Bree laughed. “I’ll be fine.”
“I can’t.” Cora stared across at Becky who joined another group of girls.
It was obvious to Bree she wanted to join them. “Did someone tell you to stay with me?”
“Andrew said I should stay with you because you would feel strange not knowing anyone.”
“That was thoughtful of him.” She looked around for Andrew but now she couldn’t see him anywhere. “I didn’t think he liked me that much,” she said more to herself than to Cora.
“He does. He likes everyone.”
As Bree was looking for Andrew, she saw Mr. Stauffer walking toward them with the bishop. Nerves gnawed at her stomach. “I guess you can go be with your friends now because it looks like the bishop’s coming to talk with me.”
Cora took a step away. “You don’t mind?”
“Of course not. Go be with your friends.”
No sooner had Cora walked away than the two men were standing in front of Bree.
“This is our bishop, Bree. Bishop Michael.”
“Hello, Bishop Michael.” Bree put out her hand. “I’m Bree Fortsworth.”
“I’m glad you could join us here today, Bree.”
“Me too. I’ve never been to a meeting like this before.”
“Joel tells me that you’ll be staying with his family for a time?”
“I’m glad everyone’s okay with me staying there.” By the way the bishop’s eyes kept flickering away from her, she was certain the bishop was a little unsure what to say to her which made her more nervous. Bree was pleased when Mrs. Stauffer joined them.
The bishop said a few more words about Bree enjoying her stay with them before he and Mr. Stauffer walked away. Soon she was left with just Mrs. Stauffer.
“I understand Cora was told to stay with me, but I told her to go and be with her friends.”
“Andrew was worried you might feel overwhelmed amongst all these strangers.”
“I’m fine.” It was just another thing she had to go through. A few more months with the Amish, and then her baby would be adopted by Simon’s parents and she would be free. She wasn’t certain what she would do after that, but one thing she did know was that she wasn’t ready to look after a baby when she could barely look after herself. So far, her plan was right on track. In the next few weeks, she’d have to go home to find more money but she’d worry about that another day.
“I didn’t realize so many people would be here today,” Bree said.
“This is about the same amount of people we usually have.”
Bree thought back to Simon’s funeral. There had been about three times more people at the funeral than at the Millers' house today. She was one of around ten Englischers who had attended his funeral.
Mrs. Stauffer turned to face her front on. “I know I didn’t have a good reaction when you arrived. I want you to know that I’m glad you came to us. It can’t be easy for you either. You must miss Simon terribly; just as much as we do.”
Bree nodded. “I do; more than I can say. I really need him right now and he’s not here.” Things would be different for me if Simon were still alive.
Mrs. Stauffer turned back to face the crowd and was right by Bree’s side again. “We have a meal now, and then the young people stay for a singing. Mr. Stauffer and I go home and then we go visiting. If you don’t want to stay for the singing, you can come home with us.”
“Is Cora staying?”
“Cora will stay on. Andrew will take us home and come back later to collect Cora.”
“I think I might go home, if that’s all right. I don’t know if I’m up for a lot of singing. I can’t really understand the words anyway.”
A woman approached them and Mrs. Stauffer introduced her to Bree as the bishop’s wife. Bree was pleased to have a good welcome into the community even though they knew she was only a short-term visitor, staying until she had a baby that she would give up. She wondered if anything like that had ever happened before in the community.
Chapter 8
He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
Psalm 18: 48
* * *
When Bree got home later that day, she walked up to her bedroom and turned on her phone. It beeped and she smiled, glad that she’d received a message, but when she looked at the screen she saw that it was only a warning-beep that the battery was running low.
Where could she recharge her phone? She heard the buggy leaving and knew Mr. and Mrs. Stauffer were heading off to visit people. Recalling what Simon had told her, she was certain that there was a good chance there might be electricity in the barn; after all, there was a phone in the barn, and she’d been told Mr. Stauffer had a small office there, too.
She opened the front door to see that Simon’s parents were nearly at the road, down at the end of their long driveway. There was no sign of Andrew anywhere, so it seemed she was by herself. When she stepped onto the porch, Dusty had been asleep, but he roused himself and wandered over to her slowly.
Bree laughed. “You look like me when I first wake up.” She crouched down and patted him. “Do you want to come to the barn with me? Come on, then.”
Hoping there wouldn’t be any loose livestock in the barn, she pulled the door open a crack and peeped through. To the left were stacks of what she thought must be hay and to the other side were stalls. With Dusty by her side she walked further in. One stall had a horse in it and the stall next to it was empty. Once she walked past the stall where the horse was, she saw a small room.
“Ah, this must be the office.” When she walked in further she saw Andrew and jumped. “Oh, you gave me a fright.”
“Not half as much as you gave me.”
“Did you hear me talking to myself?”
He laughed. “I did. I thought I was hearing things.”
“I’ve got Dusty with me, so I was really talking to him,” Bree said with a laugh.
“I’ll believe you.”
Dusty walked under the desk, slumped down, and closed his eyes.
“What are you doing in here? I thought you didn’t work on Sundays.”
“I was just straightening a few things out that I didn’t have time for yesterday.” He laughed again. “I should be the one asking you what you’re doing in here.”
Holding up her phone and charger, she said, “I just was looking for somewhere to charge this.” He didn’t seem as hostile as he had at breakfast. Maybe she’d read him wrong.
He raised his eyebrows and pointed to their phone. “You’re welcome to use the phone anytime you like.”
“I just need to charge it in case someone calls me, or texts me.”
Now Andrew didn’t look happy. It was clear he was running through his mind who she’d want to be calling her.
She added, “I guess I’m hoping my parents might call me.”
He stood up. “Whatever you do with the baby is your decision, but I just don’t want to see my parents think they’ll be able to raise Simon’s baby and then have you change your mind, leave, and stay away from us. It would be dreadful if you kept the baby and then we never even see Simon’s child.” He grimaced. “Everyone will be happy if you keep the baby, if that’s what you decide to do. I guess what I’m saying is that my mother gets very emotional about things.” He waved a hand in the air. “Everything I’m saying is coming out wrong. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what you decide in the end.”
“I’ve already made up my mind and I won’t change it. Don’t worry. So, do you have a power outlet in here?”
“No. We don’t have electricity in here, just the phone.”
She dropped the phone by her side and felt she was going to cry. Her phone was the only link to the outside world, and she’d been certain they would have at least one power outlet in the barn since they had a phone.
“I guess I could drive you someplace where you could charge it
. The library’s shut today, but I could take you to a coffee shop where you can recharge it.”
She brightened up. “Would you?”
He nodded.
“Would we have to wait until your parents get back?”
“I’ve got my own horse and buggy.”
“I’d love that so much. I’d be so grateful.”
Andrew smiled. “I need to do a few things here, but I’ll be ready to go in twenty minutes.”
“I’ll be waiting.” Bree turned on her heel and walked out of the barn. She’d feel so much better when the phone was charged. If she only turned it on once or twice a day, like she had been doing, the charge should last for weeks.
She sat waiting for Andrew on the porch, wrapped in her pullover. The day had warmed up and the sun was warming her legs. Bree watched as Andrew led his tall bay horse out of the barn and proceeded to hitch the buggy. Dusty was now sitting outside the barn door watching Andrew’s every move.
“Are you ready?” he called out as he got into the driver’s seat.
She hurried over and climbed up beside him. “Thank you for doing this.”
“Boris likes to go out every day; you’re doing him a favor.”
“Your horse is Boris?”
“No I call my buggy Boris.” When she glanced at him he laughed. “Yes my horse is Boris.”
She looked down at her hands in her lap. “I suppose it was a silly question.”
“Perhaps I should give my buggy a name. I never thought of it before.” He made a loud clicking sound with his mouth and the horse walked forward.
“Do you go into town very often?”
“Every other day. Mamm always seems to need something from town. Dat and I work all over the place so it’s no trouble for us to stop in and get things. She usually needs some ingredient she’s forgotten for the meals.”
“I never grew up with home cooking. My mother never cooked.”
He leaned back and looked at her. “Never?”
“My mother and father are lawyers. They’ve always been wrapped up in their careers. That’s all that matters to them.”
“What about their family?”
She shook her head. “I’ve never met anyone from their families, and I’m their only child. I think I remember my mother’s brother, but then they had a fight with him too. They only get along with each other and they don’t speak to any of their relatives any more. Now they’ve tossed me and my baby aside too.”
“And now that Simon’s gone, you have no one?”
“That’s right. No one.”
“No friends?”
“I wasn’t raised with many people around and I guess that’s why I don’t have many friends.”
“I can’t work out why I never met you when I visited Simon.”
“I don’t know.” Bree shrugged.
“He should’ve mentioned you as being more than just a friend.”
“He would’ve in time.”
“I guess.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’ve been to a café that’s just outside town on this side. I’m hoping they’re open today. We can have something to eat or drink while we’re waiting for your phone to charge.”
“I have no money. I need to go back home and collect the rest of my money before too long. I can pay you back if you’ve got enough to pay today.”
“I have enough; no need to pay me back. Is your home far from here?”
“Too far to go by buggy. I’ll have to get a taxi there one day.”
“I would’ve driven you if it wasn’t too far.”
“Thank you, Andrew, that’s nice of you to offer.”
“It’s just along here.” Andrew said some minutes later, nodding his head toward a cream brick building with red awnings.
“Looks like it’s open,” Bree said when she saw people sitting at tables on the pavement outside. Suddenly Bree felt self-conscious being around non-Amish people while she was dressed so weirdly - with no makeup on and wearing a dress. She normally wore makeup all the time and, up until she’d gotten pregnant, had always worn jeans. It didn’t matter around the Amish but she just hoped there would be no one there that she knew.
“Bree, before we go in I want to say something.”
Bree’s brows drew together and she held her breath in nervousness. “What is it?”
“Why not marry me?”
Chapter 9
O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from the grave: thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.
Psalm 30:3
* * *
Her breath caught in her throat. This was the very last thing she’d expected him to say. When she saw he wasn’t joking, she answered, “We barely know each other.”
“I think you’re a nice person and I should be married by now with my own family. Besides all that, it’ll give your baby a proper start in life.”
“Are you doing this for your brother?”
He inhaled sharply. “For his baby, for you, and for me.”
She smiled. “I’m not Amish.”
“You could join.”
“I’m not certain that I even believe there is a God. I wouldn’t feel right about being a member of something I didn’t totally believe in.” She looked into his handsome face and knew she might very well be able to fall in love with someone like him, but it wouldn’t be fair to marry under such circumstances.
“Have a think about it?”
She gave a giggle and covered her mouth with her fingertips. “No one’s ever asked me to marry him before.”
He frowned. “Didn’t you say Simon and you were to be married?”
“Oh, I mean, besides Simon.”
Andrew stared at her, and Bree knew he had more questions. “We should go and get this phone charged.”
After Andrew secured his horse, they walked into the coffee shop. He pointed her to a table against the wall, noticing that there was a power outlet underneath it.
When they sat down, Andrew took the charger from her, bent down and slotted the charger into the socket. Bree took the phone, inserted the cord, and set it at the side of the table.
“Thank you. It’s getting harder for me to get up and down.”
He smiled at her and was about to say something when the waiter brought them menus.
“Eat whatever you like,” Andrew said to her.
Bree opened the menu. “I’m a little bit hungry. I didn’t eat much today; I was too nervous.”
“At the meeting?”
Bree nodded.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about.”
Nervousness was something that Bree couldn’t just switch off. “I was nervous about the bishop speaking to me and what everyone thought about me. I know people can’t be happy about Simon having a child without being married, and all that. I know they are upset enough that he died on his rumspringa doing illegal car racing.”
“These are all things that can’t be changed now.”
“I know. I guess I just worry about what people think about me and Simon.”
“Don’t worry about what other people think. Do you think that you worrying about it will change what people are going to think?”
Bree laughed. “No. I suppose that’s true.”
He smiled kindly. “Then pay them no mind. People will think what they will and what does it matter? It’s what you feel and think about yourself that you can change. You can never change another person.”
Bree stared into his brown eyes and knew immediately he was a sincere and kind man. “Thank you. That’s good advice. I’ll remember that.” Simon and his brother were opposites. Simon had been wild and crazy, whereas his older brother was wise and sensible. If Simon hadn’t been so crazy he might not have gotten in his car drunk, and raced in that car race that night.
“What kind of things did you like to do with my brother? I suppose that's a personal question so don't answer if you don't want to tell me.”
“No
that's okay. We used to talk about a lot of things. He’d tell me about you, Cora, and your parents, and how he had so much fun growing up playing with the animals - the puppies and the baby chickens, all that kind of thing. Then we’d watch movies a lot, and just hang out.”
Andrew nodded and looked down at his food. “Thanks for telling me. I often wonder what his last year was like. You probably know that I visited him three times, but it was only briefly. We just met up to have a talk for about an hour or so.”
“I think with the car racing, he was getting everything out of his system before he went back home. He had a bit of a wild side.”
“Did you like his wild side?”
Bree smiled and shook her head. “No. It was his kind heart and his goodness that I liked.”
Andrew’s lips stretched into a grin. He seemed to like her answer. “I remember he was always the one to make up the fun games when we were young. I guess he was the leader and Cora and I were the followers, which was strange since I was the oldest. I guess I'm a bit quieter and not as much fun as he was.”
“Simon was quiet sometimes.”
“How was he when he found out about the baby?”
Bree sighed not wanting to bring back such memories.
“Again, sorry if I'm being too nosy,” Andrew said.
“Not at all. I want to tell you as much as I can about your brother since we were so close in that last year.”
“Did your parents meet my brother?”
“No they never did. They never wanted to meet anybody who had anything to do with me and I wasn’t allowed to have friends to the house. They were just too busy with their careers and going to all their charity functions.”
“That's very good of them. From what you said about them I didn't think that they’d be the kind of people to support charities.”
Bree smiled and shook her head. “No. You don’t understand. People like my mother and father only support a charity when it suits them. Charity events are social events and they like to be seen at them. They’ll only donate money so they’re seen to donate money. It’s all about getting dressed up in expensive clothing and jewelry, so they can network.”
Their Son's Amish Baby Page 5
