Lydia's Charm

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  “How have you and your family been?” Lydia asked.

  “Pop’s arm has healed well, and Selma’s doing a little better with the pain in her back.” Levi rubbed the side of his neck. “A few weeks ago I was down in bed for a while with infected tonsils, so that wasn’t much fun.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Have you considered having your tonsils removed?”

  “The doctor did mention that. Said if it keeps happening I might have to get it done.” He grimaced. “Sure hope that doesn’t happen. It was bad enough for me to be laid up for several days with tonsillitis. I wouldn’t want to be away from the store again for any length of time.”

  “Did your family manage all right without your help?” she asked.

  He nodded and gave her a little-boy grin. “At least Mom said they did.”

  Just then, Levi’s brother Andy ambled into the room. He halted when he saw Lydia, then dropped his gaze to the floor. “Sorry about Josh,” he mumbled. “Sure do miss him.”

  Lydia blinked against the tears gathering in her eyes. “I miss him, too, but I’m sure he’s in heaven.”

  “That’s what my mamm said.” Several seconds ticked by. Then Andy looked up at Levi and said, “Pop’s in the back room tryin’ to stack some things on a shelf, but he can’t reach that high, so he was wonderin’ if you know where the ladder is.”

  “I took it outside yesterday when I was patching the roof. Guess I must have forgotten to bring it in.” Levi frowned. “I don’t want Pop climbing the ladder, though. It hasn’t been that long since his arm healed, and we don’t need him falling and breaking it again.” Levi turned to Lydia. “Would you mind keeping an eye on things while I do the job my daed was planning to do? Normally, Betty would be here to help, but she’s working at the B&B near Sugarcreek today.”

  “What is it you’d like me to do?” Lydia asked.

  “Just wait on any customers who might come into the store.”

  “I guess I can manage that.”

  “Danki, I appreciate it.”

  When Levi and Andy walked away, Lydia stepped behind the counter. She was impressed with Levi’s concern for his father. From what she could tell, he seemed to put the needs of his family ahead of his own.

  A few minutes later, an English woman came into the store, looking for something to buy as a souvenir. She picked out a wooden yo-yo and had just brought it to the counter when Levi returned.

  “This is really nice. Is it the only one you have in the store?”

  Lydia looked to Levi to answer the woman’s question.

  “I made the yo-yo a few months ago,” he said, “but I’ve been too busy with chores at home and helping here in the store to make any more.”

  “That’s too bad,” the woman said. “I have six grandchildren, so I would have bought more if you’d had them.”

  “I do have some other wooden toys that I’ve made. They’re in the back room.” Levi motioned with his head. “Would you like me to get them so you can take a look?”

  The woman smiled. “I’d appreciate that.”

  Levi hurried off, and when he returned with a cardboard box, he placed it on the counter and pulled out several wooden horses, and a wooden game with marbles and a chute.

  “Those are perfect,” the woman said. “Now I’ll have something to give each of my grandchildren.”

  Lydia rang up the woman’s purchases on the battery-operated cash register, while Levi wrapped the toys in bubble wrap and placed them back in the cardboard box.

  After the woman left the store, Lydia turned to Levi and said, “I had no idea you were so talented. Those wooden toys you made are sure nice.”

  Levi shrugged. “It’s something I like to do in my spare time. I don’t have much time for woodworking during our busier months, but when things slow down here in the winter, I drag out my woodworking tools and get busy.”

  “Do you make other things besides toys?” Lydia asked.

  “I made the table and chairs that are in our kitchen at home, as well as a few other pieces of furniture for our house.”

  “I’m surprised you’re not working at one of the woodshops in the area.”

  “I’ve thought about it, but I’m needed right here.”

  Just then the door opened, and several more customers entered the store.

  “I’d better go so you can take care of business,” Lydia said. “Don’t forget to give your mamm my message.”

  “Will do.”

  Lydia hurried out the door and turned in the direction of the dry goods store.

  She’d only gone a short ways when she spotted Menno and his boys heading her way.

  “We’re going over to Keim Lumber to have lunch at Carpenter’s Café,” Menno said when they caught up to her. “Would you like to join us?”

  “That sounds nice, but I’m on my way to Miller’s Dry Goods Store. Mom went there to see about selling some of her quilts.”

  “Why don’t you see if your mamm would like to have lunch with us?”

  Lydia hesitated, wondering whether she should tell Menno that she didn’t have enough money with her to buy lunch.

  “It’ll be my treat,” Menno said, as though he already knew. “And I won’t take no for an answer.”

  Seeing the sincerity on his face, Lydia finally agreed.

  “Are we goin’ or what?” Carl tugged on his father’s hand. “I’m hungerich, and I might pass out if I don’t eat somethin’ soon.”

  “I’m hungerich, too,” Dennis put in.

  “You boys are always hungry.” Menno ruffled Carl’s hair. “I think the whole lot of you must have holes in your legs.” He looked at Lydia and grinned. “Guess I’d better head over to Keim’s and put in an order for my half-starved boys. I’ll wait to order my food until you and your mamm show up.”

  “We shouldn’t be too long.” Lydia turned and hurried down the street.

  When she entered the dry goods store, she found Mom talking with Sylvia, one of the Amish women who worked there. When they finished their conversation, Mom turned to Lydia and said, “They’ve agreed to let me leave both of my quilts. The only trouble is, they have a lot of quilts right now, so there’s no guarantee that mine will sell.”

  “You can always make more and try to sell them to some of the other quilt shops in the area,” Lydia reminded her.

  “That’s true.” Mom opened the door and stepped onto the sidewalk. “I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry. I think we ought to head for home now, don’t you?”

  “Actually, I spoke with Menno a few minutes ago, and he invited us to join him and the boys for lunch over at Carpenter’s Café.”

  “Lydia, you know our finances are tight, and we shouldn’t be spending what little money we do have to eat out.”

  “Menno said our lunch would be his treat.”

  “Why, that’s sure nice of him. I haven’t eaten lunch out in a very long time, so this will be a real treat.”

  Menno had just gotten the boys seated with their hot dogs and fries, when Lydia and Mae showed up.

  “Take a minute to look over the menu,” he told them. “When you’ve decided what you want, I’ll put in your orders.”

  The women took a menu and found seats at the table across from the boys.

  “I think I’d like a ham and cheese sandwich and a glass of lemonade,” Lydia said a few minutes later.

  “Same here.” Mae handed the menu to Menno. “It was nice of you to invite us to join you for lunch.”

  “Glad to do it,” he said. “I’ll turn in our orders, and then we can visit while we wait for our food.”

  When Menno returned to the table, he took a seat beside Lydia. They talked about the warm weather they’d been having, and then Menno answered a few questions Lydia had about his woodshop. When their food came, they bowed for silent prayer.

  “Any idea when you’ll return to work?” Menno asked Lydia as they ate their meal.

  “I’m going back on Monday,” she re
plied.

  “Sure you’re ready for that?”

  “I believe so. I’m feeling more rested now, and I think I’ll be able to cope with things better.”

  Zing! Flop! A napkin wadded into a ball sailed past Lydia’s head and landed in her glass of water.

  Menno snapped his fingers and glared at the boys. “Which one of you did that?”

  Carl pointed at Dennis.

  “We were makin’ pretend snowballs,” Dennis said.

  “This isn’t the place to be doin’ that. You can wait for winter to make real snowballs. Right now, you need to finish your lunch and quit fooling around.”

  “I’m done with my hot dog,” Ike said. “Can I have an ice-cream cone?”

  “I want one, too!” Kevin shouted.

  “Same here,” Dennis and Carl echoed.

  “All right, but only if you promise to behave yourselves while you eat.”

  All four heads bobbed, so Menno handed Ike some money. “Go ahead and get a cone for you and your brothers.” He turned to face Lydia. “Sorry about that.”

  “No harm done,” she said, squeezing water from the fake snowball and plucking it from her glass.

  Soon after the boys returned to the table with their ice-cream cones, Ike let out a loud burp.

  “What do you say?” Menno asked, giving Ike a stern look.

  “It’s better to burp and be in shame, than not to burp and—”

  Menno held up his hand. “That’s enough. Just eat your cone and be quiet.”

  Lydia had just picked up her sandwich, and was about to take a bite, when—floop!—a little green frog landed in the middle of her plate. It sat there a few seconds, and hopped to the floor.

  “Ach, my!” she squealed. “Now where did that come from?”

  Menno leaned over and snatched up the frog; then he looked at his sons and said, “Who does this belong to?”

  Three heads turned in Carl’s direction.

  Menno’s eyes narrowed. “Did you bring that frog in here?”

  The boy’s face quickly turned pink as he nodded. “Had the frosch in my pocket but never expected he’d hop out.”

  Menno thrust the frog into Carl’s hands. “Tell Lydia you’re sorry, and then take the critter outside.”

  “Sorry,” Carl mumbled. He gave Lydia a sidelong glance, then dashed out of the café.

  Menno groaned. “Don’t know what’s gotten into my boys lately. They never acted like this when their mamm was alive—especially not in public.” He glanced at Lydia, wondering what she must think of his rowdy sons. It seemed like they were always doing something to embarrass him whenever she was around.

  “I think it’s time for us to go home,” Lydia said, rising from her chair. “Danki for the lunch, Menno.”

  “We appreciate it very much,” Mae added.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Soon after the women left, Carl showed up without the frog.

  “I want to talk to you boys,” Menno said, taking a seat at the table between Kevin and Dennis.

  “What about?” Ike asked.

  “It’s about your rude behavior.” Menno grimaced. “I’ve never seen any Amish children misbehave in public the way you did here today, and I never want to see you act like that again. Are we clear?”

  All heads nodded.

  “When we get home, you’ll have extra chores to do, and from now on, whenever we’re with Lydia, you’d better be on your best behavior.”

  CHAPTER 28

  On Monday morning Lydia returned to work. Even though they were quite busy, she managed to keep up and stay focused on what she was doing. By the end of her shift, however, she was exhausted and anxious to call it a day.

  Lydia had ridden her bike to work, but there was one stop she wanted to make before going home. She felt a strong need to go to the cemetery to visit Josh’s grave, even though it would hurt.

  When Lydia arrived at the cemetery, she saw Menno kneeling in front of one of the graves. Not wishing to intrude, she held back, staying near the wooden fence that surrounded the graveyard.

  “I miss you, Sadie,” Menno murmured. “I’m sure our boys do, too.” His shoulders shook as he gulped in a couple of deep breaths.

  Lydia’s heart went out to him, for she understood fully the grief he felt. Even though Jeremiah had been gone over a year, she still missed him. And the ache in her heart from losing Josh was still so fresh she could barely deal with seeing his grave, just on the other side of the fence.

  Lydia waited until Menno stood and moved away from his wife’s grave. Then she opened the gate and stepped inside.

  When the gate clicked shut, Menno whirled around. “I didn’t know anyone was here. Thought I was alone.”

  “I haven’t been here long. I was on my way home from work and decided to stop and visit Josh’s grave.”

  He lifted the brim of his straw hat and ran his fingers through the ends of his hair. “When I was a boy and lost my grandparents, I was sad, but it was nothing like the pain I felt when my wife died.”

  Lydia’s throat burned, and she could barely swallow. “I know. Losing my husband and then our son was the worst kind of pain I’ve ever had to endure.”

  He nodded with a look of empathy. “I still have my boys, and for that, I’m grateful, but they’re so hard to deal with at times. It makes me miss Sadie all the more, because she was so good with ’em.”

  Lydia knew her situation was different from his, but she felt the need to offer some advice. “During the last few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time praying and reading my Bible. While I’m still hurting from the loss of my husband and son, I’ve come to realize that God is with me and He can use my situation to make me a stronger person and to help someone else who might also be hurting.”

  “I know you’re right, and I really haven’t spent as much time praying or reading the Bible as I should. When I get up in the mornings, I’m usually in a hurry to get the boys going so I can head to work. When I come home in the evenings, I’m so tired it’s all I can do to throw something together for us to eat and see that the boys do their chores and get ready for bed.” He squinted and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Guess I should start reading my Bible and spending some time in prayer before I go to bed at night.”

  “That’s when I usually spend time with God, but I often pray throughout the day.”

  “I need to start doin’ that, too.” Menno pushed his hat back in place. “I’d better get back to work. I left the boys at my shop, and my workers are overseeing ’em while I’m gone. Don’t want to take advantage of John and Mark’s good natures.”

  He turned and was about to open the gate, when she called out to him. “Would you and the boys be free to have supper at our house tonight?”

  He pivoted toward her, a slow smile spreading across his face. “That’d be real nice. What time would you like us?”

  “How about six o’clock?”

  “That should work out just fine. See you then, Lydia.”

  “I hate goin’ to the dentist,” Levi’s brother Peter complained as they left the dentist’s office in Berlin.

  “But your tooth doesn’t hurt anymore, does it?” Levi asked.

  “How should I know? I’m all numbed up.” Peter rubbed the side of his face. “Can’t feel a thing, ’cept for a prickly sensation.”

  “It’ll wear off in a few hours, and then you’ll be good as new.” Levi gave the top of his brother’s head a couple of light raps. “Let’s go over to Heini’s Cheese Store. Mom asked me to pick up a few things for her.”

  Peter’s brow puckered. “It ain’t fair.”

  “What’s not fair?”

  “Goin’ to Heini’s when my mouth’s too numb to eat. Won’t be able to try any of those tasty cheese samples they always have settin’ out.”

  “I’ll be buying some cheese to take home,” Levi said as they climbed into his buggy. “You can have a hunk of it after the numbness wears off.”

  “Won’t be the sam
e as goin’ up and down the aisle, samplin’ all kinds of cheese.” Peter frowned and folded his arms. “They’ve usually got several kinds of fudge there, too.”

  “I think you’ll live without it this time,” Levi said as he backed the horse away from the hitching rail.

  When they arrived at Heini’s, Levi went in, while Peter wandered around some of the other stores that were located in the same building. Levi promised that when he was done shopping he’d buy Peter an ice-cream cone, figuring it would be easy enough for the boy to eat.

  Levi took his time picking out the kinds of cheese Mom had on her list, and he sampled several as he walked up and down the aisles between the refrigerated cases.

  When he found everything he needed, he placed it all on the counter. Mary Rose Yoder, who stood near the cash register, rang up his purchases. “Hi, Levi. It’s good to see you.” Her blue eyes twinkled as she pushed a wisp of dark hair that had escaped her head covering back into place.

  He gave a quick nod.

  “How’s your family?”

  “Doin’ okay.”

  She smiled sweetly. “I’ve missed seeing you. Since I started my new job here, I don’t get into your folks’ store very often anymore. Mama does most of our shopping now.”

  “Guess that’s understandable.”

  “I heard there’s going to be a volleyball game at the Masts’ place on Saturday evening. Think you might go?”

  “I don’t think so. Saturdays are usually busy at the store, and by the time I get home and do all my chores, I’m usually too tired to go anywhere.”

  “That’s too bad. I was hoping you might be there.”

  Levi was relieved when another customer stepped up behind him. That meant Mary Rose wouldn’t have time to keep talking to him. Not that she was unpleasant or anything. She was a nice-looking young woman and had a pleasing personality. Levi just wasn’t interested in a relationship with her, and he was pretty sure that’s what she was hoping for.

  Once Mary Rose had rung up his purchases, Levi grabbed the sack, said a quick good-bye, and scooted out the door. He found Peter sitting on a bench in the entryway, head down and shoulders slumped.