The Englisher (27 page)

Esther carried over a large bowl of oatmeal. ‘‘This here is Ben Martin, boys. You’ve met him before.’’

‘‘Jah, Laura says he’s the one with the smoothest peach stone in the whole wide world,’’ Zach said.

Ben was amused.

‘‘Ever see Dat’s collection of old peach pits?’’ Zach asked.

‘‘Boys . . . now, that’s enough. Mr. Ben’s not interested in suchlike.’’

But Ben found their chatter refreshing.

Soon Laura joined them at the table, sitting next to John and looking bright-eyed. Her parted blond hair shone beneath her white head covering, exactly like Esther’s.

‘‘Where’s Dat’s bag of peach stones?’’ Zach asked, leaning forward, directing the question to Laura.

Laura shrugged. ‘‘Guess they upped and walked off.’’

‘‘Well, you’ve seen ’em. I haven’t.’’ Zach resumed his attention to his breakfast plate, going for the jellied toast before the oatmeal.

‘‘Best be askin’ Dat.’’ Laura drank nearly half her milk and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. ‘‘Where is he, anyway?’’

‘‘Bessie next door was fixin’ to have her calves,’’ Esther said, coming over to survey the children’s plates.

‘‘Aw, I want to go ’n’ see.’’ Laura frowned.

‘‘Me too,’’ said Zach.

‘‘Jah, and me do, too,’’ said John, poking his chubby chest.

‘‘Well, now, Dat can take all of you over yonder here ’fore too long.’’ Esther poured more milk for Laura. ‘‘Now yous need to stop talkin’ Ben’s ear off and eat.’’

‘‘Oh, I’m enjoying this,’’ Ben piped up.

‘‘You come from a big family?’’ Esther asked somewhat shyly.

‘‘Four younger sisters.’’

Zach found that funny and made his eyes bug out. ‘‘All girls, puh!’’

‘‘Aw, Zach,’’ said Esther.

‘‘It’s not so bad havin’ two of us round here,’’ Laura said, glancing over at Essie Ann in the cradle.

‘‘Well, at least one ain’t so lippy just yet,’’ Zach said, smiling at Ben as if they shared a secret, man to man.

‘‘No, but the baby’s got a fierce cry,’’ Laura said, ‘‘which means she’ll be frank enough someday.’’

‘‘Like Mamma?’’ Zach said.

Esther laughed out loud, shaking her head, then turned 253 back to the wood stove.

What a fun-loving bunch,
Ben thought, wondering what was keeping their father.

Ben and the children had finished off most of the oatmeal and jellied toast. Esther, never having sat once, was already frying eggs for the boys and Zeke, offering an egg or two to Ben, as well.

Ben politely declined, not accustomed to eating so heartily at dawn. He was relieved to see Zeke as he entered, and raised his chin in greeting as Zeke came in and sat down.

‘‘Glad you went ahead,’’ Zeke said, explaining how he’d helped his neighbor deliver a calf. ‘‘Always fascinating.’’ Zeke looked at Esther just then, and she hurried over with a platter of freshly cooked eggs.

‘‘I s’pose yous offered the blessing?’’ Zeke said, looking straight at the boys.

‘‘I did this time,’’ Zach said.

‘‘Jah, he led the silent prayer,’’ Esther said, rumpling his hair.

‘‘My good little man,’’ Zeke replied.

Ben accepted another cup of coffee while Zeke downed his meal, but Esther hovered between the stove, the table, and sink, even now that Zeke was here and all of them had been served.

What’s up with that?
Ben wondered.
And why does she sit
alone at mealtime?
Everything else about the family had seemed surprisingly normal this morning. And though he knew it was none of his business, he felt glad Esther and the children had reunited with Zeke.

With Annie frequently disappearing to see Ben, Louisa had more time to spend with Sam. Still, she was getting antsy. Here it was already mid-March and she wanted to start making some money again, if not for the sake of paying additional room and board to Barbara Zook, then for her own sense of self-esteem. She wasn’t a slacker, and she missed the income from selling her paintings through the local gallery.

She had been eyeing section B—‘‘Local’’—of the
Lancaster
New Era,
the newspaper at Julia’s. The Lancaster Museum of Art, downtown, was of most interest to her. Eileen Sauders, the owner of the art gallery on Route 30, had been talking about an April event—the Spring Art Walk—which was to include some of her own acquisitions in a regional show, sponsored by the museum.

Louisa was also beginning to feel the need to extend herself, to give back something to this community she had come to respect, something even more than attending quilting bees and canning frolics here in Paradise, although that was important, too. She decided to apply for a position teaching art to younger students.

By keeping her days free for delving into the Amish culture she so enjoyed, she could spare a few evenings a week, passing on her love of fine art to children. This would not impinge on her seeing Sam, either. Besides, with the plowing and planting season coming soon, he would become rather scarce, as he had already warned her.

When she really thought about it, she knew she couldn’t resist putting down a few roots here. Although it was beyond her ability to imagine how her romance with Sam could possibly move forward, Louisa realized she was trying on the Plain life in her head. Not playacting, as she had been doing all these past months, but seeing how it fit her— for real.

She tried to be attentive at Preaching services, but the sermons were in Dutch. And seemed pointless. She soaked up both Annie’s and Sam’s perspectives, noting that neither had joined the church as of yet. She even listened more closely when Annie’s grandmother, Mammi Zook, talked in the quiet of the evening. She enjoyed the quaint and interesting way Mammi’s Dutch and English became mixed together while doing needlepoint and cross-stitch. Mammi seemed almost too eager to have Louisa sit with her in the small front room of the Dawdi Haus.

When a voice mail showed up on her Palm, saying the museum contact person wanted to interview her ASAP, Louisa let out a little whoop of joy. Quickly she thought better of celebrating, since she hadn’t told Annie yet, waiting to first see how things went. She’d gone so far as to apply online in order to keep from having to ask to borrow Julia’s car. Until now.

Louisa knew she ought to bounce the whole thing off Annie before moving ahead. It wouldn’t be fair to reintroduce the world of art, not now when Annie was looking ahead to the beginning of her baptismal instruction classes next month. Annie had managed to stay away from her artistic passion to date—at least Louisa believed she had— and she didn’t want to interfere in any way with the plan Annie and her father had worked out. She didn’t know exactly how Ben Martin fit into
that
equation, and Annie hadn’t said much lately about her love life.

That night, after playing three games of checkers with Mammi Zook, Louisa laid out the whole plan to Annie upstairs.

‘‘You mean it, Lou? You’re gonna get a job here?’’ Annie’s eyes lit up.

‘‘Don’t get the wrong idea,’’ she insisted. ‘‘It’ll be for only six weeks this summer . . . after I get back from Denver.’’

Annie frowned. ‘‘You’re still thinking of going home for Easter?’’

‘‘I’ve already told my parents, so no turning back.’’

‘‘Well, jah. I can see that.’’ Annie’s mood quickly returned to elation, and she asked if Lou had called the museum back.

‘‘I wanted you to know first,’’ Louisa said.

‘‘Even before Sam?’’

Louisa smiled. ‘‘Anyone ever tell you you’re trouble?’’

‘‘All the time.’’

Louisa guessed Ben had been teasing Annie. ‘‘So . . . what’s new with you and your beau?’’

Blushing, Annie replied, ‘‘I need to borrow some fancy clothes.’’

‘‘You what?’’

‘‘Just a perty skirt or dress . . . something ’specially modest.’’

Louisa pounced. ‘‘Well, let’s get you out on the town, girl. Time for some new threads? I say we go shopping!’’

Annie grimaced. ‘‘Now listen . . . I’m not askin’ for attention. I just need to have something to wear out . . . well, in the modern world every so often.’’

‘‘In
Ben’s
world, you mean?’’

A poignant silence filled the room, and Annie sat there on her bed like a stone statue, unflinching, looking down at her hands.

‘‘Listen, you don’t have to tell me anything if you don’t want to.’’ There. She’d released her friend to protect her private thoughts and plans. But the silence was telling.

We’ve both lost our heads . . . and our hearts
.

Annie’s request for a modern outfit came because Ben had purchased tickets to the musical
Behold the Lamb
at the Sight and Sound Millennium Theatre for the Saturday afternoon following Easter. ‘‘I haven’t decided yet if I’ll take down my hair, though. And I don’t know ’bout my Kapp, either,’’ Annie said a few days later.

Louisa found it interesting that Annie would even consider going out dressed fancy but still looking very Amish from the neck up. ‘‘I think it would be better to wear your cape dress and apron if you aren’t going to do something cool and different with your hair.’’

Oops, did I say that?

But either Annie didn’t catch on or she chose to ignore it. Her argument for wearing English clothes was that the weather was getting nicer, and she was beginning to feel strange about being seen with a fancy fellow when she looked so Plain herself.

‘‘So . . . maybe Ben’s influencing you?’’

‘‘Only a little.’’

‘‘A little? Come on, Annie. Listen to yourself!’’

Annie moseyed over to her bureau and opened the middle drawer. ‘‘Truth is, I’m crazy ’bout him, Lou.’’

‘‘I think I know the feeling.’’

Annie turned. ‘‘You?’’ She broke into a smile. ‘‘Does this mean . . . ?’’

‘‘I have no idea what it means, but I’m going to find out.’’ Louisa felt half empty without Sam, and when he held her near, she forgot every other guy she’d ever dated.

What comes over me when I’m with him?

She had tried on many scenarios in her head, including one in which Sam finally decided to join the Amish church.

Would she still want to be with him?

‘‘You and I . . . we’ll know better when you’re away for
Easter,’’
he had said, which made her wonder how that could be.
‘‘Absence makes the heart grow fonder,’’
he’d added.

‘‘Yeah, and sometimes fonder of another.’’
She hadn’t meant to be glib, but she knew this firsthand. One case in point: Trey’s leaving for London had made her susceptible to Michael’s attention. And the last thing she wanted was to view Sam’s affection, in any way, as a replacement for that of her former fiance
.