The Hope of Refuge (44 page)

Thankfully, Daed’s health was still improving, so he had been some real help to Ephraim after Mahlon left without notice. That took some weight off Ephraim and gave Daed some of his self-respect back. With business booming like it was, Ephraim was looking to hire Amish men outside of Dry Lake.

When Deborah heard a horse and buggy stop near the house, she glanced at the clock. Whoever had just arrived had come much earlier than expected. She looked through the window and saw Lena heading for the house. Her beautiful cousin never seemed bothered by the blue birthmark across her cheek. Deborah was slowly and painfully adjusting to the idea of being alone, but she couldn’t imagine what Lena felt—twenty-three years old and had never been asked out. Warmth wrapped around Deborah as she finally grasped what Lena always said—it’s not about what’s on her face that makes people whisper or the men avoid her. It’s about what’s in their own hearts.

Mahlon left because of his heart, and Deborah was ready to admit she’d never really known him. But now, nearly three months later, she knew a time would come when she’d be grateful to be free of him. But her love for Ada grew with each passing week.

The back door opened, and Lena stepped inside. “Oh my, it smells good in here.” She held the door open, and Jonathan soon appeared, carrying a keg on his shoulder.

He set the barrel on the floor. “Hey, Little Debbie. I made a batch of the good stuff. Thought you might want a strong drink to get you through the next few hours.”

It seemed odd that he understood tonight wouldn’t be easy for her. “How strong?”

“Extra lemons, less sugar.”

She puckered her lips and made a smacking sound. “Jonathan’s famous lemonade gone sourer just for me.”

He dipped his finger in the almost empty bowl of frosting and placed it in his mouth. “Man, I miss you and Ada being right up the street from me.”

“Ya, but we make a profit now.”

Lena laughed. “You say he kept eating the profits?”

“Hello?” Anna Mary’s voice echoed from the back steps.

“In here.” Deborah stepped to the doorway and saw Rachel, Linda, Nancy, Lydia, Frieda, and Esther. They were all together again, and it’d never felt this good.

“Hi.” Anna Mary hugged her. “We rode with Jonathan, but we got off the wagon out front and talked with Ada for a bit.”

“We all came early to help you and Ada get ready,” Rachel said.

Anna Mary looked around the room conspiratorially “And to make sure we’re in place early to scope out any single men who come from Hope Crossing.”

The girls laughed, but Deborah knew it couldn’t have been easy for Anna Mary to come tonight either. Cara lived here, and if Ephraim showed up, which he was likely to do, it’d be tough on Anna Mary. Yet here she stood.

Strength seeped into every part of Deborah, and she passed a ladle to Jonathan. He opened the lid to the keg while Deborah grabbed a stack of plastic cups and passed one to each girl.

Deborah set a bowl of ice on the table. “So, Jonathan, you brought eight girls with you, four of which are totally single, and it sounds like not a one of them is interested in someone from Dry Lake.”

“That’s okay.” Jonathan dipped a ladle into citrusy liquid. “I’m not interested in anyone living in Dry Lake either.”

Lena chuckled as he filled her cup with the shimmering yellow juice.

Ada walked into the kitchen from the front hallway. “So where are Cara and Lori?”

Deborah passed a cup of lemonade to Ada. “They went for a long walk. Cara wanted to be sure Better Days was tired so he’d stay settled as people come in and out.”

When everyone held a cup of lemonade in hand, Jonathan raised his. “To Ada’s house—”

“Ada’s House!” Deborah interrupted him. She turned to Ada. “That’s what this place needs—a good name, ya?”

“Ada’s House?” Ada looked a little unsure, and then she broke into a huge smile. “Ada’s House.” She lifted her cup toward Jonathan.

He smiled. “To Ada’s House. May God bless it beyond all they can ask or imagine.”

Deborah knew well Jonathan’s favorite Bible passage, the one he’d just spoken a few words from—Ephesians 3:20. She’d never been touched by those words like he always had, but this time they took on new meaning. She took a sip of the lemonade as the words filled her with hope and dreams of what lay ahead.

Ada placed her arm around Deborah’s back. “He already has blessed me above what I’d asked or dreamed, because of you,” Ada whispered.

Deborah raised her eyebrows, playfully. “But I’m open to even more. Ya?”

Ada laughed and nodded. “If you are, I am.”

Ephraim ran his hand across the wood in front of him, removing the dusting of sawdust. Thoughts of Cara lingered continually. And rumors about her swirled like mad. Some said the church leaders intended to welcome her into the Amish community. Others said that there were two single Amish men in Hope Crossing eager to court her and that the Riehls were trying to build a relationship with her.

He’d love to be first in line to court her. Actually, he’d like to be the only one in line. But he wouldn’t pursue her.

When she first entered his home, she’d made it clear she didn’t want to owe him anything. He understood what had happened with Johnny—Cara marrying him for protection and a roof over her head without being in love with him. But even as he reminded himself of his stance, every part of him longed to see her, to tell her how he felt.

She wasn’t the same person she would have been if she’d been raised Old Order. Innocence and trust had been stripped from her, one bad experience after another. Still, he found even her less-than-trusting attitude fascinating. She beckoned him so much it scared him.

He drew a deep breath and set the tools in their place. Maybe he should go to Deborah’s gathering and at least get a few minutes with Cara. She should know he wasn’t seeing Anna Mary anymore, shouldn’t she?

Was that too self-serving?

Still unsure what he should or shouldn’t say to her, he went into his office and dialed Robbie. No sense in taking an hour to get to Hope Crossing when Robbie could have him there in ten minutes.

In her caped dress, black apron, and bare feet, Cara spoke to Deborah’s visitors before she walked past them and to the front porch. They seemed like a nice group, even Anna Mary, who was clearly uncomfortable around Cara—not that she blamed her. A lot had taken place between Cara and Ephraim, and whether he’d told Anna Mary about it or not, she had to sense it.

The sun danced through the leaves as the late-afternoon shadows of September fell across the yard. It didn’t matter how hard she tried not to, she missed Ephraim just as much now as when the church leaders came here to reason with him and he returned to Dry Lake in mid-June.

She’d talked to him briefly and only a couple of times since the night she was caught in that rainstorm. Had anything ever felt as powerful and right as being in his arms while they watched the rain? But if he came tonight, he’d spend his time with Anna Mary.

Regardless of Ephraim or anything or anyone else, Cara was close to joining the faith. A few things nagged at her. She’d talked to Deborah and Ada about putting down roots of her own in Hope Crossing after she finished working on the house. Ada said that’d be quite a while, but then she said if Cara wanted to stay near them and yet live as an Englischer, the storage rooms above the carriage house could be refinished for her, and electricity and a phone could be added.

They were of the same mind-set as Ephraim—joining the Amish faith wasn’t necessary to being a part of their lives. She leaned back against a porch column and closed her eyes. With each passing week more of her wanted to join the faith. It had aspects she wouldn’t find easy—like never cutting her hair, wearing black stockings even in summer, answering to a church leader as her authority, and trying to understand the language. But she’d grown accustomed to most of their ways.

A man cleared his throat, and she jolted. Two men in black suits stood in front of her. Since the hitching posts and space for the carriages were around back, she hadn’t expected anyone to come in or out the front door. She recognized one of them and realized she should greet them more properly, so she jumped to her feet.

The familiar man held out his hand. “My name’s Sol Fisher. I’m Ephraim’s bishop.”

She wondered how odd she must look to them with short hair and no Kapp but in an Amish dress. She shook his hand. “I’m Cara Moore. Malinda Riehl’s daughter.”

“Yes, we know.” He gestured to the man next to him. “This is Jacob King. He’s a deacon in Hope Crossing.”

She shook his hand too. “Ada’s inside, as well as Deborah. Others too. Did you want me to call one of them?”

“We’ll visit with them in a bit. First we’d like to talk to you.” Sol ran his hand down his gray beard. “Ephraim was wrong to have you in his home unsupervised. Do you understand that?”

More than ever
. She nodded.

The man drew a deep breath. “That’s a serious matter. But I ask you to forgive me for being so upset with him that I didn’t see you—the one who needed our help. I didn’t look beyond your outward appearance or the rumors. If he hadn’t reached out to you, none of us would have. I apologize for that.”

Remembering her words to Ephraim—that she’d believe there was a God if the bishop apologized—she had to suppress her amusement. “Thank you.”

Jacob stepped forward. “You need to say, ‘I forgive you.’ It’s the Amish way.”

Trying to say the words, she realized how humbling some of the Amish ways were. “I forgive you.”

He held out his hand again. “I stand before Him forgiven. Thank you.”

“Is it that easy?”

“No, but it’s the first step. I’ll wrestle with regret and you with feelings of resentment at times. But we’ve begun the journey by an act of our will and faith. If you need to talk about it more, my door will always be open to you.”

Jacob nodded. “A fine first step you’ve taken, Cara.”

Feeling awkward and out of place, she couldn’t think of anything to say.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on you since you moved in with Ada,” Jacob said. “You’ve come to a few services with her and Deborah.”

“Yes.”

“Since your mother was Amish and she wanted you raised in our faith,” Jacob continued, “we feel you should know that we have no reservations if you want to consider becoming one of us. I brought you a schedule and a map to each home where services will be held.”

Sol nodded. “It’s not easy to live as we do, and it should not be considered lightly, but we’re here to answer any of your questions.”

“Thank you.”

“And you’re welcome to visit and move about either community. Of course we will come see you if an issue of improper behavior arises.”

She had come to accept that rules were a part of every society and that if they accomplished a lofty goal, they were worth it. And it was clear that living Amish had more promise than it did restrictions.

A desire to see Ephraim swept over her. She wanted to tell him the bishop had apologized. Far, far more than that, she was tired of missing him. The men went inside, and Cara sat on the porch again, thinking everything through.

Lori would love joining the faith. It was all she ever talked about. She already wore Amish dresses to public school and didn’t care what the other kids thought. She’d never liked wearing pants, which used to frustrate Cara. Once Cara went through all she needed to in order to join, Lori could go to the one-room Amish schoolhouse not far from here. She’d love that too. But none of those things were why Cara wanted to join the faith.

It was an odd way to live, but she understood the value of it.

Robbie’s car pulled to the curb, and Ephraim got out.

The hardest thing in becoming Amish would be knowing it’d make no difference between her and Ephraim. But if Deborah could see her future without Mahlon, Cara could find away to see hers without Ephraim. Even so, she wanted to tell him about her decision to join the faith before she told anyone else, and she wanted to tell him about some of the Amish skills Deborah and Ada had been teaching her.

Anna Mary would just have to deal with her talking to Ephraim.

He ambled up the sidewalk, a half grin across his handsome face. “Hey.”