Love's Abundant Harvest

by Beth Shriver

  “Just coffee and toast, Frieda. I have a delivery coming to the hospital soon. My time is short.” He took a sip of the coffee and then another. “Wish they had this at the hospital.”

  “I’ll never tell you what the secret is or you won’t come back.” She handed him some homemade bread with strawberry jam and two slices of bacon on the side. He didn’t refuse it, but he ate only the toast.

  “I’m here to see Fannie.” He wiped his mouth and dropped the napkin on the table.

  Fannie was startled to hear the sound of her name coming from him, as he rarely used it.

  “About what?”

  Verna frowned, giving Fannie a warning stare.

  “Due to the increase of clients, I’m as needed here as I am at the hospital. I’ve decided to split my time between the two.”

  “What do I have to do with that?” Fannie figured that whatever he wanted with her probably wasn’t something she wanted to hear about or do.

  “Fannie, you’re in demand.” Verna said with a big grin. “Isn’t that so, Doc?”

  Doc put up a hand. “I’m sure Fannie will be able to help with whatever is needed.”

  With the way they were both deciding her life for her, Fannie decided to give them her opinion. She couldn’t imagine working with Doc Kauffman. They were just too much alike. The strange thing was that he had to know that too.

  “Will you step outside with me?” Fannie said with a tone that was so much like her mamm.

  The click-clack of her boots caught his attention, but he stopped to say good-bye to Frieda and Verna then took his time getting to his truck where Fannie waited.

  “Yes, Fannie, what is it?”

  When she turned around, he was still a good length away and seemed to have a put-upon look on his face. “Just what do you take me for, putting me on the spot like that?”

  As he drew closer, she could no longer read any expression on his face, which was the norm. But she wanted some answers. “I’m not here for your bidding.”

  “This is your community, not mine. If you want your people to get the medical assistance they need, you’ll help and make this happen.”

  “You dismissed yourself of us too easily. Do you think this will bring you acceptance after shunning us and our ways, those you made a vow to keep when you were baptized?”

  He scoffed and climbed into his truck. “You might want to talk to the elders before you start making assumptions. They asked me.”

  The motor coughed as he drove away, leaving a cloud of dust behind him. She covered her face, wiping it with her apron.

  “Ahh!” She let the word trail off as she regained her stability.

  As she walked to the barn she wondered why this and why with her? Was he that desperate or was there another reason for him to involve her? Whatever was going on she needed to find out, and not from him.

  “Why did he leave so quickly?” Verna stood by the milk barn, her voice interrupting the swishing sounds of the handheld milking machine.

  “Need some help?” Her mamm’s offer was casual enough, but Fannie figured there was something brewing, and it didn’t involve milking cows. She knew her mamm’s goal in life was for her daughters to become brides, and she was the only one left.

  “Nee, you forget. I do most of the milking.”

  “Ach,” Mamm smiled. “So what do you think of Doc’s offer?”

  “That he’s manipulative and controlling. He gave me no option.”

  Mamm was unusually quiet for a moment. “No option for what?”

  “Being his assistant.”

  Mamm looked at her daughter and frowned. “I would think it was a compliment. Choosing you shows how much he thinks of you.”

  Fannie snorted. “I doubt that. And I don’t want to be ‘picked’ by anyone.”

  “Well, I don’t know why you’re being stubborn about it, especially when you’ve been saving to buy that Appaloosa you’ve become so fond of.”

  Whenever her mamm suggested something, Fannie figured she meant the opposite, so she paused, trying to decide what was the right thing to do. She hadn’t thought about the horse, but the extra money would help her get him sooner.

  “I didn’t think you favored my working to save money to buy Ap.”

  Mamm’s head snapped up. “You’ve named him? Ach, no.” Mamm knew once Fannie gave an animal a name, it was a keeper. “You’re going to have to expect some questions if you have an Appaloosa running around the community.”

  “It’s been done. Remember the Fishers’ horse?”

  “Jah, but that was a different situation. She was new to our ways. You are not.” She lifted a brow, her way of saying she was sure she was right.

  “It’s for me to decide.” As soon as Fannie said it, she realized she shouldn’t have. Her mamm’s eyes lifted, her warning to be wary.

  Fannie knew then that she’d work with Doc, if for no other reason than to buy her horse. She looked at the sun making its way up into the sky and wondered what she was getting herself into.