A Simple Vow

by Charlotte Hubbard

  “Edith,” Asa shot back. “And what’s wrong with moving where more girls live? It’s not like we’ve got any to choose from here.”

  “We were stupid not to look into that when we bought this building.”

  Asa’s pulse beat faster. He found Drew’s attitude a huge improvement, so Asa decided not to give his brother time to change his mind. “All right, I’ll give Luke a call right now and ask him to check on building costs for us. The way I understand it, the Brennemans in town have built a lot of the existing structures—like the café and Ben Hooley’s smithy.”

  “What about a metal building?” Drew suggested. “We’d have less maintenance that way. You know how I hate to paint.”

  “You’re on. Be back in a few.”

  Asa went to the small room that served as an office to use the phone—a fixture the bishop had allowed them to keep because they had no Plain neighbors with whom to share a phone shanty. As he thumbed through the business cards in the front of the old desk drawer, he couldn’t stop grinning. Edith, this is working out! Keep smiling and praying, and I’ll convince Drew to move to Willow Ridge sooner rather than later!

  No one answered at the Mill in Willow Ridge, so Asa left a message with some approximate dimensions for a building, asking Luke’s opinion about the most practical options. As rain splattered the window, he pictured Edith sitting on her front porch with the twins in their baskets, enjoying the cool breeze as the rain fell around them.

  On impulse, Asa looked up Will’s number in the directory and dialed it. He had promised Edith he’d get answers about those babies’ father, and it would be good to have an update on Gingerich now that a few days had passed since his visit.

  “Jah—Will?” he said when someone picked up after the second ring. “Asa Detweiler. How’re you doing?”

  “Huh. About the same.”

  Asa reminded himself to be patient, because he didn’t want to put Will off by sounding too cheerful, gushing about his relocation plans. “Not trying to be pushy—and I hope this doesn’t sound crass,” he said, “but have you heard any new clues about who fathered Leroy and Louisa?”

  Will let out a sardonic laugh. “It’s not like guys are going to step up and admit to that, you know. But I’ve got a new wrinkle for you.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Molly’s dat still wants me out of here in a couple of weeks, but her mamm—Ruth—stopped by yesterday saying it’s time the babies came home,” Will replied with a sigh. “She said that we might not know the father, but the twins are Molly’s. Says it’s only right that family should raise them.”

  Asa covered his face with his hand. Molly’s mother was right—but that didn’t mean he liked it. He hated the thought of breaking that news to Edith, too. “How old is Ruth? Twins are a lot of work. Are there other daughters at home to help with them?”

  “Nope, Molly was the youngest of eight, and the rest of the girls are married. I’m guessing her parents are pushing fifty.”

  Asa tried to corral his stampeding thoughts. He’d known this might happen, but it seemed like the little family of his dreams was being torn apart before he could provide the twins a home. If nothing else, because Molly had called out his name, Asa was willing to accept the blame for a sin he hadn’t committed because he believed Edith wanted to raise the babies, too. “So even if Molly’s parents didn’t feel up to raising twins, they have other daughters who could, right?”

  “Yup.”

  “What if I say I’m their father?” Asa blurted.

  “Are you nuts?” Will shot back. “After hearing your name as Molly passed on, those folks want nothing to do with you. Are you their father?” he demanded. “Because if you’re not, you’re confusing me—and Molly’s family will be even less inclined to let you raise those babies, on account of how one of your stories is a lie.”

  Open mouth; insert foot, Asa thought glumly. It sounded as though Will had taken his side—believed Asa had never been with Molly—until he’d dropped that last bomb on him. “Bad idea, saying that,” Asa admitted. “I’m not their father—”

  “After I thought about it—the way Molly never said a last name before she died, and how we’ve known a few other guys named Asa,” Will cut in, “I think I jumped to a conclusion when I saw that card in her drawer and called you. Sorry, man.”

  Asa’s eyes widened. This total turnaround in Will’s thinking seemed to suggest he wasn’t holding a grudge any longer. “Apology accepted,” Asa said softly. “But I can’t deny that from the first moment I saw Edith, I’ve had these rose-colored visions of her and me holding those little kids on our own front porch.”

  “Got it bad, eh? Edith’s a sweet girl.”

  “The perfect mamm for those twins.”

  “Jah, she took to them right away,” Will agreed with a sigh. “But that doesn’t mean she should raise them, when Ruth wants them back. Unless . . .”

  Asa’s heart skipped a beat. “Unless what?”

  Will let out a short laugh. “Well, I have to get out of this place anyway, so maybe I should move to Willow Ridge—and inform my in-laws that I’m going to continue raising Leroy and Louisa, just like I was doing when I believed they were mine.”

  Asa’s breath caught in his throat. This was not part of his picture, Mr. Gloom-and-Doom Gingerich reclaiming the babies he’d dropped off. “Why would you want to do that?” Asa demanded. “You’ve got no source of income, and no place to live—not to mention that raising two babies would leave you no time for a paying job.”

  “But after the way Molly’s folks booted me off this place,” Will replied in a rising voice, “why should I turn the twins over to them? It’s not like I could’ve cured Molly’s cancer—and it’s not like I knew about her pregnancy before I married her. They haven’t exactly had any faith in me or done me any favors, have they?”

  Asa was still unclear about what Gingerich had in mind for those little kids, but the energy in his voice was a distinct improvement. Maybe Will was ready to turn the corner, to climb out of his emotional pit and get on with his life. Although resentment wasn’t a very positive emotion, maybe it would give Gingerich the incentive to move on. Maybe a change of scenery would prove beneficial, and if Will lived near the twins—

  “Wait a minute,” Asa said tersely. “Don’t you dare tell me you’re thinking to marry Edith so you can—”

  “Not to worry, Detweiler. It’s Loretta I’d intended to spend my life with, remember?” Will pointed out. “Not that I’m exactly in a position to court her again.”

  Asa gripped the receiver, composing his thoughts. This conversation had taken a totally unexpected turn—for both of them, he suspected—and he needed to keep Will’s ideas from spinning out of control. It occurred to Asa that if he did Gingerich a huge favor, he could expect one in return.

  “What if—what if I know somebody who’s looking for a fellow to farm some ground for him?” Asa asked before his better judgment could get in the way. “And what if I could find you a place to stay?”

  “I will not stay in Cornelius Riehl’s house,” Will blurted. “I’m not that desperate. But what’ve you got in mind? I’m all ears.”

  Will sounded excited now, as though he’d discovered a new purpose for his life. Asa knew he’d have to tread carefully, because until he made a call or two he didn’t know if he could deliver these carrots he was dangling. “Promise me you’ll leave the twins with Edith.”

  “Huh. You’ve already pointed out the reasons I can’t raise them right now,” Will said. “Why would I remove them from a home where three sweet, caring young women are willing to look after them? But if I got a job, I could pay for their food and clothes and—”

  “And you can prevent Molly’s parents from claiming them. Right?”

  Will cleared his throat. “I haven’t told them where Leroy and Louisa are,” he said softly. “So if I vacate this decrepit old place without leaving a forwarding address—without saying anything until after I get set
tled—that’ll give us some wiggle room until Ruth writes to her kin in this area and puts them on the lookout for her grandchildren.”

  Will had gotten a raw deal, so Asa didn’t feel so bad about getting swept up in his scheme. After all, Asa was offering Gingerich a whole new life while he was piecing together a future for himself with Edith. He had everyone’s best interests in mind. “So, if I find you a job and a place, the babies stay with Edith? We’re in this together?”

  “For better or for worse,” Will replied with a chuckle. “Man, if you really can get me out of this house and back to work—”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  “—I’ll owe you, big time.”

  Asa sighed with relief. He’d made some tall promises, and that meant that he, too, would have to get his act together. Very quickly. “Well, I’ll be talking to you—”

  “Oh—before you go—”

  Asa held the receiver tighter against his ear.

  “—one of my long-lost relatives—Vernon Gingerich—stopped by to check on me,” Will went on. “Said he’d lost contact with my family due to a feud a few generations ago. He knows about the situation with the twins and offered me a place to stay and a job in Cedar Creek. But I turned him down.”

  That name rang a bell, but Asa wasn’t sure why. “How come?”

  “Why would I want to live in Cedar Creek? I don’t know anybody there,” Will countered quickly. “He was a nice old guy, but I wasn’t wild about being beholden to a total stranger who seems intent on reconnecting with this branch of his family tree. You know?”

  Asa considered this for a moment. Families sometimes separated over differences of faith and opinion, but most folks he knew worked toward reconciliation rather than remaining isolated by such issues. “Matter of fact, I don’t know,” he replied. “Is there another feud brewing in your family? You haven’t mentioned their reactions to this baby situation—only that your two brothers squeezed you out of the family farm.”

  There was a pause. Asa heard Will breathing, thinking.

  “Let’s just say Mamm and I aren’t on the best of terms because she chose Homer and Harvey to stay on the home place after Dat died—which happened a year ago last January.” Will cleared his throat. “What with Molly’s getting so sick, and taking care of the twins as best I could, I, um, haven’t ever taken Leroy and Louisa to see her. Not that she came here, either.”

  Asa glanced at the wall calendar. He thought back over what little he knew about Gingerich and did some quick mental math. “So you lost your dat early last year. And when you lost any claim to your home place, Cornelius broke up your engagement to Loretta—”

  “And then along came Molly, with parents who set us up on their smallest farm.” Will sighed. “The twins arrived, um, two months early, and we found out about Molly’s cancer. She passed on just a few days short of our first anniversary.”

  Asa’s mind reeled as he considered this unfortunate series of events. “No wonder you’re messed up—I mean—I didn’t intend to—”

  “No, go ahead and say it,” Will cut in with a sad laugh. “It’s been one thing after another after another for more than a year. I’m ready for some peace and quiet. I just want to mind my own business without any more upsets, you know?”

  Suddenly, Asa liked this guy more than he’d ever figured on—especially considering the reason he and Will had met. “Say your prayers and start packing, Gingerich,” he said with a sense of renewed purpose. “We’re going to make gut things happen, for both of us.”

  Chapter Ten

  Late that afternoon, Luke sat down with a pen and paper and punched the Play button on his phone’s message machine. He and Ira had spent most of the day driving around to inspect the plots of ground where their corn and popcorn would soon be planted, as well as to look at the oats and wheat their farmers were raising for the mill. They’d collected several cases of fresh eggs, as well. Now that a heavy, steady rain was falling, Nora had closed Simple Gifts a little early and had come over to the mill’s store to keep him company.

  As she often did, his wife tidied the containers of goat cheese, butter, and other packages in the refrigerator case. Luke played his messages, jotting a few call-back numbers as he watched Nora work. He smiled to himself as she leaned over, her backside in the air as she restacked cartons of eggs to allow space for fresh ones. A familiar male voice pulled him out of his distracted state, however.

  “Luke, it’s Asa, and my brother’s warming up to the idea of moving to Willow Ridge.” Detweiler’s baritone voice filled the mill store with an undercurrent of excitement. “What do you suppose a shop building’s going to cost us on that farm we looked at? I’d like an idea both for a frame building and metal. I don’t want somebody else buying this place, so I’ll be coming up there tomorrow. Denki for all your help.”

  Luke smiled, pleased at this news. This afternoon he and Ira had again discussed the farm across the road from the Riehls—the tillable acres were level for the most part, and if he and his brother could get this deal moving, they’d still have time to plant popcorn and oats. His eyebrows rose as the next message began to play, because it was Asa again. He sounded urgent.

  “Luke, call me real soon, will you? I’ve got a farmer for that place we’re looking at, and he wants to start right in!” Detweiler said in a rush. “When I get there tomorrow morning, let’s be ready to talk money with the real estate guy and put down a deposit.” Click.

  With a short laugh, Luke checked the times on Asa’s two messages. “Now what happened in the twenty minutes between his first call and the second one, that he was able to find a fellow to farm for us?” he wondered aloud as he dialed Asa’s number.

  Nora straightened to her full height and looked over at Luke. “This is moving along mighty fast—”

  “Jah, Asa doesn’t let any grass grow under his feet.”

  “—so don’t forget that until Asa chased down that fellow with the twins, he hadn’t set foot in Willow Ridge,” she reminded him. “I think his main reason for coming is Edith Riehl—and that relationship hasn’t had time to gel, either.”

  Luke nodded at his wife as someone picked up the phone on the other end. “Detweiler Furniture Works. Asa here—and how can I help you?”

  “Asa, Luke Hooley. Sounds like things are hopping like popcorn on your end,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Luke! Jah, the heat’s on and things are popping, all right,” Asa said. “My brother’s convinced our furniture business will be more profitable in Willow Ridge. And you’ll never guess who else has come around—and he wants to farm that place we’ve been looking at. It’s Will Gingerich!”

  Luke’s jaw dropped. “Will Gingerich? The fellow who dropped off his twins with the Riehl girls and accused you of being their dat?” He met Nora’s wary gaze as she crossed the store to sit on the edge of his desk.

  “Jah, due to a lot of circumstances beyond his control, Will’s been booted off the place he was farming for his wife’s folks,” Asa explained excitedly. “He wants to see that Louisa and Leroy are taken care of, so coming to Willow Ridge will be the fresh start he needs to move beyond all the tragedy that’s hit him lately. I think it’s the right thing to do, bringing him into the mix.”

  Luke considered this information, in light of the various hoops they had to jump through to get the farm under contract. “How about if I ask the Realtor to meet us here at one o’clock tomorrow? We can put down enough earnest money to keep somebody else from buying it before we make our final decision—”

  “I’m ready. Let’s do it, Luke.”

  Exhaling in surprise, Luke met Nora’s curious gaze. “That’s a big decision—a big move for you and your brother—considering you’ve seen this place only once,” he pointed out. “A deposit will buy us time to consider all the angles—”

  “I’m in. There’s only one potential fly in the ointment.”

  “What’s that?” Luke asked. “Is your brother hanging back because he�
��s not been here to look at the place?”

  “Oh, Drew’ll come around,” Asa assured him, “but our building won’t sell for nearly enough to cover that farm—and we think it might take a while to find a buyer. Folks aren’t exactly pounding down the doors to acquire property in Clifford, and—well, let’s just say the upstairs apartment looks like a couple of bachelors live there, and the shop area doesn’t exactly sparkle, either. But we’ll make it work,” he insisted.

  Luke had to smile. “Brings back memories of when Ira and I moved to Willow Ridge, just on Ben’s recommendation, and then we bunked above the mill—until a couple of redheads made us change our ways,” he added as he smiled at his wife. He paused to see if Asa would offer any more information about his other motivations for moving to Willow Ridge.

  “Women have that way about them, ain’t so?” Detweiler said with a chuckle. “I can’t deny that the sight of Edith with those little twins is working on me. But we’ve got no time for romance until Drew and I are relocated and you and Ira get Will situated. He’ll be needing a place to live, too, by the way.”

  “You don’t ask for much!” Luke teased. He winked at Nora, just because he loved to watch her freckled cheeks turn pink. “The apartment above the mill is vacant. And if that doesn’t suit him, I’m thinking some of the older folks around here—like Nora’s parents, maybe—would rent him a room in exchange for some help around their place. Ira and I have to talk to Will before we hire him, though,” he added matter-of-factly.

  “Of course you do. As many changes as Will’s gone through this past year, I suspect he has times when he doesn’t really know what he wants,” Asa stated. “Seems to me plenty of other folks have found fresh starts in Willow Ridge, though. I like the idea of giving him a chance at work he’s gut at, near the twins.”

  “Can’t fault you for that,” Luke replied. “We’ll work this out, Asa. I’ll call the Realtor right now and talk to Ira. See you tomorrow.”

  As Luke hung up, he was slightly amazed at what had just transpired. “Sounds like we’re in business,” he remarked when Nora’s insistent gaze prompted him. “The Detweilers are coming to Willow Ridge, and Will Gingerich is, too. I’ve got to get ahold of—”