Lined With Silver (22 page)

“What did you say?” His muffled voice sounded
through the door.

“Nothing. Just talking to myself.” She
called.

“Great. I’m stuck with a nut job.” He
laughed.

“I heard that.”

“What? I didn’t say anything.”

“Yeah. Right. Don’t wait up.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t.” The creak of the
springs announced his rolling in the bed.

She stared at her bracelet a moment, the
dazzling sparkles a momentary distraction. She hadn’t removed it
since Zack had put it on Christmas day, but she hadn’t taken a
soaking bath, either. The clasp looked complicated, and she had
already undressed. Unwilling to re-robe to ask for his help, she
decided to leave the bracelet on.

As the tub filled with water, steam filled
the room and the mirrors fogged. She turned off the water when
bubbles ran over the sides. Several minutes after the water had
cooled, Sondra finally emerged.

The mirrors had long since cleared, and she
didn’t hear any movement from the other side of the door. She
shivered. Sitting in cold water probably wasn’t a good move this
time of year. She toweled off her purple skin.

She pulled on her fleece pajamas and then her
thick robe. When neither warmed her, she stepped out of the
bathroom. From the light coming out the bathroom door, she found
her luggage. Triumphantly, she pulled out a pair of wool socks.
She’d bought them in the sporting goods section and the label had
promised they would warm even in temperatures as low as thirty
below. Since the room seemed to be hitting that, she was certain
the only warm part of her body would be her feet. Too bad she
hadn’t purchased an entire wardrobe from the same section.

When Sondra turned to the bed, she was
horrified to see Zack’s inert form taking up the entire bed. She
stared a moment. There was a little space on either side. Little
being the operative word. She puzzled a moment. A shiver coursed
through her. The air was arctic. No way was she sleeping on the
hardwood floor.

The sheepskin she had insisted would fit
between them was hanging off the side of the bed. She walked over
and shook it, hoping any bugs Zack had mentioned would forget they
had legs and go flying with the dust. It was a small hope, but she
clung to it. She scrutinized the white fleece. Not seeing any
movement, she shivered in the cold and thought,
Maybe the
temperature has killed any living creepy crawlies or at least put
them in hibernation
.

Determined to make some room, she shoved
against Zack. The only result was a slight groan from the sleeping
form. She stared another moment. She was standing in a freezing
room and, despite the promises of the sock manufacturer, her feet
were going numb. Zack’s deep breathing assured her he didn’t have
any ulterior motives.

She turned off the bathroom light and then
crawled in next to him and wiggled her frozen feet. The warmth
coming from him tempted her to stick her icy feet on his legs, but
she carefully kept her limbs to herself, pulling the sheepskin over
the edge of the quilt she managed to wrestle from him.

After a few minutes, Zack’s body heat thawed
her out enough that she could feel lethargy creep over her. She was
emotionally and, due to the last couple of days of walking,
physically drained.

Zack rolled over and flung a stray arm over
the sheepskin. After a minute of trying to decide if she should
race over to the other side of the bed, the welcome heat emanating
from him convinced her she didn’t want to move.

Despite her determination to wake before
anyone stirred, a loud pounding on the door was her alarm. Her eyes
flew open. When she tried to sit up, Zack’s arm was still securely
holding the sheepskin.

“Ummm… I can’t move.” She whispered as she
tried to wriggle out of his grasp. The door burst open.

“Breakfast is ready.” Granny beamed at them.
“I see you’re enjoying the benefits of grandpa’s rug. It is a bit
nippy, isn’t it?”

Talk about privacy.
Sondra thought.
She could feel the fire on her face. She hadn’t intended for anyone
to find them curled up together as if… and then she caught Zack’s
eyes, which had finally opened. His disarming dimple was showing,
and she realized this was exactly what he had in mind. If there had
been any doubt to the reality of their marriage, this would settle
any.

“Waffles are hot and ready. I have real maple
syrup heated on the table. It won’t keep.” Granny walked over to
the heavy green drapes and pulled them open. Weak winter light
filtered through lacy white panels.

“We’ll be right down. Give us a minute.” Zack
sat up and was moving to the opposite side of the bed. His white
cotton shirt felt intimate.

Sondra searched for her robe and was dismayed
to see that she had thrown it over the rocking chair that had been
occupied by the sheepskin. Her pajamas were modest, but she didn’t
feel comfortable walking across the room in them.

Granny glanced at her watch. “I’ll give you
five minutes. Then I’m coming back up here with horns
blasting.”

“Okay. Okay.” Zack was out of bed and heading
for the bathroom. He hadn’t bothered to grab a robe. Sondra
couldn’t resist a peek and was relieved to see he was wearing
pajama bottoms.

As Zack’s heat receded from the bed, Sondra
shivered. Granny’s furnace hadn’t woken up yet or maybe she hadn’t
turned it on. She could imagine the heated syrup congealing in the
pitcher.

As Granny shut the door, Sondra raced to grab
her robe. She was tying it when Zack stepped out of the bathroom,
shrugged on his robe and headed to the closed door. “Coming?”

Sondra nodded while she tried to pat her hair
into place. It was a useless gesture. Since they had both witnessed
her bed hair, it wasn’t worth fixing. “Did Granny grow up in
Alaska?”

“You’d think, wouldn’t you?” Zack grinned.
“I’m guessing it’s more of a holdover from her childhood. She
usually lets the house heat up during the day.”

“I didn’t notice icicles yesterday, that’s
for sure.”

Sondra tried to hide her shivers, but she was
blowing into her hands when Granny walked into the dining room with
a covered platter. The table had miraculously reappeared sometime
during the night. Sondra wondered what had happened to the stacks
of items that had been there the night before. She had a sneaking
suspicion one of the closed doors probably hid the loot.

“I just turned up the thermostat. I got busy
and forgot.” Granny apologized.

As she spoke, Sondra could hear the furnace
kick in. She was distracted by Zack, who announced the prayer. They
passed around the waffles. She shouldn’t have worried about the
syrup. The small pitcher was hot enough to require a pad to pass it
around.

“This is delicious. Thanks for serving us.”
Sondra said as she patted her lips with a white napkin. “I’ve never
had the genuine article. Where do you get your syrup?”

“I’d like to say I make it myself, but that
would be a lie.” Granny grinned. “The farm just up the road makes
the best syrup in the state. Did you know it takes forty to fifty
gallons of sap to produce one gallon of the stuff?”

Sondra’s eyes went big. “I had no idea.
Thanks for sharing.”

“Speaking of farms, I thought we’d do some
driving today. There are a lot of farms on the way to Lancaster,
and there’s an Amish market there I’d like you to see. It’s about
an hour and a half from here.” Granny glanced at Zack. “Do you feel
like traveling today?”

“Sure. Sounds like fun.”

“Give me a few minutes.” Sondra interjected.
“I’m still in my pajamas.”

“Take all the time you need, dear. Zack and I
need to get ready too. Don’t worry about the dishes. He knows how
to do them.”

Sondra hurried up the stairs to the
accompaniment of Zack’s whistle and Granny’s hum. It sounded like a
hymn, but she couldn’t remember which one. Mitchell might not have
ever joined the church, but his mother seemed to understand Mormon
culture. She wondered if he had been raised in a mixed Mormon
family just like Zack. Maybe that’s what had drawn Mitchell to
Laurie in the first place. She’d have to remember to ask Zack.

They started on I-76. Shortly after they
turned onto Route 30, a couple of horse-drawn carriages were moving
down the road. Sondra watched them with interest. “I can’t imagine
travelling so slowly in this day and age.”

“They don’t seem to mind. They don’t travel
as far as we do. They keep all their interactions local.” Zack
said.

Sondra shook her head. “Still, they have to
wonder when they watch the world zip by.”

“Most of them have had some kind of
experience in the world. After their wild time, ninety percent of
them choose to go back to their basic lifestyle.” Zack replied.

Sondra turned to Zack. “What do you mean wild
time?”

“Before they become adults, they’re allowed
some freedoms. The teens sew their wild oats.”

“I think I saw some kind of reality show
once, but I thought it was all made up.” Sondra’s brows drew
together in a puzzled frown.

Granny shook her head. “I heard it’s for
real. Like a mission of sorts, but kinda backward.”

Sondra turned to Granny, wondering again
about her religious background, and observed, “I’m amazed they
choose to go back.”

“It seems to work for them.” Zack
answered.

They passed the procession and stopped at a
local restaurant, where they were served a simple meal. Attached to
the restaurant was a small shop where homemade items were
displayed. Sondra eyed a quilt with purple, green, and white
patches. “This is beautiful.” She whistled at the price tag, “and
they seem to know the value of their own work.”

“They know their market, that’s for sure,”
Zack agreed. “Tourists don’t mind paying.”

“What do they use the money for?” Sondra
asked.

“There are some things they can’t make on
their own. They pay for them with the money they get from selling
their products. It’s ingenious, if you ask me.” Zack replied.

Sondra put the price tag back. “I had no
idea. It’s like an industry.”

“Of course it is.” Granny nodded. “If you’re
interested in quilts, though, you need to wait and see the ones in
Lancaster. There’s a whole shop dedicated to them, and you won’t be
disappointed.”

Reluctantly, Sondra turned from the brilliant
colors and headed back to the car. “I’ll take your word for
it.”

After driving through small towns and past
farms, they arrived at Lancaster. The shops were everything Granny
had promised. They spent a couple of hours walking through them,
and Sondra bought two quilts. One shared the color scheme of the
quilt she had admired at their previous stop, but it had
star-shaped patches instead of square ones. The other quilt was
colored with greens and oranges. “This one matches Nikki’s room,”
she explained. She turned to Zack while trying to hide her tears.
She couldn’t bring back the twins, but she could bring a part of
the Amish with her.

Wordlessly, he caught an escaping tear with
his thumb and then put his arm around her as they moved to the next
shop. Figures were carved out of beeswax, and small jars of golden
honey were stacked next to the intricate carvings. One of the
figures was a carefully-detailed lab chewing on a bone. Even the
rug he was on looked like the one back home. When she gasped, Zack
turned to look at the figure. “Dewk.” They said together, and this
time Sondra’s tears wouldn’t stop. The reality of his loss was too
deep.

“Did you want that?”

At Sondra’s nod, Zack asked to have it
wrapped. It was carefully placed in a box and Zack carried it to
the car.

Granny noticed Sondra’s tears. “Are you
alright, dear?”

Sondra nodded, unable to talk. Zack answered
for her. “Her dog died a couple of days ago. It’s been a rough
week.”

Sondra felt a sudden urge to laugh.
Rough
week
. It was either laugh or cry. If she laughed, she’d end up
doing both, so she choked on her laugh and climbed into the
car.

Sondra slept the first hour of the trip. The
snow-covered hills and occasional horse-drawn carriage weren’t
enough to keep her interest. Her body was still recovering from the
miscarriage, and she was emotionally spent. They stopped at a
different Amish restaurant on the way home. Zack and Granny enjoyed
their food, but Sondra could do little more than push it around her
plate.

She stared out the window for the last part
of the trip and wished Nikki would call with the results of the
autopsy. The twins weren’t something she could control. They had
died for some unknown reason like millions of babies had died
before. As much as her heart ached for their loss, there was
nothing she could’ve done.

Dewk was something else. He had been healthy
and vital as they were leaving. She could still see his bobbing
head as they had pulled out of the driveway. What could possibly
have happened?

* * *

“Tonight we are watching the episode of ‘Why
We Never Made it to the Moon.’” Granny announced as they walked
through the door.

“Really?” Zack pulled a face. “I think I’ve
watched that five times now.”

“It never gets old, does it?” Granny didn’t
seem to hear his dissatisfaction with the night’s plans.

“No, Ma’am.” He wasn’t going to fight with
his grandmother.

Sondra wasn’t in much of a mood for anything,
and watching an episode of “Why We Never Made it to the Moon” was
about as high on her list as getting bitten by a rattlesnake, but
she managed to sit through the episode and make polite comments at
Granny’s enthusiastic support of the whole idea.

“See? See? That comment, right there. That’s
why I believe we never made it to the moon.”

Across the screen was flashing the words:
“The number one reason why we know we never made it? We aren’t
there now.”