Suddenly, it dawned on Turner that anyone who paid his employees under the table wouldn’t have made them fill out legitimate applications. “Someone here must have seen her arriving at or leaving work. Was she within walking distance, or did she get a ride in a car?”
Artie lumbered out from behind the counter. He was even taller than Turner and twice his width. He pointed to a No Loitering sign hanging on the wall. “I’ve told you I don’t know anything about the girl, so unless you’re going to buy something, it’s time for you to leave.”
Averse as he was to contacting the Englisch authorities, Turner recalled Chloe’s advice and said, “She’s a minor and she’s missing, so if I can’t find her myself, I’ll have to visit the police. Perhaps by then you’ll have found her address, and you can tell them when they question you and your staff about her employment here.”
“Ha,” Artie scoffed, but he dropped his shoulders. “The Amish don’t get involved with the police.”
“Not as a rule, no,” Turner said, heading for the door. “But we do when conscience dictates or we have no other recourse.”
“Hold on.” Artie’s tone was urgent. “Payday starts tomorrow night at six and it ends the second I walk out that door at seven fifteen. The kids know there are no substitutions, no excuses, no exceptions. I pay in cash so they need to come in and pick it up in person. If your sister was working here—and I’m not admitting she was—that’s her one chance to collect her wages. And if she doesn’t, you might try asking Skylar when he comes in for his pay. Muscular guy, curly hair like a lion’s. You’ll recognize him because he wears cargo shorts, even in winter. But I’m warning you—no drama in front of my employees or customers.”
“You have my word I won’t cause any trouble,” Turner said emphatically, extending his hand to shake Artie’s the way the Englisch did. “Denki, sir. You’ve been very helpful.”
* * *
It was only a little after six o’clock when Tessa heard a knock. Surprised Turner was back already, she wiped her hands on her apron. She alternately had been fearing and looking forward to this moment. If Turner hadn’t found Jacqueline, he’d likely be overcome with sorrow. If he had found her and convinced her to come back with him, he’d be elated. That was exactly what Tessa wanted, but it would also mean her responsibility to care for Mercy had come to an end. She smoothed her hair and tried to relax her posture before tugging the door open.
“Hello, Tessa.” It was Melinda Schrock. “I hope I didn’t catch you in the middle of eating supper?”
Because Mercy was wide awake and gumming a cold cloth in the parlor, Tessa stepped outside onto the porch, pulling the doorknob close to her back. “Actually, I am in the middle of making it,” she said honestly, hoping Melinda would take the hint and keep their conversation short. “What can I do for you, Melinda?”
“It’s more like what I can do for you,” Melinda boasted. “I’m here to offer you my shift tomorrow at Schrock’s.”
“What? Why?” Tessa stalled, trying to come up with a truthful reason she couldn’t work the following day.
“I have the opportunity to visit Jesse’s relatives in your hometown, Shady Valley, tonight and tomorrow,” she said. “His brother was in town for business today and he invited us to a party for his wife. Sort of short notice, but Joseph said he didn’t mind, as long as you fill in for me.”
Tessa hugged her torso to keep warm. Without knowing whether Turner had located Jacqueline, she couldn’t risk not being available to watch Mercy. “I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
“Why not?” Melinda asked. “I thought you’d jump at the chance to earn a full day’s pay.”
“Ordinarily, I would. Denki for thinking of me,” Tessa said in a sweet tone so Melinda wouldn’t be too angry. “But not this time.”
“Why not?” Melinda demanded.
Tessa knew from experience Melinda didn’t take the word no easily. “I have a...family matter to take care of this week,” she said. Perhaps it wasn’t her family matter, but it was the closest reason to the truth she could offer.
“What kind of family matter?”
Tessa worried she was running out of time before Mercy began crying. “It’s private, so I’d rather not discuss it. I’m sorry you’ll miss your trip. At least it wasn’t something you were anticipating for a long time, so I hope you’ll get over your disappointment quickly.”
Melinda’s eyes widened. It was clear she was curious but since Tessa had put her foot down firmly and Melinda probably understood she couldn’t get more information out of her, she resorted to cajoling. “Joseph’s the one who will be disappointed. He always talks about how willing you are to help. Wait until he finds out you turned down the chance to work for an entire day without even really giving a reason. He’s going to feel slighted.”
Tessa recognized Melinda was only trying to manipulate her, but her comments hit a nerve anyway. What if Joseph really was offended Tessa didn’t fill in for her? And what if he decided he didn’t want Tessa to come back to her job when business increased? The efforts she’d made to stay in Willow Creek would be for nothing—she’d end up back in Shady Valley after all. But Joseph would never fire me over something like that. Would he? she wondered. Right then she resolved to pray that wouldn’t happen but to accept it if it did. It would break her heart, but she’d rather lose her job and have to return home than to let Turner down when he was this close to finding Jacqueline. Tessa’s commitment to him—and to Mercy—was more important than her own plans and desires.
“That’s not my intention at all and I’d feel terrible if he was offended,” Tessa finally replied. “But Joseph understands about family commitments, so I think it’s unlikely he’ll feel put out. If anything, I’d think he’d feel slighted by you, since he gave you the privilege of working full time instead of me, and now you’d rather go to a party than honor your work commitment.”
Melinda looked dumbfounded and Tessa took advantage of her silence to say, “As I mentioned, I’m cooking supper, so I need to say gut nacht now, Melinda.”
She could hear Melinda stomping down the stairs like a child throwing a tantrum, so when heavy footfalls sounded on the porch a few minutes later, she assumed her coworker had returned to badger her again.
“I’m sorry, but the answer is still neh,” she said as she swung the door open.
“What was the question?” Turner asked. He was standing alone but he was grinning—a good sign.
“Ach! Turner, kumme in,” she prattled. “You look pleased. Did you find Jacqueline?”
“Not yet, but I’m getting closer,” he announced, wiping his feet.
“That’s wunderbaar news!” Without thinking, she reached out and squeezed his arm for emphasis. In response, he placed his hand over hers and gently squeezed back.
“Jah, it is,” he agreed exuberantly.
Sensing everything was about to change, Tessa memorized the way she felt with Turner’s large calloused hand enveloping hers while the baby cooed happily in the next room. When she could preserve the moment no longer she pulled away, saying, “How about if you go get Mercy while I put supper on the table? Then you can tell me all about your trip.”
* * *
Whether it was from what he’d just discovered concerning Jacqueline or from the silkiness of Tessa’s fingers beneath his, Turner felt lighter than he had in years. It was as if all the tension he ever carried in his head, jaw and neck had metamorphosed into a fluttering hopefulness, and he was bursting at the seams to share his exciting news with Tessa.
She insisted on holding Mercy so he could eat, and he dug into his plate of shepherd’s pie with gusto. In between bites, he recounted his interaction with Artie, ending by telling Tessa how confident he was he’d see Jacqueline the next day.
“I’m sure she’s in need of money, so she’ll be there,” he said, helping himself to a second serving of pi
e.
Tessa placed her prayer kapp strings over her shoulder so Mercy couldn’t yank them as she fed the baby her bottle. “Your mamm is going to be surprised at how pudgy you are now, little haws,” she said to the baby.
“That’s provided I can persuade her to kumme home,” Turner said. When Tessa squinted, biting her lip, he asked, “What’s wrong? You look doubtful.”
“I have no doubt you’ll find Jacqueline. But is talking to her the most effective way to persuade her to return?”
Turner was baffled. “What do you suggest? I can’t insist she return and I’m not going to call the authorities.”
“Of course not. But have you considered bringing Mercy with you?” Tessa asked. “My intuition tells me it was excruciating for her to leave this little bobbel the first time, and as soon as she sees her dochder she’ll never want to part with her again.”
“Aha. And since Jacqueline doesn’t have a job to support a baby, much less to support herself, she’ll be more than willing to return home.” Turner marveled at the wisdom of Tessa’s suggestion. “That’s a terrific idea.”
Tessa moved the baby to her knee and tapped her back until Mercy released a most unladylike belch. Turner and Tessa both chuckled.
“There is a favor I’d like to ask,” Turner said. “Would you be willing to kumme with us?”
Tessa didn’t hesitate. “Sure. I’d be happy to keep Mercy calm during the trip.”
“It’s not just Mercy you keep calm—I feel more tranquil in your presence, too.”
A smile dawned across Tessa’s features. Turner was pleased she seemed to accept his compliment. “Please pass the salt,” she said as she scooped shepherd’s pie onto her plate.
“Salt?” he taunted, holding the shaker just beyond her reach. “This meal is perfectly seasoned. Why do you need salt?”
“Perfectly seasoned? You should tell my mamm that,” Tessa replied, tugging the salt shaker from his fingers. “She doesn’t exactly consider me to be a very gut cook.”
“Really? I knew you didn’t like to cook, but there’s no question in my mind you can cook. Your meals prove otherwise.”
“Denki, but only a bachelor could say that about my meals,” Tessa teased. “According to my mamm, the reason I’m not being courted and haven’t gotten married yet is because of my culinary skills. ‘The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach,’ she always says.”
“I hardly think your cooking is the reason you aren’t married yet,” Turner said.
“Neh?” Tessa asked coyly. She paused to lick gravy from her fork. “So what you’re saying is there are far more obvious reasons a man wouldn’t want to court or marry me?”
“Neh, neh, I didn’t mean it that way!” Turner protested. “I only meant the meal is very gut.”
Tessa’s eyes met his. “I’m glad you like it.”
“I like you very much.” Chagrined, Turner immediately corrected himself. “It. I like it very much.”
To distract Tessa from his blunder, he quickly changed the subject. “So, are you going to tell me what you meant by what you said when you answered the door tonight?”
When Tessa was done explaining about how Melinda asked her to cover her shift at the shop, Turner said, “Ach! As much as I appreciate you turning down a shift to watch Mercy, in the future please do what’s best for you. If you wanted to work tomorrow, I would have found a way to watch Mercy. That’s one of the advantages of being a business owner—especially a business owner whose brothers recently took time off from work. They owe me extra hours at the shop.”
“But what excuse would you have given them?” Tessa asked.
“It would have taken a little creativity, but I would have worked it out.”
“Speaking of working it out,” Tessa began, “Katie can’t meet me for supper on Wednesday evening, so she wants to meet me on Friday night instead. I already told her jah, but now that we’re so close to finding—”
“Don’t be lecherich. There’s no need to cancel on Katie. Who knows? By Friday evening, we both might be eating supper with our sisters!”
“Gott willing,” Tessa said.
But the following evening, after arriving early, parking at a gravelly rest area across the street from the convenience store and waiting for what felt like days, they still hadn’t spotted Jacqueline. Instead, they witnessed a handful of adults who appeared to be customers going into and out of the store, as well as several youth, including Chloe, who entered and exited a couple of minutes later with their hands shoved into their pockets or clutching their purses. Meanwhile, Mercy’s fussing erupted into a full-scale lamentation. It seemed the more her volume increased, the more Turner’s hopes decreased.
“I need to stretch,” he said and leaped down from the buggy. Treading back and forth along the shoulder of the road, he trained his eye on the door to the convenience store. Turner didn’t wear a watch, but he figured it was at least seven, maybe later. Hadn’t Artie said the employees needed to collect their pay by seven fifteen, no exceptions?
Right when he was about to rejoin Tessa in the buggy, Turner noticed a silver car pulling into the lot. It parked halfway between the buggy and the mini-mart and it was angled in such a way it partially obscured Turner’s view of the store’s entrance. Since the driver got out on the other side of the car to enter the shop, Turner couldn’t get a good look except to notice it was a male. Why hasn’t Jacqueline kumme yet? he wondered, shaking his head.
A moment later, a large man exited. Turner would have recognized Artie’s shape anywhere. The manager plodded to a sports car, squeezed into the front seat and drove away. Recalling Artie’s rule that payday was over once he left the premises, Turner’s hopes were completely dashed.
“Turner!” Katie stepped down from the buggy, clutching Mercy. “Look! Isn’t that the kind of car the person who dropped off Mercy was driving? I’m almost sure—”
Turner didn’t wait for her to finish. He raced across the lot and reached the vehicle at the same time a curly-haired young man wearing shorts came out of the store.
“Skylar!” Turner shouted, stepping in between the man and his car. “I need to talk to you about my sister, Jacqueline.”
“Sure, no problem,” the man replied, but they were interrupted by the sound of the baby’s diminished cries and Tessa’s approaching footsteps. “Is that Mercy I hear?”
So Tessa was right: Skylar was there the night Mercy was dropped off. Or at least his car had been. Turner nearly committed the sin of physically harming another person when he gripped the young man by his shoulders, spinning him so they were eye to eye. “What do you know about my sister’s baby?”
“Turner,” Tessa cut in. A car had driven up and its high beams illuminated the two men.
Turner released his hold on Skylar. “Why don’t we walk over to my buggy to talk?”
“That’s a good idea. Let me ask my wife to join us,” Skylar said. Until that moment, Turner hadn’t realized a woman was sitting in the passenger’s seat. Opening the door, Skylar bent down and said, “Charlotte, these folks want to talk to us about Jackie and Mercy.”
The woman emerged from the car and she and Skylar glanced over their shoulders at the convenience store before accompanying Turner and Tessa to the buggy, where Charlotte and Tessa facilitated an awkward round of introductions.
“What do you know about my sister’s baby?” Turner repeated impatiently. “Did you leave Mercy on my doorstep or do you know who did?”
“I understand the situation is upsetting, but if you give me a moment, I’ll tell you everything I know,” Skylar promised. He explained how he and Charlotte led a kind of underground ministry for runaway teenagers. Skylar worked at Artie’s because he believed the best way to help kids in trouble was to build relationships with them. Since Artie mostly employed minors who didn’t have work permits, the store was an ideal
place to reach youth who needed help, although Skylar had to be careful Artie didn’t find out about their ministry.
Turner was skeptical. “You have a ministry for Amish runaways?”
“For any underage runaways,” Charlotte answered. “We primarily help Englisch kids, but you’d be surprised how many Amish teens we come into contact with, too.”
Turner was surprised to hear that, but his urgent concern was finding out more about Jacqueline, not about their ministry. He pushed them to answer his questions.
“We don’t know where she lives—she was extremely guarded about it,” Skylar told him. “Charlotte and I left Mercy with you at Jackie’s request. She was conflicted about whether she was going to return home or try to start over in Philadelphia.”
Turner’s blood was boiling. “You said you help runaways. How is separating a mamm from her bobbel and her family helpful? What gives you the right to—”
Tessa cleared her throat, which Turner recognized as a reminder to keep his temper in check. He let his sentence drop.
“You’ve misunderstood, Turner,” Charlotte said softly. “We weren’t trying to separate Jackie and Mercy. We were trying to keep them together. Jackie was... She was in a bad way. Whether it was reasonable or not, her biggest fear was social services might take the baby from her. We asked if anyone in her family could care for Mercy until she was thinking straight again. Meanwhile, she had to get a job to support herself.”
“Our hope for her was that she’d reunite with her family and her Amish community,” Skylar asserted. “Unlike some of the kids we meet who suffer abuse at home or who are struggling with addiction—and worse—we knew Jackie comes from a stable, loving family. It seemed the only thing keeping her from returning home was her sense of shame.”
“We spoke with her about the forgiveness we have in Christ,” Charlotte said. “And she told us she’d repented and asked for God’s forgiveness, but she was having a difficult time forgiving herself.”
Skylar concluded, “She seemed to miss her family and community a lot. So when Artie fired her, we thought for sure she’d finally return home.”
Minding the Amish Baby Page 12
