Martha was disturbed to see the two of them looking into each other’s eyes and talking about his hands. She had to leave. “I’ll go back to the haus and see how Mamm’s getting along. Nellie might be finished soon.”
“We’ll come too. It looks like it might rain.” Michael jumped to his feet.
Gabbie reached out her arm for Michael to pull her to her feet. Michael grabbed her by her arm and pulled her to her feet.
Martha had already turned and walked away. Michael hurried to catch her.
“Wait for me,” he said. Once he was level with Martha, they stopped and waited for Gabbie to collect her shoes, and then the three of them walked back to the house.
When Martha walked in, she saw Nellie pouring green liquid through a funnel into a bottle.
“You found them I see,” Mrs. Yoder said to Michael.
“Jah. They were down by the bridge like you said.”
Martha looked around the strange home once again. If they were at anyone else’s home for that length of time, they would’ve been offered coffee, food or cool drinks. Nellie, although she was nice and kind, had offered them nothing. As Martha looked closer at the dried roots and leaves in the bottles, she considered that maybe it was a good thing she’d not offered them anything. Gabbie would surely have declined, she thought with a private smile.
Nellie looked up at Martha. “I’m nearly finished. I know how impatient you young people can be.”
“How’s your onkel, Michael?” Mrs. Yoder asked.
“He’s gut, getting better.”
After capping and shaking the bottle of green fluid, Nellie handed it to Mrs. Yoder. “Here you go.”
Gabbie pulled a face. “I don’t know how that could make anyone feel better.”
Nellie ignored Gabbie’s comment. “If that doesn’t work, I want you to go to a doctor. You might need to have your thyroid tested. This will help if you have any dietary deficiencies, and that’s all.”
“Would that be serious if it’s her thyroid?” Martha asked.
“I wouldn’t let it go too long. Can make life awfully unpleasant.”
Michael stayed on at Nellie’s house after they left. Now, Martha was more worried about her mother. If the tonic didn’t work in a few days, she’d take her to the doctor herself.
Sometime after cleaning up from dinner that night, Gabbie had disappeared. Martha was certain she’d gone to the bedroom, but she wasn’t there. Not wanting to alarm her parents just yet, she quietly asked her sisters if they’d seen her.
“I saw her go outside after dinner,” Rose whispered back.
Martha scratched her head. There was no reason for Gabbie to go outside in the dark. She’d never done that the whole time she’d been there. Guessing that Gabbie might be upset about something, Martha slipped out the back door to find her. The barn was the first place she headed. She saw the glow of a lantern coming from under the door of the barn. Breathing out heavily, she pushed the door open and saw Gabbie sitting on a bale of hay with a lantern by her feet.
Gabbie looked up at her. “I was coming in soon. I just wanted a little time to myself.”
Her words were broken and Martha knew that she’d been crying. She stepped forward, kneeled beside her and looked up into her face. “I know you’ve been crying. Tell me what’s upset you.” Martha fought back tears as she saw her friend so upset.
“I miss home.”
Martha kept looking at her and didn’t say a word. She knew it wasn’t the truth. “You’re upset about Michael, aren’t you?”
Gabbie put her hands up to her face and sobbed. Martha sat next to her and put her arm around her. “Come on. There’s nothing to be upset about.”
“He doesn’t like me. I’ve made a fool of myself. A complete fool. He likes you and not me.”
“I think he likes both of us and can’t decide.” The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them.
Gabbie dropped her hands and looked up. “Do you think so?”
“Maybe.” She didn’t know what else she could say to make Gabbie feel better.
“Did he ask you on another buggy ride?”
Martha shook her head. It was the truth. He had said that he wanted to go on more buggy rides but wasn’t specific about when. It was close enough to the truth for her to consider that she hadn’t told a lie.
Gabbie sniffed.
“Come back inside before they notice that we’re gone. We can go through the back door then up the stairs to the bedroom.”
“Do I look as though I’ve been crying?”
Martha nodded. “Jah, and everyone will want to know why. That’s the trouble with this familye, everyone wants to know what’s going on.”
Gabbie laughed a little and wiped her eyes.
Martha stood and picked up the lantern. “Follow me.” They slipped back into the house and made their way to the bedroom with no one seeing them. Martha wrung out a washcloth for Gabbie to put over her red eyes. She could not let her friend be so upset. She’d speak to Michael as soon as she could and tell him that they couldn’t see one another again. Not until Gabbie was happy about it, and Martha knew she might have to wait until Gabbie found someone of her own.
It was two nights later that Martha spoke to Michael. He stopped over after the Yoders had finished dinner, asking to speak to Martha. Martha stepped down from the porch to speak to him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “I can tell by your face that something is.”
“I can’t see you anymore, Michael.”
Michael looked down at the ground and then back up to her face. “Why?”
“You can’t ask me that.”
He frowned. “I have a right to know. I’ve become fond of you, and I thought you felt the same.” When she was silent, he looked into her eyes. “Was I wrong?”
She couldn’t lie to him and neither could she tell him the truth. If she continued to see him, she would hurt her best friend. She had to let him go. “I just can’t, Michael.”
He took a step back. “Would be nice to know why. Have I upset you, have I said something?”
She shook her head and looked to the ground.
“I’ll respect your wishes.” He turned and walked back to his buggy.
At that moment, she decided to tell him the truth. “Wait, Michael.” She’d tell him she didn’t want to see him until Gabbie had a boyfriend, or until Gabbie went home. He might think it silly, but she couldn’t risk losing him forever.
He turned around. “Jah.”
She licked her lips. “The thing is …”
“What?”
He was growing impatient with her, and she didn’t like the way that made her feel. “I’m trying to tell you the reasoning behind why I can’t see you for a while.”
“And, I’m waiting to hear it, but a man can’t wait forever.”
“It’s about Gabbie.”
“What about her?”
Martha swallowed hard. What she had to say would sound unreasonable, and maybe it was.
“What, Martha? Just say it.”
“I’m thinking how to say it.”
He shook his head. “Why don’t we just end things? It shouldn’t be this hard or this complicated. Goodbye, Martha.”
She didn’t wait for him to drive away. It would be too painful to watch the only man she’d ever liked drive away from her. She hurried back to the house and returned to her family, wondering if she’d just made a horrible mistake. Choosing between her friend and her potential boyfriend had been hard. By trying to keep everyone happy she’d made herself miserable, losing Michael.
“What did he want? Why didn’t he come inside?” her mother asked.
“He wanted to speak to me, and we spoke.” Martha walked up the stairs to her bedroom and closed the door. She needed to be alone and was glad Gabbie took her time in coming up to bed.
Chapter 29
Martha’s father shook her awake before sunup. He whispered, “I’ve got to visit some people tod
ay and I’m making an early start. I’m worried about your mudder and I want you to take her to the hospital after the girls are at school.”
Martha rubbed her eyes. “Okay.”
He continued, “Leave Micah with Amy.”
Martha nodded.
She had been so preoccupied with herself that she’d given no thought to her mother’s health. The tonic hadn’t helped and Mamm, rather than improving, was going downhill.
She woke her mother after the children had left for school. “Dat asked me to take you to the hospital.”
“Nee, I’ll be all right. Are the girls getting ready?”
“They’ve already left,” Martha said. “Dat will be upset with me if he comes home and I haven’t taken you to the hospital.”
Her mother sat up. “Okay, I’ll get ready. I can never talk your vadder out of anything once he gets his mind set on something.”
Martha left her mother alone to get ready.
“I’ll stay and help Amy look after Micah,” Gabbie said.
“You don’t mind?” Martha asked.
Gabbie laughed. “I love looking after Micah and playing with him.”
“Okay, denke.”
Martha was glad Gabbie wasn’t going to the hospital with them. Even though she was her best friend, she took a lot of energy out of her. Martha wanted to save all her strength to look after her mudder and concentrate on what the doctor had to say.
After waiting for hours in the hospital, they were shown to a room where they waited for another half hour before a doctor came to see them. Mrs. Yoder described her symptoms when she finally got to see the doctor.
“My best guess is postpartum thyroiditis. It’s a condition in which the thyroid becomes dysfunctional after childbirth. With the hormonal levels varying during pregnancy and birth, it’s a time where women become prone to developing thyroid dysfunction.” The doctor ran through the symptoms and her mother had most of them.
They were sent to another waiting room to see another doctor and to have a blood test.
“I hope your vadder is happy about this. I hate needles and doctors.”
“We need you better, Mamm.”
Just as the nurse called her mother’s name, Michael walked into the waiting room. Mrs. Yoder looked shocked to see him, and then whispered to Martha, “You stay here, and I can go in by myself.”
Michael nodded hello to Mrs. Yoder as she walked away.
“What are you doing here, Michael?”
“I called to see you and Gabbie told me where you were. I have to speak to you.”
Martha raised her eyebrows, glad that he was still talking to her after their last conversation.
“I know why you said you don’t want to see me. It’s Gabbie, isn’t it? I think she likes me, and you don’t want to upset her.”
Martha pressed her lips together.
“That’s it, isn’t it?” Michael asked.
Martha nodded. “I can’t upset her. She’s my very best friend. I do want to see you as much as I can too, but I just don’t know what to do. Whatever I do and whatever choice I make, someone will be upset.”
Michael smiled and leaned into the back of the gray vinyl chair. “Phew. I thought that might be it. I stayed awake all night thinking about why you didn’t want to see me when we get along so well.” He leaned toward Martha. “And you know what?”
“What?”
“It makes me like you even more that you are so considerate.”
Martha smiled and said, “But I still can’t see you. It would be awful for Gabbie.”
Michael licked his lips. “Gabbie won’t be here forever, Martha. I’ll wait. We can wait until she leaves and then her feelings won’t be hurt.”
“Don’t you have to go back home? I don’t know how long Gabbie will stay.”
She saw his dimple form in his cheek as he smiled. “I’m not going back to Ohio unless I’m taking you with me.”
Martha couldn’t stop the grin that formed on her face. “We’ll have a secret.”
“Jah, we will, but it won’t be a bad one. When Gabbie goes home, we’ll be together. I’ll wait for you. How about it?”
Martha nodded. “I’d like that. I’ll look forward to it.”
“I’ll go now. I have to get back to work, or Gabbie will spread rumors that I’m never at work.” Michael gave a little laugh and bumped shoulders with her.
Martha smiled, then he jumped up and she watched him walk away. It was a perfect solution. She could enjoy the company of her very best friend and she’d have a wonderful boyfriend when her friend went home.
Her mother came back into the waiting room and sat down next to her. “What was Michael doing here?”
She couldn’t tell her mother the truth about him. If Mamm found out about Gabbie and the couple of stunts she’d pulled, her mother would surely send her home. “He was visiting a friend, and he saw us, that’s all.”
Her mother arched an eyebrow. It had been a bad lie. The only people Michael would’ve known so far away from home would’ve been in the community and they would’ve heard if someone was in the hospital.
“Well, I’m all finished now,” her mother said.
“What do they think’s wrong with you?”
“You were there and heard that long term. It was just as Nellie thought; the blood test confirmed it. There’s something wrong with my thyroid.” Her mother stood up. “Let’s go; I’ll tell you more on the way.” As they waited for a taxi outside the hospital, her mother continued, “Were you thinking about Michael, or were you listening to what the doctor said?”
“I heard what he said about your thyroid. Did he say what to do about it?”
Her mother smiled and shook her head. Martha felt bad for thinking about a boy rather than listening to all that the doctor said, but when he had started using big words, Martha had zoned out.
“They’re talking about putting me on hormone replacement therapy.”
“Are you going to do that?”
“I guess I’ll have to. It’s only tablets; I don’t have to have needle jabs except to recheck once in a while.”
“Just as well Dat said to bring you here today.” A taxi pulled up in front of them.
When they got home, Gabbie waited until she was alone with Martha before she asked, “Why was Michael so anxious to see you today? He came here asking for you and hurried away. Did he go to see you at the hospital?”
“Can I smell cookies?” Martha asked.
“I baked apple cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Let’s have some now. I’ll put a pot of coffee on.” Martha followed Gabbie into the kitchen. “Well?” Gabbie asked when they were sitting down.
“Michael just wanted to talk to me about something to do with the charity event the other day, that’s all.”
“And he went all the way to the hospital to ask you about that?”
“Jah.”
“You’re a bad liar, Martha Yoder. I know he likes you and not me. It’s okay you don’t have to hide anything. Anyway, I still like Joseph.” Her lips formed a pout. “I wrote a letter to Sally asking her about Ilsa and Joseph. I’m hoping to get a letter back soon.”
“You really think there’s a chance they won’t get married?”
“Jah, that’s what I’m hoping.” Gabbie stood and lifted the fresh cookies off the baking tray and onto a plate. “Is your mudder coming down for coffee and cookies?”
“She’s upstairs having a sleep before the girls get home from school. Denke for helping out when I took Mamm to the hospital.”
“Anytime.”
Chapter 30
Two weeks later, the mailman blew his whistle signaling the mail delivery. Gabbie ran downstairs and stopped in front of Amy, who was just inside the front door holding a handful of letters. “Anything there for me, Amy?” Gabbie made a grab at the letters.
Amy swerved out of her way, closed the door, and continued to ignore Gabbie's whining while sifting through the letters looking for one add
ressed to herself. “Mamm, mail's here.”
“Ach, Amy, don't be cruel, you know how much I miss home.” Gabbie tried to peek over Amy's shoulder at the names written on the envelopes, but Amy kept moving about. “Please?” This disruption to what Gabbie wanted annoyed her beyond reason, so she made another grab for the post.
“Where are your manners, Gabbie? Wait your turn, can't you? My mudder and vadder must have theirs first, then I'll look for yours.”
“There’s nothing there for you is there, Amy?”
Amy frowned at her. “Nee, there’s not.”
“Again!” Gabbie screwed up her face, too eager to hear word from home to wait patiently like a mouse. Amy wasn't playing fair. With her third attempt, she managed to snatch the letters from her hands.
“Give those back at once, young lady,” Mrs. Yoder said, as she stood behind her with Micah on one hip.
Gabbie ignored her, sifting through, throwing anything not hers to the floor, until she saw her name.
“What do you think you’re doing, Gabbie? You cannot behave like this.” Mrs. Yoder snatched the remaining letters out of Gabbie’s hands. “Amy, pick up the letters on the floor. Gabbie, go to your room.”
Gabbie was shocked at Mrs. Yoder. The woman was normally quiet and meek. The new pills she was on for her thyroid condition had evidently kicked in. “That's mine. You give it back.” Gabbie's cheeks burned at the woman's nerve. That was her letter, and no one had a right to take it from her like that.
“Not nice is it, to have what is yours snatched from your grasp?” Mrs. Yoder said with a frown.
“Nee, so why did you do it, then?” Gabbie snarled.
“You will learn to wait for things, young lady. Patience is a virtue; you will need to learn that in life. Good manners are something I know your parents taught you.”
Gabbie couldn't listen to more of her lecturing, she wanted the letter in Mrs. Yoder’s hands, and she wanted it now. She didn't care about being virtuous or patient; she just wanted her letter. Gabbie snatched the letter from Mrs. Yoder and ran outside, shouting, “Sorry, I can't wait.”
She ran to a spot under some trees at the end of the field closest to the house. After she ripped open the envelope she began to read:
The Amish Deacon's Daughter Page 16
