An Amish Gift

by Cynthia Keller

  “I’ve watched you build the candy business, and you’re all ridiculously good at this stuff. So how about you turn your skills to bringing the store back to life? It’s not doing too badly, but I know it could be doing so much better.”

  “What do you want us to do?” Tim asked.

  “You’ve already helped me update some stuff since you started coming in,” Shep said to him. “But now I want all of us to go over everything, top to bottom. What we sell, how we sell it, how it looks. I need fresh eyes. Just because I was too stupid to ask for your help before doesn’t mean I can’t fix that mistake. So what do you say? Will you help me?”

  If anybody had told her that she’d hear her husband say those words, she’d have laughed, Jennie thought. Not only was he asking for help, he was asking their children for help. He had been watching their talents blossom over the past months and had come to appreciate them.

  “How about if we all go to the store together?” Willa said. “It makes more sense to be there so we can see what we’re talking about.”

  Shep gave her a quick salute. “First great idea.”

  “Brainstorming,” Tim said. “All suggestions welcome, no matter how crazy, okay?”

  “Absolutely,” Shep said with a smile. “The crazier, the better.”

  “How do we decide what to act on? I have to believe some of these suggestions are going to cost money,” Jennie put in.

  Shep turned to her. “You and I can decide if and what we’re willing to spend, okay?”

  “Fine,” she answered. “We’ll assume the sky’s the limit, then take it from there.”

  That Sunday, Shep and Tim went ahead to the store while Jennie and Willa finished their candymaking tasks. When Jennie pulled her car into a parking spot outside the store, an excited Scout jumped out to run ahead of them. Jennie entered and heard the jingle of the bell above the door. She saw at once that the space was a lot cleaner than she remembered it, and the area near the front door had been cleared.

  “Anybody here?” she called out.

  “In the back,” Shep answered.

  He and Tim came up front, Shep bending down to pet Scout, who jumped up on him as if they hadn’t seen each other in months.

  “More space up here,” Jennie observed.

  “We want to put a counter up front, but we’re waiting to go over everything with you guys. Let me show you.”

  Tim started to outline some of his suggestions. Jennie was astonished to see that he took genuine pleasure in laying out ideas for the store. Before she could say a word, Willa and he started tossing ideas back and forth.

  “Dad should be selling lots of other stuff besides the bikes,” Tim said. “I’ve got a whole bunch of websites and catalogs. Not just helmets, which he has already, but clothes, pumps, water bottles—everything you need or could want when you ride.” He pointed to one wall. “Here’s where we want to put gridwall to display it. This side would be for slatwall—where you display sneakers and great shoes for biking.”

  “Have you seen some of the fancy bikes around here?” Willa asked. “Dad should be selling the special seats, stuff like that. Do you offer customized paint jobs on the bikes, Dad?”

  “No one’s asked,” he said in amusement at his daughter’s businesslike tone. “But I could make that happen.”

  “I vote for a paint job for the whole place,” Jennie put in. “You know I’m a big believer in a new coat of paint.”

  “Carpeting? Is that possible?” Willa again.

  “Depends on how much we’re willing to invest, folks,” Shep said.

  “New lighting would be pretty great, too.” Tim made a rueful face, acknowledging how expensive that would be.

  Shep grabbed a yellow pad and a pen. “Whoa, too many ideas. We need a list.”

  The children were just getting warmed up. Tim was in favor of building a website, and Willa wanted it to show that the store was concerned about the environment and how cycling promoted healthy living. “No car exhaust, healthier for your body—”

  “Hold it,” Shep said, writing furiously.

  “An online newsletter,” Tim chimed in, “featuring events in the store and activities you’ll be promoting.”

  “Is it possible to have a mechanic—you or someone else—in back, and a salesperson up front?” Jennie asked. “People shouldn’t have to work to find a person to help them.”

  “Let’s hang some of the bikes on the wall. Or maybe a bunch going upward in a row, like they’re riding up the wall.” Willa was looking over Shep’s shoulder at his notes. “We haven’t even talked about the window displays yet.”

  Shep stopped writing and looked over at Jennie. He grinned. “I didn’t realize we had so many geniuses in the family,” he said.

  “These kids earn their keep,” she said, returning his grin.

  “It’s a good thing we like you,” Willa said, “or we wouldn’t share our genius with you.”

  Shep leaned over to kiss the top of her head. “Good thing,” he echoed.

  “Ewww, stop.” She pushed him away.

  “I kissed my child,” he said to Jennie. “Perish the thought!”

  “Daa-aad.” Willa’s voice rose to a whine, but her smile made it clear she was pleased.

  When they were done compiling all their suggestions, they sat down with Tim’s computer and a stack of catalogs and determined what they would order now and what could wait. The night before, Shep and Jennie had agreed to allocate three thousand dollars from both their earnings toward getting the project under way. Willa started placing actual orders online, while the other three moved bicycles around in anticipation of the changes in the store’s layout. Then, armed with paper towels and spray cleaner, the four of them did a thorough cleaning, making sure every inch of chrome on the bicycles shone and every surface they could reach was cleaned.

  It was after seven when they locked up the store for the night, exhausted. Only Scout, who had spent much of the day napping in a corner, had any energy left when they got home, bounding over to his food bowl and giving Jennie a questioning look.

  “As if you did anything today to deserve this,” she told him as she opened the dog food. “Really, once a freeloader, always a freeloader.”

  The family ate a quick dinner of grilled cheese sandwiches, which they agreed were the best things they had ever tasted, after the long, hard day. Shep was already sleeping when Jennie crawled into bed at ten-thirty and set her alarm clock. She wondered how she was going to get up early to start the busy day of candymaking ahead. Settling in under the covers, she felt Shep roll toward her in bed and, still asleep, put his arm around her. She closed her eyes, appreciating the warmth of him next to her. This was how she would get up in the morning, knowing they were on the road to becoming a family again.

  She was slow getting started the next day, and by midmorning, she decided she needed some fresh air. Scout saw her pick up his leash and ran to her, delighted to see that he would be getting an extra walk. The sky was gray and the day cold, with the feeling of impending snow. Scout trotted alongside her as she scanned the horizon, the fields dormant, the animals keeping warm in the barns. She decided she loved the forbidding weather as much as the spring sunshine; it revealed the majesty of the rolling landscape in a different way.

  Passing by the Fisher house, she was surprised to hear Mattie calling her name. She veered off the road toward the kitchen entrance. Mattie held the door open for her.

  “Aren’t you supposed to be working at the booth now?” Jennie asked, glad to step into the warmth of the kitchen, fragrant with the smell of fresh-baked bread.

  Without asking, Mattie poured a cup of coffee, putting in milk to make it the way she knew Jennie liked it. “A schedule mix-up, so there were two of us assigned to one shift. I am happy to stay home today, though. There is much to plan.”

  “Oh?”

  Mattie smiled. “I have news today.”

  Jennie smiled back, bringing the cup to her lips. “Good ne
ws, it sounds like.”

  “Zeke and I are getting married.”

  “What?” Jennie was so surprised, she almost spilled the coffee. She set it down on the counter. “Zeke, Barbara’s brother? The one who visited, who was at my barbecue?”

  “That Zeke, yes.”

  “But when …” She had so many questions, she didn’t know where to start.

  “You are one of the first to know we are getting married.”

  Jennie hugged her. “I’m honored. And I’m so, so happy for you!”

  “Thank you. It is very good.”

  “Very good? It’s wonderful!” Jennie grinned. “How did this happen? When have you even seen each other?”

  “I have known him for many years, of course. Remember, Barbara is his sister, and she is my sister-in-law. He has visited here a couple of times since Abraham is gone.”

  “When is the wedding?”

  “It will be in January.”

  “That’s so soon!” Jennie was taken aback.

  “The church service is first, then the afternoon and night are here. There will be a lot of food but many people help to cook and serve it.” She reached to take Jennie’s hand. “You and your family will come?”

  “Nothing could keep us away. This is the most exciting thing ever.”

  Mattie smiled. “No, but it is happy news.”

  “He seemed so nice that day I met him.”

  Mattie’s eyes seemed to brighten as she thought about him. “He is a good man, very good.”

  Jennie was thrilled to see the light in her friend’s eyes, a light that seemed to have been permanently dimmed when Abraham died.

  “Does this mean he will move here, to the farm?”

  Mattie nodded. “He will work with Peter. Zeke has always wanted a farm, so now he will have this one to work.”

  “I remember him saying he wanted to buy one.”

  “Yes, he almost did. It is fortunate that he didn’t, because then we would have a problem, with two farms in different places. We decided he should come here to live.”

  Jennie could only imagine how thrilled Peter must be to know that his mother was marrying a man who would be happy to run the farm. She hugged her friend again. “May I tell Shep?”

  “Yes. It is not a secret. But I wanted to tell you myself.”

  They talked for another few minutes before Mattie had to excuse herself to attend to dinner preparations. Jennie and Scout continued on their walk.

  “Can you believe it?” she asked the dog as she pulled her coat collar more tightly around her neck. “And he seems so great, too. This is the best news in the world.”

  Scout barked at something across the road.

  “You are so right,” Jennie said. “She totally does deserve it. I have to say, she’s one of my favorite people, even though she would reprimand me if I told her that. You know she won’t allow anyone to single her out for praise.”

  The day was growing colder, and she decided it was time for them to turn back for home. As she let herself in the front door, she heard the phone ringing and dashed to pick it up.

  “J, is that you?”

  It was Michael. She smiled, delighted to talk to another of her favorite people. “How are you,” she asked, struggling out of her coat while holding the receiver, “and how was your Thanksgiving?”

  There was a brief silence on the other end. “Fine, thanks.” His words were terse.

  Uh-oh, she thought. That didn’t sound good.

  “Anyway,” he went on quickly, “I wondered how you would feel about some uninvited guests popping in for Christmas.”

  “You guys want to come to us? That would be great.” She was pleased to realize that she meant it. This year she and her family were doing so well; it would be a very different holiday.

  “Not all of us guys, no. Just me and the kids. For a few days.”

  She hesitated, then decided it wasn’t appropriate for her to ask questions. “Of course, Michael. We’d love it. Come whenever and stay however long you like.”

  “Great.” He sounded relieved. “We’ll fly in and rent a car. Would it be okay if we came on the twenty-third?”

  “Sure. Would you like to stay over with us? We can do a little shifting around to make room.”

  “Could we? That would be terrific.”

  She had meant the offer but was shocked that he’d agreed to it rather than choosing a luxurious hotel. “That’ll be a huge treat for us,” she said.

  “I have to run to a meeting now, but I’ll call again with the timing when we get closer. Bye and thanks. Best to my brother and the kids, okay?”

  He hung up.

  The first thing she thought was how surprised Shep would be to hear that his brother was coming to stay with them and coming without his wife. Still, maybe she was making something out of nothing. Maybe Lydia had to be someplace. That didn’t make sense, though; he always spent Christmas with Lydia and the children. If he could fly here for the holiday, then he could fly wherever she might be, too. Maybe it was the way he had responded to the question about Thanksgiving that was giving her a bad feeling. She hoped there wasn’t trouble at home, and she couldn’t help thinking about her niece and nephew, crossing her fingers that they wouldn’t have to deal with bad news.

  As she put down the telephone receiver, Scout came up to her and nuzzled his face against her leg. She scratched under his chin, lost in thought about the contrast in her two encounters this morning.

  Chapter 18

  With the help of a flashlight, Jennie walked through the chilly darkness to the mailbox, using the trip as an excuse to get a breath of fresh air. After spending so many hours working without a break, she needed a minute to clear her head. She reached into the box and extracted a pile of envelopes and circulars.

  “Bills and more bills,” she muttered, flipping through the stack. She pulled out a square envelope, addressed by hand and personally delivered by the writer, as evidenced by the lack of a stamp. “Wow—a piece of actual mail from a human being!”

  The envelope contained a handmade Christmas card from the Fishers, an angel colored with markers and decorated with glitter. She was late in mailing out their holiday cards and decided she would talk to Willa about making their own instead of sending out the usual boring store-bought ones. The effort put into the Fishers’ card was touching, and the sentiment clearly genuine. As usual, she thought, if she followed their guide, she couldn’t go wrong.

  She went into the dining room, which had been converted into a shipping station, with cartons, packing tape, and scissors arranged to speed the process of getting packages ready to go. Shep, Tim, and Willa were all there, working as fast as they could to pack the bags and tins of peanut brittle and lollipops into appropriate-sized brown boxes. It was fortunate, she and Shep had agreed, that the bicycle business slowed down for the season as her business picked up, because he was able to help fulfill the orders. As Christmas drew closer, the four of them worked frantically not to fall behind.

  As if they had time to make cards, she thought. What had she been thinking? They could barely keep up with all they had to do as it was.

  “Check out this lovely card from the Fishers,” she said, holding it up. No one even glanced over. She went into the living room to prop it up on the mantel next to the few others they had received, then returned to the dining room to pitch in with the packing. “Shep, did you ever get out your customer holiday cards?”

  “Yup. All done.” He didn’t look up from the carton he was taping shut.

  “That’s great. I’m sorry I forgot to ask before.” She sat down at the open laptop to check if any new orders had come in over the past half hour.

  “By the way,” he went on, “I just got in a bunch of new bike accessories, so I hope somebody will help me get them on display at some point.”

  “No problem,” Tim said.

  Jennie looked over at her son. Even though he was working long hours for her and Shep, he’d been able to f
ind time to spend with some new friends he had made at school. It had taken him almost a year and a half, but at last he was settling in with people he liked. That had seemed to be the final missing piece for him, and he was no longer at the mercy of his temper; he had let go of most of the anger he had been carrying around when they first moved here. On top of that, the more time he spent with his father, the better they got along. Tim had been willing to open the door to a new relationship with his father, and Shep had been only too glad to go through it.

  Willa’s voice interrupted her reverie. “If we get a big rush in the last twenty-four hours before deadline, we’re going to be in trouble, Mom.”

  “I have an idea. Do you think we could hire Evie and her mother for that week, let’s say the nineteenth to the morning of the twenty-fourth? I know it’s short notice …”

  Evie was Willa’s friend from school, and Jennie had met the girl’s mother several times when they were picking up or dropping off their daughters at each other’s houses. The mother had mentioned to Jennie that she was looking for work.

  “I’ll ask.”

  “I like her mother,” Jennie reflected aloud. “Maybe I could invite them over for dinner one night.”

  “Just make it after the holidays, okay?” Willa asked. “I’m ready to fall asleep with my head in my plate most nights.”

  “It’ll be over soon,” Shep reassured her. “Let’s just be grateful we have such a problem—being too busy.”

  “If all goes well, in the spring you’ll be just as busy at the shop,” Jennie said. “It looks great. People are going to be really surprised by everything that’s going on.”

  Although they hadn’t followed up on some of the more expensive plans, all four of them had been involved in carrying out a lot of their brainstorming list for the store. The website was up, and Willa gave Tim information to add to it whenever she could find the time. She was also working on a green campaign to encourage biking. Tim had set up software so they could view the buying histories of their customers and inform them of new items that might be of interest, or point out what was old or perhaps missing in their gear. He liked combining his computer skills with business, and Jennie was amazed on several occasions to find him in his room reading industry newsletters about cycling. She wished she could help out more, but the three of them had handled the lion’s share of it and seemed to be doing an excellent job without her. The store wasn’t physically transformed yet, although they were working toward that goal, and the new sky-blue paint made it brighter and more inviting. They were cautiously hopeful about the upcoming spring season.