by Beth Wiseman
When Martha spit her first bite of omelet into her napkin, Danielle started to laugh, which felt good after all the crying she’d been doing.
“Arnold, good grief. How could you eat that?” Martha quickly snatched up everyone’s plate and put them on the counter.
“It wasn’t bad, dear. Not at all.” Arnold reached for another piece of toast as he winked at Danielle.
“Well, if ever there was a need for a dog, it would be this morning.” Martha put her hands on her hips and stared at the plates still full of food. “Look at this mess.”
Danielle didn’t think even a dog would eat it. She buttered herself a piece of toast, thinking that was all she could stomach anyway.
“Maybe we should get a dog,” Arnold said before taking a bite of toast.
“What for?” Martha scraped the omelets into the trash.
Arnold finished chewing and took a sip of milk before he spoke. “Because they make nice pets.” He grinned.
Martha turned around and leaned against the counter. “I was just kidding. Last thing we need is another mouth to feed.”
Danielle’s bite of toast caught in her throat. She’d thought about telling Martha and Arnold about her pregnancy, but maybe now wasn’t the best time. She pressed her lips together and lowered her head. Not that there’d be a good time. Martha wouldn’t throw her out, but maybe adding a baby to their little family was too much to ask for. She’d saved some money, but not nearly enough to get a place of her own. And she didn’t think she could survive on her wages from the restaurant, especially not with a baby. To say nothing of how she’d figure out paying a babysitter . . . She felt the tears coming on again.
Martha strode over to her, her face drawn. “Honey, what’s the matter?” She touched Danielle on the arm, and Danielle wanted nothing more than to rise and sink into Martha’s arms. To tell her everything. She needed someone to be happy about this, to welcome the news. Even Levi’d been disappointed in her. Despite his efforts to comfort her, she could tell. And she was fearful that Martha would feel the same.
“Danielle?” Martha said, her frown deepening.
“Nothing. I’m just tired. And late.” She pushed back her chair and moved toward the door. “I work until two, but I’m going to spend some time with Sue after work, so I’ll see you after that.”
Martha called out to her, but she kept going, pretending she hadn’t heard.
MARTHA FINISHED CLEANING the kitchen, then sat down at the table with Arnold. “Danielle was starting to cry. Did you see that?”
“Yes, I did.” Her husband frowned as he rubbed his chin. “You never can tell with these teenagers. It could be anything at their age.”
“Well, at least you raised one and lived to tell about it. I still feel like I’m in new territory, even after a year.” Martha drummed her fingers on the table. “It wasn’t much of a breakfast. Why don’t we go eat at The Mountain View for lunch, and we can check to make sure she’s okay?”
“That sounds like a good idea.” Arnold leaned over and kissed Martha on the cheek, which still warmed her heart just like it did when they were first married. “And you haven’t raised any teenagers until now. Danielle loves you and you love her—after that, you just find your way through, day by day.”
Martha grunted. “She’s ornery and a slob. Have you seen her room? It stinks in there.” She grimaced until she saw Arnold grin, then she couldn’t help but smile along with him. “Yes, I love her. Like she’s my own.”
Arnold passed her a section of the paper. “The girl needs a good dose of God in her life. What happened to your deal that she attend church with one of us?”
Martha unfolded the paper. “Hmph. She always has some excuse. Sick or something.”
Before Martha married Arnold, she’d been attending the Amish church in town, and she’d told him that wouldn’t change. She loved her Amish friends, and even though she didn’t always understand the service—partly in German and Pennsylvania Deitsch—her Amish friend Katie Ann would translate for her later during the big meal after church. That was the best part of going to the Amish worship, the meal afterward. She was blessed to know her Amish friends and to be accepted in their world.
Arnold was born and raised Catholic, and he wanted to keep it that way. So Danielle had two choices when it came to worship services. Not that it mattered where the girl went to church if she wasn’t talking to God, listening to Him, and trusting His will. Martha constantly prayed for Danielle, that she’d find her way to the Lord.
“Is she still seeing the Amish boy in Alamosa?” Arnold scratched his head. “Matthew, right?”
“Yeah. Not often. He works a lot, and Danielle said his parents aren’t too thrilled about him seeing someone who isn’t Amish.” She stretched her aching back and sat taller. “The Amish are scared their kids will leave the Old Order and run off with one of us sinful Englischers.”
Arnold chuckled and a smile stayed on his face.
Martha folded her arms across her chest and stared him down. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Arnold pointed a finger in her direction. “Let’s turn it around. What if Danielle chose to marry into the Amish faith? How would you feel about that?”
She threw her hands up in the air. “Since Danielle barely believes in God, I don’t see that happening.” She paused as she tapped a finger to her chin. “You’d think Levi could reach her, given how close they are. That she’d listen to him about matters of faith.”
“His mother probably does her best to keep them from being alone,” Arnold said. “Hard to get into matters of the Almighty if you don’t have much time.”
“Oh, they’ve spent plenty of time together. But I’m sure Vera doesn’t know about most of it.” Martha rolled her eyes. “You’d think Vera would ease up since the two have proven that they’re just friends. I’ve even had to have words with Vera about her attitude toward Danielle.” She raised her chin as she reached a hand behind her head to tighten her butterfly clip.
They were quiet for a few moments, then Arnold asked, “Why is it, given all the other young men around her, that Danielle has taken up with an Amish boy in Alamosa? And her best friend is also a young Amish man. She doesn’t really have any close Amish girlfriends, so why do you think these two particular fellows hold a place close to her heart?”
Martha sighed. “I think she feels safe with those boys.”
They were quiet for a few moments as Arnold leaned back in his chair. “I know her relationship with her mother was bad, but what about her father?”
“He died about seven years ago. Car wreck, Danielle said. Apparently that’s when her mother started to drink heavily. She doesn’t talk about it a lot, but she’s mentioned that there were lots of men in and out of her mother’s life for a while too.” Martha paused. “You know, she’s never said very much about her father, just that he wasn’t around much. Worked a lot.”
Arnold stood up and pushed his chair in. “I’m going into town to find us a dog.”
Martha stiffened and calmly placed her palms on the table. “Do what?”
“You heard me, my dear. I’m going to get a dog.”
She frowned. “I’ll start cooking better. I promise.”
Arnold laughed. “Not for scraps, but because I think a dog is good for any family.”
Martha thought about her parrot that died a couple of years ago. Her Elvis had been like a person. He’d talked, for starters. Smart as a whip, that bird. She’d never owned a dog, but she was pretty sure you couldn’t teach one to talk.
LEVI FOLLOWED HIS father to a picnic table outside the Barkers’ house after they installed a solar panel for the Englisch family. Mrs. Barker had invited them in for lunch, but Daed had thanked her and said they’d brought their own. The smell of Mrs. Barker’s baked chicken wafted out her open windows, and Levi was sure it was better than their own ham sandwiches. After lunch, they’d clean up their tools and head to their next stop. Levi knew this was the
best opportunity to talk to his father about what had been bothering him.
“Daed, do you . . .” He paused and took a deep breath. “Do you think God talks to us through our dreams?”
His father finished chewing a bite of his sandwich. “Ya. I think so.” He dabbed his mouth with a napkin, looking across the table at Levi. “Why do you ask?”
Levi shrugged, unsure how much of the dream he wanted to share with his father. It had been so real, but confusing. He’d woken up in a cold sweat this morning, certain that God had spoken to him directly. But as the morning went on, he’d talked himself out of it. God would never ask him to do something like what he dreamed. “Just wondering.”
“There’re lots of times in the Bible when the Lord speaks to people in their dreams.” Daed unwrapped a piece of apple pie that Mamm had put in each of their lunch pails.
Levi nodded, recalling some of those dreams. The angel telling Joseph to take Mary as his wife, and when he told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape the evil king. God also used a dream to help Joseph, and then there was Pilate’s wife . . . Levi reflected on those dreams for a while as he thought about his own.
After they’d both finished their pie, Levi stuffed his trash into his black lunch pail. When his father stood up, so did Levi, and they both walked back to the area where they’d left their tools.
Levi would do anything that God asked him to do. But there was no way it could have been God talking to him last night. Or had Levi misunderstood the Lord’s instructions?
After they had everything loaded into the buggy, they left for their next stop. About fifteen minutes into the trip, his father turned left onto a country road Levi had never been on. There was a stream on the left, and for a while Levi couldn’t pull his eyes away from the slow current. But when he finally did, he recalled his dream in vivid detail.
He’d walked along a river’s edge, the blue water sparkling brighter than any river he’d ever seen and rushing atop boulders that protruded here and there amidst the rapids. The leaves on the trees were a brilliant shade of emerald as tiny drops of fresh dew twinkled and hung on the leaves in the wake of a new morning. He’d strolled along casually as if he’d been there a thousand times before, even though he couldn’t recall such a place. He’d felt lighter than normal as he walked barefoot along a path that he somehow knew had recently been cleared just for him.
A silver canoe came up the river with one passenger paddling against the current. The man looked about Levi’s age and wore blue jeans and a short-sleeve white shirt. On his head, a red baseball cap sat atop a head full of wavy brown hair. He’d waved the paddle in Levi’s direction, smiling, then said, “A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives.”
Levi had waved back and continued along the bank. He remembered thinking about Sarah during the dream and how he wasn’t ready to get married. Moments later, his father stood along the worn path. He shook Levi’s hand, almost as if they were strangers. “Remember, love is patient and kind.” Then he’d smiled and eased around Levi.
Next, a man stepped out of the woods in front of Levi. A man Levi had never seen before. He had light brown eyes flecked with gold, a long gray beard, and he was dressed in a black suit like the Englisch wear. Gold-rimmed spectacles hung low on his nose, and when he smiled at Levi, one corner of his mouth lifted higher than the other. His voice was soft, and Levi had to strain to listen.
“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh,” the man had said. Then, as his father had done, the man eased around Levi and walked away, singing. Levi recognized the tune. “For God So Loved Us.”
Even now, as he recalled the dream, it was amazing to him that he could remember it all in such detail. It wasn’t until the end of the dream that he came to a complete stop in the middle of the path, a peacefulness washing over him, and Levi knew he was in the presence of the Holy Spirit and surrounded by God.
And he heard only two words. Powerful words unlike anything he’d ever heard.
Marry Danielle.
Levi shook his head, hoping to clear the dream from his mind. He took a deep breath and stared out the window of the buggy. There was no way that God would be telling him to marry Danielle. Forgetting the part about them only being friends—and her being pregnant—something else had been drilled into his head since he was a child.
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers.
Back in Ohio, they’d had few Englisch friends because of this. His mother had explained it to him in a way he could understand when he was a young boy. She’d said, “We’re not here to judge whether or not someone outside of our faith is a Christian. They can tell us they are, but we don’t know it to be true or not. We can only be sure about the baptized members of our community. We know that we are equally yoked spiritually with our own kind.”
Things were different here in Canaan. The town was small with almost as many Amish as there were Englisch, and over time Levi’s people had learned to trust folks outside of their own, even socialize with them and allow them to attend worship in some cases. Martha and Danielle were examples of that, although Danielle hadn’t been to one of their services in a while.
Levi wasn’t even sure if God approved of his friendship with Danielle since they were in such different places spiritually. He just couldn’t believe that the Lord would ask him to marry her.
But as they drove on, the dream began to replay again in his mind.
Three
DANIELLE CARRIED A LARGE TRAY STACKED WITH burgers around the corner and saw Sue seating Martha and Arnold. They both waved and Danielle nodded. After she delivered the food to her customers, she went back to Martha and Arnold’s table.
“Aw, Arnold, I’m surprised you could tear yourself away from one of Martha’s noon meals.” Danielle grinned at him before turning to Martha and widening her smile.
“Very funny, missy.” Martha tried to frown, but the corners of her mouth lifted into a smile. “We had to come into town anyway because Arnold wants to get a dog.” Martha rolled her eyes. “Of all things.”
“I thought you didn’t want another mouth to feed.” Danielle touched her stomach but quickly folded her arms across her chest. Martha had a lot of money, but you’d never know it. Everything in her house looked like it was from another era, including her clothes.
Martha shrugged. “How much can one dog eat?” She paused, twitching her mouth back and forth. “I bet dogs aren’t nearly as smart as parrots.”
“Dogs are very smart,” Arnold said as he eyed his open menu. He looked over the top of it. “How does someone get to be your age, Martha, never having owned man’s best friend?”
“Possibly because I’m a woman.” Martha opened her menu. “But if you want a dog, dear, then we shall have one.”
Danielle hid a smile as she pulled out her pen and order pad, trying to picture Martha with a dog. To her knowledge, Martha had only owned one pet in her life, a parrot named Elvis that she’d adored. Danielle had heard the stories about Elvis’s elaborate funeral a couple of years ago, complete with a custom-made casket.
Danielle stared at the two of them, pretending to look at the menus, when they all knew they’d order the same thing, as always. Her stomach churned as she thought about how and when she would tell them that she was pregnant. Would they regret taking her in? Be disappointed in her like Levi was?
But Levi was Amish, more sheltered. Danielle knew he was saving himself for marriage. Danielle had been too. She’d watched a steady stream of men come and go in her mother’s life, and she’d decided years ago that she would wait for someone special. Someone like Matthew . . . I should have waited.
She shoved the thought from her mind. “I’m guessing you’re having the same thing as always?”
Martha smiled as she closed her menu. “I’m in the mood for a burger.”
Of course you are. Danielle grinned as she wrote the order down. “Dry with pi
ckles and extra cheese. Cheddar.”
“And make sure the burger is—”
“Cooked until it’s dead,” Danielle finished for her. “I know. Arnold?”
“I’ll have the same.”
“Comin’ right up,” she said, taking their menus and rushing to the kitchen. Dry, overcooked burgers sounded gross to Danielle, but whatever.
After Martha and Arnold ate, Danielle delivered their check. Martha sat up straight and cleared her throat.
“So, Danielle, what’s wrong with you? Why were you crying this morning?”
Danielle froze. “Uh, what?” This wasn’t the time or place to tell Martha and Arnold about the baby.
Martha stared at her for a long moment, and Danielle worried Martha would see right through her and figure it out somehow. Danielle held her breath.
“We just want you to know that you can talk to us about anything,” Arnold said in a soft, soothing voice.
“Right.” Martha’s voice wasn’t nearly as gentle and comforting as Arnold’s, but her soft brown eyes searched Danielle’s face.
“I . . . uh, I . . .” Danielle wanted to tell them so badly she could hardly stand it, but fear gripped her around the throat. She swallowed hard.
“Honey, what is it?” Martha’s eyes began to water when Danielle’s did.
“Nothing.”
Martha and Arnold locked eyes, then Martha turned back to Danielle. “Well, it’s clearly not nothing, but we’re here if you need us. Okay?”
Danielle nodded. It was all she could do right now. “I have to get back to work.” She sniffled, forcing a smile. “I’ll see you later, okay?”
“That sounds good,” Arnold said right about the same time Martha opened her mouth to speak.
Danielle gave a quick wave before she headed back to the kitchen to pick up her next order. On the way, she decided not to tell Sue about the baby yet either. She wanted to visit Matthew one more time. Maybe he was just in shock the other day. Maybe the news had soaked in and he’d changed his mind about things.
