Linda couldn’t breathe for the unfairness of it all.
Zoe picked at her fingernails. “With church friends like you, Ben doesn’t need enemies.”
Cathy shook her uneaten sandwich in Mayne’s direction. “Do any of you people actually read the Bible? Haven’t you heard the story of how Saul became Paul? From what I hear, all of you treated Ben like a leper.”
Mary Ann nodded. “Yes, we did.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “Everybody. Even me.”
Cathy pointed her sandwich at Linda, but she was so wholehearted about it, half of it broke off and fell in her lap. “Not everybody. Not Linda.”
Mary Ann wiped her eyes. “You’re right. Linda didn’t treat Ben any different than she treated anyone else. She tried to help him.”
“Ben was never my project,” Linda said.
Cathy set what was left of her mangled and uneaten sandwich on her plate. “That’s obvious. You would have given up a lot sooner than that if he was just your project.”
Zoe eyed Linda. “You were always real nice to Ben. He said so.”
Mayne glanced at Linda, confusion playing with irritation on her face. “So what is he to you?”
Linda was ashamed of herself. She was just as guilty as anyone else. But was she ostracizing Ben because she couldn’t forgive him? Or because she was trying to protect herself? Ben had broken her heart. She still felt the pain like the point of a knife. But could she forget her pride and the pain Ben had caused her and just try to be his friend?
What was Ben Kiem to her?
She squared her shoulders and decided to be practical. There was no reason she and Ben couldn’t be friends. She certainly wouldn’t fall in love with him again. “You’re right, Mary Ann. We should go and sit by Ben and Simeon. Simeon sneaked an extra cookie, and I want it.”
Mayne’s expression froze in place. “I’m very comfortable right here. I’ll stay.”
A line formed between Mary Ann’s eyebrows. “Ach. Never mind. It looks like they’re making some new friends.”
Though she’d been determined not to look in Ben’s direction, Linda turned around. In the course of five minutes, three girls from the gmayna and two Englisch girls had managed to sneak next to Ben and Simeon without Linda’s noticing. They were making a lot of noise. How could you strike up a conversation and find things that funny to giggle about in a mere five minutes?
Ben and Simeon stood in the middle of the flock of girls, Simeon smiling and soaking up the attention, Ben more reserved, with a relatively pleasant look on his face. It was obvious that those girls, at least, didn’t share Mayne’s sentiments about Ben. Linda should have been glad that girls wanted to befriend Ben and Simeon. But she only felt extreme irritation, though she didn’t know what else she should have expected. Ben was the handsomest boy in Colorado, probably the whole country. No matter how many people he’d offended, the girls were still attracted to him, even the Englisch girls. Linda’s stomach hurt. Nothing gute would come of Ben associating with Englisch girls. How long before he was riding in their trucks and going to bars? He’d already been down that road with Zoe.
Linda swallowed past the lump in her throat. Ben was unpredictable and undependable. She was smart to protect herself.
There was another worry that Linda would never voice to anyone. In every way possible, Ben was superior to every other boy in the gmayna. How long before he realized it? Apparently, some of the other girls already had. How long before Ben forgot all about Linda in favor of another, prettier girl? The thought made her ill, even though it was what she told herself she wanted.
Cathy narrowed her eyes as she glanced at Ben, and the lines on her forehead folded on top of each other. “Well, okay then. I didn’t want to have to try to stand up anyway. I deeply regret sitting on the ground in the first place.”
Mary Ann looked like she was about ready to cry again. “We should have decided sooner. Now he’ll think I’m just like Mayne.”
Mayne gave Mary Ann a sour look. “What do you mean by that?”
Cathy patted Mary Ann’s leg. “Don’t you worry. Simeon hasn’t been able to keep his eyes off you since he got here.”
Mary Ann looked at Cathy as if she’d just offered to do all her chores for a month. “Do you really think so?”
Cathy nodded. “He’s trying as hard to look at you as Ben is trying not to look at Linda. It’s a little ridiculous. If people would just talk to each other, a lot of heartache could be avoided.”
Linda sighed. Communication wasn’t her problem with Ben. It was trust and forgiveness and the fact that Ben had rejected her love. And then she had rejected his. Because she had to be practical.
Oy, anyhow.
Did she really want to be the practical girl who spurned sentiment and missed out on love?
The giggling girls on the other side of the yard drew Linda’s attention yet again. Wasn’t Ben supposed to be putting up Bateman’s garage? Why was he lollygagging in the shade when there was work to be done? He was wasting daylight.
“Linda.” Freeman strode across the lawn with a wide smile on his face. “If I’d known you were going to be here, I would have come sooner.”
“Hallo, Freeman,” Linda said, not even standing up. She liked Freeman, she really did, but she just couldn’t muster any enthusiasm for him today. “Did you just get here?”
“Jah. I had to help my dat bring in some hay this morning.”
Linda wouldn’t have thought it possible, but Ben suddenly appeared next to Freeman. He must have sprinted from that side of the yard to this one. “Vie gehts, Freeman? I’m glad you’re here. We could use your help with these support beams.”
Freeman glanced at Linda and back to Ben. “Ach. Okay. Right now?”
“Jah. We want to get the skeleton up before dark.”
Freeman seemed puzzled about why Ben was in such a hurry. Linda felt the same puzzlement. Not fifteen seconds ago, Ben was surrounded by a group of girls and didn’t seem in a rush to get back to work at all. “Okay. I’ll come.” Freeman smiled at Linda. “Do you need me to drive you home later?”
Cathy picked up her ill-used sandwich and pointed it in Freeman’s direction. “I can drive her home. She’s not going to stay that long, and”—she glared at Ben—“she shouldn’t have to wait.”
Ben’s confidence seemed to falter. He glanced at Freeman, eyed Cathy, then stared at Linda with a positively miserable look on his face. Ben placed a hand on Freeman’s shoulder and firmly nudged him in the direction of the garage. “Let’s go. I don’t want the older men up on the ladders.” He led Freeman away, and Freeman kept glancing back doubtfully at Linda as if he wasn’t sure what he was getting himself into.
Cathy chuckled. “I love hanging out with you, Linda. There’s always some sort of drama going on.”
Linda watched as Ben pointed out the beams to Freeman. Then the two of them stood there and had some sort of a friendly chat as if they were the best of friends. They were either talking about construction or how fun it was to irritate practical, sensible Amish girls.
Either way, Linda had no interest in their conversation.
Chapter Eighteen
Esther slid the plate back into the dishwater. “You missed a spot.”
Ben gave her the stink eye. “I did not.”
“You’re not paying attention, and there is a big glob of spaghetti sauce on the bottom.”
Ben glanced at Esther. “Speaking of spaghetti, you have an uncooked spaghetti noodle behind your ear.”
Esther pressed her hand to the side of her head. “Don’t change the subject.” She pulled a glass from the dish drainer. “Look at this. It’s filmy. You’ve got to rinse better.”
Ben examined the glass. “Now you’re just being picky.”
Esther giggled. “Don’t you want a picky person inspecting the dishes you eat off of?”
Ben smiled. “If you don’t like how I do the dishes, you can do them yourself.”
Levi walked into the kitchen. He�
�d just put Winnie to bed. “You’re not going to get out of dish duty that way.”
“That’s right,” Esther said. “I’m sure you were hoping I’d just throw up my hands and decide it was easier to do it myself.”
“That’s exactly what I was hoping.”
Levi shook his head. “None of those tricks work on Esther.”
Esther laughed and gave Ben a side hug. “I’ve seen them all.”
Ben shrugged and grinned playfully at his sister-in-law. “But don’t you feel sorry for me? I’m getting dishpan hands.” He pulled his hands out of the water and held them up for Esther and Levi to see.
“You’re dripping on my clean floor, and is that a new blister?”
Ben studied the three blisters and two cuts on his hands. “This one is from pulling up that floor at the Mangums’ house.”
Levi nodded. “You should have seen him, Esther. He ripped out that floor so fast, dust was flying everywhere.”
Esther wrapped her fingers around his wrist and pulled his hand toward her to get a closer look. “Chappy hands are the least of your problems. You’ve got three blisters, a purple fingernail, and calluses on your calluses.”
Compassion traveled across Levi’s face. “You’ve been working too hard, bruder.”
Ben didn’t really want Levi’s sympathy right now. He was trying very hard not to wallow in his own self-pity. “Well, if Esther didn’t make me do the dishes, my life would be a lot easier.”
Esther patted his cheek. That small sign of affection made Ben’s heart hurt. “All for the love of Linda Eicher,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
Ben held his breath and let the pain wash over him. He refused to break down in front of Esther or Levi ever again. They felt sorry enough for him as it was. So he pretended it didn’t hurt. Making a face, he pulled his hand from Esther’s grasp and fished in the water for his dishrag. “Do you have to just blurt her name out like that?”
Esther laughed softly then gave him a sad smile. “I’m sorry. I know it’s a sore subject.”
Sore? Esther had no idea how sore it was. She had no idea how little sleep he got or how the heartache only got worse with each passing day. She had no idea how much it hurt or how often his regrets nearly suffocated him. “I just keep praying for Gotte to guide me. He seems to be giving me the silent treatment, but with the way I’ve lived my life thus far, I can’t blame Gotte one bit.”
Esther rinsed a plate under the water and set it in the dish drainer. “Ben, I have never seen anyone so determined to make up for his mistakes. You took charge of Mr. Bateman’s garage. You apologized to everyone you’ve offended since you were seven. You have humbled yourself with your parents. You’ve helped in a community cleaning project, chopped wood for just about every family in the gmayna, and Cathy says you fixed her husband’s walker.”
“It just needed new tennis balls.”
Levi squeezed himself between Esther and Ben. “Gotte doesn’t withhold His love. The minute a sinner turns to Him for help, He will come running. He’s not ignoring you. You simply can’t see how He is working things out for your good.”
Esther slid another plate into the cupboard. “Linda has a gute heart. I know she’ll forgive you.”
“Ach. She’s forgiven me, but that doesn’t mean she can love me.”
Esther pulled the spaghetti noodle from behind her ear and snapped it in two. “You’re very lovable, Ben. Once Linda gets over feeling so hurt, she won’t be able to resist you. I mean, you love children, you know how to chase away a bear, and you wash dishes. You’re a catch.”
“Linda doesn’t think so.”
“Just give it time, bruder.”
Somebody rapped loudly on the door, and Levi went down the hall to answer it. The voice of the person on the porch was breathy and sharp. “Is Ben here?”
Esther glanced at Ben. Ben drew his brows together. Was that Zoe? And why did she sound so upset? He’d broken up with her weeks ago, and while she hadn’t been happy about it, she’d only been drawn to Ben in the first place because dating an Amish boy had seemed exciting and unusual. In truth, she had found Ben interesting for a few weeks, but an Amish boy and an Englisch girl weren’t likely to have any sort of long-term relationship. Besides, he’d kind of been using Zoe to upset Linda, and in very colorful language, Zoe had told him what a terrible thing that was to do to a girl.
Ben dried his hands and went to the front door. Zoe stood on the porch with a slightly wild, slightly panicked look in her eyes. “Ben, Linda’s in trouble.”
* * *
Linda’s house was almost a twenty-minute drive from Esther and Levi’s place, and Ben had never been so grateful that Cathy drove like her hair was on fire. Even then, by the time Cathy turned down Linda’s road, Ben was frantic.
“This is what comes from too much alcohol and not enough brains,” Cathy said, paying as much attention to Zoe as she did to the road. Ben would never complain about Cathy’s driving, not when she drove him all over the valley without asking a cent, but he did clutch the door handle and pray he’d live long enough to stop whatever Wally was going to do.
Zoe’s gaze flicked to the back seat. “I promise, Ben, I didn’t give him any alcohol. Wally showed up at my house drunk, talking about how he was going to get back at Linda for stealing his best friend. I’m grounded from using my truck, so I called Cathy to come get me.”
Ben’s throat was so dry, it hurt to talk. “Didn’t you try to talk him out of it? Calm him down?”
“You know how he gets, especially when he’s been drinking. He loses all sense of reason. He doesn’t have very much to begin with.”
Ben shuddered. Wally was loyal, smart, and fun to be around when he was in a gute mood. Wally could make Ben laugh without even trying, and he had the uncanny ability to help Ben feel good about himself, even when Ben acted like an idiot. But Wally was also angry, troubled, and determined to hold a grudge. He took everything personally, like Mr. Bateman’s spraying him with a hose or Linda’s accusing him of being afraid to play volleyball. Wally also had a very stern and unyielding fater. There had been so much heartache in his life.
“All I know is that he better not touch a hair on Linda’s head, or he’ll have to answer to me,” Cathy said.
“He still considers you his best friend, Ben,” Zoe said. “And in his mind, his best friend would never abandon him like this unless someone put him up to it. You’re trying to turn your life around for Linda. Wally sees Linda as a threat.”
Ben buried his face in his hands. “I should have been a better friend. I shouldn’t have just cut him off like I did. I should have . . .”
Zoe sighed. “Ben, you asked him to help you build Bateman’s garage. You encouraged him to stop smoking. You know that’s not the way to persuade him. Wally sees you as one of them now. You did your best, but to Wally, it feels like a betrayal, a rejection. He’s hurt.”
“That’s what I mean. I should have been a better friend. I know how I would have reacted if Wally had been the one to change. I would have resented it.”
“Well, maybe it’s not too late.”
Dear Father in Heaven, please let it not be too late.
It wasn’t quite dark when they pulled up in front of Linda’s house. There was no sign of Wally, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t here. “Would you two knock on the front door and see if Linda’s inside?” Ben said. “I’ll go around to the barn.”
Zoe made a face. “I don’t see them giving me a warm welcome.”
Cathy opened her door. “There’s nothing to worry about. Amish are good folks, except Wally, and before two months ago, Ben.”
Zoe got out of the car and slammed the door. “Okay, but you owe me one.”
Zoe and Cathy crossed the lawn to the house, but it was slow going because Cathy had a bunion. Ben’s heart was in his throat as he ran around to the back to look in the barn. Lord willing, Wally wasn’t even here. Lord willing, he’d made threats that he never meant to carry out. Ben pr
ayed harder than he ever had in his life. Please, dear Lord, let Linda be okay.
Both the front and back doors to the barn were wide open, leaving plenty of light inside. Ben ran into the barn and stopped. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard Wally’s voice coming from one of the stalls. “Ben was my friend until you turned him against me.”
“What a silly thing to say.”
Ben looked in two stalls before he found the right one. Linda stood with her back plastered against the far wall, her kapp gone, her hair falling out of her bun in a dozen different places. She looked more irritated than afraid. Ben should have expected that. A lot of things annoyed Linda, but very few things frightened her. His heart swelled as big as the sky. Ach, he loved her so much!
Wally’s back was to Ben, his posture rigid, with Linda’s kapp clutched in his hand like some prize he had won for being a bully. Ben yanked open the door and rushed into the stall.
Even though Linda hadn’t seemed especially scared, she was definitely relieved to see Ben. The look she gave him only made his heart race faster. Fixing himself directly in front of Linda, he faced Wally and scowled like a badger. Wally was nearly as tall as Ben, but Ben was thicker. Wally would think twice about starting a fight. “What do you think you’re doing?” Ben said.
Wally scowled back. “Teaching her a lesson.”
“By scaring her?”
“I’m not scared,” Linda said behind him.
Ben clenched his teeth until they squeaked. Was she deliberately trying to provoke Wally? Probably. He turned and pinned Linda with a stern look. “Could you just give up the need to be right for one minute?”
“I’m just telling you, bullies like Wally don’t scare me. And he ripped off my kapp.”
Ben gave up trying to get her to be quiet and looked at Wally. It was probably better to ignore the problem behind him while dealing with the problem in front of him.
The Amish Quiltmaker's Unruly In-Law Page 24
