Planted with Hope (19 page)

R
ealizing that she hadn't made dessert for the family dinner, Hope paused on the walk home by a small sign: “Whoopie Pies for Sale.” She bought seven of them from the sweet lady inside, taking them home. Faith and Joy were sitting on the front porch when she arrived. She approached with her garden tool bucket in one hand and the box of whoopie pies in the other.

Seeing her, Faith stood and rushed over. She took the box of whoopie pies from Hope and eyed her curiously.

“What? What's wrong?”

Faith reached up and touched Hope's forehead with the back of her hand. “Are you feeling all right?”

“
Ja
?” Hope pulled her head back. “I'm feeling fine. Why?”

“You made dinner—there was a note on the counter. And you brought home whoopie pies?”

Hope smiled at the curiosity in her sister's gaze. “I make dinner most weeks.”

“
Ja
, but this is
gut
food. And you actually cooked something.”

“I cook.”

“Soup. You make soup.” Faith turned toward the house. “Joy
and I have come to call Thursdays ‘Soup Day.' But not today. What are we going to call Thursdays now?”

Hope followed her. “I came across an interesting recipe, that's all.”

Joy watched as they approached. She had an embroidery hoop on her lap and was putting the finishing touches on a palm tree.

“I told you she was sick… ” Joy put the hoop down on her lap and touched her cheek dramatically. “Lovesick.”

Laughter burst from her sisters, and Hope sighed. She moved toward the house. “I don't know what you're talking about.”

“Oh, really now. And who were you just spending the last two hours with?” Joy asked. “Emma Sutter is adorable… and her dat is handsome too.”

Hope turned. “They're friends, nothing more.” Hope hid her smile as she said those words. From her sisters' wide-eyed expressions she could tell they didn't believe her.

“
Ja
, and Lucy and Virginia are your friends, too, but you haven't been spending time with them lately. These new friends seem so much more interesting, don't you think?”

Hope pressed her free hand to her cheek, hoping it wasn't turning pink. “Do we really need to talk about this now? I need to get dinner in the oven.”

“Exactly.” Faith pointed into the air. “See, right there. You're saying stuff like that. That's how I—we—know you're lovesick.”

“Fine, if that's what you want to think.” She set her garden tool bucket right inside the door. “Just know that if I am interested in Jonas Sutter nothing will happen quickly. His heart has been hurt, and then there's his little girl to think about. I wouldn't want her to get the wrong idea. I wouldn't want to do anything to hurt her heart. I care about them like I would any other Amish family.”

Joy nodded. “You may say that, Hope, but with those very
words—with your concern for their hearts—it's proving how much you care. Lots. You care lots.” Joy shrugged. “We don't mean to tease you, really we don't. Faith and I just rather enjoy our older sister falling in love.”

Voices rose and conversation filled the room around the dinner table. Everyone loved the new recipe, and Hope promised to try something new the following Thursday. There were lots in Pauline's garden journal to choose from.

Joy had finished eating, and she now looked through the journal. “Oh, here's a recipe for pea-pod soup.”

“Pea-pod soup?” Mem leaned closer. “I've never heard of such a thing.”

“This journal was written during World War Two,” Hope explained. “Many people started vegetable gardens because so much of their food was being shipped away to the troops. They had to use everything—nothing went to waste.”

Joy stood and began to gather up the dirty dishes. “I just don't understand. I've met Janet before a few times. She's a sweet older lady, but I never heard about her Victory Garden before now. I'm just a little hurt that she let you borrow the journal and not me.”

“It makes sense.” Grace turned on the warm water for the dishes. “Hope is the gardener. Maybe Elizabeth heard about the garden and told Janet about it.”

Hope nodded, and she looked over to where Lovina was sitting. Her oldest sister looked weary. It was from the busy days at the pie shop, yes, but from Lovina's slumped shoulders she guessed it was something else too.

When the dinner dishes were done and put away Hope approached her sister. “Is this a good time to talk?”

Lovina glanced up from
The Budget
newspaper she had on her lap. In the fifteen minutes while Hope had been doing dishes she hadn't turned one page.

“
Ja
, please. Let's go sit in the backyard.”

Hope followed her sister to the backyard and sat next to her on the swing. Was it just a few weeks ago that Jonas and Emma had sat on this swing and they'd started to get to know one another? That didn't seem possible. They'd already captured a small part of her heart.

Lovina had barely sat onto the swing when the words poured out of her mouth. “Okay, I just have to tell you… it wasn't my idea to put a garden in the back of the pie shop. I just wanted you to believe it was.”

Hope's mouth fell open. Her mind raced, trying to make sense of her sister's words. Who else would be interested in starting a garden? Who else would be able to advise Lovina on such matters. Noah? Mem? Dat? But why? Had someone else—like Elizabeth—guessed that she had thoughts of leaving? Did they think a garden would cause her to stay?

Even after her confession, Lovina stayed on the swing. Her back was slumped, and she stared at the grass under her feet.

“Well, are you going to tell me whose idea it was?”

Lovina sighed. “It was Jonas Sutter's idea. He came to me about three weeks ago. He said he'd been thinking about the students here in Pinecraft. He'd been talking to his sister and brother-in-law and they felt bad that the children here missed so much because they didn't grow up on a farm. Jonas liked the idea of a garden, but he told me he'd be leaving in May. He said he could help as needed, but with his job and caring for Emma he couldn't oversee the whole thing. He asked if I knew anyone who'd be interested. Of course I thought of you.”

Hope tried to wrap her mind around her sister's words. “So when Jonas talked to you, did he mention me?”

“
Ne
. He'd just been here a few days when he asked. I don't think he had any idea about how much you loved gardening.”

“Okay, but why didn't you tell me from the beginning it was his idea? Why did you make it seem like it was yours?” The pieces of the puzzle clicked together in Hope's mind. It started to make sense. “Wait.” Hope held up a hand. “If you'd told me it had been Jonas's idea—”

“You would have refused,” Lovina said. “The reason you love gardening is because it gives you time alone. It gives you peace. And… ” She let her voice trail off.

“And that's not what Jonas had in mind, was it?”

Lovina shook her head. “
Ne
. He had other plans… getting more people involved.”

Hope placed a hand on her hip. She pushed the swing so that it started to rock. “And when were you going to tell me that Jonas wanted to have the schoolchildren involved in the garden?”

Lovina shrugged. “It would have come up sooner or later.”

“Well, it has. Jonas asked me about it today. He seemed eager for them to get started ‘helping me.' ”

“Really,
ach
. What did you tell him?”

“I told him I'd talk to you, since it was
your
garden.”

“Did he believe you? Or did he realize you were just trying to stall?”

“Trying to stall, of course. And he knew that.”

Lovina lifted her face to the fading sunlight. “I have no problem with children being back there… you're the one with the problem. Or rather… you're the one who has her own ideas of how to use the garden. And I'm not going to stand against that. I've given the garden to you, Hope. It's a gift. You can use it as you'd like.”

Hope lifted her hands in frustration. Then she placed both hands on the side of her face. “But you set me up for this. Now, if I say no I'm going to seem like the heartless one.” She released a breath and lowered her hands.

“It's just a few children.” Lovina sighed, as if wearied from the conversation. Her eyes looked puffy, and Hope wondered if she'd been up late trying to figure out how to tell Hope the truth.

“I'm sure it wouldn't be more than an hour a few times a week,” Lovina continued. “And then you can have the garden to yourself the rest of the time. If I had a child and lived in Pinecraft I would appreciate it.”

Hope jutted out her chin. “Oh, you would? And I'm sure those parents would also love for their children to learn to make thirty different types of pies. How would you like it if they took over your kitchen in the pie shop?”

“That's different. Every home has a kitchen where a mem can teach her daughters to bake pies, but not every home in Pinecraft has a garden—most don't.”

Hope continued her swinging, more violently than the porch swing was designed for.

“Hey, hey.” Lovina waved her hands. “Can you let me off this ride?”

Hope stopped the rocking.

Lovina stood. “Listen, I'm sorry. I handled things the wrong way. If you'd like I can go to Jonas and tell him that I put you in a bad spot. We can even put up signs if you'd like, and a gate, stating that it's a private garden. I would do it if I knew it would help. If I knew it would make you… ” Lovina's words trailed off.

Hope continued the motion of the swing, softer this time. An emptiness echoed in her chest and she wondered how long it had been there, and if a move would really make it go away. “If it would make me what?” she asked.

Lovina peered down at Hope. The moonlight colored her face a pale shade of gray. Her eyes were as large and round as the moon above. Sadness filled her sister's gaze.

“If it would make you stay,” Lovina finally said.

Hope reached up and placed a hand over her heart and the growing pain that pinched and tugged.

“I'm not sure if anything can. Pinecraft is a nice place, but it's just not where I plan on spending the rest of my life. I'm going to leave sometime, Lovina. I just don't know when.”

“
Ja
. I understand. I just don't like the thought of that. We've been together our whole lives.”

Hope released a long sigh, and then she patted the seat beside her. “Come, sit. I promise not to rock too hard this time.” She wanted her sister close. She wanted all her sisters close, but they had to understand she didn't fit in in a place like Pinecraft.

Lovina sat. “And I promise to be more truthful from the beginning.”

Hope pushed her feet against the ground, rocking them slower this time.

“When did you tell Jonas you'd give him an answer?” Lovina asked.

“Soon.”

“What are you going to say?”

“I haven't decided yet.”

From somewhere down the street laughter erupted, and Hope guessed it was a group of teens leaving the volleyball game. She liked the sound, but her heart ached for the sound of crickets and pond frogs.

“I know I said it before, but now I mean it. The garden is yours, Hope. You can do with it as you will.”

“
Danke.
It means a lot.”

She looked up at the stars, wondering what God had planned
for her. She'd planned on leaving, and God had given her a garden here. She wanted to be alone, and He'd given her Jonas and Emma. He'd given her a new friendship with Elizabeth. And He'd put a journal in her hands. She didn't know what it all meant, but she
did
know that she couldn't leave yet. Even if Eleanor did write back with a job for her, there was too much around here that she needed to figure out first. If only she could do it without hurting those she cared for in the process. And if only she could have a bit of the peace and quiet in her garden—peace that she craved.