On Her Own (10 page)

“Barbara’s tired, and she’s probably not feeling up to baking,” John said. “Maybe she needs a couple of girls to help her.”

“You volunteered me or Nadine,” Hannah reminded him. “But Barbara said she was getting along fine.”

He nodded. “That’s true, but I don’t think Barbara knows what she needs right now.”

Mary nudged his shoulder. “What do you mean, Papa?”

He glanced back at her and smiled. “I believe she could use some girls of her own.”

Mary’s eyebrows furrowed. “But she’s gotta have a husband for that, doesn’t she?”

“Jah, and I’ve been thinking. . . .” John’s voice trailed off. Should he tell the girls that he was hoping to give them a mother and him a wife, and that he hoped that wife and mother would be Barbara Zook?
Better wait awhile
, he decided.
In the meantime, I’ll keep visiting Barbara and trying to gain her approval
.

“What are you thinking, Papa?” Hannah asked.

“Nothing important.”

John pulled into Margaret Hilty’s place a short time later.

“Can we wait in the buggy?” Hannah asked when John came around to help them down.

He shook his head. “I think it would be better if you came up to the house with me.”

“How come, Papa?” Mary wanted to know.

“Because it wouldn’t be proper for me to call on a recently widowed woman alone.”

Mary opened her mouth as if she might argue, but he shook his head.

Both girls trudged up the path leading to the home Margaret now shared with her daughter and son-in-law, and John followed. When they stepped onto the porch, Margaret came out the back door dressed in her black mourning clothes.

“Wie geht’s, Bishop John?” she asked.

“I’m doing all right.”

“What brings you out my way on this warm afternoon?”

“We came to see how you’re doing.” He motioned first to
Hannah and then to Mary. “Isn’t that right, girls?”

“Jah,” they said in unison.

John smiled at Margaret. “How are you getting along?”

“Oh, fair to middlin’.” She yawned. “I miss Dan something awful, and I’m still not sleeping so well, but I’m grateful that Karen and Jacob were willing to move in here with me. Otherwise, I’d be even lonelier.”

“I understand. If I didn’t have my girls to keep me company, I’d miss Peggy a lot more than I do.”

John shifted from one foot to the other. “Say, I was wondering if I might make a suggestion.”

“What’s that?”

“We were over at Barbara Zook’s a short time ago, and I noticed how overgrown her garden’s become.”

“I suppose with a new boppli and three young buwe to look after, she doesn’t have much time for gardening,” Margaret said.

He nodded. “I was thinking it might be good if a group of ladies got together and went over to Barbara’s to work on her flower beds.”

“I’m sure she would appreciate that.”

He turned toward Margaret’s garden and made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “Since you’ve done such a fine job with your own yard, I was thinking you’d be the perfect one to help Barbara get her yard looking good again.”

“I do need something to keep my hands and mind busy, and there’s only so much work I can do here.” She nodded. “I’d be happy to help Barbara.”

“That’s good. I’ll speak to a few other women and see what day would work best for them, and then I’ll let Barbara know
there’s going to be a work frolic in her garden plot soon.”

Margaret looked at the girls. “Would you two care for some peanut brittle? My daughter Karen and I made a big batch earlier this afternoon.”

Mary and Hannah both nodded enthusiastically. “That’d be real nice,” Mary said, licking her lips.

A short time later, John and his girls were headed back up Highway C toward home.

“Say, Papa, I’ve been wondering about something,” Hannah said as they neared their farm.

“What’s that, daughter?”

“How come you didn’t invite Margaret to go on a picnic with us the way you did Barbara?”

“Well, I—”

“Margaret seems lonely. Maybe she would’ve enjoyed a day at the pond.”

John’s face heated up. “I. . .uh. . .as you know, Barbara has kinner, so I figured you girls would enjoy playing with her boys.”

“Except for Aaron, Barbara’s boys are a lot younger than us,” Hannah reminded him.

“Right,” he said with a nod. “And for that reason, I figure they’d be fun for you to play little mudder with.”

Mary opened her mouth as if to reply, but he held up his hand and said, “Just eat your peanut brittle.”

Paul hated to bother Barbara, but he needed several
orders to be sent, and she’d made it clear when she hired him
that she would
place all the orders. He’d
thought about asking Barbara’s dad to take the paperwork up to
the house, but Samuel had left for another doctor’s
appointment. Since there were no customers at the moment, Paul
decided to take the information up to Barbara. He put the C
LOSED
sign in the shop window with a note saying they would open again after lunch and headed out the door.

Paul stepped onto the back porch of Barbara’s house, and as he lifted his hand to the door, he heard a child say, “Whatcha doin’?”

Paul whirled around. Barbara’s six-year-old son, Joseph, stood beside a bush near the porch, holding a metal bubble wand in his hand.

“I. . .uh. . .need to see your mamm about something,” Paul stammered. He didn’t know why he always felt so tongue-tied around children.

“She’s in the house.”

Paul nodded. “I figured she might be.”

“You come over for lunch?” Joseph asked, his blue eyes looking ever so serious.

“No. I’m here on business.”

Joseph stepped onto the porch. “Mama’s harness business?”

“Jah.”

The boy turned the doorknob and called through the open doorway, “Mama, the harness man’s here to see you!”

Paul felt as though he would be intruding to step into the house without an invitation, so he waited on the porch until Barbara showed up. “Is there a problem at the shop?” she asked.

“No problem. I just wanted to give you these.” Paul handed her the folder full of supply orders.

“Danki. I’ll get everything sent out right away.”

Joseph tossed the bubble wand onto a small table on the porch and yanked on the hem of his mother’s apron. “Can the harness man stay for lunch? We’ve got plenty, right?”

Barbara’s face flamed. “His name is Paul, and I’m sure he’s busy.”

Joseph shook his head. “No, he ain’t. There’s no cars or buggies parked in front of the shop.”

A trickle of sweat rolled down Paul’s forehead, and he wiped it away.

“If you haven’t already eaten, you’re welcome to join us,” Barbara said, much to Paul’s surprise.

Whatever she was cooking in the kitchen smelled mighty good. His stomach rumbled. “Well, I—”

“Mama’s fixin’ chicken noodle soup,” Joseph said, smacking his lips. “It tastes awful good, and it smells
wunderbaar
.”

Paul smiled at the boy’s enthusiasm. “I’d be happy to join you for lunch if you’re sure it’s no trouble,” he said to Barbara. “Maybe we could talk about business while we eat.”

Barbara nodded. “Sounds fine to me.”

Paul stepped inside. “Was that Bishop Frey I saw here earlier?” Paul asked as he followed her into the kitchen.

Barbara nodded. “He came by with two of his daughters to see how I was doing.”

“Guess that’s part of the man’s duties.”

“Jah.” Barbara motioned to the table. “Why don’t you have a seat? If David doesn’t wake from his nap right away, I’ll have the soup ready in no time.”

“Is there something I can do to help?” Paul offered. Anything
would be better than watching the woman bustle around the kitchen. Every time Paul saw Barbara Zook, he thought she was prettier than the time before. Gone were the dark circles under her eyes, and if he weren’t mistaken, she’d put on a few needed pounds.

He sucked in his breath.
I shouldn’t be thinking about her like this. She’s a widowed woman with four boys, and I’m going back to Pennsylvania
.

“I suppose you could go out back and call my other two boys in for lunch. Aaron’s pushing Zachary on the swing behind the barn,” Barbara said, halting his disconcerting thoughts.

“I can get ’em, Mama,” Joseph offered.

“If I send you, Aaron will only argue, or you’ll end up getting sidetracked.”

“The boys aren’t over at your folks’ place today?” Paul asked.

Barbara shook her head. “Mom went to Springfield with Dad.” She chuckled. “I think my mamm asks that doctor more questions than my daed ever does. He tends to go along with whatever the doctor says and never thinks to voice any concerns.”

“I think most men are like that,” Paul said, opening the back door. “I’ll go get your boys.”

He’d only gone as far as the barn when he noticed Joseph trudging along beside him. “I thought you were inside with your mamm.”

“Wanted to be with you.”

Paul wasn’t sure how to respond, so he just kept walking. Until recently, no child had ever shown an interest in him. Truth be told, it felt kind of nice—though he would never admit it to anyone.

Squeals of laughter drew his attention. Aaron was pushing his little brother on the swing.

“Your mamm wants you to come up to the house,” Paul said. “She’s got lunch about ready.”

Aaron stopped pushing the younger boy and whirled around to face Paul. “How come she sent you?”

“The harness man’s stayin’ for lunch,” Joseph announced with a wide grin.

Paul felt Aaron’s icy stare all the way to his toes. Clearly, the boy didn’t like him, though he wasn’t sure why. He figured it had to be for the same reason other kids avoided him—they obviously knew he didn’t care much for kids, at least not until now. Aaron had dropped by the shop a couple of times, but he only came around when his grandfather was there. When Paul was minding the shop alone, the boy stayed away. It was just as well. Paul had too much work to spend time babysitting or dealing with Aaron’s nasty attitude.

Guess I’m sort of babysitting right now
, he thought as he looked at Joseph, who stared up at him with eager blue eyes.
Maybe I need to reach out to Aaron, no matter how awkward it makes me feel
.

“Come on, Zachary,” Aaron said as he helped his little brother off the swing. “It’s time to eat.” He grabbed the boy’s hand, and the two scampered toward the house.

Joseph reached for Paul’s hand, and they followed the other boys. Was Aaron missing his father? Could that be the problem?

“Say, Aaron,” Paul said as he and Joseph stepped onto the porch. “How would you like to come out to the harness shop after lunch and help me?”

“Doin’ what?” he asked without looking back. “Sweepin’ the floor, I’ll bet.”

When Paul touched the boy’s shoulder, he halted and turned around. “Thought you might like to fasten some buckles on a couple of leather straps, or maybe you could dye the edges.”

A flicker of interest sparked in Aaron’s eyes, but when he blinked, it disappeared. “We’ll see,” he mumbled.

When they entered the kitchen, lunch was ready. Barbara motioned to the chair at the head of the table. “Have a seat, Paul.”

“But that’s Pa’s place,” Aaron was quick to say. “Nobody should sit there ’cept Pa.”

“Aaron, your daed’s gone, and—”

Paul shook his head. “It’s all right, Barbara. I can sit someplace else.” He waited until Aaron and Joseph had taken their seats and Barbara had put Zachary on a high stool. After she was seated, Paul took the empty chair across from her.

All heads bowed. When the silent prayer was over, Barbara passed Paul a basket of rolls.

“These look good. Did you make them?” he asked.

“My mamm did. I haven’t had the energy to do much baking since the boppli was born,” Barbara said.

Paul took a roll and slathered it with butter. “You’ll get your strength back soon. Already you’re looking better than the day I first dropped by.”

She smiled. “I’m anxious to get back to the harness shop. I surely do miss it.”

Paul was tempted to ask why she felt the need to do men’s work, but he thought better of it. He would be going back to
Pennsylvania soon, and what Barbara did was her own business. Besides, she needed a way to support herself, and according to her dad, she was very good at her trade.

He dipped his spoon into the soup and took a mouthful. “Mmm. . .this is mighty good.”

“Danki.”

Joseph smacked his lips. “Mama’s the best cook in all of Webster County.”

Barbara snickered. “Jah, sure.”

Paul glanced at Aaron, who sat to his mother’s left. The boy had his head down and seemed to be playing with his soup, stirring it over and over with his spoon.

“Aaron, you’d best eat and quit dawdling,” Barbara scolded.

The child picked up his bowl and slurped his soup.

“Mind your manners and use your spoon.” Barbara handed a roll to young Zachary, and he promptly dipped it in his soup.

“Would it be all right if Aaron comes out to the shop after lunch?” Paul asked. “With your daed being gone today, I could use some help.”

Barbara’s look of concern made him wish he hadn’t said anything. “Are you getting further behind?”