The Betrayed Fiancée

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  Looking at her watch, she saw it was impossible. Kristi barely had time to make it to the nursing home before her shift started. She would talk to Joel when she got off work. One way or another, before the day was out, Kristi would get to the bottom of this.

  CHAPTER 8

  Charm

  I hardly know where to start,” Arlene commented as she and Elsie entered their father’s bedroom.

  Elsie opened the closet door and peered in. “Maybe we should begin by going through his clothes. We can see if there’s anyone in our community who might have a need or give them to the Share and Care thrift shop in Berlin.”

  Tears welled in Elsie’s eyes. “I realize we can’t keep everything, but it’s going to be so hard to part with any of Dad’s things.”

  Arlene gave a quick nod. “A lot of Mama’s things are still here, too, and we’ll need to decide what to do with those.”

  “I’m so glad Doris found those birdhouses.” Elsie paused. “I can’t believe no one saw them in all the rubble before.”

  “I suppose they would have eventually been discovered, but it was perfect timing all the way around.” Arlene stared at Dad’s Sunday shoes, sitting by his dresser. “I believe Doris was right. Finding the birdhouses was meant to be.”

  “I may keep mine inside for a while,” Elsie said. “I’d like to put it in a special place as a reminder of Mama and Dad.”

  “I may do the same thing,” Arlene agreed.

  Elsie sat on the end of the bed, viewing the clothes peeking out of the closet. “Maybe it would be best not to dispose of anything but the clothes until the will has been found. That way, if Dad specified anything in particular should go to certain people, we can respect his wishes.”

  “If there is a will.” Arlene sighed. “Maybe Dad didn’t make one.”

  “Jah, he did.” Aunt Verna stepped into the room. “He told me the last time I came here for a visit.”

  “Did he say where he put it?” Elsie questioned.

  Aunt Verna tipped her head. “What was that?”

  Elsie repeated her question. It was amazing how sometimes Aunt Verna heard whatever had been said, while at other times people had to repeat themselves. Perhaps I spoke too quietly. I need to make sure I speak loud enough and look in her direction when I’m talking to her.

  Aunt Verna moved closer. “My bruder said he’d made out a will, he even showed it to me. But…” her voice trailed off. “I can’t remember now where he put it. Didn’t he tell one of you about the will?”

  Elsie and Arlene both shook their heads. “I’m sure he didn’t tell Doris, either,” Elsie said.

  “And I’m even more certain he didn’t tell our brother, because if he had, Joel would not have asked about the will,” Arlene interjected.

  “Maybe we need to box things up and wait until the will is found before deciding what to do with them.” Elsie rose from the bed. “In the meantime, I’m hungerich. Should we stop and heat the casserole for lunch?”

  “No need for that. The reason I came in here was to tell you I put the dish in the oven forty-five minutes ago. It’s nice and warm and on the table.” Aunt Verna smiled. “Lester’s waiting for us, so why don’t we join him?”

  “Sounds good.” Elsie and Arlene followed Aunt Verna out of Dad’s room.

  “Oh, before I forget, I wanted to ask you something.” Aunt Verna paused in the hall, peering at them over the top of her glasses.

  “What is it?” Elsie and Arlene asked in unison, stopping beside their aunt.

  “I hate to ask, but if you happen to come across Eustace’s worn-out boots, would you mind if I have them?” She pursed her lips. “It would be the ones held together by duct tape.”

  “Certainly.” Elsie put her arm around her aunt’s shoulder.

  “Danki.” Aunt Verna wiped her eyes with the corner of her apron. “When I arrived last month to visit Eustace, I had to chuckle when I saw his old boots. I suggested he use duct tape to hold them together.”

  “They’re probably in the barn somewhere. Even though he bought a new pair, I can’t imagine he’d get rid of the old ones.” Arlene paused, blinking against tears about to spill over. “He was wearing those new boots the day Larry and I found him.”

  “Well, your daed mentioned how he’d bought a pair of old cowboy boots at an auction one time and your mamm couldn’t imagine why.”

  “I remember those,” Elsie exclaimed. “Dad planted flowers in them.”

  “Jah, and he told me your mamm ended up liking the idea.” Aunt Verna grinned. “So if you find those old duct-taped boots, I’d like to plant flowers in them. They hold a good memory for me of my bruder.”

  “We’d be pleased if you turned Dad’s old boots into your own special memory.” Arlene hugged Aunt Verna, and Elsie did the same.

  When they entered the kitchen, Elsie stopped in mid-stride as soon as she saw Uncle Lester sitting in Dad’s roll-about chair at the head of the table. Her chin trembled as she pressed her hand to her chest. The tears didn’t seem to want to stop today. The sight of Uncle Lester sitting in Dad’s spot was a vivid reminder that he was gone and would never occupy his special chair again. She would miss seeing Dad roll around as he often did, going from room to room. It had become his trademark of sorts. Elsie blinked rapidly. Oh, Dad, if only you hadn’t gone up in the tree house.

  After lunch, Elsie helped put stuff away. “I’m going to walk to the phone shack and check for messages. I doubt Doris has called, but there may be a chance. I shouldn’t be long.” She headed out the door.

  “Hey, wait up!” Arlene called. “I’ll walk with you.”

  Elsie waited for her sister to catch up. “Oh, good, you can hunt for schpinne for me.” She laughed.

  Arlene snickered. “Well, it wouldn’t be anything new. You could never handle it when a spider was in the bedroom we shared growing up. You’d say, ‘Arlene, would you please take care of it for me? Schpinne are creepy.’ ”

  “I can’t deny it. I called on you a lot to do the nasty deed—only because Doris was too small, and the spiders were nearly as big as her.” Elsie elbowed her sister, chuckling. It felt good to find something to smile about.

  When they got to the phone shack, Arlene stepped in and brushed away a web. “No messages,” she announced.

  “Our sister must be doing okay. Guess we’d better get back to the house and box up some more stuff. I brought peanut butter cookies for us to snack on. I’ll set them on the table soon.” Elsie pushed a wayward strand of hair back under her head covering before linking arms with Arlene.

  As they headed to the house, Elsie hummed a silly tune their father used to play on his harmonica. There were so many memories of Dad she would always treasure. Someday, she would see him again in heaven.

  Akron

  When Kristi got off work that afternoon, she didn’t bother going home to change out of her nursing uniform; she headed straight for Joel’s place, hoping he’d be there. She had to find out why he’d taken money from their account and thought it would be better if they talked face-to-face. She didn’t know how she’d gotten through the day without leaving early to confront Joel.

  A light rain trickled down the windshield, so Kristi turned on her wipers. Listening to the steady swish-swish of the wiper blades, she thought about her perplexing relationship with Joel. Could Mom be right about Joel? Maybe he’s not a Christian. He could only be pretending to be one by going to church with me on Sundays. But it doesn’t make sense. Joel grew up in the Amish church. He should be spiritually grounded.

  Kristi reflected on the information she’d found on the Internet. One site talked specifically about baptism and confession of faith. She’d learned those wishing to be baptized and join the Amish church must first take a series of instructional classes. On the Saturday before baptism took place, the candidates would be given the opportunity to change their mind.

  I wonder why Joel didn’t do that. Why’d he wait to leave until after he joined the church? There
were so many unanswered questions.

  Kristi had also learned from the website that during the baptismal service, each of the young men and women were asked three questions: (1) if they were willing to renounce the world and be obedient only to God and the church, (2) if they were willing to walk with Christ and His church and remain faithful throughout their life, and (3) if they could confess Jesus Christ as the Son of God. They had to answer affirmatively to each question. Then the deacon poured water into the bishop’s cupped hands, which he dripped over the candidate’s head. The ritual of baptism signified the individual had formally become a member of the church.

  “If Joel complied with all three things, how could he not be a Christian?” Kristi murmured. She pressed her lips tightly together. But if Joel is a Christian, why is he ignoring his family and being deceitful with me? But then, we’re only human, and everyone makes mistakes. I have my own faults to deal with.

  The first thing Joel did when he got home from work was to take a shower and change his clothes. Following that, he went to the kitchen to make a sandwich, since he didn’t feel like cooking.

  Joel was about to sit down when he heard a car pull into the yard. Going to the window and looking out, he was surprised to see Kristi get out of her car, wearing her nurse’s uniform.

  He hurried to the door, hoping everything was okay. Normally Kristi called before coming over.

  The minute she stepped onto the porch, Joel sensed something was wrong. No cute dimpled smile or friendly greeting. Kristi’s lips were pressed into a white slash as she held tightly onto her purse.

  “Come in before the wind blows rain under the porch eaves.” Joel opened the door wider, and Kristi stepped inside.

  He leaned down and pressed his lips against her cold cheek. “I’m surprised to see you. I didn’t think we were getting together this evening. Is everything all right?”

  “I–I’m not sure.” Kristi opened her purse and pulled out a slip of paper. “I went to the bank on my way to work this morning. When I made a deposit to our savings account, I was given this.” Kristi’s hand shook as she handed it to him.

  Joel didn’t have to look at the deposit slip to know what was on it. The teller had printed the new balance on the back.

  “Did you take money from our account without telling me?” Kristi’s sharp tone hit Joel like a dagger.

  He shuffled his feet a few times, while clearing his throat. “I…I admit, I did make a withdrawal, but you told me awhile back if I needed money I could borrow some from our account.”

  She looked up at him defiantly. “You assured me you would never take any of the money without telling me about it.”

  Joel gave his shirt collar a tug before rubbing the back of his neck. “Guess I must have forgotten to mention it. Sorry. I’ll make sure it never happens again.”

  “What I would like to know is what kind of problems are you faced with that you would need to take over half the money we’d saved?” She continued to stare at him through squinted eyes.

  Joel squirmed uncomfortably. He wasn’t about to tell her that because he’d bought an expensive car he couldn’t pay his subcontractors. She’d think he was a louse—not to mention a risky choice as a husband.

  Joel clasped his fingers around her hand. He felt relief when she didn’t pull away. “As you may recall, I lost out on a big job a few months ago, and it set me back.”

  She gave a slow nod. “You’ve been busy with work since then. I figured you were making enough to get caught up.”

  Heat rushed to his cheeks, and he let go of her hand. “I’m not. Most of the jobs I’ve taken on have been small and didn’t pay a lot. To save money, I’ve done many of them myself.”

  Kristi’s face softened some. “I wish you would have talked to me about this, Joel. Remember how I told you the speaker at the marriage seminar stressed the importance of communication?”

  “Yeah, I know. I didn’t want to worry you, though.”

  “I’m more worried about you pushing me out of your life.” Her voice trembled.

  Joel felt a sudden coldness deep inside. “I’m not pushing you out of my life, Kristi. I didn’t want you to worry about something that was out of your control.”

  “We could have talked about it and prayed together. I love you, Joel. I want honesty and trust between us.”

  Joel pulled Kristi into his arms, holding her close. “I love you, too, sweetheart. Am I forgiven?”

  “Yes,” she murmured against his chest. “But from now on, no more secrets please.”

  Joel stroked her silky hair, then bent to kiss her lips. He hated keeping information from Kristi, but some things were best left unsaid.

  CHAPTER 9

  Wednesday evening, Kristi had finished eating supper when she heard the doorbell ring. Thinking it might be Joel, she hurried to answer it.

  “Oh, hi,” Kristi said, when she opened the door and saw her mother on the porch, holding a paper sack. “What are you doing out and about?” Kristi held the door open while her mother entered.

  Mom stepped into the hall then turned to face Kristi. “Your dad had a deacon’s meeting at the church this evening, so I seized the opportunity to come by and see your new wall hanging.”

  “It’s draped over the back of the sofa in the living room.” Kristi gave her mother a wide grin. “Come on in. I’m anxious to see what you think of it.”

  Mom handed Kristi the bag she held. “First, I have something for you.”

  “What’s in here?” Kristi asked, peeking inside.

  “I stopped at the market on my way over and got a few things I thought you might like—apples, a butternut squash, and some spareribs they had on special.”

  “Thanks Mom. I’ll take these things to the kitchen and put the meat in the fridge. If you’d like to come along, I’ll pour us a glass of cider.”

  Mom smacked her lips. “Sounds good. I love cider this time of the year.”

  “Same here.”

  When they finished up in the kitchen and started for the living room, Mom paused and tipped her head. “Kristi, you look like you’ve lost some weight.”

  “You think so?” Kristi wasn’t about to admit she had lost a few pounds from all the stress of worrying over Joel and their relationship. Needing to change the topic, she hurried into the other room and pointed toward the couch. “There’s the quilted wall hanging Joel’s sister gave me. What do you think?”

  “It’s lovely.” Mom slid her fingers across the material. “How could she part with such a beautiful family heirloom?”

  “Each of Joel’s sisters has her own. Doris said their mother made even more, so it’s not like I was given the only one.”

  Mom removed her jacket and took a seat on the sofa. “How come you haven’t hung the quilt on the wall?”

  “I’m waiting until after Joel and I are married. Then we can decide where we want to hang it in our house.” Kristi sat beside her mother.

  “How are things between you and Joel these days?” Mom inquired.

  “We’re going on a picnic after church this Sunday.” Kristi’s stomach tightened. No way was she going to tell her mother about Joel taking money from their joint account. It would give her one more reason to question his ability to be a good husband. She would probably say Joel was deceitful and couldn’t be trusted. Lately, Kristi had to admit, she felt the same way, but her love for him always won out. He’d apologized for taking the money, and Kristi was confident he wouldn’t do it again.

  “I hoped you hadn’t made any plans for Sunday afternoon.” Mom touched Kristi’s arm. “I planned to ask if you and Joel could come over to our house to eat after church. Your dad mentioned it’s been some time since we’ve visited with both of you.”

  “Can we do it next Sunday instead? Joel called last night and said he has something special to give me, and he’d probably prefer being alone.” Kristi had a suspicion Joel might be planning to give her an engagement ring, but wondered how he could afford it, give
n his financial circumstances. If it is a ring, I hope he didn’t charge it, or we’ll be stuck with making payments for a long time.

  As eager as Kristi was to make their engagement official and set a wedding date, she didn’t want to start their marriage deeply in debt. She’d been praying Joel would land a big job soon and be able to replace what he’d taken from their account. Surely, with all the building going on in the area, something would open up.

  “Next Sunday will be fine.” Mom rested her arm on the sofa pillow. “We can confirm it when the time gets closer and you’ve had a chance to speak with Joel. He might not be interested in having lunch with us.”

  Kristi couldn’t imagine why he wouldn’t. After all, Mom and Dad would be his in-laws once she and Joel were married.

  Berlin, Ohio

  “Are you feeling all right, Doris?” Brian motioned to her half-eaten supper plate. “You’ve barely touched your food.”

  Doris exhaled as she pushed her beef stew around with a fork. “My stomach is queasy and has been all day. This flu bug I came down with on Monday is determined to stick around. I may have picked something up the day of the funeral with so many people around.”

  “Maybe it’s not the flu. Have you called the doctor and told him your symptoms?”

  “No, but if I had called, he’d probably tell me all the usual things to do for the flu—drink lots of fluids and get plenty of rest—which is what I’ve been doing.”

  Brian touched her forehead. “You don’t have a fever. Do you feel achy?”

  “No, only my stomach’s upset.”

  His eyes darkened, and a sly grin appeared on his lips. “You don’t suppose….”

  “Suppose what?” Doris reached for her glass of water and took a sip.

  “Is it possible?… After all this time, could you be having morning sickness because you’re expecting a boppli?”

  “I don’t think so, Brian. Besides, the nausea I’ve felt isn’t just in the mornings. Sometimes it lasts all day.”