Chapter 14
Miriam was a little tired after doing her grocery shopping. She loaded it into the buggy, and was about to drive home when she spied the little café across the road. She had been in there before, as one of the ladies in the community owned the quilt shop only one block away, and also as Miriam occasionally enjoyed a good cup of kaffi there after her grocery shopping.
Miriam needed to get back to the cleaning, but after all, Tiffany was back at Eden working, so she figured she could allow herself a short time to collect her thoughts. She used to relax when driving the buggy with her old horse, Henry, but she had given Henry to her dochder, Rachel, as she felt better with Rachel and her new boppli in a buggy pulled by an old, quiet horse.
Miriam’s new horse was quiet enough, but he was young, and still inclined to be a little scared when cars passed too closely and roared their engines. She certainly could not relax while driving him. It wasn’t that he was flighty, but he did startle upon occasion, even though he settled soon after. He was a typical young horse, but that did not do anything to help Miriam relax while driving him into town.
The only available table in the café was at the front, overlooking all the passers-by. Miriam usually sat at a table down the back, where she could watch everyone. She didn’t like to sit in such a public position, but this time she had no option. She ordered coffee and a large piece of carrot cake. Miriam always considered that baked goods tasted nicer when she herself didn’t have to make them.
Her thoughts at once turned to Jonas. He had hurried away last night and she had not had a chance to talk to him. She still had no idea what he wanted to talk to her about, but she figured it would all come out in time. Nevertheless, there was a niggling worry that settled in the pit of her stomach. Jonas certainly had something on his mind and she wanted to know what it was.
What if Jonas wanted to tell her he was going to marry someone else? Miriam’s hands shook at the thought so she placed her coffee cup back on the table. Nee, it surely wasn’t that. He had not shown even the slightest interest in any of the other women in the community. Another sudden thought struck Miriam. What if Jonas had been writing to a lady from another community? That sort of thing happened all the time. Yes, that made sense now. Jonas truly was going to tell her he intended to marry someone else.
Miriam dug her fingers into her palms to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. Jonas was in love with someone else. Why couldn’t he have fallen in love with her?
Just then, a dark shadow fell over the table. Miriam looked up to see Timothy Yoder standing there. “May I join you?” he asked, but before he had even finished his sentence, he was sitting opposite her.
Miriam just wanted to be alone with her thoughts. She could hardly speak for fear that she might burst into tears.
Timothy did not even appear to notice that Miriam was upset. “Have you thought over my proposal yet?” he asked her brusquely.
Miriam shook her head, and finally found her voice. “Nee, there is nothing to think over. I have given you my answer, and it won’t change. I’m sorry Timothy, but I just can’t marry you. I will not marry you.”
Timothy’s cheeks puffed out, and hard lines formed around the corners of his mouth. “I suggest you think about it.” His tone was harsh.
Miriam by now was becoming quite annoyed. “No, Timothy. I don’t mean to be rude, but you’re upsetting me. I won’t marry you, not now, not ever, so I must ask you to leave.”
Timothy’s jaw worked up and down, but he made no move to leave. Just then, another shadow fell over the table.
“Sorry I’m late, Miriam,” Jonas said, casting a pointed look at Timothy’s chair.
Timothy stood to his feet abruptly, almost knocking over the chair, and marched out of the café.
Jonas leaned across the table to Miriam. “I’m sorry to pretend I was here to meet you, Miriam, but I figured it was a peaceable way to get Timothy to leave. He looked quite angry. Did he upset you? You look like you’ve been crying. Should you see the bishop about his behavior? Would you like me to speak to Timothy?”
Miriam shook her head. “It wasn’t him so much. It’s just that he caught me at a bad time, when I was worrying about…” Her voice trailed away. “Things,” she added. “He asked me to marry him the other day and I said no, and he just now turned up to insist that I think it over. I told him again that I would never marry him, but he didn’t want to take no for an answer. I’m afraid I might have been rude to him.” Miriam sniffled into a tissue.
“I don’t like to see you so upset,” Jonas said.
Miriam attempted to smile at him. Now that she was upset, she figured it wouldn’t matter too much if she was upset even more. “What was it that you were going to tell me the other day, Jonas?” She hoped he would just come straight out and tell her that he was going to marry someone else, as then she could move on with her life and do her best to get over him.
Jonas looked down at the table and shifted in his seat. “It’s just that I was going to say, well, that is to say, um.” He shot Miriam a brief look and then looked away again. “Do you mind me asking why you didn’t want to marry Timothy Yoder?”
Miriam frowned at him. Did Jonas think she should have accepted Timothy’s proposal? Was Jonas aware of her feelings for him and embarrassed by her feelings, given that he was going to marry someone else? Miriam shook her head to clear her thoughts. “Because I don’t have any feelings for Timothy, obviously.”
Was it her imagination, or did Jonas look pleased? “You don’t?” he asked her.
“Of course not. I hope he doesn’t trouble me anymore. I told him down by the pond that I wasn’t interested, yet he persisted in asking me to think it over today.”
Jonas shook his head. “If he troubles you any further, Miriam, please consider telling the bishop. So are you saying that you don’t like Timothy as a husband, not that you never intend to marry?”
Miriam’s brow puckered. “I’m not sure exactly what you mean.”
Jonas shook his head again. “You don’t have anything against getting married again, do you?”
Miriam shook her head. “Nee, I don’t.” I would marry you in a heartbeat, Jonas, she added silently.
Jonas bit his lip, and didn’t say anything. After a few moments, Miriam looked around the room at the other patrons. They were the only Amish people there, so no one would tease her about sitting with Jonas. Not that she minded being teased—it was all good-natured, but still, it always made her feel a little embarrassed. She looked back at Jonas to see he was fidgeting uncomfortably.
“Mary Stolfuz told me that you said you would never get married again,” he suddenly blurted out, taking Miriam by surprise.
“Excuse me?” she said in shock. “What did you say, Jonas?” Surely she had misheard him.
Jonas’s face flushed beet red. “I hope you don’t mind me repeating what I heard,” he said.
Miriam drummed her fingers on the table impatiently. “What exactly did you hear?”
Jonas spread out his hands on the table and stared at them. “Mary Stolfuz said that you would never get married again.”
Miriam was taken aback. “Why ever would she say such a thing?”
Jonas shrugged. “She said you told her.”
Miriam thought back. Mary Stolfuz was not a friend of hers, and she only knew her to say a passing Hiya at the meetings every second week. Could she have possibly said anything to give Mary that impression? Miriam was sure she hadn’t. Aloud she said, “I really don’t know Mary Stolfuz, and I’m sure I have never said such a thing to her, let alone to anyone else. She must be confusing me with someone else. Why, it’s not even true.”
An unmistakable look of relief passed over Jonas’s face. “That’s strange. She seemed absolutely certain, and she told me that more than once.”
Miriam frowned. How could Mary make such a mistake? Unless it wasn’t a mistake, and Mary had told Jonas that for her own reasons. But what reasons could
she have? Mary was married, so it wasn’t as if she wanted Jonas for herself. Miriam thought on it some more, and then something dawned on her. “Jonas, isn’t Mary Timothy Yoder’s schweschder?”
Jonas was silent for a moment, and then nodded slowly. “Jah.”
So that was it. Miriam was no longer puzzled as to why Mary would tell Jonas such a fanciful story. She realized that Mary said it to help Timothy’s chances, but surely that meant that Mary thought Jonas was interested in her, Miriam? Why else would Mary say such a thing, if not to stop any interest Jonas had in Miriam?
Miriam rubbed her temples in an attempt to forestall the throbbing headache that was forming. None of this made any sense. She shot a look at Jonas, but he was no help, squirming uncomfortably in his seat.
Miriam sighed and looked away, and then gasped when she saw the person on the other side of the room.
Chapter 15
“Jonas, look at that!”
Jonas spun around and he, too, gasped with surprise.
There, sitting at the very back of the café, was Kevin Smith. He was stuffing a burger into his mouth, and he had another burger on his plate, along with a side serve of the biggest plate of fries Miriam had ever seen. After he consumed that burger, he drank the whole contents of a very large soda before turning to the other burger.
“That poor man looks absolutely starving,” Miriam said with surprise. “I was sure I provided him with plenty of food at Eden.”
“Perhaps he has an eating disorder,” Jonas offered. “I have heard that Englischers do suffer from eating disorders from time to time.”
Miriam nodded. “I have never seen anyone eat so much and so fast, either.” She averted her eyes, feeling bad for staring. “Still, it is none of my business,” she added.
“Perhaps that’s why he’s been acting suspiciously,” Jonas said. “I suspected Kevin of being the jewelry thief, but now I wonder if he was acting suspiciously simply because he wanted more food.”
Miriam shot another look at the man. “Yes, and I’ve noticed that Susan scolds him when she thinks he’s eating too much.”
At that point, Kevin must have noticed them watching, because he beckoned them over. Miriam and Jonas walked over to his table. “Won’t you join me?” he asked. “That is, unless I’ve disturbed your meal?”
Miriam shook her head. “I only came here for some coffee, but I’ve finished it, and Jonas happened to see me when passing. We were both about to leave.”
Kevin wrung his hands. “Would you mind not mentioning to my wife that you saw me here?” he said. “I mean, I know you Amish don’t lie or anything, but please don’t volunteer the information to her, if you would?”
Miriam and Jonas assured him that they wouldn’t.
“Susan has me on a strict diet,” Kevin said. “She’s worried about my cholesterol. Not that it’s high or anything,” he said, waving a hand dismissively, but then he frowned. “Well, it wasn’t before, but it probably is now. I’ve been binge eating, because she won’t let me eat a normal sized meal. She watches everything I eat, and then she scolds me. She doesn’t eat much, and I don’t think she realizes how much men actually eat. I’ve been absolutely ravenous, I tell you!”
He broke off when a waitress appeared at his table. Miriam and Jonas both said they didn’t want to order anything, but Kevin ordered a spiced pumpkin latte and a slice of apple pie.
“I hope you don’t think I’m terrible,” he said when he had finished his food. “I’ve been starving, so hungry that I can’t even think straight. Susan wants me to live on lettuce leaves. I’m going to order a whole pie to go.”
With that, he picked up his large backpack from the floor. Miriam and Jonas exchanged glances. They had previously suspected that his backpack contained stolen jewelry. He showed them the contents of the backpack.
Miriam looked inside. It contained several cans of soda, and all manner of candy. “So that’s what you were doing in my kitchen the other day,” Miriam said. “You were looking for food.”
A look of confusion flickered over Kevin’s face. “Yes, I told you that. What did you think I was doing?” He was silent for a few more moments, before saying, “Oh, did you think I was the jewelry thief?” He burst into laughter. “I’m actually a lawyer.”
Miriam considered that being a lawyer didn’t prevent someone from being a jewelry thief, but she merely smiled and nodded. Tiffany had said that Susan’s engagement ring might not be stolen after all. Kevin continued to laugh.
“Do you have any idea who the jewelry thief could be?” Jonas asked him.
Kevin stopped laughing. “As a matter of fact, I don’t. I can see why the two of you were suspicious, though. It seems like it would have to be one of the guests, and that doesn’t leave many options.”
“It surely has to be one of the guests,” Jonas pointed out. “The keys to Tiffany’s car were stolen right from Miriam’s kitchen, and then there was your engagement ring.”
Kevin flushed beet red. “I don’t actually know if that engagement ring was stolen,” he said.
Miriam was puzzled. “What do you mean?” she asked him.
He hesitated a long time before answering. “Susan and I had a big argument over my eating, and she took off her engagement ring and threw it at me. In fact, we’ve had a lot of arguments over my eating in the short time since we got married. Then she went to take a bath.” He stopped speaking and held up both his hands. “I know you’re thinking she shouldn’t have lied to the sheriff, but she was so upset, that I don’t think she actually was lying. I think she forgets taking off her ring and throwing it at me and she really thinks she left it in the room.”
Miriam didn’t see how that could be the case, but she simply nodded.
“Have you told the sheriff?” Jonas asked him.
Kevin hurried to reassure them. “Yes, I called the sheriff from my cell phone as soon as I could and told him the situation. I apologize that I didn’t tell you, but I was so embarrassed.”
Jonas frowned deeply. “If the ring wasn’t stolen, then it means that the jewelry thief might not be one of the guests. Now the only connection to Eden is that someone stole the key and then took Tiffany’s car.”
“It is strange that whoever it was returned Tiffany’s car,” Miriam supplied.
Jonas and Kevin both agreed. “It is a very puzzling situation,” Jonas said.
“And if the engagement ring has merely fallen down behind a floorboard—and mind you, I’ve checked,” Kevin said, “then there has been only one robbery. It’s strange that there was one small jewelry robbery in town, but the thief stole Miss Tiffany’s car to commit the crime. What’s more, it’s the only jewelry robbery that’s been reported.”
Jonas nodded. “None of it makes any sense, but hopefully the sheriff will soon throw some light onto the situation. Meanwhile, with Miriam’s permission, I can have a thorough look for the engagement ring, perhaps by taking up a floorboard and then replacing it as good as new.”
“Of course.” Miriam smiled at him. “I hope Jonas can find your engagement ring for you, Kevin.” Miriam, however, was deep in thought. Did this mean she should no longer suspect the guests? But why would someone steal a key from Eden and drive Tiffany’s car to town simply to commit one small robbery?
Chapter 16
Miriam drove her buggy home, having more questions than answers. Why would Mary Stolfuz say such a thing to Jonas? Did Mary think Jonas was interested in Miriam, knowing that her brother, Timothy, was about to ask Miriam to marry him? And what did Jonas think about her? Was she simply a friend, or did he see her as more than a friend?
And then there was the matter of the jewelry theft. Miriam did not know about such matters, but even she thought it strange that there had been one small robbery and the thief had not struck again. And why steal a key from Eden to drive the car into town to rob a jewelry store?
Miriam was so preoccupied that she stopped watching her horse’s ears for a moment. Usually, her ho
rse’s ears pointed to the direction in which he would shy, so she was usually able to divert his attention by gently jiggling the reins or speaking to him. This time, however, Miriam was distracted.
A plover darted up from the bushes right in front of the horse’s face. The horse shied violently and then broke into a gallop. Miriam was thankful for her fast reflexes, because she managed to stop the horse. Still, even when the horse was at a standstill, he was shaking and had broken into a lather of sweat. Miriam got down from the buggy, keeping a careful hold on the reins, and walked to the horse to reassure him. She stroked his neck and spoke to him calmly.
Miriam was standing right next to the pond, and wanted to go around the horse and stand on higher ground, but she wanted to wait until he was calm. She didn’t want to risk the horse taking fright again just as she was standing in front of him, and he was still trembling.
Just as Miriam thought the horse was calming down, a flash of yellow ran between the horse’s legs.
The horse took off, bumping into Miriam and sending her flying backward into the pond. She fell heavily, and threw out her wrist to save herself.
The pond was shallow in that part, but Miriam was soaked from head to toe. Tears pricked her eyes as a sharp pain shot through her wrist, as if someone had stuck a red hot poker into it every time she moved it.
Miriam pulled herself from the pond with her good arm and then sat on the bank. She felt awfully sorry for herself and it was all she could do not to burst into tears. Just then, Cuddles appeared and stared at her, his bottom teeth protruding.
“Was that you?” Miriam addressed the little dog. “I’ll have you know that you frightened my horse, and you’ve probably broken my wrist.”
The little dog walked over and licked Miriam’s shoe. She could not help but laugh at the comical expression on his face. “Where’s your owner?” she asked him. “I hope she’s nearby, because I’m in a lot of pain, and I don’t think I can walk far.”
Amish Romance Page 7
