores.”

“Chores. I’ll be inside in a minute.”

He debated asking Anna if she wanted a cup of coffee. It had been years since he’d dated. How did he get restarted?

“Gonna take a big tub of water to get you clean,” Sarah Rose said, smirking.

She started to turn, then apparently thought better of it. “Anna, can you stay for supper?”

“Sarah Rose, Anna might have plans.” But he hoped not. He didn’t have any idea what he’d make if she said yes, but he’d like the chance to try.

Anna glanced at Gideon, then back at her. “I have to take Annie B. some yarn.”

“Couldn’t you to do that and come back?”

He decided on the spot that his daughter could jump in puddles every day since she’d come up with such a great question.

“Couldn’t you?” he asked, and their eyes met. He saw Anna’s widen, and she shifted the reins in her hands in what seemed like a nervous gesture.

“I—suppose so. I’ll go do that now and be back in about a half hour.”

“You really think you’ll get away from her that quickly?”

She laughed again and shook her head. “Probably not. I was being optimistic.”

“See you when you get here. It’ll give me time to get the mud off and start something for supper.”

“See you soon.”

She got the buggy moving. Once she was a few yards away, she glanced back over her shoulder and waved at him. He waved back.

The afternoon that had seemed so gray and bleak as he watched his little girl walking home had suddenly become very bright indeed.

A delicious aroma hit her the moment she stepped onto the porch.

Gideon answered the door and ushered her in, inviting her to sit at the kitchen table while he finished supper.

“You’re here,” said Sarah Rose as she walked into the room. “I thought you’d never get here.”

Anna smiled at how it came out part complaint, part delight. How nice it felt to be looked forward to. She bent to hug her. “I’m sorry. I was talking to Annie B.”

“You don’t need to apologize,” Gideon said, giving his daughter a stern look. “You were on your way to see her when we invited you to supper. Sarah Rose, you need to wash your hands and set the table.”

“But they’re clean,” she protested. “I just took a bath.”

“And then got dressed and put your shoes on and tied them. So wash your hands, please.”

“How can I help?”

“Everything’s ready,” Gideon told her. “I should have asked if you like macaroni and cheese. We have it often here since it’s Sarah Rose’s favorite. And it’s easy for me to make.”

“It’s Jacob’s recipe,” Sarah Rose told her as she placed a plate on the table before Anna. “You know, Jacob who’s married to Mary Katherine, your cousin.”

Gideon drew on a pair of oven mitts, opened the oven, and pulled out a casserole. “He’s given me a couple of recipes,” Gideon told her.

Anna remembered how Jacob had told her he’d been forced to learn how to cook when he offended one of his sisters by saying there wasn’t anything to cooking. His supply of home-delivered meals from his sisters and mother had immediately dried up.

She wondered if Gideon had experienced the same experience learning to cook that Jacob had: he’d told them a funny story about how the first time cooking supper for himself he’d managed to cut a finger chopping vegetables, burn his hand, and set fire to a kitchen towel set too close to the gas stove. Exhausted from a long day of farming chores, he’d fallen asleep at the kitchen table and only awakened when the macaroni and cheese casserole had started burning.

Now Jacob’s practice had paid off, and Mary Katherine enjoyed occasional help in the kitchen. She helped him with the farm when she could, just as many Amish wives did.

Had Gideon helped Mary in the kitchen? If not, he’d had to learn when he lost his wife. He’d learned how to take care of his little girl as well.

She, on the other hand, hadn’t had to take on another role like Gideon. She’d started working full-time instead of part-time to support herself, but it hadn’t been a hardship. Working in the shop would be a dream for anyone but especially someone who loved crafts as much as she. But she hadn’t taken on any of the roles of the other partner in the marriage the way he had. She didn’t do any carpentry or any of the maintenance to speak of. Her attempt to fix a pipe had shown her how woeful her skills were in taking care of her home. And Eli leased part of the land and farmed it.

She hadn’t had to raise a child by herself.

Sarah Rose added paper napkins to each plate and then sat down. Anna spread hers on her lap and frowned when her skinned knuckles stung a little. She pulled one of her hands from her lap and stared at the abused skin.

“How’d you hurt your hand?” Sarah Rose asked her.

“I was trying to fix a leaky pipe. But I’m no plumber.”

Gideon set a bowl of green beans on the table and leaned over to study her hand. “Did you clean it good?”

“The pipe?”

“Your hand,” he said patiently.

She smiled. “I knew what you meant. Yes. Put some antibiotic cream on it, too. I’m not a plumber, but I know about first aid.”

“I’ll come over and take a look at it tomorrow,” he told her as he took a seat. “The pipe, not the hand.”

“No need. I’m sure I can ask one of my brothers to do it.”

“You tried to fix it instead of calling them. Why?”

She shrugged. “Well, they’re so busy. I hate to bother them.”

They said a silent prayer over their meal and then began filling their plates. Gideon had duplicated Jacob’s recipe exactly—it was cheesy and warming and perfect for a simple supper.