The Restoration (7 page)

She clutched the steering wheel, swerving slightly to avoid a patch of ice.
Maybe I should stop by Adam’s hardware store and see if I can reason with him. Oh, Lord, please show me what to do.

As Cora continued down the road, she caught sight of a group of Amish children trudging through the snow along the shoulder of the road. As she drew closer, Cora’s breath caught in her throat when she got a look at one of the girls. Even though the child was bundled up, Cora recognized her from the wedding.
She’s my granddaughter. I bet the girl walking closest to the road is her older sister.

Cora fought the urge to stop and talk to them. But what would she say? She certainly couldn’t announce she was their grandmother who used to be Amish. Cora wondered if Adam or Mary had even told the girls about her. Surely they must have asked questions about their maternal grandmother: who she was, where she lived, and why they’d never met her.
Oh, Mary, if only you were still alive and I could apologize for walking away from you and your brother. I should have been content to be an Amish wife and mother who practiced reflexology, instead of giving up my family so I could become a nurse.
Tears sprang to Cora’s eyes.
I was immature and selfish. What I did can never be undone.

Waving at the girls, Cora moved on. She needed to get to the house and see if Jared was home from school yet. When Jared was born, at least she’d been offered a chance to be a better mother. Cora had learned a hard lesson, and from the beginning she’d vowed not to mess up his life.

An image of Jared came to mind—tall and lanky with jet-black hair like his father’s and deep blue eyes like Cora’s.

Cora bit her lip and winced when she tasted blood. She still hadn’t told Jared about his half brother or admitted she used to be Amish. She’d have to find a way to tell her son soon, before he found out from someone else. She was sure Leah, and maybe Adam, had already told a few others about her.

H
ow’s it going?” Adam Beachy asked when he entered his store Saturday morning and found Ben Otto behind the counter. Normally, Adam liked to get there before his employees, but this morning he’d dropped the girls off at Leah’s parents’, and due to traffic moving slow because of fresh-fallen snow, he was running later than usual.

“No customers so far. But then it’s only been fifteen minutes since I put the O
PEN
sign in the window.” Ben smiled. “Scott got here soon after I did. I got him started stocking the shelves in the birdseed aisle. If today ends up like yesterday, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people coming in to buy seed, bags of ice melt, and pellets. Hope it was okay I got Scott started with the birdseed.”

Nodding his approval, Adam removed his stocking cap and jacket. “It’s chilly out there. If we keep getting snow like this, we’ll have a white Christmas for sure.”

Ben glanced out the front window. “Seems to be comin’ down harder now than when I left home. This weather might keep some folks from going out today.”

“Guess we’ll have to wait and see how it goes.” Adam turned in the direction of his office. “I’m going to get some paperwork done. Give a holler if things get busy and you need my help waiting on customers.”

“I will. With Henry off this week because of his wife’s shoulder surgery, things have gotten kind of crazy around here.”

“That’s why you shouldn’t hesitate to give me a shout.”

When Adam reached his office, he hung up his jacket and cap then took a seat at the desk. Opening the Thermos of hot coffee Leah had made for him this morning, he poured a cup. Somehow while preparing breakfast, she had squeezed in time to make brownies, one of his favorite desserts. Even before he’d entered the kitchen, Adam had smelled them baking.

He picked up his lunch pail and peeked inside. In addition to the egg-salad sandwich Leah had made, the apple and brownies looked appetizing, too.

“Should have never looked at my lunch,” Adam mumbled. He’d only arrived a few minutes ago, but the chocolate delights were tempting.

Then Adam noticed a small slip of paper wedged between the sandwich and brownies. Pulling it out, he read:
“I hope you have a nice day.”
The simple message made him smile.

Leah’s a thoughtful wife
, he mused.
Always thinking of others and so good with the girls. I made the right choice in asking her to marry me, even if at first we weren’t in love with each other.

As Adam drank his coffee he reflected on how things had changed between him and Leah. It hadn’t taken long before he’d come to love and respect her. Adam looked forward to the future and hoped someday they might have children of their own.

Of course, when they did, he’d make sure it didn’t change his relationship with his nieces. Carrie, Linda, and Amy had become orphans when Adam’s sister, Mary, and her husband, Abe, were killed because of a tragic accident. Adam had taken the girls into his home to raise as his own. He still remembered the look on Mary’s face as she lay dying in the hospital. With her last breath, she’d pleaded with Adam to look after her daughters. At the time, he’d been a bachelor, but he couldn’t say no to her request.

Having the girls to look after had been a blessing to Adam in many ways. It had taken him out of his comfort zone, and upset his normal routine, but he’d learned to put his nieces’ needs ahead of his own. Walking into an empty, quiet house was something he didn’t miss. Having the children in his home had helped Adam deal with losing his sister and had also given him something besides his grief to think about. At first, he hadn’t known what to say or do to help the girls deal with the loss of their parents, but Leah had made up for what he couldn’t do. Neither of them could take the place of the girls’ parents, but they had formed a bond with them. He was sure his nieces were aware of how much they were loved.

“Can I talk to you a minute?” Scott Ramsey asked, stepping into Adam’s office and interrupting his musings.

“Of course. What’s on your mind?”

Scott shifted his weight, leaning on Adam’s desk. The freckles normally present on the teenager’s nose had nearly faded with the cold of winter setting in. “Well, my friend Jared needs money to buy his mom a Christmas present. So I was wonderin’ if you might have something he could do to help out around here.”

Adam rubbed his hand across the growth of his new beard. “To tell you the truth, Scott, I don’t have enough work right now for you and your friend. I know you need your part-time job, and I can’t hire you both to work in the store.”

“You’re right, I do need the job, but I was hopin’ there might be something Jared could do. Business might pick up around here, since it’s only two weeks till Christmas.”

Adam’s heart had softened since Leah and the girls had come to live with him. Scott was a good kid, and he hated to disappoint him. “Guess I could let Jared do some cleaning for the next two weeks, but I can’t promise anything after that.”

Scott smiled widely. “Thanks, Adam!”

“A word of caution for you, though. You and your friend will need to work individually. There’s to be no fooling around.”

Scott shook his head. “No need to worry. We’ll both work hard and do whatever we’re told.”

Adam smiled. “Tell your friend to drop by the store so we can talk. Oh, and he’ll need a written note from one of his parents so I know it’s okay for him to work for me. Better yet, they can come to the store so I can talk with them personally.”

Scott frowned. “If his mom comes in, it won’t be a surprise he’s working for you so he can buy her a Christmas present.”

“I won’t tell her about the present, and Jared doesn’t have to, either,” Adam replied. “But if he’s worried about it, he can ask his dad to talk with me. I need to be sure one or both of his parents approves before he does any work for me.”

“It won’t be his dad.” Scott shook his head. “Jared’s folks are divorced. He lives with his mom.”

Adam grunted. “I know it can be tough. Divorce is hard on a family.”

“Yeah. Guess I should consider myself lucky my folks are still together. When my dad was out of work, he and Mom argued a lot.” Scott frowned. “A couple of times I thought they might split up, but they hung in there, and now that Dad’s workin’ again, things are better all the way around.”

Adam wished his parents had been able to work things out, rather than Mom running off and getting a divorce. It had been hard on him and Mary, growing up without a mother. What his mom did was hard on his dad, as well. In fact, it had changed his father’s whole life, shattering all his dreams.

“Jared’s waiting outside,” Scott said, breaking into Adam’s thoughts. “I’ll go tell him what you said. Then I’ll get right back to work.”

Adam nodded. “As soon as he gets his mother’s permission, Jared can get started.”

Scott grinned. “Thanks again, Adam. You’re a nice man.”

Some folks might say otherwise
, Adam thought as Scott left his office.
My own mother probably thinks I’m not so nice. But then, she’s never walked in my shoes—not even a few steps.

“How did you talk Adam into letting me come to your house for a foot treatment?” Cora asked, seating herself in Leah’s recliner.

“He said as long as he and the girls weren’t home, he was okay with it,” Leah replied, honestly.

“So he still hasn’t forgiven me.” Cora sighed as she slipped off her shoes and stockings. “Maybe he never will.”

“I’m sure he’s forgiven you, but forgiving and forgetting are two different things.” Leah poured massage lotion into her hands and rubbed it into the sole of Cora’s left foot. “I’ve been hoping and praying Adam would at least let you see the girls, but he’s not ready to allow it yet.”

“Will he ever be?”

Leah shrugged. “I don’t know, but it’s best we don’t push the idea right now or it might drive him further away.”

“Has Adam even told the girls about me?”

Leah shook her head. “He asked me not to say anything to them, either. Does it hurt here?” She probed Cora’s foot, hoping to change the subject. Cora and Adam’s relationship was complicated, and she didn’t like being caught in the middle of it.

“Yes, there’s a sore spot there, but it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as knowing my own granddaughters might never know me.”

“It must be painful for you, but Adam’s endured a lot of pain, too.”

Cora looked down. “If I could erase the past, I surely would. I’d go back and redo everything. How could I have been so selfishly stupid?”

Leah said nothing, just continued to massage the sore spot on Cora’s foot.

“I haven’t told Jared about Adam, either. He knows nothing about my past,” Cora gripped the armrests. “To Jared, I’ve been English all my life, and the only man I’ve ever been married to is his dad.”

Leah stopped pressure-pointing and looked at Cora. “Is it wise to withhold the information from Jared? What if he hears from someone else about you once being Amish and having two children by a previous marriage?”

Cora winced. “I know I need to tell Jared about Adam and Mary and about me being Amish, but I’m so afraid of how he will take it—especially now when things are going better between us.” Cora leaned slightly forward. “If Adam would let me back in his life, it might make things easier. At least I’d feel like I had his support.”

“It could happen someday, but you can’t depend on it.” Leah started rubbing Cora’s foot again.

“Does Adam know about Jared? Have you told him he has a half brother?”

“No. It’s not my place to mention something so personal.”

Cora pursed her lips. “You’re right, but I think Adam needs to know about Jared.”

“Then you should tell him.”

Cora grimaced. “I can’t simply waltz into his store and announce such a thing.” Tears pooled in her blue eyes. “I’m such a coward. My mother’s heart hurts more than you can ever imagine—if you can call me a mother, that is.”

Leah patted Cora’s hand, wishing she could bring this all to a head. If Adam and his mother would resolve their differences, the girls could have a relationship with their grandma. “None of us can change the past, but you’re on the right path, Cora. And you’re not a coward. Just pray about it. Pray God makes a way for you to tell Adam about Jared and Jared about Adam.”

Cora sniffed. “Danki, Leah. You’re such a good friend. I’m glad my son married you.”