the STRUGGLE (21 page)

“Dad was planning to leave today, but with the weather turning bad, he called the airlines and canceled his flight,” Bonnie said. “He doesn’t want to go until the weather improves, because he’s concerned about me driving him to the airport on snowy roads.”

“My truck has four-wheel drive, so I’d be happy to take him,” Allen offered as he helped himself to a generous slice of pumpkin pie. “As soon as I get a battery for it, that is.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I’m sure I can manage to get him there.” Bonnie smiled, but it appeared to be forced.

She is upset with me, and I need to talk to her about my actions on Christmas Eve, but I can’t very well say anything with Timothy and Samuel sitting here
. Allen blew on his coffee and took a drink. “Uh…the reason we came over is, I was wondering if I could rent a room from you for the night.”

She shook her head.

“You won’t rent me a room?” He couldn’t believe she would turn him out in the cold.

“No, but I will let you stay in a room free of charge.” Her smile softened, reaching all the way to her eyes this time.

Allen relaxed and released a deep breath. “Thanks. I appreciate that very much.”

They sat quietly for a while as the men drank their coffee and ate the pie. Then, when they were just finishing up, Bonnie excused herself and left the room. When she returned several minutes later, she had Allen’s cell phone, and her father was with her.

“Dad, I’d like you to meet Samuel Fisher,” she said, motioning to Samuel. “And this is his brother Timothy.”

“It’s nice to meet you both,” Ken said, shaking their hands. “You did some real nice work on this old house,” he added, looking at Samuel.

Samuel motioned to Allen. “I can’t take all the credit. My good friend here did some of the work.”

Ken looked at Allen and smiled. “It’s good to see you again. We missed you on Christmas Day.”

Allen explained his situation and why he was here right now. What he didn’t admit was that even if he hadn’t been stranded, he might not have come for Christmas dinner. He’d really needed the time alone to spend in thought and prayer. So at least something good had come from him being alone on Christmas Day, sad as it was.

“I’m sorry you were stranded but glad you’re here now,” Ken said, clasping Allen’s shoulder. “I think you and my daughter need to talk.”

Before Allen could respond, Samuel pushed his chair aside and stood. “Since Allen has a place to spend the night, I guess Timothy and I will be on our way. We’ve been gone quite awhile, and we don’t want Esther, Hannah, or our mom to start worrying about us.”

“Knowing Hannah, she’s probably been worried since the moment we left,” Timothy said.

“I’ll walk you to the door,” Ken offered.

Timothy and Samuel said their good-byes and started out of the kitchen.

“We’ll be back to check on you tomorrow, Allen,” Samuel called over his shoulder.

“Okay, thanks.”

“Would you like another cup of coffee?” Bonnie asked Allen as the other men left.

He nodded. “That’d be nice. I hadn’t had anything hot to drink since I lost power at my place.”

“Oh, and would you like something more than just the pie to eat? I can fix you some eggs and toast.”

“That does sound good, but if you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you first.” He glanced toward the door to see if Ken might come back to the kitchen and was relieved when he heard footsteps clomping up the stairs.

“What did you want to talk about?” Bonnie asked, taking a seat across from him.

Allen cleared his throat a few times. “First, I need to apologize for rushing out of here on Christmas Eve without saying good-bye.”

Bonnie sat staring at him.

“And second, I want you to know the reason I left.”

“I think I already know,” she said. “Dad told you about the baby I had when I was a teenager, and you were upset by it, so you went home.” Tears welled in her eyes. “You probably think I’m a terrible person now, don’t you?”

He shook his head. “We all make mistakes, Bonnie. You were just a confused teenager with no mother to guide you and a father who was struggling to raise you on his own.”

She nodded slowly. “But that’s still no excuse for what I did. I’d been brought up with good morals, and—” She stopped talking and reached for a napkin to wipe the tears that had dribbled onto her cheeks.

“Beating yourself up about the past won’t change anything,” Allen said. “And just so you know—the fact that you had a baby out of wedlock wasn’t really why I left.”

“It…it wasn’t?”

“No. The main reason I left was because I couldn’t deal with you having kept it from me—especially when I’d thought we’d been drawing so close.”

“I was planning to tell you, Allen. I just couldn’t seem to find the nerve or the right time to say it.”

“How come? Did you think I wouldn’t want to marry you if I knew about your past?”

“That’s exactly what I thought.” Bonnie blew her nose on the napkin. “I was afraid you might not want me if you knew what I’d done.”

Allen left his chair and skirted around the table. Gently pulling Bonnie to her feet, he whispered, “I love you, Bonnie Taylor, and if you’ll have me, I want to be your husband.”

“Oh yes, Allen. I’d be honored to marry you,” she said tearfully.

A wide smile spread across his face. “I was hoping you’d say that, and I’m also hoping you’ll accept this.” Allen reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. When he opened it, Bonnie saw the beautiful diamond ring inside and gasped.

“Oh Allen, it’s perfect!”

He removed it from the box and slipped it on her finger then pulled her into his arms.

They stood together for several minutes, holding each other and whispering words of endearment. Then, when Allen’s stomach gurgled noisily, Bonnie laughed and pulled away. “I think I’d better give you something more to eat before you starve to death.”

Allen chuckled and patted his stomach. “That might be a good idea, because I feel kind of faint. Of course,” he quickly added, “it probably has more to do with the excitement I feel about you accepting my proposal than it does with my need for food. It isn’t exactly how I wanted to propose; I had this big long speech I’d practiced for days that I was gonna give on Christmas Eve.”

She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Your proposal was perfect—simple and sweet. Now, take a seat and relax while I get some bacon and eggs cooking, and then I’ll tell you about the woman who showed up here after you left on Christmas Eve.”

“The one good thing about being snowed in like this is that it’s given us more time to spend with the
kinskinner
,” Abraham said to Fannie as they stood in front of the window in Samuel’s guest room, looking out at Marla and Leon, who were in the yard tossing snowballs at each other and giggling.

“You’re right about that,” she said with a nod. “And even though I miss our grandchildren at home, I’ve enjoyed being here with Samuel’s four kinner and Timothy’s little Mindy.” She sighed deeply. “It’s just too bad they have to live so far away, which means we can’t see them very often.”

Abraham grunted. “Now, don’t waste time on trivial matters.”

“It’s not a trivial matter to me. I miss my boys and their families.”

“I understand that, because so do I, but it won’t do any good for you to start feeling sorry for yourself. We’ll come here to visit whenever we can, and I’m sure that our boys will bring their families to Pennsylvania as often as they can, too.”

“Humph!” Fannie frowned. “I doubt that’ll happen too often. With Suzanne most likely expecting a
boppli
, she and Titus will probably stick close to home. And as busy as Samuel seems to be, I’ll bet we won’t see him before he and Esther are married—whenever that’s going to be.” She folded her arms. “Then there’s Timothy, who might never come back to Pennsylvania to see us.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Think about it, Abraham. He moved here to get his wife away from her interfering mamm. If he takes his family home for a visit, Hannah will want to stay, and then Timothy will have an even bigger problem on his hands.”

Abraham quirked an eyebrow. “Bigger problem?”

She nudged his arm. “He already has a problem with a wife who does nothing but complain and doesn’t want to be here. To tell you the truth, I don’t think she wants us here either.”

“Now, Fannie, you shouldn’t be saying things like that.”

“Why not? It’s the truth. Hannah’s just not accepting of me the way our other daughters-in-law are. She rarely makes conversation, and when she does say something to me, it’s usually a negative comment or she’s expressing her displeasure with something I’ve done.”

“Now what could you possibly have done to upset Hannah?” he asked.

“For one thing, just a little while ago she became upset when I was about to give Mindy some Christmas candy.” Fannie sighed deeply. “It’s not like I was going to give her the whole box or anything; it was just one piece.”

“Well, Hannah is the child’s Mudder, and it’s her right to decide when and if Mindy should have candy.”

“But it’s not fair that Mindy’s cousins got to have a piece of candy and she didn’t.” Fannie moved away from the window. “I wish Timothy had never married Hannah. She’s selfish, envious, and too overprotective where Mindy’s concerned. She even wanted me to convince Timothy to move back to Pennsylvania.”

Abraham’s brows shot up. “Really? What’d you say?”

“Told her I couldn’t—that Timothy wouldn’t appreciate it.” Fannie sighed. “You know, Abraham, Timothy and Hannah’s marriage is already strained, and it makes me wonder if things will get worse in the days ahead.” She clasped Abraham’s arm. “I just have this strange feeling about Timothy and Hannah. Of all our Kinner, he’s the one I’m the most worried about. Timothy and Hannah certainly need a lot of prayer.”

C
HAPTER
25

F
or the next several days, the bad weather prevailed. But by Monday, the snow had finally stopped and the roads were clear enough to drive on, so Abraham, Fannie, and their driver left for home. Hannah felt relieved, because Fannie was beginning to get on her nerves. Not only that, but Samuel’s kids had been noisier than usual with their grandparents here, always vying for their attention and begging Abraham for candy, gum, and horsey rides. Mindy had also been whiny and often begged for candy and other things Hannah didn’t want her to have. If that wasn’t bad enough, it had sickened Hannah to see the way Esther acted around Fannie—so sweet and catering to her every whim. Was she trying to make an impression, or did she really enjoy visiting with Fannie that much?

Maybe it’s because Esther’s folks live in Pennsylvania
, Hannah thought as she stared out the living-room window.
Is it possible that Esther misses her Mamm as much as I do mine?

“As much as I hate to say this,” Timothy said, slipping his arm around Hannah’s waist, “Samuel and I have a paint job in Oak Grove this morning, and our driver just pulled in, so I need to get going.”

Hannah squinted at the black van. “That doesn’t look like Allen’s rig.”

“You’re right; it’s not. We won’t be working for Allen today. This house is one Samuel lined up on his own, so he called Bob Hastings for a ride because his vehicle is big enough to haul all our painting equipment.”

“Oh, I see.” Hannah turned to look at Timothy. “Do you have any idea how long you’ll be working today?”

He shrugged. “It’ll probably be seven or eight before we get back home. Since we’ve been hired to paint the whole interior of the house and the owners would like it done by the end of the week, we’ll need to put in a long day.”

Hannah sighed. “It’s my turn to cook supper this evening, so would you like me to fix it a little later than usual?”

He shook his head. “You and the kids should go ahead and eat. Maybe you can keep something warm in the oven for Samuel and me, though.”

“Sure, I can do that.”

When Timothy went out the door, Hannah headed for the kitchen, where Esther was doing the breakfast dishes.

“Would you like me to dry?” Hannah asked.

Esther turned from the sink and smiled. “That’d be nice.”

Hannah grabbed a clean dish towel and picked up one of the plates in the dish drainer. “It seems quiet in here with Fannie and Abraham gone, Samuel and Timothy off to work, and Samuel’s two oldest kinner at school,” she said.

“Jah, but I kind of miss all the excitement.”

Hannah couldn’t imagine that. She preferred peace and quiet over noise and chaos. She was actually glad Christmas was over.

They worked quietly for a while; then Hannah broke the silence with a question that had been on her mind. “Do you miss not living close to your mamm?”

“Of course I do.” Esther placed another clean plate in the drainer. “But I know Mom and Dad are needed in Pennsylvania so they can help my brother and his family. I also know that my place is here.”

“How can you be sure of that?”

“Because this is where Samuel lives, and I love him very much.”