Plain Promise (11 page)

“Worry is a sin,” Lillian said. Then she patted Sadie’s hand. “God will guide their way. I will pray for them.”

Sadie merely nodded. She had included Kade and Tyler in her prayers last night, thinking she’d never seen such a lost man as Kade.
Hopefully
, she thought,
Kade has a good relationship with the Lord
.

Lillian began to sweep the wooden floor, and Sadie silently questioned her own relationship with God. Thoughts had been surfacing that she would never share with anyone, notions that continued to creep into her head, as if put there by the devil himself.

She gave her head a few quick shakes from side to side, as if that would clear the sinful thoughts from her mind. There was no questioning God’s will. To do so went against everything Sadie believed in. But she couldn’t understand His will for her these days, as her loneliness burrowed deep inside her. Perhaps she just needed to be patient, until the spring, when Milo would be here.

“How’s Jonas?” she asked Lillian in an attempt to stem the confusion in her head.

Lillian stopped sweeping. “
Mamm
said it depends on the day. Some days he is perfectly fine. Other days are
baremlich
. He gets confused, wanders off, and tries to take the buggy if it’s left hitched up, without letting
Mamm
know where he’s going. Things like that. I know it’s hard for
Mamm
sometimes, taking care of him on her own. She worries about him a lot.”

“Jonas has no business doing such things. Just like the other night—”

“Sadie, I’m sorry I asked you to go into that place to get Grandpa. I should have gone. After all, I’ve been in those type places before. Before I was Amish.”

“You shouldn’t be in a place like that while you’re pregnant.” Sadie recalled the smoke-filled room, the patrons’ questioning eyes, and the way Kade had handled Jonas. “You know, it was Kade who convinced Jonas to come with us.” She paused. “He seemed to know exactly how to handle him.”

“Hmm,” Lillian said. “Well, it’s a
gut
thing he did.” She pointed toward the window. “There’s Carley and Jenna.”

The bell on the door chimed when Jenna burst into the room. “Hi!” She ran into her Aunt Lillian’s arms.

“
Guder mariye, Jenna
.”

“Good morning to you too,” the six-year-old answered.

Carley closed the door behind her. “She does pretty well with her Pennsylvania
Deitsch
, huh? With so many relatives speaking the language, Noah has taught her quite a bit. He still remembers much of what he learned before he left.”

“
Ya
, she is doing
wunderbaar gut
,” Lillian said. She eased out of the hug. “Do you want to go organize the dolls for me, Jenna?”

Jenna nodded and skipped across the store, her blonde ringlets bouncing down the middle of her back.

Carley reached into her purse and pulled out a piece of paper. “Can you look at this and see if I’m missing anything?” She handed the note to Lillian. “Noah and I have a couple coming in from Florida this afternoon. It’s a man Noah went to medical school with, and they’ll be staying with us for a few days. Of course, they are intrigued by the Amish, so I told them I would cook them an Amish meal.”

Lillian scanned the note. “Wow. This is quite an undertaking. Usually turkey roast is reserved for weddings, but they should love it.” Lillian ran her finger down the piece of paper. “Barbecued string beans, mashed potatoes, homemade bread, and shoofly pie.” She handed the piece of paper back to Carley. “Do you have chowchow, applesauce, and some jams and jellies to serve prior to the main meal?”

Carley grinned. “No. I was hoping maybe my Amish sister-in-law could help me with that.”

“Come by the house later, and I’ll supply you with everything you need,” Lillian said with a smile.

“Or—” Sadie cut in, “I could prepare the meal at my house for your friends.”

Carley’s eyes lit up. “Really? I know they would love to see the inside of an Amish home.” She paused as her face grew serious. “But that’s way too much work. I could never ask you to do that.”

Sadie glanced at the ground, then sheepishly back at Carley. “I’d truly enjoy the company.”

“But what about Noah? I mean, since he’s been shunned and all. I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble with the bishop.”

“I’d be glad to cook for your friends, and I’m not worried about Bishop Ebersol. You know he mostly looks the other way when it comes to Noah.” Sadie took the piece of paper from Carley. “What time?”

“Sadie, you’re the best!” Carley gave her a quick hug. “You tell me what time is best for you. I’ll go to the grocery store right now, buy everything, and bring it here. This is so sweet of you. Noah’s friends will be so excited.”

“I’m happy to do it.” Sadie couldn’t tell her how much she needed to have visitors in the house, someone to cook for and serve at her own table. Then she had a thought. “Carley, would you mind if I invited the
Englischer
and his son? The ones who are renting the cottage.”

Lillian gave her a strange look, but Carley answered right away. “Of course not! The more the merrier.”

Sadie glanced toward Lillian, and then back at Carley. “The young boy is special. I think he might be slow—mentally challenged I believe is the right way to say it.” She shook her head. “
Ach
, never mind. I think it might be best not to. I don’t know how the child will act, and it might be uncomfortable for your friends. The only reason I thought about it is that the child’s mother just dropped him off with Kade, my renter, and the man hasn’t been involved much in the child’s life. He’s clueless what to do with him. And since Noah is a doctor—”

“Say no more,” Carley interrupted. “His friend, James, is a doctor too. There will be two doctors, and maybe they can help your friend with his son.”

“He’s not my
friend
. He’s renting the cottage.” She let out a long, audible breath. “But he seems rather lost.”

“What time do you want to have supper?” Carley asked. “At the usual supper hour, four o’clock?”

“In the past when I’ve hosted
Englischers
for suppers, I have pushed back supper until seven. How would that be?”

“Perfect.” Carley turned toward her daughter. “Jenna, let’s go, sweetie.”

“Lillian, my table hasn’t been full in a long time. Do you, Samuel, David, and Anna want to join us, if it’s all right with Carley?” Sadie glanced back and forth between the women.

“That would be great,” Carley said as she reached for Jenna’s hand.

Lillian rested her hands across her protruding belly. “
Ya
, that would be nice. But Anna has a
baremlich
cold. David is watching her for me today. I didn’t want to bring her here like I usually do, for fear she’d get worse being carted outdoors. I think it best to keep her inside. Besides, I promised Lizzie I would bake her some bread. I appreciate the invitation, though.”

“Lizzie sure eats a lot,” Sadie said. “I told her I’d bake her some bread too. And last week, I took her a meat loaf, and she sent the empty dish back the very next day, by way of Mary Ellen, who’d stopped by to see her.”

“She’s a dear woman,” Lillian said. “Frail little thing. But I agree with you. She eats like a horse. It’s a shame she doesn’t have children of her own. She does have several nieces and nephews who check on her, but they travel almost an hour to do so, by car from the Beachy Amish community.” Lillian frowned. “I don’t think they check on her enough.”

“She has us to tend to her. Lizzie is easy to love,” Sadie said. “I know she gets lonely.”

Sometimes Sadie would offer to stay and keep her company, but Lizzie always declined the offer. Maybe Lizzie would accept Sadie’s invitation to sit with her if she knew how much Sadie herself wanted the company. One thing Sadie knew about—loneliness. However, she wouldn’t be lonely tonight. That is, not until she climbed into bed after her supper guests were gone.

“I’ll be back with the groceries.” Carley waved, and she and Jenna left.

Sadie began to wonder how she was going to approach Kade about joining them for supper. It seemed a bit forward.
But it’s in
Tyler’s best interest
, she reminded herself.

Kade shifted his position on the couch and blinked his eyes into focus. Tyler was standing beside him, clad in blue-and-white pajamas, a yellow toothbrush dangling from one hand. Kade sat up, placed his feet on the floor, and tried to make eye contact with his son. But Tyler looked past him, although with a hint of happiness on his small face.

“Good morning,” Kade said. He glanced at the clock on the fireplace mantel. Seven thirty. Kade reached for the black binder. They were already starting the day late. “Up at seven,” he mumbled to himself. “Breakfast at seven thirty. Brush teeth and get dressed at eight o’clock.” Then came the huge gap in time from eight thirty to three thirty when Tyler would have been in school.

How could Monica have done this?
Kade could have prepared for this, with some warning. And he would have been at his own home in Los Angeles, not in a tiny, one-bedroom cottage in Pennsylvania Dutch country.

He thought about yesterday. There hadn’t been any more fits or head banging, and Tyler went to bed right at eight o’clock in the bedroom. Kade left the light on as Monica’s instructions suggested. Expecting problems, Kade was up until about one o’clock in the morning, fearful Tyler would get up during the night. But no incidents. And after Kade read every page in the black binder, sleep finally won out.

“Are you hungry?” Kade put the black binder back on the coffee table. Tyler didn’t say anything, but he gently touched Kade’s knee. Kade wanted to scoop Tyler into his arms, cuddle him, and somehow make up for the kind of man he knew himself to be—the kind of man who would’ve hired a nanny to do all this if he was home in Los Angeles. For a split second, he considered taking Tyler and going home. Then Tyler smiled. The familiar warmth Kade felt when Tyler arrived yesterday took the fear from his heart, even if only momentarily.

“Let’s get some breakfast.” Kade stood up and walked toward the kitchen. He glanced back at Tyler to see him following, still toting the toothbrush.

“Cereal,” Tyler said.

“Okay.” Kade smiled, glad that Tyler was able to communicate what he wanted. He opened the cabinet where he stored the groceries Sadie brought the day before. Kade’s preferred cereal had nuts and raisins, and he wondered if Tyler was going to eat it or not. He pulled a bowl from the shelf and filled it halfway.

Tyler walked over to the small, round table in the corner of the kitchen while Kade poured milk into the bowl. He took a seat at one of the four chairs and kicked his feet back and forth. Kade watched him out of the corner of his eye and allowed himself to fantasize that Tyler was perfect, a normal child.

Kade placed the bowl in front of Tyler and offered him a spoon. “Here’s your cereal, Tyler.”

“Cereal.”

But Tyler didn’t take the spoon. Instead, Tyler began tapping his toothbrush on the table, softly at first, then louder.

Kade tried to remember what Monica’s notes said concerning ways to handle Tyler’s unpredictable behavior, but with all the banging he couldn’t think straight. “Tyler, let’s don’t do that.” He reached for the toothbrush and attempted to pull it from Tyler’s hand.

Tyler rolled his body from the chair, hit the floor hard, and rocked back and forth on his side, moaning loudly.

“Tyler, are you hurt?” Kade extended his arm downward, remembered the bite, and pulled back. Tyler’s groans took on a high-pitched tone, and Kade squatted down beside him, unsure what his next move should be. “Think,” he said aloud as he tried to recall the information he’d read the night before.
During a fit,
ignore it, and refocus on something else.

Kade walked to the middle of the floor in the den, scooped the plastic letters into the lunch box, and headed back to Tyler, who hadn’t let up. He placed the lunch box beside his son, opened it, and began to randomly line up letters in no particular order. The wailing stopped.

Tyler sat up, as if he was cured of whatever ailed him. He began to sort through the letters, lining them up in what appeared to be a precalculated order, but there were no word formations that Kade could see.

Kade sat down on the floor beside his son and ran his hand through his tousled hair. How was he ever going to do this?