He swallowed. “I know business has been slow. I can see from your face you know that too, but it will get better now . . .” He trailed off.
I wondered if he was going to say that it would get better now that Zeke was gone.
A horn honked outside the greenhouse. Tucker stepped around me. “They’re back.” He removed his handkerchief from the back pocket of his trousers and wiped his damp forehead.
I followed him outside. I saw Lois speaking to Edith and Enoch, who was holding Ginny. I let out a breath. It was still surprising to see my nephew back home. I hesitated for a moment while Tucker kept walking toward the little cluster.
“Aunt Millie!” Enoch called. “We are surprised to see you back again so soon.”
“Lois wanted to see the greenhouse.”
“Oh, I did,” Lois said, nodding with a little too much enthusiasm to be sincere.
He smiled. “I was just telling your friend how nice it is to be back in Holmes County. I’m surprised by how much I have missed it and this place.” He gestured to the property and then looked at his sister, who was staring at her shoes. “I only wish I could have come at a happier time for the family. Edith, you should go rest.”
“Nee,” she said. “Working in the garden has always helped me, and that’s what I plan to do. It’s what our daed always did in hard times.”
“Our father never had hard times like these,” Enoch argued. “Let me take over for a few days, so you can relax.”
She frowned. “Brother, I have been taking care of this greenhouse for many years through more difficult times than this. Just like any Amish person worth their salt, I need to work. I accept your help, but I can’t sit in the house while there is work to be done. That’s not the Amish way. That’s not my way.”
He looked around. “Work for what? The plants are cared for. I’m sure Tucker made sure of that. There are no customers. Zeke kept the customers away. We need to think of a way to bring them back. I can do that for you. I have had a lot of success in business in my English life. You’ve worked so hard for so long, and you have just been through a terrible trauma. It’s all right to take a rest, Edith.”
I raised my brow. “What are you suggesting?”
“Perhaps it would help to have a man take over the business again. You are the best with plants, Edith, but I can do better on the business side.”
“That is the biggest load of cra—” Lois began, but I squeezed her arm. She snapped her mouth closed.
Edith stood even straighter and after glancing at her young daughter, who was listening to all of this, said, “I’m sorry you think I have done such a poor job managing the business, brother. However, I can assure you that I have done as gut a job as any man or woman could. What happened here on Sunday has temporarily scared my customers away, but they will come back. I’m so confident that they will return, I am holding the opening season bonfire just like our daed used to at the beginning of every growing season. I haven’t done it since Daed died, but it’s time to bring it back.”
“You can’t be serious,” Enoch said. “What if no one comes? You will be the laughingstock of the district.”
“That’s just the risk I will have to take then. I’m not afraid of taking risks either, Enoch. It’s something I have had to learn to do as a widow, raising three children on my own. I have my community to support me, but I can also be proud of what I have done.”
I felt my mouth curl into a smile.
Lois started to clap. “You go, girl.”
Enoch scowled. “Everyone coming will be talking about you. Do you really want to deal with that scrutiny?” He placed a hand on his chest. “I know what it’s like to have the district against you. I don’t know that it’s a good decision for your delicate temperament.”
Lois shook with anger beside me and looked as if she was gearing up to say something really scathing. I squeezed her arm in warning.
“I can face them because I have nothing to hide.” As she said this her voice wavered, and I wondered if perhaps her assertion wasn’t completely true. She shook her head. “Besides, brother, I don’t know why you are so concerned. I’m glad you were with me today to go to the sheriff’s department. That was very hard. However, I don’t need you to hold my hand any longer. I am a capable woman and have been since you decided to leave the family.”
“Edith, that’s not fair.” He glanced at me. “What choice did I have?”
My heart constricted. I knew he meant to hurt me with his question. He might as well have said that my mistake had forced him to leave. Of course, the past still lingered. I’d been a fool to think he could forgive me so readily.
“What choice do I have but to ensure this greenhouse survives so that my children have a future? The bonfire is the best way to show customers that I’m still open and ready for their business.” She lifted her chin. “I will be inviting all the Englisch and Amish in Harvest, and you cannot change my mind. The bonfire is this Friday night. I hope you will come to support my children and me.”
“I think you are making a terrible mistake,” Enoch said.
She looked up at her older brother. “It’s mine to make, not yours.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Edith picked up her daughter and went into the greenhouse. Lois, the two men, and I watched her go.
“Wow, she’s one tough cookie,” Lois said.
I couldn’t agree more.
“She’s being ridiculous,” Enoch said. “The greenhouse isn’t in any financial position to host a bonfire. That’s going to cost a lot of money, especially if she insists on inviting the entire community. How will she feed all those people?”
“I’m sure our Amish district will help,” I said. “And many Englischers in the village will too.”
He looked at me. “Yes, because the Amish district never judges the members of its community.”
I felt as if I had been slapped across the face. Before I could say anything, he stomped away. To my surprise, Tucker followed him.
Lois put her hands on her hips. “What on earth was that all about?”
I smoothed my dress over my waist, not because it was wrinkled, but because I didn’t want Lois to see the tears that had gathered in my eyes. “It’s a very long story.”
“I love long stories, and it might help me with my book.”
“This story wouldn’t, and as your friend, I would ask you not to put it in your book.”
She looked me in the eye. “If you asked me to do that, you have my word that I would not.”
Some of the pain in my heart lessened at her promise. An old proverb came to mind. “Love always finds a home in the heart of a friend.” Lois was my true friend, even with the great gaps in our lives together. She would still love me even after my story.
As we stood outside the greenhouse, I gave her the short version of what had happened ten years ago with Enoch.
“So you feel like it was your fault that he left your district.”
“I don’t feel it was my fault; I know it was. My brother told me as much, and he died without ever seeing his son again. That’s what causes me the most guilt. He so desperately wanted to see his son just once before he died.” Tears sprang again to my eyes.
She shook her finger in my face. “Nope, I’m not having that. Enoch could have come back anytime. It’s clear he still had ties to the community here if he knew that Edith was running the greenhouse. He would have heard about his father’s death. It was his choice and his choice alone not to come back.”
“You can be very bossy when you want to be.”
She grinned. “It’s one of the many perks that comes with age.”
I had to agree with her there.
“I wouldn’t be too worried about the bonfire failing. If there is one thing the entire community of Harvest loves, it’s a party,” she said. “I will spread the word to everyone in the village, and we will blow it up.”
“Why would we want to blow it up?” I asked, alarmed.
<
br /> “It’s just an expression. The young folks say it.”
“Not Amish young folks,” I replied.
“Yeah, probably not.”
I knew she was right about Harvest coming out for the bonfire. I was constantly surprised by the high number of community activities and special events the little village organized. I knew a lot of that had to do with the force of nature that was Margot Rawlings, but the people of the village, both Englisch and Amish, had to be willing to chip in too. Margot couldn’t do it all on her own. “Maybe I should call Margot.”
Lois shook head. “No, I think that might be taking it too far. From what I gathered of Edith’s speech, she wants to prove she can do this. If you invited Margot to help out, she would take over faster than you could say Father Christmas. Invite her to come though. That will be good for Edith’s business.”
Again, I knew my eccentric friend was right. Lois might be a character, but she had a gut head on her shoulders.
“I’ll talk to my granddaughter about providing some of the food,” she offered. “I think it would be a great way for the two women to band together. Maybe it can be a fresh start for both of them after Zeke.”
“That’s a nice idea,” I said to Lois. “I hate to keep you here much longer, but I would like to speak to Edith privately before we leave.”
Lois seemed to note the serious expression on my face. “It’s time for a big heart-to-heart, I take it. Go. I never got a chance to do my snooping, so this will give me the time I need. First, I have a question for Ginny.”
“What’s that?”
Her eyes sparkled. “You’ll see.”
Lois and I walked into the greenhouse together. Ginny played with a faceless doll on the concrete floor while her mother worked. The very idea of the child being so close to the spot where a man had died gave me chills.
Lois walked over to Ginny. “I heard that you have some kittens.”
The little girl’s eyes shone. “Ya. Five kittens. The peach kitten is for aenti. His name is Peaches.”
Lois grinned. “She already told me about her claim on that one. I heard you were looking for good homes for all of them. My granddaughter would love a kitten, and I think it would be a very nice surprise for her. She could use a little happiness now. Would you show me the kittens and help me pick the right one? I promise I won’t even think about the peach kitten.”
Ginny jumped to her feet and clutched her doll to her chest. She looked at her mother for permission, and Edith gave a slight nod. Then Ginny took Lois by the hand and pulled her to the part of the greenhouse where the back door was. It was the same door that I had seen Reuben run through the day I’d found Edith standing over Zeke’s dead body. I wish I could have stayed and been there while Deputy Aiden questioned him.
Edith walked down the rows of flowers with a tightly woven basket in one hand and a small pair of clippers in the other. She pruned and deadheaded the flowers to make sure they would look their very best when customers came back to the greenhouse. I knew they would come back. Our community was built on forgiveness. Whatever they might believe about Edith, they were compelled to forgive her. I also knew that she would recover from any financial mistakes that had been made. She would build the business back up just as she’d told her brother she would. I was very proud of her determination and dedication to hard work. Hard work was the Amish way. We never shied away from it.
“You are probably like Enoch and think I am foolish for having the bonfire.” She clipped a dead blossom off an orange marigold and tossed it into her basket.
“I don’t think you’re making a mistake at all. In fact, I believe this is the time to hold your chin up just as you are. You can’t cower. It will only make things worse for you.”
“I’m not thinking of myself. It’s for the children.” She closed her eyes for a moment to hold back tears.
“‘A mother is a gardener of God, tending to the hearts of her children,’ ” I said. “That’s how the saying goes, and I know you are doing this to take care of your children in the best way you know how.”
She looked at me. “I am because I failed them before.”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, Aenti,” she whimpered. “I wanted to tell you before. I wanted to tell you weeks ago and again when I helped you put your summer garden in. I could not work up the nerve. I was afraid.”
“What, child? You never have to be afraid of me.” I clasped my hands in front of me.
“I’m not afraid of you, but I didn’t want to see the disappointment on your face, and now that Zeke is dead, it’s so much worse that I didn’t tell you before. I have made a huge mistake.”
“Just tell me. You know what happened with Enoch and me all those years ago. I’m not in any position to judge another person’s mistakes. Only Gott can be your judge and He looks on a repentant heart with kindness and love.”
She placed her basket and clippers on a table beside a large, pink, potted rose bush. “Gott will judge me harshly for what I’ve done.”
I felt my pulse quicken. Was my niece about to tell me she’d killed Zeke Miller? Nee, that wasn’t possible. Edith may have taken a misstep, but she wouldn’t take another person’s life.
I heard Ginny’s laughter float through the open back door of the greenhouse and I considered the possibility. But nee, Edith wasn’t a murderer. I gripped my hands more tightly together. Unless it was to save her children. I shivered and felt worse than ever. “Did Zeke hurt the children?”
Her face paled. “Nee. It was nothing like that. He hurt their future maybe, but he never touched them.”
I let out a breath. That was a great relief. “What do you mean when you say he hurt their future?”
She wouldn’t meet my eyes. “I have been so stupid, Aenti. After all these years of managing this greenhouse by myself, I turned it over to the first man who asked, and stood by while he made one wrong choice after another. Zeke wasn’t gut with money, his own or mine. I knew this before we were even promised to be married. I saw how he would spend and spend on things that he could never even use as an Amish man. He had a car, for one. Did you know that?”
I shook my head.
“He did, just because he wanted it. He fought against the idea of the simple Amish life. He was greedy, and he wanted material things. He was also interesting and exciting, and I think I loved him in my way just as I loved Moses. Both of those men were flawed. Moses had his demons, and Zeke had his greed.”
I started to speak words of comfort, but she shook her head. “Nee, please do not make excuses for me. I was swept up in the romance of an attractive, gallant man loving me or what I thought was loving me. I know now he didn’t care for me at all. It was my money he wanted. He courted me with such attention and care, I was swept right off my feet. Then when we were engaged, he asked to be involved in the greenhouse. As an Amish man, he would be in control of the greenhouse when we were married, so I thought it was best for our future to give it to him. I turned over the ledger, the accounts, and all the money I had saved in case I ever needed it.” She closed her eyes. “He spent it all. Every last cent, and then he began saying that we couldn’t pay my employees. He let them go, one by one. Tucker was the last. I knew when he fired so many of my employees that things were bad. I tried to talk to him about it, but he refused to discuss it with me. He said he was in charge of the greenhouse and I should cook and take care of the children.”
I felt anger in the pit of my stomach over how he’d betrayed my niece’s trust, but I said nothing. This was her story to tell without my commentary on it.
“I finally gathered up the courage to look at the numbers myself. He would be away for days at a time, and after watching him when he was here, I knew where he hid the papers. How stupid I was.” She shook her head. “I had just found the proof I needed the morning I came to see you at your home. Even though I didn’t tell you why, I did tell you that I was going to end the engagement.”
“Where did
you tell him it was over?”
She pressed her lips together. “Here at my home. Thankfully, Enoch was here. Zeke was so angry. I was afraid of what he would do.”
“What did he do?”
She lifted her eyes to me. “Zeke told me it was the right thing to do.” Tears sprang to her eyes. “He told me that he’d met another woman and she was Englisch. He planned to leave the community to be with her. He wasn’t upset. He was relieved.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You knew about Darcy?”
“Darcy?” she asked.
“Oh.” I grimaced. Clearly, she hadn’t known the name of the other woman. I wished I hadn’t said it.
“That’s her name, isn’t it?” she asked. “I’ve known about her since Saturday, but I didn’t know her name.”
I couldn’t forget the fact that Enoch had witnessed the breakup. “Could Enoch have done something to Zeke . . .” I trailed off.
She scowled. “You have always thought my brother was trouble.”
“Nee, I have not. I thought he made poor choices when he was young. I have no right to judge the man he is today. I don’t know him, but I know he would want to protect you and the children. He came back here, didn’t he, at your request? He did not come back to Holmes County for anyone else.”
“Enoch didn’t even know what I was doing. I went to the front yard and met Zeke’s buggy. I told him before he even got out. He told me about the Englisch woman and turned the buggy around just like that. It was the last time I ever saw him alive.” She cleared her throat. “Will you tell the police?”
“I will if I have to. If I can, I will keep this to myself.”
“Thank you, Aenti. I’m sorry about becoming so upset over Enoch. I’m just so happy that he’s home.”
“Will he rejoin the community?” I asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t think so. He . . .” She trailed off.
I would never know what she would have said next because Lois burst into the greenhouse holding a snow-white kitten. “Ginny and I picked the perfect one for Darcy. Isn’t she a doll?”
Matchmaking Can Be Murder Page 20
