His New Amish Family

by Patricia Davids

  “I will check in the kitchen to see if they have them. If not, will some orange sherbet make your throat feel better?”

  “Ja, it will.”

  Clara walked down to the small kitchen on the pediatric floor and checked for Popsicles but didn’t find any. She took a container of orange sherbet out of the freezer instead. When she walked out into the hallway she came face-to-face with the man she had decided not to think about again. “Paul.”

  * * *

  “Hey. Hi.” Being taken aback by Clara’s sudden appearance before he was sure of what he wanted to say to her left Paul tongue-tied.

  Clara seem to be suffering from the same malady. She looked down at her hands. “Hello.”

  Her voice broke the logjam in his brain. Keep it light. Make it friendly. “Did I catch you sneaking to the kitchen for a snack?”

  He was rewarded with a fleeting smile. “Sophie has become addicted to the orange sherbet.”

  “I can’t say I blame her. I like the stuff myself. How is she?”

  “She’s getting crabby. I think it’s time we went home.”

  “Samuel mentioned that Sophie might be released soon.”

  “And how did Samuel know this?”

  “I would say the Amish telegraph but half the participants in the chain aren’t Amish.”

  She tipped her head to the side “Explain.”

  He smiled, amazed at how happy he was to be with her again. How had he managed to stay away this long? “Your doctor told Debra, Debra told Janice, Janice told Rebecca, who told Samuel and Samuel told me.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t mention Clyde in there somewhere.”

  “I try to avoid that dog.”

  “I don’t know the dog but his mistress is a very unusual woman.”

  “That’s one way of putting it. Charlotte is unique.”

  “Sophie adores her. She invited us to move in with her. Was that your doing?”

  “It was not. I thought she was going to sell her house and move in with Mark and Helen.”

  “Apparently, the raccoon doesn’t want to move.”

  “She did mention that when I saw her last. Charlotte, not the raccoon. What do you think of the idea?”

  “I will have to go somewhere if I can’t find Eli’s trust document but I haven’t given up.”

  “I didn’t imagine you would. Have you had any word from Opal Kauffman about Dan’s condition?”

  “He’s here in the rehabilitation unit. I don’t know more than that.”

  “Are you ready to go? I have a very excited boy waiting in the car with Jessica.”

  “Why did you leave him in the car?”

  “Because of the surprise for Sophie. Can we go now?”

  “You take this sherbet to Sophie and I’ll check with the nurses.”

  Paul took the cup and peeked around the door into Sophie’s room. She was sitting on the couch with puppets on both hands. A dog and a raccoon. If he had to guess, he would say that meant Charlotte had been in to visit.

  For the first time, he noticed a yellow tint to the whites of her eyes. Would it go away or did it mean her condition was getting worse? The thought that she might die soon hit him like a felled tree. He blinked back tears, determined to present a cheerful face.

  “Does someone in here want orange sherbet?”

  Chapter Eight

  “Paul!” Sophie’s face lit up with a bright smile. “Come see my friends.” She made the animals wag their paws at him.

  He swallowed hard and walked over to her. “Clyde and Juliet are old friends of mine. Which one of them is going to eat this treat?”

  She laid them aside. “Me.”

  He sat down on the sofa beside her. To his surprise, she climbed in his lap and cupped his cheek with her hand. “I’ve been missing you.”

  His heart swelled with emotion. “I’ve been missing you, too. Are you feeling better?”

  She nodded. “I had a seezmure.”

  Paul looked up to see Clara watching them from the doorway. “She means a seizure,” Clara explained as she sat on the arm of the sofa.

  Sophie nodded solemnly. “I didn’t like it.”

  He pulled her close in a tender hug. “I’m sorry you had a seizure, little one. That must have been very scary.”

  “Mamm was crying and I got scared of all the people staring at me. I thought it would happen again. Will it happen again?”

  “I don’t know. I pray it won’t.”

  “Want a bite of my sherbet?” She offered him a spoonful.

  “You finish it. You’re going home today. Toby is waiting downstairs.”

  “I’m going to ride in a car?” Her eyes widened with glee. “Can we go really fast?”

  “As fast as the law allows,” Clara said. “Eat up, the nurse will be here soon to take us down to the car.”

  When the nurse came in, Sophie happily hopped into the wheelchair for the ride down to the car. Clara and Paul walked behind her. Several nurses waved goodbye as she passed the main desk. Paul hung back while they got her wheelchair into the crowded elevator. “I’ll catch the next one,” he said as the doors closed.

  A nurse walking past stopped. “Was that Sophie going home?”

  He smiled. “It was.”

  The woman patted his arm. “Your daughter is a special little girl. We are all praying for her.”

  Rather than explain that he had no claim to the child, he simply nodded and got on the next elevator that stopped.

  Sophie and Clara were already out the front door when Paul arrived in the main lobby. He watched Toby get out of the car and run to hug his mother. “I missed you.”

  Paul had a moment to wish her smile for him had been as radiant as the smile she bestowed on her child. The thought was quickly followed by a hearty mental shake. There was no comparison between a mother’s love for her children and her feelings for a friend.

  * * *

  Thrilled to have both children with her again, Clara hugged them until Toby complained that she was crushing him. When he and Sophie were settled in the back seat between Clara and Paul, Jessica turned around after lifting Patches out of a pet carrier on the front seat. “I think someone has been missing Sophie.”

  “Patches!” Sophie took the cat and cuddled her close. “I missed you so much.”

  Clara smiled at Jessica. “Thank you. She has been worried sick about her pet.”

  “Don’t thank me. It was Paul’s idea.”

  Clara turned to Paul. “It was a wonderful idea.”

  “Solid evidence that I’m smarter than I look,” he said with a grin.

  “I have to agree.”

  Clara caught sight of Opal Kauffman coming toward the hospital’s front doors. She motioned to Paul and they both got out to greet the older woman.

  “Opal, how is your father?” Clara asked.

  Opal looked tired but happy. “He is doing amazingly well. His stubborn streak is finally paying off.”

  “I’m so glad to hear that.”

  “Do you think it would be possible for us to speak to him?” Paul asked.

  Opal shook her head. “He isn’t able to speak and he tires very easily. The rehabilitation staff are working with him, trying to teach him to write again. They are having some success. I have asked him several times about Eli but I’m afraid I couldn’t get him to understand what I was asking. I’m hoping in time he will recover enough to communicate with you but I’m just so thankful that he has made it this far.”

  Clara hid her disappointment. “We must give thanks for every little blessing. Do let me know when he is able to answer my questions.”

  Opal smiled. “I will and I have convinced Mother to have a decorative fence put around the koi pond so what happened to Sophie can’t happen to another child. Do you have
a date for the farm sale yet?”

  “If a date has been set, I haven’t heard.” Clara glanced at Paul.

  “It will be four weeks from tomorrow.”

  Clara prayed that Dan recovered enough to tell her where the trust documents were before that fateful day arrived. What if she discovered them later? Did she have a right to the farm even after it had been sold? Maybe Paul knew the answer.

  He decided to ride up front with Jessica so Clara wasn’t able to ask him about it on the way home. As helpful as Jessica had been, she wasn’t Amish and Clara was loath to discuss her personal business in front of an outsider.

  When they reached Eli’s home, Paul sent Jessica home and said he would find his own way when he was ready to leave. Clara quickly dismissed the surprising surge of joy his words brought as a combination of her own weariness and her happiness at having Sophie home. It didn’t take long to get Sophie settled into bed for a nap with her lights on in spite of her resistance to being under them. Paul was able to coax her into taking a nap by promising a ride on Gracie when he came to work on Monday.

  Back in the kitchen, Clara sighed as she sat down at the table. “It’s good to be home. At least for a while. Would you like some coffee?” She started to rise again but he stopped her.

  “You sit. That’s an order. I’ll make coffee.”

  “I can follow orders. I’m sitting. See me sitting?”

  “I see you’re about to fall asleep.”

  “I’m fine. Really.”

  “I’m going to scatter some pillows around your chair anyway.”

  She chuckled. “In case I pass out and fall out of my chair? That’s not a bad idea.”

  Closing her eyes, she put her head back and listened to the sounds of Paul moving around her kitchen. It was a homey, comfortable sound. Like he somehow belonged in her home.

  “Cream or sugar?”

  “Just black, danki.”

  She rested until the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee grew stronger and she realized he was waving a cup of it under her nose. “I’m awake, I’m awake.”

  “Not so as anyone would notice.”

  She took the cup in her hands and savored her first sip. “Mmm, you make good coffee.”

  “Glad you like it.”

  “What do you have left to do here?” She wanted to know how much longer she could count on his company.

  “Not much outside until right before the sale. Everything needs to be tagged and set up for people to view. I have an awning, tents and tables for that. I’ll need to get auction announcements into the papers and farm journals as soon as I can. Four weeks isn’t much notice for the general public. Most of what still needs cataloging is in here.”

  “And you can’t do that while the kids and I are living in the house.”

  “Something like that. I’m sorry. This isn’t something we have to talk about today. Get some rest. I’m going.”

  “Don’t go.” She didn’t want him to leave. Tired as she was, she wanted to share these quiet moments with him but she didn’t know how to explain it.

  “Okay.” He seemed to understand. He sat down across from her and sipped his coffee. For several long and soothing minutes, Clara relaxed and let the tension of the last weeks fade from her muscles.

  When he rose to carry his empty cup to the sink, Clara decided to ask about the property. “What happens if the house and farm are sold and then I find the real trust papers?”

  He shrugged, then folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the counter by the sink. “Honestly, I don’t know but Isaac has an estate lawyer who should be able to answer that. I’ll check with him.”

  “You’ve done so much for me already.”

  “That’s not the way I see it.” He stared at the floor for a short time and then looked up. “Is Sophie going to get over this illness, or has it caused damage that won’t improve?”

  “You mean to her brain?” Clara wanted to reassure him but she couldn’t.

  “I guess.”

  “I don’t know. I assume she is going to get better until I see signs that show me she isn’t.”

  “What signs?”

  “Does she stay irritable? Does she have trouble remembering her numbers or how to button her coat? Those are the kinds of things I watch for.”

  “How do you do it? How do you live with this uncertainty and not fall apart?”

  “I do fall apart. I try to do it behind closed doors with the windows shut, that’s all.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “And I am being flippant. How is that for a role reversal? Do you use your teasing remarks and jokes to keep from answering serious questions?”

  “You mean like you are doing now?”

  She sighed. “I reckon I do. I don’t fall apart because my children need me. I must be the one thing in their world that doesn’t change. God is my rock and I am the rock of my family.”

  “I admire you tremendously.”

  “Danki, Paul. That means a lot to me.”

  “I’m glad. I’ll be back on Monday. You know how to contact me if you need anything.” She nodded, and he walked out the door.

  * * *

  On Sunday morning, Sophie felt well enough to go to church. Clara thought she was eager to tell the tale of her fall in the pool and her stay at the hospital to her friends. Clara drove the horse and buggy Paul had loaned her to Leonard Miller’s farmhouse and arrived twenty minutes before the church service was due to start. Paul’s thoughtfulness was one reason she had a hard time putting him out of her mind. Once the farm sale was over, it was doubtful she’d see him again. She would do well to remember that whenever she started looking forward to his arrival tomorrow. At least she knew she wasn’t going to see him today. It was a relief knowing she didn’t have to guard her emotions for a few hours.

  As she turned her buggy over to the young men parking them and stabling the horses, she knew there would be plenty of questions to answer from those who hadn’t seen her in weeks. She was greeted warmly by the women of the congregation in the kitchen when she carried in her basket of bread, jars of church spread and two fresh-baked apple pies. Although the congregation had not yet voted to accept her as a member, she had been treated with kindness by everyone from the first day she arrived.

  Sophie clung to her side but Toby had already taken off to play with some of his friends outside.

  “We hadn’t heard that Sophie was out of the hospital.” Velda, the bishop’s wife, was slicing the pies at the counter. She put down her knife and came to kiss Clara on the cheek. “How is she and how are you?”

  “We are both doing well.”

  Velda pressed her hands together. “God be praised. I know this is the news we were all hoping to hear. Paul Bowman notified us about the accident. Gerald has already contacted the Amish Hospital Aid treasurer. Are you able to pay the first twenty percent of the bill? If you can’t, we will raise the money for you with a special alms collection.”

  “Danki, I will need help. I know I have the prayers of you and many more people to thank for Sophie’s recovery. Perhaps Eli put in a good word for us, too.”

  “I am sorry for your loss,” Velda said. “Eli was a dear friend to my husband. Many times Gerald sought Eli’s counsel when he was troubled and he always came away feeling at peace. Eli is with God now and we must draw comfort from that.”

  “I haven’t asked but was anyone with him when he died?” She hated to think he had been alone in his final hours.

  “Gerald and two of our sons went to check on him when he didn’t come to the worship service that morning. They found him in bed. He was weak and couldn’t stand. He didn’t wish to go to the hospital so they stayed with him until he passed away quietly at about six o’clock in the evening.”

  “I’m so glad that he wasn’t alone.”

  “
I know you wished to be with him. He was grateful for all you did these past months. Was there anything missing when you arrived home?”

  “Missing? Why do you ask?”

  Velda’s eyes filled with sadness. “The house was a mess when we returned from the burial. A few of us came back to straighten up before you got home. It looked as if someone had gone through the place looking for valuables. It is a sad testament to our times when a funeral published in the newspaper is an invitation for someone to ransack a house. I know it happens other places but this was the first time it has happened to someone in our church.”

  So Eli had been right to move his valuables. “Do you know if Eli visited with the bishop while I was gone?”

  “Gerald and our daughter took supper to him the Sunday before he died. They stayed and visited for a while. Why?”

  Clara heard footsteps on the stairs and turned to see the bishop and two preachers coming down. The men normally met about thirty minutes before the service began and decided on the theme of their preaching for that day. None of them used notes. They preached as the spirit moved them, taking turns during the three-hour service. Their return from the meeting signaled the start of the preaching. Clara whispered, “I will tell you why it’s important after church.”

  Like many Amish homes, the Miller house had walls on the lower level that could be moved back to make one large room for the preaching service. Amish prayer meetings were held in the homes of church members every other week. Backless wooden benches brought to the house in a special wagon were arranged in rows with the men sitting on one side of the room and the women sitting on the other. Some of the most elderly members were allowed to sit in cushioned chairs at the perimeter of the room. It wasn’t unusual to see them nodding off. The youngest children sat with their mothers, who often had two or more under the age of three to keep quiet.

  Clara took her place near the front among the married women with Sophie beside her. Toby was old enough to sit with the men. Before Eli’s passing, Toby sat with him. Today, he and one of his friends sat near the back of the room with the unmarried boys. She hoped that he would behave but she wasn’t above leaving her place to take him outside and admonish him if he was being inattentive. She had a moment of worry that Toby would find it difficult growing up without a man in his life but she gave over that worry to God and lifted her voice in song when the first hymn began.