He pulled a bud off a tree. “This is important,”—he held it toward her—“and we’ll fight with all we have to protect the orchard from every enemy it has, whether it’s pests, frost, or something else. But it’s just an orchard. It’s not family.”
She would have loved being out here with him last night as he got peace and perspective in a way she never had.
He walked toward Isaac and let the boy lead while meandering from rock to stick to tree.
She stopped, unable to quit staring at Samuel while he walked. This was the same man she had met last July, who so fully felt the stress of keeping Kings’ Orchard solvent that he was like a pressure cooker? He’d argued with her at every turn, angry that she dared to challenge his patriarchal mind-set when it came to almost anything, including herself, Leah, and business in general.
The dogs barked while running toward them. Steven’s wagon topped the hill with the girls yelling the Pooh Bear song. Apparently Steven had picked up Landon while running the soil tests. When her brother’s wagon was near hers, the one she’d deserted before walking with Samuel, Landon hopped down and got into it. The dogs came to a brisk halt, turned, and ran in a different direction, howling as they went. But she saw no one.
She cupped her hands and blew into them. “Am I the only one whose nerves are grated by the dogs barking so easily when they’re outside?”
Samuel pulled his wool gloves out of his coat pocket. “Every time you hear it, just remember they’re sounding the warning to all deer who wish to eat from the trees.” He held the gloves out to her.
“No, I can’t work in those. I have to settle for these without fingertips.”
The wagon moaned as Steven brought it to a stop. “The girls aren’t far from having all the outdoor fun they can take, and it’ll be time for supper soon.”
Landon parked the other rig a few feet from them and got out.
Steven hopped down. “We’ll get a soil sample from this low-lying area, and then I’m taking the girls in. Anyone else want a ride?”
Rhoda chuckled at the busy zaniness of family and friends rolling love and work into one. Her eyes met Samuel’s, and she knew he was enjoying it too.
When Ziggy and Zara finally stopped barking, Rhoda looked in that direction and saw Jacob topping a hill, petting the dogs as he walked.
This is what she wanted her life to be. Where the beauty of the day, talk of faithfulness and love, the exuberance of children, and work all collided into an array of blissful fulfillment. Even as joy skittered through her, she prayed she’d have the privilege of tens of thousands of days just like this one. Her heart palpitated at the thought.
Jacob’s stride indicated he’d regained some of his former confidence. But how did he find them on this eighty-acre farm? He hadn’t used the two-way to ask where they were. He waved, his endearing smile evident even at a distance. She hoped he’d received the best, most freeing news possible while at the lawyer’s office.
Someone clapped several times, and she turned to see her brother. “I said, how many more trees will need to be planted tomorrow?” He sighed. “Once Jacob shows up, do you see or hear anything else going on around you?”
Her eyes met Samuel’s for a moment, and a torrent of feelings stole her thoughts and threatened to snatch her breath. She swallowed and looked to her brother. “About ten.” Without waiting on him to respond, she strode toward her wagon. “Whoever doesn’t ride back to the house with Steven will be on their own. My only passenger is not in this little group.” She gestured at the rest of them. “Oh—” She turned back, and her voice faltered. Emma was there, standing amid the group of men.
Rather than shutting out the why of it, she pondered it. Emma was simply Rhoda’s heart trying to tell her something. “Uh …” She tried to focus. “Tell Phoebe we’ll be in soon but not to hold supper for us.” She had hundreds of questions for Jacob, and she yearned for substantive answers.
She urged the horse to move faster. By the time she reached Jacob, her face was pulled tight from the grin she couldn’t control. “Where is your coat?”
He hopped onto the bench seat and embraced her. “Who needs a coat if they have thoughts of you to keep them warm?”
With her arms around him, she peered over his shoulder into the sky, hoping he had good news for her, for them. “So how do you manage to find me so easily on this farm?”
He chuckled and settled into his seat. “Listen.”
They sat in silence, and she heard the soft, distinctive noise of the group she’d just left. It was heartwarming. “But it’s an eighty-acre farm.”
“All I do is go in the direction of where I think you’ll be, get to a high point, and simply listen. That’s even more true since Samuel got the dogs.”
“Why not just use the walkie-talkies?”
“I do sometimes. But they’re like using a net to scoop up fish in a bucket.”
She hadn’t realized this part of him. “You’re a hunter at heart.”
“More of a fisherman. I liked fishing for what was right for me when my Daed just wanted me to be a farmer. When I left the Amish, I loved fishing for the right construction jobs in the right places near oceans. And my greatest love was the real kind of fishing, the deep-sea kind. That was as much fun as being on the ocean itself.”
It had been quite a while since he’d had true joy in his voice, but did he just say he didn’t like being a farmer? “How’d it go at the lawyer’s office?”
He placed one hand on the backrest behind her. “Overall, I’d say it was great, so much so I’m not sure where to begin.”
She tapped the reins against the horse’s back. “Tell me the most surprising news first.” That seemed a safe thing to ask.
“Craig is extremely cautious with his words, but while Sandra was explaining the real reason behind her years of lying to me, he looked straight at me with a horrified expression and said I’d done the right thing to help hide her.”
“Really?” Rhoda looked into his green eyes, pleased and relieved for him that he hadn’t played the fool as much as he’d thought.
He rubbed her back through her wool coat. “It gets better. The lawyer did extensive checking into every aspect, and not only are Sandra and I not as legally accountable as I’d thought, but he also got immunity for me from the DA in Virginia. That means I have no threat of jail time or even probation, in exchange for my testimony.”
If Rhoda were any happier, she might bounce straight out of the rig and land in the tops of the trees. “That’s wonderful. So what’s the worst news?”
Jacob shifted away from her, a frown furrowing his brows as he stared at her. “That’s it? I’ve been under this thing for years, and all you have to say is it’s wonderful?”
She pulled on the reins, halting the wagon. She stood and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Amazing! Remarkable! Extraordinary! Astonishing!” She turned back to Jacob. “Is that better?”
He smiled. “Getting there.”
“The next words that come to mind are bewildering, shocking, weird, and bizarre, but I can continue cheering if you like.”
“Nee. Let’s stop while I’m ahead.”
She sat. “I really am very pleased for you. A little confused for me, because I only understand some of what took place. But being a little lost in what all happened seems to be a part of it. So are you free in every way now—bloggers can blog, photographers can post your image and name? You know, all those things the Amish never do, but I seem to draw the Englisch who want to do them about us.”
“I’m not quite that free, but I will be. First, I need to find Sandra a new place to hide … somehow.”
“But Sandra is innocent, right?”
“Innocent would be the wrong word when talking about Sandra.” He intertwined his fingers. “Or me.”
“Or any of us.”
Golden light seemed to cover the fields and trees like a dusting from heaven. A light breeze played with the tree branches. She would never f
orget the beauty of when Jacob returned home with such great news.
He eased his arm through hers as she held on to the reins. “I love you, Rhodes.”
She pulled the rig to a stop and tapped her lips with her index finger. He smiled as he leaned in and put his warm lips over hers. After the best kiss she’d had since coming to Maine, she sat up straight, smiling. “Denki.”
He laughed. “You’re welcome.”
She tapped the reins against the horse’s back, and they started on their way again. “So finish telling me about Sandra.”
“She’s done plenty of unethical stuff, but she’s done nothing against the law, so she doesn’t need to hide for those reasons.”
“I thought her husband betrayed you and her, making both of you look guilty even where you had no guilt.”
“So did we—until today. Now we’re not so sure. Anyway, the problem is, while she was borrowing money from a loan shark, another deal was going down, and apparently someone with power and a love of violence thinks she saw a murder.”
Sometimes the land of the free felt like the land of the violent. After her sister was murdered, Rhoda had read that the country had one of the worst homicide rates in the world. Was that really true? Even if it wasn’t, there were times when it felt like it.
She detested this topic, but she aimed to reel in her emotions. “You’re the one who said she lies all the time. How can you be sure she didn’t actually see it?”
“Craig questioned her a dozen ways, changing subjects and going back to it, drawing diagrams, using statistical information of what’s physically possible, and not only did her story never shift, but it worked out in every way he could check it.”
“So what’s next?”
“This is where it gets sticky.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. “What does that mean?”
“I’m not sure. But it seems it’d be best if Sandra broke away from me and disappeared before I’m under oath. If the law can reach her through me, they may want to question her about her husband. But if it becomes known she’s back in Virginia, she’ll draw the attention of those who want to kill her.”
In some ways, having Sandra move without their knowing how to find her sounded sort of nice, but Rhoda understood and respected Jacob’s need to stay connected to her and Casey. A lot of what he’d said sounded like those dark shoot-’em-up movies she’d heard about. She’d never wanted to watch one, but now she felt as if she were living in one through Jacob.
“So she needs to move again?”
“Yeah, it seems so.”
“Then what’s the solution?”
“I have no idea. I asked Sandra to stay through supper, and I thought maybe if the three of us talked, we could think of something. There have to be answers, don’t there?”
She understood how he felt. His past seemed to have tentacles that kept reaching out to strangle all life from his future. But she wasn’t accepting that for the long run, just for the here and now. They would sever those monstrous tentacles and walk free.
“I have a better idea.” She leaned into his shoulder. “Let’s see who else would be willing to brainstorm this with us.”
Skepticism filled his face. “No one but you wants to help dig me out of this pit.”
Is that what he thought? “Jacob, that’s not even a little bit true.”
He shrugged. “I think you would find out otherwise pretty quick.”
“Then we’ll find out together.”
He nudged her elbow. “I have a question for you. When I go to Virginia to answer questions, the first thing will be a deposition. Would you go with me?”
Excitement skittered through her. It was an idea that never would’ve occurred to her, but considering that not long ago he couldn’t look her in the eyes for feeling betrayed, she was more than happy to say yes.
FIFTEEN
Samuel sat across the table from Iva, noticing her when he should have his head bowed in prayer. She seemed very nice. He thought she was a helper at heart rather than a leader, and there was something to be said for that. She was attractive, with light brown hair and brown eyes. She had a patch of faded freckles that ran across her cheeks and nose. He thought the freckles were cute. Given time, he wondered if he’d conjure an interest in her.
Maybe he needed to push himself a bit—spend some time with her, at least try to free himself of Rhoda’s death grip on his heart.
Casey whined and smacked her highchair, interrupting his thoughts. Samuel glanced down the table and saw Sandra watching the others. The tautness of her face indicated discomfort and nervousness. She glanced toward Samuel and smiled. Was he being a bad witness? His failure to join in the mealtime praying might make him look uncaring toward God, but that’s not where his heart was.
It was so easy to give the wrong impression. Did he have the wrong idea about Sandra too? Maybe she wasn’t the cord of restlessness that had tugged Jacob away from the farm so many times. Hadn’t Jacob been a wanderer long before he met her?
The prayer ended, and Iva raised her head and stared straight at him.
“How’d your day go?” Samuel asked as he passed her the bowl of mashed potatoes.
Landon had stayed for supper too, and he passed the green beans to Samuel.
Casey’s wails grew louder when Sandra tried to console her. She put some food on the little girl’s plate, but Casey hurled the plate onto the floor. Phoebe started to get up, but Sandra told her to keep her seat and began cleaning up the mess.
Isaac asked in Pennsylvania Dutch why Casey was acting up at the table. His Daed assured him that he and his sister had done the same when they were little.
Samuel tried not to frown. What would Sandra think of the parents and children conversing in a language she didn’t understand? Did she know that Amish children only knew Pennsylvania Dutch until they were school age? Isaac was starting to learn English, but he couldn’t converse well in this new tongue.
Iva seemed unperturbed by the racket as she picked up the plate of oven-fried chicken. “There is a desk underneath all that paperwork, Samuel. That’s the good thing to remember. But I don’t know what to do with most of the piles I’ve made until we talk about them.”
“How about after supper?”
“Perfect.” After getting a piece of chicken, she passed the plate back to him. “I’m writing a thank-you note to each person who’s sent money to help with Rhoda’s legal troubles. Most of the checks are made out to her, but she seems to have even less time than you. Did you want to read those and sign the notes, or should I wait on her?”
Steven took a bite of bread. “I wouldn’t say she has less time. She uses her hours differently, sort of like why she’s not here now.”
Iva wiped her mouth. “I didn’t mean anything negative.”
“It was a good question.” Samuel hoped to assure her. “I’ll take a glance at the notes and decide then.”
Sandra lifted Casey out of her highchair, and the little girl arched her back, kicking and crying. Exhaustion had gotten the better of her. Those around the table tried to talk despite Casey’s grumpiness.
When the meal was almost over, Samuel heard the front door swoosh open. Moments later Jacob and Rhoda walked into the kitchen. Without any hesitation Jacob took the fussy child from Sandra.
In an instant all was silent. Welcome, beautiful silence.
Jacob set the little girl in his lap and took a seat next to Rhoda. Sandra sat back in her chair, her tense expression easing for the first time since she’d come to the table. Casey visibly relaxed.
“It was good of everyone to help watch Casey today. Thank you.” Sandra picked up her fork.
Jacob brushed some stray hair from Casey’s face. “If she can’t sleep tonight, perhaps Samuel would sing her a few verses of ‘Winnie-the-Pooh.’ ”
The others—Phoebe, Steven, Leah, Landon, and Iva—laughed.
Rhoda looked apologetic. “Sorry, Samuel. I was just telling Jacob about Casey�
��s day, and that sort of slipped out.”
“Sure it did.” Samuel elongated the words for effect, but he didn’t mind. It was time Jacob began teasing him again. He took a drink of water and sang a line of the song. Arie clapped and Casey smiled. The others laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Samuel asked.
Rhoda put food on her plate. “You can’t see it? A broad-shouldered, outdoorsy man singing a children’s song?”
Jacob tore pieces of chicken into tiny bits and set them on his plate. Casey grabbed them and gobbled them. After years of knowing that Jacob had called and mailed letters to someone each week, Samuel found it odd to actually see him interacting with Sandra and Casey at the table. The little girl slumped against him as if she hadn’t thrown a tantrum only moments ago.
Jacob took a long sip of water. “I told Rhoda this already, but you all need to know too. Things went well at the lawyer’s office.” He gave a reassuring nod to Sandra. “But I’ll need to go to Virginia in the next week or two for a deposition.”
“What’s a deposition?” Phoebe asked.
“I’ll meet with some lawyers, take an oath that I’ll speak the truth, and answer their questions about a deck that collapsed—one that I worked on when I was employed by Jones’ Construction.”
“Just you or you and Sandra?” Steven asked.
A hint of something Samuel didn’t understand shadowed his brother’s face.
“Just me. I should only be gone three days. Four at the most. It takes twelve or thirteen hours to get there by train, so half the time will be spent traveling.” He focused on Steven. “I’d like to take Rhoda with me.”
Steven’s fork clanged against his plate. “Are you serious?”
“I know it’s asking a lot.”
Steven stared at him, his mouth a hard line. “You shouldn’t ask such a thing. I know you spend a lot of time among the Englisch, but surely you haven’t forgotten that single Amish women don’t travel with men unless they’re a family member or with chaperones.”
For Every Season Page 14
