Surprised, Elizabeth didn’t know quite how to answer.
Leah laid a hand on hers. “The Amish grapevine works quickly. I heard the bishop talked to you. I hope he didn’t discourage you from attending.”
“Not exactly,” Elizabeth said. She met Leah’s concerned gaze. “He heard from my grandmother. He thinks I should go back home.”
“And what do you think you should do? What is God telling you, kind?”
Elizabeth felt tears rushing up at the quiet question, at the sincere caring she saw in Leah’s gaze. “I think I’m supposed to be here. When I left Goshen, it was sort of an impulsive decision. I hadn’t planned it out for a long time. But from the moment I met Paula and thought about it, things started happening to make me think I had to come here.”
She balled up the paper her sandwich had been wrapped in. “I sat on the bus and I was so scared. I kept looking for a sign to help me know if I was supposed to go or get off and stay in Goshen. How was I going to provide for myself? I didn’t know if I’d find a job here. But something—Someone?—kept me on it and the bus started rolling and that was that.”
She slid from her stool, found a little carved sparrow on a shelf, and brought it back to show Leah. “I bought one of these with my first paycheck from the store. I have it on my bedside table. It reminds me of the little birds I saw outside the bus window when I was so worried about how I’d take care of myself. I remembered something from the Bible about God provides for the sparrow and realized He’ll take care of me.”
Leah smiled. “It sounds like He spoke to you. Please don’t let the bishop keep you from joining us and hearing other messages from Him.”
“I won’t.”
“I can talk to him if you like. Matter of fact, I’d enjoy it.”
“I don’t think we need to. Saul spoke to him.”
Leah raised her eyebrows. “He did, did he?”
Elizabeth smiled. “Ya.”
“Well, isn’t that interesting,” Leah said.
She put the thermos in the tote and stood. Just as she did, a customer entered the shop.
“Perfect timing,” she told Elizabeth with a smile. “But then He always has it, even when we think He doesn’t answer us when we want. We’ll talk again. Tell Saul I’m praying for Samuel.”
“I will. And thank you.” Impulsively, Elizabeth hugged Leah. “Thank you for everything.”
Leah patted her back. “See you soon.” She nodded to the customer as she left the store.
Elizabeth regarded the little carved wooden sparrow on the counter in front of her. Its head was tilted, its little beady black eyes seeming to stare intently at her.
He looked much like the one she’d bought but with the slight difference hand-carving created. She tilted her own head and stared at it. Maybe she should buy him to keep the one at home company. Make a pair. Like her and Saul?
She wondered if Paula would be willing to take her to visit Samuel at the hospital.
“Excuse, me, miss?”
Elizabeth came back to earth. “Can I help you?”
There was no time for daydreaming after that. The shop became busy with after-lunch shoppers and she was grateful when the twins came on duty in the afternoon.
Paula arrived a little late to pick her up and seemed a little distracted. “Sorry, I was trying to get Jason on the phone, but it kept going to voicemail.”
“He’s due home this weekend, isn’t he?”
She slanted Elizabeth a wry look. “As if I’ve talked about anything else.”
Elizabeth smiled. “It’s okay. I just wish you weren’t so worried.”
Paula’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel and then she relaxed them. “He got through two tours in Afghanistan. I just don’t want anything to happen to him on the way home.”
“I’m sure it won’t,” Elizabeth said. She decided she’d say an extra prayer for him tonight.
“What do you have in the bag?”
She grinned. “Another sparrow. I decided the first one needed company.”
“If only it were as easy to get a mate for us,” Paula said with a laugh. “My guy’s who-knows-where right now and you haven’t seen Saul in days.” She sighed as she signaled to pull into their parking lot. “I’m bushed. Thank goodness I have no homework tonight. I’m going to be a couch potato.”
Elizabeth was about to say she thought it was an interesting name for a lazy person when she climbed the last step and saw the man seated—slumped, really—in front of their door. She stopped abruptly.
“What is it?” Paula asked when she bumped into Elizabeth. Then she saw what Elizabeth had seen.
“Jason!”
He blinked and woke. “Paula! Hey, baby, don’t cry! I’m home!”
Elizabeth smiled as she edged around them, unlocked the apartment door, and went inside to cook supper for the three of them.
Saul felt strange opening the store after being away for a couple of days.
Nothing had changed and yet there was something different. He stepped inside, turned, and locked the door behind him. The stock was neatly arranged on shelves, the floor didn’t show a speck of dust, and when he peeked in the storage room the recently delivered boxes were gone—evidently marked and stocked on the shelves.
Then he saw what was different: there was a vase of red and white carnations on the counter. Elizabeth’s touch?
He walked into the back room and started coffee. The brew he made wasn’t the best, but it sure would be an improvement on the stuff he’d been drinking at the hospital.
The store was so quiet he heard when a key was inserted in the front door. When Elizabeth stepped into the back room, she gasped and clutched her chest with one hand.
“I’m sorry, I should have called out I was here,” Saul said.
“Second time I’ve walked up on a man,” she muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s gut to see you. How is your dat?”
“Better. I think he’s out of the woods.”
The coffee finished percolating. “Want some?”
“Yes, please.”
She took off her jacket, hung it on a peg and stowed her purse. He fixed her coffee the way she liked, set both mugs at the table and took a seat.
It was so good to look at her face again. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too,” she said with a shy smile.
“Mamm and Daed wanted me to tell you thank you again.”
“Please, it was nothing,” she told him, shrugging. “You should thank Paula for having me watch the nursing video. It was a good refresher for the class.”
“I think it would be a good idea for me to watch it sometime,” he said quietly. “The doctor thinks Daed will be fine, but you never know.”
“God provides.” She reached across the table and touched his hand. “You look tired.”
“I am.”
“Maybe you can leave early today. After all, you’re the boss.”
He laughed shortly and sipped his coffee. “Everything go okay?”
“Very well. Leah stopped by to offer her help and the twins came in a little early. We’ve got all the stock on the shelves.”
“I saw that.”
“I have some ideas about some Christmas gifts,” she began.
His cell phone buzzed. Frowning, he looked at the display, praying the call wasn’t from the hospital. Instead, he saw a text message from his bank warning several checks had overdrawn the store account.
He glanced up at Elizabeth. “Did you make the day’s deposits?”
She blinked. “Of course.”
“You’re sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. I wouldn’t leave the money in the store overnight.”
He got to his feet. “I have to leave for a few minutes. Open up when it’s time.”
Grabbing his jacket, he rushed from the room. A business couldn’t afford not to meet its obligations—especially in a small town. Reputation was everything.<
br />
The bank manager greeted him by name when he arrived and asked how he could help him. Saul explained about the text message and the man waved to him to take a seat and began pulling his account up on his computer.
Saul didn’t like how the thought came to him Elizabeth might not have deposited the money . . . at least not in the business account. Had he trusted her with more responsibility than he should have? Thought she was more honest than she was?
His stomach rolled over.
“Ah, I see the problem,” the manager said.
“The money wasn’t deposited?”
“Oh, no, not to worry, I see daily deposits the last two days,” the man was quick to reassure him. “But you made them to your store savings account, not to your checking account.”
“An employee must have made a mistake,” he explained. “I was with my father in the hospital.”
“Oh, sorry, hope Samuel is okay?”
“Ya, he is. But this was a bit of a scare for me. I was asking myself if I’d misplaced trust in my employee.”
“I see. Listen, I don’t know why you don’t have overdraft protection on your account.”
Saul shook his head. “It was mentioned to me when I took over the store after Daed retired. But I don’t believe in overdrawing my accounts, in spending money I don’t have.”
The manager nodded and pulled some papers from a drawer. “I understand. But it’s more a protection for times just like this. A mistake happens and suddenly checks don’t clear and there are overdraft charges.”
“Overdraft charges?” Saul winced.
“We can waive those this time. But let’s have you sign up for the protection for the future.”
A few minutes later, Saul walked back into the store. Elizabeth had turned the sign on the door to open and stood rearranging a shelf near the back of the store.
She turned when she heard the door open and regarded him silently. “Everything okay?”
“Ya. You deposited the day’s receipts to the store savings account, not checking, so some checks bounced.”
“I’m sorry. I haven’t had to do it before.”
“It’s allrecht. The manager fixed it.”
She clasped her hands in front of her and continued to watch him. He realized there was hurt in her blue eyes.
“I don’t think it’s allrecht,” she said slowly. “Not really. I think you thought I didn’t put the money in the store account, but maybe into my own pocket.”
16
Saul recoiled at her words, but Elizabeth didn’t back off.
“I didn’t think that.” But he didn’t meet her gaze. “Well, just for a moment. But it didn’t make sense.”
“Because I was still here.”
Now, he looked at her. “Elizabeth—”
“Then again, I didn’t know you were coming in this morning. I could have thought I had another day or two to steal.” She turned on her heel and started walking away.
“You’re blowing this all up,” he said, and he followed her. “I didn’t think you were a thief and I didn’t think you would run away.”
He stopped her, his hand on her arm.
“Why not? I’ve done it before.”
Startled, he stared at her. “I didn’t even think of that,” he repeated.
She gave him a disbelieving look and shook off his hand.
The bell over the door rang as a customer entered the store. Elizabeth used the distraction as a way to distance herself from him, leaving him standing near the store counter.
Fortunately, the woman wanted her help and they spent a good deal of time choosing a quilt for her daughter’s wedding present.
Elizabeth wrapped the quilt in tissue and tucked it into a shopping bag. She handed it to the woman with a smile. “I hope your daughter has a lovely wedding.”
The minute the woman turned to exit the shop Elizabeth moved away from the counter.
“Elizabeth, we need to talk.”
She shook her head. “I need to fold the quilts we disarranged.”
He shoved his hands in his hair. “You don’t understand what pressure I’ve been under for the past few days.”
Her steps faltered and she turned. She tried to push past her hurt feelings and saw he looked exhausted and worried.
“I do understand,” she said quietly. “But you immediately ran out of here like I’d done something awful.”
“I’m sorry for how it looked.”
His words sounded stiff but he seemed sorry. Maybe he didn’t have to make apologies often. Troubled, she stood there, not knowing what to say, what to do.
Saul’s cell phone rang. He answered it, and he frowned as he listened. When he finished, he sighed as he put his phone away. “I have to go back to the hospital.”
“Is your father worse?”
“He’s had an allergic reaction to some medication. I think Mamm needs someone to sit with her for a while more than anything. I may not be able to come back. Can you close up again?”
“Of course.”
He walked over to the counter and pulled out a bank deposit slip. “Let me show you what to do and then I’m going to go call for a ride.”
She stood beside him as he went over what she needed to know, then he called his driver. Minutes later, as she was ringing up a sale for a customer, he left.
“Tough day?” Paula asked when she picked her up after the store closed.
“Work was okay,” Elizabeth said. “But Saul and I—”she touched her bottom lip with her fingers to still the trembling—“Saul and I had a fight.”
“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry!” Paula sat there looking at her with sympathy. “First one, huh?”
She nodded. “First one, with my first boyfriend.”
“The first one is always rough. Tell you what, let’s go home and get in our PJs and order in a pizza and you can tell me all about it.”
“What about Jason?”
“It’ll be girls only night. He’s spending the evening with his parents. I have to share him on his leave. The four of us are having dinner tomorrow night so I’ll see him then. And meet his parents.” She bit her bottom lip. “Little nervous about it.”
“They’ll love you.”
“I hope.”
An hour later, they were eating pizza in their PJs on the sofa and Elizabeth was telling her what had happened.
“I know you’re upset, but it doesn’t sound so bad now, does it?”
“I don’t know.” Elizabeth set the slice of pizza she’d been eating back on her plate. “I didn’t feel he trusted me. I might not know much about dating and men, but trust is important.”
“It is.”
“Maybe it’s just that he feels he doesn’t know you well yet. After all, don’t most Amish date and marry someone right in their community they’ve known for years? He hasn’t known you long.”
She picked up the slice of pizza again. “You think that could be it?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you think about it, maybe ask him?”
“When I see him again,” she said glumly. “He had to rush back to the hospital.” She set the slice of pizza back on her plate. “Now I feel guilty I’m even thinking about how I feel when his father isn’t doing well.”
“He’s going to be fine. Recovery isn’t something that’s a straight incline. It can be a lot of ups and downs, particularly with major surgery.”
“Really?”
“Really. Now eat your pizza and let’s pick out a movie.”
“Oh, I almost forgot I got some good news yesterday,” Elizabeth said suddenly. She told Paula about Leah’s visit and the job offer. “It’s so nice to think I might have a job after this one at the store ends. I didn’t know what I was going to do. I mean, I don’t have a lot of skills. I don’t know a lot.”
“You know plenty. Don’t sell yourself short.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I know about taking care of babies.” She looked at Paula. “No. I do not want to take c
are of babies.”
“Ever?”
Elizabeth blinked. “I—I haven’t thought about it. Maybe my own one day. But I just got so tired of doing nothing but the same thing day after day. And cleaning house. I never got to do anything but baby care and housework and work. Never got to go to a singing or go for a buggy ride.” She sighed. “You know this. You let me whine in my letters often enough.”
“You didn’t whine.”
“I did.”
Paula laughed. “It’s okay. People need to vent. Then at some point they can decide to change things. When people don’t make a change in the things bothering them, then it’s not healthy.”
“But what if they don’t make the change in a good way?”
“What do you mean?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I ran away.”
“I could tell you weren’t happy about it,” Paula said sympathetically. “It didn’t sound like you thought you had any other choice.”
“I didn’t think I did.”
“But now you wonder?”
She nodded.
“So what are you going to do?”
“You think I should do something?”
Paula patted her hand. “It’s more important what you think.”
“Life’s not easy sometimes,” Elizabeth complained.
Fwap! A sofa pillow smacked her in the face.
“Now you’re whining!” Paula said, laughing at Elizabeth’s surprise.
Elizabeth picked up the pillow. “Pillow fight!” She smacked Paula with it.
They acted like a couple of kids chasing each other around the room, hitting each other with pillows until they collapsed, giggling on the sofa.
Saul went into the store the next afternoon and closeted himself in the back room to go over paperwork. Elizabeth and the twins were doing a good job running the store, but only he could manage it. He’d had to come up to speed quickly when his mother needed treatment for her cancer and his father turned the store over to him.
Now when he felt needed by the two of them he had no one to give the responsibility of ordering inventory, checking on shipments, and all the big and small aspects of the store.
And every so often the specter of the mounting hospital bills sneaked up on him. He knew his mother thought about it as well, since she’d mentioned it to him outside his father’s room. The community had helped share the costs of the chemotherapy, so he knew they’d have help. Still, he’d heard the heart surgery, the specialists, the around-the-clock care—the complications his father had suffered—were undoubtedly going to be staggering.
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