The Choice (2 page)

One week later, Sol had tried out for the Lancaster Barnstormers and was offered a one-season contract with promises of more. The pitching coach had been impressed with this Amish kid who could throw bullets. And when Sol stood on that pitcher’s mound in the Clipper Magazine Stadium, he was hooked, ready to sign. There was no turning back.

Carrie was the only one who knew about Sol’s baseball contract. He had hidden the fact from his father, telling him he was working a construction job for an English company. It wasn’t entirely a lie; he did work on a construction site in the morning, but come noon, he clocked out, with the foreman’s permission, and rushed to the stadium for spring training. Sol and Carrie knew this ruse wouldn’t last. Next week, the Barnstormers would start a three-game series on Long Island. It was time to come clean with his folks. Sol would be leaving and he told Carrie he wanted her with him.

“But what about your folks, Sol? And my dad and Andy?” Carrie had asked him, still unsure if she could live with herself after leaving home. Like Sol, she had mixed feelings about joining the community. They both struggled to believe the way their parents believed, and oh, the world with its infinite choices, it was calling to them.

“We haven’t bent at the knee, Carrie,” Sol reminded her. “It’s all the difference. We won’t be shunned. We can still visit and write letters and eat with them. Be glad we haven’t been baptized yet. Trust me, they’ll understand. They were young once.”

After a few more late-night conversations with Sol, Carrie came to see things his way. But the next morning, she watched her father and Andy talking and laughing together, and she felt all churned up again. How could she do this to them? How could she leave them?

As soon as she had a chance to see Sol face-to-face, she told him that she had changed her mind.

He patiently listened to her and answered her concerns, even those she had about God turning his back on them. “If it doesn’t work out, we can always go back to the church,” he assured her. And then he kissed her, first on each cheek, then her forehead, before grazing her lips with his finger. By the time his lips found hers, Carrie’s objections had evaporated.

Still, Carrie wasn’t so sure their parents would understand. She was even less sure that God would understand. But one thing Carrie didn’t doubt was that she wanted to be wherever Sol would be. She loved Sol
that
much.

Warming up his arm in the bull pen, Sol Riehl felt a deep satisfaction he hadn’t dreamed possible. He certainly never felt it when he was mucking out stalls or plowing a field. Here he was, an Amish kid plucked right off the farm, pitching for a professional baseball team. Who had ever heard of such a thing? It felt like a dream that he didn’t dare to wake from.

The catcher gave Sol a signal to throw some pitches. “You sure do pack some heat, Sunday Sol,” he told Sol, slapping him on the back as the pitching coach called for the two to come up to the field. Sol tossed the ball to the catcher and followed him out of the bull pen. He scanned the seats above the dugout for any sign of Carrie. He had told her exactly where to sit, right behind the catcher, so she would have the best view of the pitcher’s mound. He frowned, disappointed that she wasn’t there yet.

Then Sol heard his name announced over the loudspeaker as the closer. He hoped Carrie was somewhere in the stadium so she would hear that announcement. He tried, without success, to keep the grin off his face as he took his first jog out to the mound.

As Carrie and Andy plopped down in the stadium’s hard plastic seats, she breathed a sigh of relief, hearing Sol’s name announced over the loudspeaker. Sol had told her where to sit so he could see her from the pitcher’s mound. It was one of the things she loved about him; he had everything planned out.

She saw him jog out to the mound and look up, right to where she was seated. He gave her a quick wave, did a double take when he noticed Andy, then turned his attention to the catcher to practice a few more warm-up pitches.

When Andy realized it was Solomon Riehl on that pitcher’s mound, he blurted out, “Ein Balleschpieler?”
A baseball player?

“Best not to tell Dad and Esther about this birthday surprise, Andy,” Carrie said, flashing him a warning. “Nor Emma.”

Andy nodded, sealing the pact, eyes glued on the field. “Dad wouldn’t mind.” A slow grin spread over his face. “Esther would, though.”

Carrie laughed. “Yes, Esther would mind something fierce.” As she watched Sol pitch, her heart felt so full she didn’t even notice that tears were running down her cheeks. She knew that feeling so proud was wicked, but she couldn’t help herself. Down on the field was Sol Riehl, in a sparkling white-with-red-pinstripe uniform, pitching in front of thousands of people in a baseball stadium. Her Sol.

At dinner that evening in the Weaver house, all that was spoken of was Eli Miller’s purchase of an apple orchard. Carrie was grateful that no one asked her where she and Andy had been all afternoon.

Carrie’s father, Jacob Weaver, knew of an orchard owned by an English neighbor who wanted to retire to Florida. It wasn’t even for sale yet, but Jacob and Eli spent the day talking with that neighbor. When they returned, hours later, Eli was the new owner of a twenty-acre apple orchard. Jacob was so pleased to help his friend that he couldn’t keep the smile off of his kind face.

“I’m mighty fortunate to have a friend like you, Jacob,” Eli told him, matching Jacob grin for grin.

“Fortunate for you, Eli, that you had money to buy land,” said Esther, Jacob’s wife, in a thin, tight voice.

Carrie braced herself, keeping her eyes fixed on her plate. She knew that Esther couldn’t tolerate letting Jacob be the center of attention.

“This farm belonged to my first husband. Jacob was penniless when I met him. Penniless with two small children.” Carefully, Esther buttered a roll and began to delicately eat it as an awkward silence covered the dinner table like a blanket.

“And a blessed day it was when I met you, Esther,” Jacob answered back softly, dark brown eyes twinkling, causing everyone to laugh. Even Esther softened. He was long accustomed to Esther’s sharp tongue and had a way of defusing her.

Carrie looked fondly at her father. Once she had asked him why he married Esther in the first place. “Carrie girl,” her father said, “folks marry for all kinds of reasons.” He hadn’t really answered her question, but she thought she knew what he meant.

Eli rose to his feet and clapped his hands together. “Daniel, it’s time we set off to the bus depot.” Like his son, Eli was a man of few words and only gave a nod of thanks to Esther.

Daniel crammed one last roll into his mouth and hurried to join his father outside, helping him hitch the horse to the buggy. Before the sun set today, Eli planned to be back on the bus to Ohio. He wanted to finalize the sale of his farm, auction off his equipment, and fetch his widowed mother, Yonnie. Daniel was to remain at the Weavers’ to finish up details of the sale of the orchards.

Why Eli was in such a hurry was a mystery to Carrie, but she didn’t really concern herself with the Millers. Her mind was on Sol. Leaving with Sol.

“And,” Emma told Carrie as they cleaned up the kitchen after dinner that evening, “I heard Eli tell Daniel to try and woo you while he was gone.”

“Woo me?” Carrie asked, drying a bowl before tucking it in the cupboard. “Maybe he should woo you.”

“I’m too old for him. Besides, I think Daniel likes you. He kept stealing looks at you during dinner tonight.”

“Emma, please.” Carrie rolled her eyes. “He’s such a brooder. Haven’t you noticed he never smiles or laughs?”

Emma handed Carrie another wet bowl and gave her a suspicious look. “You’d better not be holding out for that Solomon Riehl. You know how your dad feels about Sol. He thinks he’s a fence jumper.”

Carrie stiffened, irritated. “
One time
, Emma.
One time
, Dad saw Sol working in the fields with his shirt off. That doesn’t make him a fence jumper.”

“Well, my mother says it does.” Emma put her hands on her hips. “I heard her tell your father that Sol Riehl was a fellow walking with one foot in the world and one foot in the church. She said that he was always spoiled, being the only boy after all those girls. She said that his parents never expected enough from—”

“Emma!” Carrie held up a hand in warning. “Wer lauert an der Wand sei eegni Schand.”
If you listen through the wall, you’ll
hear others reciting your faults.

The kitchen door burst open, interrupting them. “Carrie, it’s set up!” Andy shouted.

Carrie threw the dish towel at Emma and hurried outside to join Andy in a game of horseshoes before the sun set.

Watering the vegetable garden, Mattie Zook heard Andy and Carrie’s voices in their yard. She dropped the watering can and ran down the hill to see her friend. Now that Carrie was working at the Central Market, Mattie hardly saw her anymore. What little free time Carrie did have lately was taken up by Sol Riehl.

All of the boys were crazy about Carrie, but she acted as if she didn’t notice or didn’t care. Sol was the only one who had ever caught her interest. Mattie could see why Carrie was so sought after. Sometimes Mattie thought she looked like an angel. Big blue eyes fringed with thick black lashes, skin the color of cream in summer, a dimple in each cheek that framed a bow-shaped mouth. And her hair! Good thing the boys couldn’t see her hair too, Mattie thought. Thick, honey blond curls that cascaded down her back. But Carrie was more than just pretty, she was smart and kind, and had a little bit of mystery to her, as if she always had something else on her mind. The boys had to work hard to get her attention. Whenever Mattie told her that, Carrie would laugh and say she was just imagining things. Mattie loved Carrie’s laugh. It reminded Mattie of the church bells she heard ringing whenever she was in town.

As Mattie reached Esther’s rosebushes that bordered the property, she slowed to avoid thorns. She and Carrie had beaten a path through those bushes the very first summer Carrie’s dad had married Esther and moved to her farm. The path had made Esther furious, which secretly delighted the girls.