Seasons of Tomorrow (20 page)

A loud voice resonated through the barn. Leah jumped, nearly dropping the book she was holding, before she realized it was Crist talking to someone in the office below. She could only hear every fourth or fifth word, but it sounded as if he was teasing someone. Leah sat and opened the book, remembering how difficult a time the characters had getting along. They’d argued profusely even after they were married. It’d been a fun read, especially knowing that the story would work out for the best.

But reality was far more daunting.

She pulled out her phone and looked again at the text she’d sent him hours ago. Under it in small letters were the words
Text delivery failed
.

He’d had his old number disconnected. Every time she read that, she felt numb. Landon must have gotten a new phone. She’d hoped he had transferred his old number to it, but apparently not. She couldn’t even tell him how much this hurt.

“Leah?” Crist called. “Are you up there?”

She didn’t respond, hoping he would leave her alone.

“Leah?” His voice was louder, as if he was below the opening.

She sighed. “Ya, I’m here.”

His head peeked through the opening. “Hi. We’ve been looking for you.” He climbed into the loft.

“We?”

Iva entered the loft behind him, her camera strap around her neck as she held the camera close to her body. “I know you want to be left alone, but here we are anyway.” She smiled and sat. “Phoebe gave me a list of items to get at the grocery store. Without a driver it’s gonna take hours, so I enlisted Crist, and we think you need to get off the farm for a bit.”

Since Landon wasn’t there, he couldn’t chauffeur them around at the drop of a hat. “Did you try to call Camilla or another driver?”

“No. Do you really want me to?” Iva wiggled her eyebrows as fast as a rabbit twitched its whiskers. “It’s a beautiful day, and I think all three of us should get away. I mentioned it to Steven, and he agreed. Of course I didn’t have my camera in hand at the time, but”—she shoved Crist’s shoulder, and he barely moved—“ol’ Crist here is itching to learn to use my camera.”

Crist scowled. “That’s not even a little true.”

Iva laughed. “Well, it should be, and while we’re out, I’ll show you why.” Iva reached over and shook Leah’s leg. “No one expects you to be good company.”

“Speak for yourself, Iva.” Crist frowned, looking heavenward, clearly teasing. “I expect it. Why drag Leah along if she’s not going to be any fun? I have
you
for that.”

The misery surrounding Leah lifted a little, and she did want to get away for a bit.

Iva pointed her camera out the open door of the loft, taking snapshots
of a barren orchard. “You be you, and we’ll be us. If you don’t wish to talk, don’t. If you wish to scream or hit something, I volunteer Crist.”

Crist smiled. “I knew she was going to drag me into that somehow.”

Leah rose, straightened her dress, and tucked the book under her arm. “I hope that list is worth all this.”

Crist stood. “We need to go by the supply store too.”

Since she wanted time off the farm, it didn’t matter how far away the store was, so Leah wouldn’t complain. But what this farm and growing district needed was a dry goods store that stocked groceries, some farming supplies, kerosene for lamps, and fabric for making Amish clothes.

Iva lowered her camera, wrinkling her nose as if something stank. “Do we have to do that this trip? I’d wanted us to get out at a few fun places between here and the grocery store so I could get some pictures. If we have to go to the supply store, there won’t be any time to lollygag.”

“Samuel said we need a dozen codling moth traps.”

Iva took a picture of the far end of the loft, and Leah wondered what she possibly saw in bales of hay and stored boxes. “Seems like we could find old plastic pickle jugs or something similar around here without having to go to the supply store and pay for actual traps. And I could get more pictures. It’d be a win-win situation.”

Hadn’t Leah seen empty containers similar to what they needed in the old storage building between here and Landon’s grandmother’s house? “Landon and I used to look through an old building that belongs to his grandmother. It used to be a gas station and store combined, I think. But it’s been used for storage for a lot of years. Since I loved going through it, he gave me a key, and …”

Iva lowered her camera, grinning. “It’d be an excellent place to snap pictures—I mean, to look for the much-needed items so we don’t have to pay for them or go out of our way to get them.”

“Ya, we hear you.” Crist headed for the ladder. “Stopping at that old building has absolutely nothing to do with you photographing more nonsense.”

Leah didn’t know when these two had started playfully sniping at each other, but her dark mood would hardly be noticed amid their banter.

Even though her heart was crushed and her future was in limbo, Leah could see that finding the strength to get through this would come, in part, by letting her friends help her.

Jacob clicked his tongue and tapped the reins against the horse’s back. “Geh.”

He had a few hours before he’d meet a driver at Noah’s and head for the train station. At the end of his journey, Sandra and Casey waited for him. He looked forward to a couple of weeks with Casey, but ignoring his better judgment, right now he had hammered out a bit of time to say good-bye to Esther. Unless something had changed her plans, she should be at the shop.

He hadn’t talked to her since she and Bailey came to look through the new houses a week ago. Jacob had given Esther and Bailey a tour, and as she oohed and aahed over Jacob’s work, they talked about construction as if it was her favorite topic. Later the three of them had sat on the floor and eaten the sandwiches Bailey’s wife had made for them. It was then that Jacob realized he liked her a little too much. So he’d decided to put distance between them.

He hadn’t seen or spoken to her since.

The houses were done. The buyers would close on them next week, but Jacob had nothing to do with that part. His job was finished, and later today he’d put this little town behind him … forever. So what could it possibly hurt to say good-bye? He pulled into the parking lot and tethered his horse to a hitching rail.

Jacob went in the side door and saw numerous men, some wearing welding helmets. Unfamiliar music played in the background as he received nods and waves. He glanced to Esther’s workspace, hoping to see her.

Bailey sat behind the desk and had the phone to his ear. He waved, gesturing that he’d be with Jacob in a minute.

While Bailey and Esther were at the new houses, Jacob had learned a few things about the connection between them. Bailey and his wife had five grown children, all sons. When his wife was seriously injured, breaking her neck and back, he’d hired Esther to be full-time help for her. Esther was thirteen at the time, and his wife had needed her constant help for two years. Esther had stopped working for Bailey when her father became ill, but a few months after he died, Bailey hired Esther to help his wife again, especially when the Hudson family traveled on vacations. And that seemed to be a source of joy for Esther—traveling, all expenses paid. Jacob found it really odd that the church ministers would continue to let a married woman and mom travel with Bailey and his wife.

Bailey put the corded phone into its cradle and stood. “Jacob.”

“I’m leaving in a few hours, and I haven’t seen Esther since you two came to the new houses last week. I thought if she was around, I’d say bye.”

Bailey’s brows furrowed. “I suppose it is that time, isn’t it?”

“It is.”

“Shark Bait is running late, but she should be on her way. With the town fire sale next week, she’s finishing items to sell at her booth. I’m sure she could use another hand if you have time.”

“I can’t stay long, but I’ll do what I can.” He could handle working by her side. But if she didn’t show up, could he go by her house without it seeming improper? It wasn’t as if he was planning a rendezvous—although wanting to speak to her this much did seem to cross a line.

He shouldn’t like her as much as he did. She was married, for Pete’s sake. But that didn’t keep her from being an unexpected ray of light for him at the end of what’d been a really long, dark tunnel—a black passageway he’d entered when he lived with the Englisch. That tunnel had almost caved in on him when he and Rhoda broke up.

Bailey rapped his fingers on the arms of his chair. “You coming back this way at any point?”

“Maybe.” Jacob shrugged and then rethought his answer. The only draw to this place was a married woman. “Actually, no chance.”

“I hate to hear that.” Bailey rubbed the back of his neck. “For several
years now I’ve wanted to build a kitchen in my backyard, and after seeing your work and the diligence you give to detail, I’d like you to build it.”

“I appreciate it, but it’s time for me to go.”

“But you could come back this way after you finish whatever you’re leaving to do. I pay top dollar for work on my place.” He grabbed the mouse and made a few clicks, and an outdoor kitchen showed up on the screen. “This is what I have in mind. Esther could be a lot of help on the details I’d like added. Then I’d like the cement around the pool redone so that it matches the new that will be poured for the outdoor kitchen. Can you do that too?”

“I’m capable but not when in another state, Bailey.”

“Hey, boss.” One of the men held up a set of blueprints, motioning for Bailey.

“Hang on.” He gestured at the man first and then at his computer. “Care to see why we call her Shark Bait?”

“Sure.”

“You know she’s not going to like me showing you.”

“Yeah.” Jacob chuckled. The man had mentioned the clip several times while at the new house. “But you’ve been wanting to show me anyway, right?”

“True.” Bailey moved the mouse, clicking on this and that until footage of a skinny girl with a ponytail appeared. She was wearing a baseball cap and Capri pants while standing in ocean water halfway to her knees. She had a fishing pole in her hands as she fought to reel in whatever was on her line. “Recognize her?”

Jacob studied the screen. “No.” All he could see was a wobbly video of the back of an underweight girl as she fought to stay standing. “You’re saying that’s Esther?”

“When she was nineteen.”

“She was a rail.”

“Yeah, she got that way while caring for her Daed for three years before he died. It scared my wife and me. She got worse after …” He shook his head. “It’s not my story to tell. I reckon if you want to know more, you’ll
have to ask her.” Bailey stood. “I gotta check on what Charlie needs. I’ll be back.”

First there was the offer to work with Esther on a construction project and now this? Why would Bailey encourage Jacob in any way concerning Esther? With the question still ringing inside him, he watched the clip. She must’ve been walking deeper into the ocean, because the water was now almost to her knees. Her voice and the sound of seagulls and the ocean came through the monitor: “I’ve never fished … for striper from shore …” She was out of breath and talking to the camera. “But Travis bet me I couldn’t catch one, and, as always, I’m here to prove him wrong. I put squid on my line, and I’ve hooked something. Now to reel it in …”

Who was Travis? The camera turned in jerky movements to give a shot of the shoreline behind the beach area. A piercing scream made Jacob want to grab the camera and focus it on Esther again. The lens jerked back to her. She was hurrying back to dry sand, toting the fishing pole while screaming. “Shark!” She looked back. “He’s coming at me!”

“Essie, drop the fishing pole!” Bailey’s voice was undeniable. “You’re reeling in its supper!”

Bailey ran into the scene. So who was doing the filming?

“Drop the pole!” Bailey screamed, running for her.

She flung it onto the shore, with about a two-pound fish on the line, flopping in the ebb and flow of the water. Then a small shark, weighing maybe a hundred pounds, dove out of the water and toward Esther’s legs.

Esther jumped and fell on dry sand. Voices clamored as she backed up on shore, walking much like a crab and pointing as the shark wriggled away from shore and into deeper water.

She broke into laughter and turned, smiling directly into the camera. “And that’s how to catch a striper. Apparently striper is also known as shark bait.”

The camera moved to the striper.

Bailey grabbed her off the sand and engulfed her in a hug. “
You
were the shark bait.”

The footage faded into a series of stills. Jacob watched as strangers
popped up on screen in various destinations—a beach, the mountains, the Grand Canyon, New York City. Apparently Bailey enjoyed traveling, taking along friends and family. Some of the images included a woman in a wheelchair, and Esther was often the only white face in the crowd, but her smile radiated joy.

“Sorry.” Bailey set a notepad on his desk. “I didn’t mean to be gone that long.”

Jacob got up from Bailey’s office chair, and Bailey sat and rocked back. “You know what I find interesting about that whole shark scenario?”

Jacob looped a thumb through one suspender. “That the moment the danger was over, she found the situation funny?”