Thankful

by Shelley Shepard Gray

  For a moment, she considered walking toward Pippa to see how she was doing. But when she met Pippa’s eyes, the woman only winked.

  Ah, it seemed as if everyone had noticed Ross’s visit. Feeling like a child on a stage, she walked toward him. When she was just a few feet away, he stood up to greet her. Just as if they were on a date. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” she replied. And then, because she was too old to try to even attempt to be coy, she added, “I’m so glad you came back.”

  “Me, too.”

  Just as she relaxed, a slow grin transformed his face. “Because, you know, the pie here is pretty wonderful.”

  “Ah. Yes, it is.”

  “But so is the company,” he added with a smile. “Do you have time to join me for a little while?”

  Even though she knew all the ladies were quietly watching them, she sat down across from Ross. “Do you have some news about the Grabers’ store or the quilts?”

  “Nope. We might get a lead, but I told Mr. Graber that he ought to look into a security system, or at least a couple of cameras. Sugarcreek is a wonderful town, but I’m afraid there’s crime everywhere.”

  “Yes, I suppose so.” She paused, wondering what else she could say about that topic.

  After taking a sip of tea, he leaned back in his chair. “Would you mind if we didn’t talk about robberies?” he asked quietly.

  “What do you want to talk about?”

  He shrugged almost boyishly. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you.”

  “You really are single, aren’t you?”

  He laughed. “I promise, I really am divorced.”

  Why that gave her comfort, she didn’t know. “How long ago did that happen?”

  “Six years.” He shrugged. “Candace is a nice woman. We just wanted different things. Maybe we got married too young?” He shrugged again. “Whatever the reason, we parted as amicably as two people who are divorcing can. I’ve been pretty much alone ever since. You?”

  “Harrison died twelve years ago.” She didn’t see the need to admit that she’d been alone all that time. “So, are you seeing anyone?”

  “I hope so.” His eyes twinkled, making her feel sixteen again. She chuckled just as Marla came by.

  “Want something to drink, Jana?”

  “I’ll take a glass of iced tea, too. And a slice of Ruth’s buttermilk pie.” Turning to Ross, she said, “It’s good I don’t mind running on the treadmill, because I eat way too much pie.”

  “I’ve never tried buttermilk pie.”

  “You should. It’s my favorite.”

  Ross held up two fingers. “Two of those.”

  “I’ll bring those out in a jiffy,” Marla said. As soon as she turned, Jana heard a low chuckle.

  And she started thinking that she didn’t even care about that. This was the happiest she’d felt in just about forever.

  Or at least in twelve years.

  I won’t be gone long, Judith,” Ben said for about the tenth time as he slowly edged out of the living room toward the door. “At the most, two hours,” he added. “Unless you’d like me to stay.”

  It took everything Judith had to keep a straight face. Her unflappable husband wore a look that was half helpless, half hopeful. She had a feeling that it would only take a frown on her part for him to cancel his plans and remain by her side.

  But she was made of stronger stuff. And, besides, she was a little anxious to spend some time with James, just the two of them.

  “Go on ahead, Ben. I have James in his crib next to me and a turkey sandwich and a bowl of potato soup that my mother fixed for me earlier today. I promise, I’ll be fine.”

  To her amusement, he didn’t budge. “I wish we had a phone. Do you think I should ask the bishop about getting a temporary phone?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “But what if something goes wrong? What if you need anything—”

  “I won’t. Go.”

  He clasped the door handle at last. “All right. That is, if you’re sure. . . .”

  “Ben, what would my mamm say if I acted so helpless? She had a houseful and never let seven kinner upset her day in the slightest.”

  “She might have. Your daed might have done more than you think.”

  Even thinking about her father abandoning his duties at the store in order to fuss with a baby made her smile. She couldn’t even imagine it. “Um, I don’t think so.” Knowing that if he waited much longer, Ben wouldn’t leave, she made a shooing motion with her hands. “Off you go, now.”

  “All right. Good-bye.”

  When the door closed and she was finally alone with baby James, Judith grinned. “Now it is just you and me, James,” she whispered.

  Peeking into the crib, she was relieved to see he was still asleep. He’d been asleep only an hour. The last baby book she’d read said that a baby his age needed a good morning nap.

  Satisfied that he was doing fine, she stretched out on the couch, yawned, and decided to spend the time until he woke up half dozing.

  They’d survived their first night with the baby. He’d awoken twice, but between her and Ben, they’d managed to fix his bottle easily. He took it from her happily, burped, and almost instantly went back to sleep.

  Thinking of Gretta’s stories about her babies having gas and being confused about nights and days, Judith counted herself lucky. Of course, anything could happen. But so far, she privately thought she had taken to motherhood like a duck to water.

  James squirmed a bit, threw his arms over his head, and then sighed and fell back into a peaceful slumber.

  And she sighed in contentment. Amazing how these twenty-four hours had changed her life. Now she couldn’t even remember why she’d been so taken aback with his color. So what if everyone in the world would know that she wasn’t his birth mother? What mattered was that she was his mother in every way that counted. Years from now, she would tell James that very thing. That she’d prayed and prayed to God and He had rewarded her with the beautiful blessing of getting to care for James for the rest of her life. She felt like the luckiest woman in the world.

  And if she ever let herself remember that she wasn’t his adopted mother, merely a foster mamm? Well, she firmly pushed it aside. Surely the Lord wouldn’t take him away from her.

  She knew that she would do everything in her power to stop that.

  This boy had her heart and she had no intention of ever giving him up. Not if she could help it.

  chapter thirteen

  The snow kept falling. Staring at it through her bedroom window, Christina wondered if she’d ever seen a more depressing sight.

  A whole day had passed since they’d gotten back to the house. In that time, she’d taken a long hot shower, been wrapped into a thick flannel dress and slippers, and been ushered downstairs to have her fill of a giant bowl of chicken and dumplings.

  None of her protests had been listened to or heeded. As far as her parents were concerned, she was a child again and clinging to the edge of death.

  They’d asked her to stay home from work that morning, and because the snow was falling and she couldn’t seem to do a single thing besides replay Aden’s kiss in her mind, she’d agreed.

  But now she wished that she’d gone in after all. Sitting around the house under her parents’ watchful gaze was slowly driving her crazy.

  She’d decided to spend the rest of the day working on an embroidery project she’d started three years ago. It was a sampler, and she was sure a careful seamstress could make the elegantly shaped letters and meaningful scripture verse into a thing of beauty.

  All she seemed able to do was create more knots in the floss. Thoroughly irritated with herself, she’d just pulled out her pair of embroidery scissors when Treva bounded into the room.

  Christina stifled a sigh. She loved her sister, of course she did. But Treva had a determined way about her that reminded one of a sneaky cat. Treva liked to bait her sister with seemingly innocuous questions. Then, just when Chr
istina would least expect it, she would pounce.

  To make matters worse, Treva not only worked in a fabric store, she was practically a needlework prodigy. She could make anything that involved fabric, yarn, floss, or canvas beautiful.

  “What are you working on?”

  Christina sullenly held up the wrinkled mess of a sampler. “This.”

  When Treva winced, Christina glared right back at her. “I know. It looks awful.”

  Sitting next to her on the bed, Treva pulled the fabric from her hands like she was saving it from a terrible fate. Immediately, she began studying the stitches, even going so far as to run a finger along them. “These are all uneven.”

  “I know.”

  “And, um, some are even in the wrong spot. See this D?” she asked, pointing to it as if she was worried her sister couldn’t even recognize the letter. “It’s, um, backward.”

  Christina held up the scissors. “ I know. I was about to repair it.”

  “Give me those.”

  Watching Treva painstakingly remove all of her work, Christina said, “Was there a reason you decided to bother me?”

  “Yep.”

  “Care to tell me what it is?”

  “You know.”

  “Actually, I don’t.”

  Looking up, her sister smiled. “Two words. You and Aden.”

  “That would be three.”

  “Three?”

  “Words,” Christina sputtered, suddenly feeling more than a little off guard. But surely she was imagining things? After all, Treva had no idea about what, exactly, had happened between her and Aden last night.

  Did she?

  After staring at her a good long minute, Treva put down the offending fabric. “Mamm and Daed are in a bit of a state about what happened last night. But you know that, right?”

  “It was hard not to notice. However, they need to calm down. We were late, but we weren’t that late. And we had a good reason, too. We walked a long way in the cold.”

  Treva tilted her head and smiled slightly. “It’s true that they were worried about you. But um, I think they have something more than your long walk in the dark on their minds.”

  “And what is that?”

  “At the moment, they seem to be fixated on the fact that you were holding Aden’s hand.”

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake. It was nothing.” She hoped her bluff sounded believable.

  “Maybe not. But it was new.”

  “Did Aden overhear them?”

  “Nope. After they force-fed him a second bowl of chicken and dumplings, and a huge slice of apple pie with vanilla ice cream, he escaped to the barn.” She laughed. “Poor guy. He looked like he was about to burst.”

  “Mamm never does listen when we say that we’ve had enough.”

  Treva shrugged. “It’s her way. We all know that. Now tell me what really happened between you and Aden.”

  Christina was tempted. She really was. But Treva couldn’t always be counted on to keep a secret. And this was a pretty important one. “Nothing happened.”

  “If nothing happened, how did your hand become clasped in his?”

  “Treva, don’t be so silly. We were only walking together in the snow. I’m sure you’ve held Aden’s hand a time or two.”

  “No, I don’t think I have.”

  “Well, you saw how much it was snowing,” Christina improvised, hoping this new tack would be more believable. “And I didn’t have on good boots. Aden was merely making sure that I didn’t fall.”

  “Oh.” She sighed, a wistful, somewhat disappointed expression etched on her face. “That’s too bad. I was really hoping it meant something else.”

  “What in the world could it have meant?”

  “That the two of you have finally come to your senses.”

  Christina couldn’t have been more shocked if, well, her whole family had been watching Aden kiss her. “Treva, what are you talking about?”

  “Come now, Christina. Don’t play dumb. You know as well as I do that Aden has always been fond of you.”

  “You think so?”

  “We all know so!”

  “I disagree. I mean, I would have noticed for sure.”

  “If you haven’t noticed his regard, then you haven’t been looking. Ever since we were all small, Aden has only had eyes for you.”

  “He cares about all of us.”

  “I think he does. But with you, he’s different.” Treva’s lips curved up slightly. “He’s a little more tender, a little more gentle. You’re the first person he looks at when he sits down to supper—and usually the very last person he says good-bye to when he leaves the haus. He’s smitten. He’s been smitten for years.”

  “You’re exaggerating.”

  “Maybe, but I doubt it.” Waving a hand, Treva said, “I’m not sure why it bothers you. It’s always seemed to me that the two of you were meant to be together.” She lowered her voice. “Why, I’ll never forget the way he acted, the way he looked, when he brought you home from the ice that day.”

  “That was a long time ago. . . .”

  “It was ten years ago, but that doesn’t mean I don’t remember it clear as day. Or that it didn’t happen.” Lowering her voice, her sister said, “He was devastated, Christina.”

  “I don’t know what you want me to say to that.”

  “Oh, you. You’ve always been more closemouthed than the rest of us combined.” She got to her feet. “If you’re not going to share how you really feel, I’m going to leave you in peace.”

  “Danke.”

  Looking even more irritated, Treva glared at her, then marched to the bed and snatched up the embroidery project, too. “I’m going to take this with me. You’re going to completely ruin it if you so much as touch it again.”

  “If you think taking that off my hands hurts my feelings, you’re in for a big surprise.”

  “You, sister, are incorrigible,” she said as she headed to the door. “I’m happy to take care of this for you. But let me tell you something. If you don’t want Aden, that’s your choice. But if you think you do, I suggest you actually do something about it. The sooner the better.”

  She truly didn’t care for being bossed around by her little sister. “Or?”

  “Or you’re going to miss your chance, that’s what. Nothing stays the same, Christina. Not even infatuation,” her sister warned before opening the door and closing it not too lightly behind her.

  Realizing she was once again sitting all alone—and no closer to figuring out what to do about Aden—Christina rested her forehead on the cold window and gazed out.

  And started praying.

  If it’s Thursday, it means we’ve almost made it to the end of the week,” Erik commented to Aden as they walked in one of the patients’ rooms to retrieve a gurney and a portable medical cart.

  “Almost,” Aden replied with a smile, though he, for one, would have been happy for the week to continue forever. He was supposed to be off this weekend, and that meant he would have to spend even more time in the Kempf household.

  Two days had now passed since he’d given in to temptation and kissed Christina in that snowstorm. But if the way things were at home were any indication, it might as well have been only a couple of hours. Everyone in the house—with the exception of himself and Christina—couldn’t seem to stop talking about their long walk home.

  Now to hear it, he and Christy had braved frigid temperatures, blizzard conditions, and a pack of roving wolves by the time they’d made it safely to the front door.

  And that was nothing compared to the amount of speculation that revolved around the way he’d held Christina’s hand. No matter where he turned, yet another family member was wanting to know the real story about what had happened that night.

  No matter how many times he stated that nothing had happened between them, all he got was a knowing wink or a sly smile from the boys, a glare from Treva, or increasingly irritated grunts from her parents. Even twelve-year-old Leanna
had stated that she’d thought she could lie better than he did.

  Smart people, those Kempfs.

  After maneuvering the gurney out of the room, he guided it to the end of the hall and stripped it of all the sheets. He tossed them into the laundry bin, then made his way to the basement. Janice, one of the supervising nurses on his floor, had asked him to help inventory some new heart monitors. They were bulky instruments and required someone with a little muscle to maneuver them around.

  So Janice had claimed.

  “Hi, Aden,” she said with a cheery smile when he entered the large storage room. “You’re right on time.”

  “I try to be on time.”

  She laughed, the light, pretty noise making him smile. Janice was one year older than him and one of his favorite people to work with. She was easy to get along with and had a patient demeanor spiced with just enough salt and pepper to keep things interesting.

  She was a Mennonite nurse and midwife by practice, but she was currently volunteering in a mentoring and training program at the hospital in hope of a raise.

  It was because of this and the fact that he was the hospital’s newest hire that they continued to be in each other’s company so much. Apparently he needed a lot of mentoring.

  “Now, what did you need me to inventory?”

  With a frown, she pointed to a group of at least two dozen heart monitors. “These.”

  “What’s wrong with counting these? It looks easy enough.”

  “Oh, it would be a simple job if the person who unpacked them did what he was supposed to and put all the cords and batteries with them like he was supposed to.”

  Now noticing a pile of forlorn-looking black rubber cords, Aden raised his brows. “It looks like these are our cords?”

  “Yep.” She held up an oversized plastic tub. “And these are our battery packs. Aden, we’re going to need to open each monitor, find a matching cord and battery pack, and then make sure it all works together. Then charge the things.”

  She looked so irritated, he had to hide a smile. “If you show me what to do, I’ll work on them by myself.”