Ties That Bind (32 page)

“And if she doesn't want to go?”

“I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but I want time with her, and I want her to get a real education and discover her hidden talents and dreams. That's what life is made of.”

“For her, life is God and family.”

“From what I read yesterday, her dream is probably getting married and having all the children God gives her. I won't try to strip her of that, but I want a year with her with no contact from those who want to keep her tied to her Amish roots. If she chooses to return after that year, I'll bring her here myself.”

“And if she says no?”

“Let's keep it positive. If she says yes, I can open the world up to her, and I won't cause trouble for anyone in the Amish community. We keep this whole matter out of the news. My understanding is Lovina spent twenty years knowing she had the wrong blanket, and she did nothing with that information.”

“Nicholas, no!” Brandi whispered loudly. “You intend to endear your daughter to us by threatening to humiliate and sue the people she loves as her parents?”

“I'm making sure this young man understands that we are far from powerless in this situation.”

“You want power?” Brandi raised her eyebrows, defiance written on her face. “Then go see the midwife and threaten her, but think first, for Pete's sake. Lovina and Isaac not only have your daughter's heart, but they could win Skylar's as well. I don't like your plan of pushing Skylar to come here as punishment for her using—”

“It's not a punishment, Brandi. I've said that two dozen times. It's a way for Skylar to see all of life differently, to connect with people who may be able to turn around her destructive behavior.”

“Skylar is not going to see it that way.”

Quill remained quiet as the couple argued. He wanted to absorb all he could in order to help the Brennemans, but at the same time he was speechless.

“She needs help.” Nicholas stared at Brandi as if dumbfounded by her argument. “And there's no room for doubt that our methods have failed. Either she gets a grip, or she becomes a junkie!”

“I get that, and I've agreed with what you want to help keep the peace for everyone involved. But you said you wouldn't threaten Lovina and Isaac with a lawsuit. I'm telling you for the thousandth time that we need to be on good terms with these people!”

“Okay.” Nicholas briefly held up both hands in a gesture of surrender. “I'll save all threats for that midwife. I'll talk to that Rachel woman face to face before the sun sets tomorrow. She had to have reasons to suspect the girls may have been switched, and she chose to keep it to herself.” He pointed a finger at Quill. “She needs to know she could do jail time. But I'll drop all mention of that if…”

Quill knew the rest. If Ariana left everyone behind and entered Nicholas's Englisch world for a year, then and only then would the man agree never to file charges or take the incident public.

Ariana isolated from her family, community, café, and Rudy for a year?

A
riana pried open her eyes, stretching as joy bounced inside her chest unlike anything she'd experienced before. Daylight had arrived but just barely. Birds sang outside the open window, and the aroma of late September was delicious. Two oak trees with their leaves turning red and gold swayed and danced outside her window.

Had she paid any attention to how beautiful this fall was? Perhaps a more important question—she giggled—what was she doing awake this early? She pulled the blankets over her head, grinning. She knew the answer. Sleep had been nearly impossible the last two nights. After the benefit on Saturday she had stayed up until the wee hours of the morning with her parents, half of her siblings, and Rudy—talking, reminiscing about the day, and playing board games. They had celebrated until exhaustion took over. None of the excitement wore off throughout all of Sunday. She'd slept about four hours last night and now was up again. Who could've possibly known that getting the money to buy the café would be
this
thrilling?

Quill, she imagined. Surprisingly, he seemed to understand her more than she did.

He'd also known how to pull off such an unusual benefit. Somehow, by methods that defied all reason, she had earned enough money to close, purchase two months of supplies for the café, and pay the mortgage for several months. She couldn't figure out how they'd done that well, but did it really matter?

The only disappointment was she hadn't seen Quill to properly thank him. There had been too many people thronging around her on Saturday. When she went by his Mamm's home on Sunday, his car was gone, and he'd left her a one-word note: Congratulations!

As much as she'd wanted to talk to him, she couldn't make herself call him on a Sunday. Unnecessary phone calls on a Sunday were frowned upon, but she would call him this morning. Too antsy to stay in bed, she quietly grabbed a clean dress and apron, careful not to wake Susie or Martha, and tiptoed into the bathroom. After getting a shower, she dressed and returned to her bedroom, peering into various bedrooms as she went. Mark's and Abram's beds were empty, but John was still asleep.

She went to her dresser and pulled out the cell phone Quill had given her. She wouldn't use it in the house. That was frowned on even more than making a call on a Sunday. Besides, it would be disrespectful of the Old Ways, but she could walk outside. He called it a TracFone, an inexpensive pay-as-you-go phone. He said it would serve her purposes, and she wouldn't have a monthly bill. All she needed to do was purchase minutes when it ran out. Having the phone during the last two weeks had been incredibly helpful. It made perfect sense why some men had cell phones for business and then turned them off and put them away before entering their homes.

With the phone in hand, she went downstairs. Where was everyone? The men—her Daed, Mark, Abram, and Emanuel—might have already gone to work, but why was biscuit dough rolled out on the counter and only half of it cut and lying on a baking pan? “Mamm?” She walked into the living room. “Salome?”

A note on yellow paper was on the message board: “Something came up. Be back soon. Please get John ready for school, do the household chores, and finish making breakfast.”

She knew the Monday household-chores list quite well, and it would take her at least three very busy hours before she would have the laundry on the line and get a break…unless she took a break first. She squeezed the phone and went outside.

It would be best if her youngest siblings didn't wake and see her using a cell phone, so she went to the far side of the barn and turned on the phone. Leaning against the barn wall, she waited for the phone to get a signal.

Her niece squealed, “Kittens!”

“Sh,” someone replied.

Ariana smiled and tried to peer through two boards of the barn wall. Esther was on the floor, three kittens in her lap.

“He's a difficult man at best.”

Was that Rachel's voice? Maybe the midwife had stopped by to check on Salome. Ariana looked farther into the barn and saw the outline of several women and a pant leg of a man. The group seemed to be in a circle, talking. Her gut clenched, and she wanted to do what she always did, the good girl thing: leave and mind her own business. But she couldn't do that, not where Salome was concerned. She stayed glued in place. Had her sister already changed her mind again about leaving?

“He's demanding she leave the Amish for a year, no calls, no visits, no letters?” Salome sounded desperate. “He can't insist on that, can he?”

“You're right. He can't,” Rachel said.

“But he thinks he can. Why?” Daed asked.

“It doesn't matter. I'm not here to ask favors from any of you. I'll pay my own price. I only came to warn you because when he learns that he's not going to get his way, he will go to the police, lawyers, and newspapers. I didn't want you caught off guard.”

“What will happen to you?” Mamm asked.

“I went to a neighbor's house after Nicholas left my place yesterday afternoon. She's a lawyer, and…” Rachel broke into sobs. “I'm sorry. That's not what I came here about.”

“Oh my gosh!” Salome stepped back, shock written all over her face. “The lawyer thinks you'll go to prison!”

“I knew too much and stayed quiet too long. But none of that is the point. We can't ask this of Ariana, and I will not let Nicholas intimidate us with threats.”

Ariana was too confused to have even a clue as to what they were talking about. She went to the barn door, tapped on it, and shoved it open just enough to squeeze inside.

Her parents, Salome, Emanuel, and Rachel froze, staring at her. “I…went to the far side of the barn for some privacy.” She held up the phone, silently confessing ownership. “And I overheard…What
did
I overhear?”

All three women started crying.

Her Daed came to her. “We were going to talk to you this afternoon and tell you everything.”

“You're scaring me.”

Daed took her by the hand. “Maybe you should sit.” He led her to a bale of hay and crouched in front of her. “Ariana, we love you so much. You are our little girl, and you always will be.” He held her hand, his face mirroring emotions she didn't recognize. “You remember the stories about the day you were born, right?”

She nodded, still clueless what could possibly have everyone so upset.

“See…there was a part of that story that neither your Mamm nor I remembered. We've been going over everything in our mind again and again, but we don't recall that…that…you and the other girl born that day were put in the same bassinet while we got you to safety.”

Had her heart ever beaten this hard or fast? But her mind seemed to be slogging through mud. “What are you saying?”

He stroked her hand, heartache twisting his face, but over the next few minutes he shared about the pink blanket without its embroidery and how someone had spotted the young woman who looks so much like Salome, the one they now knew to be Skylar Nash.

Ariana couldn't believe what she was hearing. There was no way it was true. “What does this man you spoke of want?”

“He's your biological dad, and he wants you to live with him for a year.”

A year?
She peered around her dad and looked at Rachel. The poor woman had given her life to birthing babies. She had no husband. No children. And a man threatened her with prison if Ariana didn't do as he wanted?

Ariana's body shook from deep within. “What he thinks happened the night I was born, the swapping of babies…He has to be mistaken.”

“I thought the same thing, Ari.” Salome knelt in front of her. “But Quill's investigation was very thorough.”

Quill is involved in this?

“What does that mean?”

Salome held her hand. “Not much in my book. You're still our Ariana. You always will be. But you're not a biological child of Mamm and Daed.”

Dozens of thoughts collided in her mind while her emotions raged like the fire through the birthing center. Her parents were trembling, and tears fell from even her Daed's eyes.

She choked back her desperate need to cry and rose to her feet. “It's okay. I'm okay.” Tears welled and her voice was hoarse and wobbly. She hugged her mom, whispering reassurance that everything was going to be fine. She did the same with her Daed and Salome. “It's going to be fine. I promise.” She could hardly see for the tears swimming in her eyes. “Do the others know?”

Mamm shook her head. “Nee. None of your siblings know yet, except Salome, of course.”

“Okay.” Ariana wiped her apron across her eyes, doing all she could to remain calm and encouraging. “I…I can't be here when you tell…them.”

Her Mamm didn't even brush the flow of water from her cheek. “I understand.”

Ariana needed to scream and cry and think, and she needed to do so alone. Completely alone. “I'm going for a really long walk. Okay?”

Her Daed hugged her. “You sure?”

She nodded. “Abram doesn't need me to be here when he finds out. He'll take it the hardest.” She turned to Salome. “You make sure Mark is here before you tell Abram. Promise?”

“I promise.”

“Gut. I'll be home before dark.” The barn seemed to shift off its foundation, and when she walked outside, the sky spun while the ground rolled like waves beneath her feet. Her legs wobbled, and she did her best to hurry out of sight as quickly as possible. When she was sure no one could see her, she took off running—to where, she didn't know. But there had to be a place where she could escape this awful truth.

Because if such a place did not exist, neither would she.