“Because?”
Wearing a determined expression, Amelia strode forward. “Because I got a goat today. That’s why.”
“That goat is ours?”
“Absolutely.”
Lukas groaned. “Amelia, why ever would you do that?”
“Because I wanted one.” Looking at Princess fondly, she said, “Isn’t she sweet?”
“That ain’t how I would describe her, Amy.” Sounding more irritated by the minute, he asked, “What are you going to do with her? Make goat’s-milk cheese?”
Her smile faltered. “Of course not.” Looking warily at both Simon and Jacob, she said, “I think it would be a gut idea if we talked about this later. When we are alone.”
“Nee, let’s get this over with now.”
“But Lukas—”
“I’m not asking you to reveal any dark secrets, sister,” he said impatiently. “I simply want to know why—with everything else going on—that you decided to buy this . . . this . . .”
“It’s a goat,” she inserted. “It’s a tiny baby goat and it needed a home. She’s going to be my pet.” Raising her chin, she added, “And I suggest you remember who you are talking to, bruder. I’m your sister, not your employee.”
Lukas pulled his hat off his head and ran his fingers through his very short reddish-blond hair. Around a groan he said, “Amelia, really?”
Just like that, her expression crumbled.
It was so disheartening to watch that Jacob was tempted to intervene, even though he didn’t really know Amelia at all and Lukas was his new boss. It was obvious, to him at least, that the woman had had enough and was about to dissolve into tears.
But before he could say a word, Simon spoke. “That’s enough, Luke.”
Lukas turned to stare at his friend. “What?”
Stepping closer, Simon said, “You heard me. You are being a bull-headed jerk. Don’t browbeat your sister for having a kind heart. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Lukas raised his brows. “When did you become the expert on tender hearts?”
“I don’t need to be an expert to know that you are overstepping. She is exactly right. You’re her brother, not her father. Plus, Amelia is here all day by herself.”
“I canna help that. I’ve got a mill to run.”
“What I am trying to say is that while Levi is off discovering himself or something, most of the burden of the house and farm is on Amelia. I think if she wants a tiny white goat to fuss over, then she should have it.”
“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”
“But you should have.” After giving Lukas a steady glare, he added, “Lukas, you are a good man and a gut bruder. I know you care. But that don’t mean you are always right.”
“Lukas, it will be all right,” Amelia said in a rush. “I promise, you won’t hardly know Princess is here.”
“Princess?”
Lukas looked so incredulous, Jacob was tempted to laugh. With effort he remained quiet and tried to blend in with the woodwork while the drama spun out around him.
Ignoring Lukas’s outburst, Simon held out a hand. “Come on, Amy. Let’s get you out of the horse’s stall. It looks like Jacob has almost gotten all the chicken wire up.”
“I should stay here and help,” she said.
“He doesn’t need your help,” Simon retorted. “If he needs a hand, Lukas here can help.” With another glare, he said, “That’s what brothers do, jah?”
Amelia patted the goat before sliding through the stall door, and Simon looked at Luke. “I’m going to take her for a walk. We’ll be back in an hour or so.”
As Lukas narrowed his eyes, Rebecca entered the barn. And boy, did she look angry. “Simon, I thought we already talked about this.”
Still guiding Amelia out of the stall, he shrugged. “Just because you talked doesn’t mean that I had to listen, Becky.”
Looking at everyone assembled around them, Amelia seemed even more ill at ease. “Simon, danke, but I’m starting to think that maybe I should stay here. I don’t want Princess to be any trouble.”
“It’s a goat, not a baby, Amy,” Simon said in a firm tone. “She won’t be any trouble. And you need a little break from this place. You’ve been here all day.” Turning to Lukas, Simon said, “Don’t you agree?”
Lukas rolled his eyes. “Jah. Sure.” Softening his tone, he said, “Simon is right, Amy. I overreacted. Get on out of here for a bit. Princess will be fine.”
Looking thoroughly relieved, Amelia gazed up at Simon. “Danke.”
Simon stared at Amelia with a tender expression. “Never thank me for wanting to spend time with you. We’re friends, right?”
“Oh. Of course.”
As Jacob looked at Lukas and Rebecca, he couldn’t help but think that they had a reason to be perturbed. Amelia might think she and Simon were just friends, but there was nothing in Simon’s manner or speech that made anyone think he felt the same way. On the contrary, it was starting to be fairly obvious that mere friendship was probably the very last thing Simon had in mind for Amelia Kinsinger.
When Amelia and Simon were gone, Lukas glared at Jacob, then at the goat, then kind of threw up his hands. “I’m going inside to see Darla,” he said as he strode out of the barn.
Jacob rested his arms on the top of the stall. “You look a little irritated, Rebecca. You all right?”
“Honestly? I don’t know.” She opened her mouth to say something, then seemed to change her mind. “Are you okay?”
Before he could answer, Princess butted him on his calf. When he looked down and saw the little white goat gazing up at him with something that looked a lot like happiness, he crouched down and rubbed her neck and chest. “I’m gut. Come here and see this little thing.”
He thought she might refuse, but when she got right in the stall with him, knelt down, and tentatively petted the goat only to be rewarded with a gentle head butt, she smiled. “She’s mighty sweet. I don’t know if I’d call her Princess, but I’m starting to understand why Amelia fell in love with her.”
“Sometimes good things just kind of sneak up on you. Ain’t so?”
“Jah,” she said after a moment’s consideration. “You are exactly right.”
Later, after Jacob finished securing Princess’s new home, said good-bye to Rebecca, and began his long walk home, he realized that he was glad the afternoon had been so full of events. It had been good and it had surely snuck up on him.
He couldn’t wait to walk Rebecca home again.
Chapter 19
Wednesday, September 16
It had now been three weeks since Marcus had asked Rachel to quit and she’d ignored him. And it was now one week since Rebecca had informed her that she would no longer be helping out in the classroom.
As she walked home at the end of another school day, Rachel knew that both her time and her options were running out. Marcus had become increasingly frustrated with her. He claimed he wanted her to quit because of her health, but she wasn’t positive that was the reason. Something more was bothering him. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure what it could be. She’d tried several times to draw him out, to ask him about both the accident at the mill and his worries about Agnes. However, each time, he cut her off.
She needed to confide in someone before she blurted something unkind to Marcus or made herself sick with worry.
Deciding that there was no time like the present, she turned down one of the small side streets off of Main and headed home.
Not to the home she shared with Marcus. Instead, to the one she’d grown up in. The house that had always been filled with laughter and was never quite tidy. Her mother—much to her father’s amusement—was the type to start multiple projects and work on them at the same time. Because of that, there were always half-finished quilts, sewing projects, a cookbook she’d been attempting to write for three years, and a half dozen other items scattered in each room.
As Rachel walked up the front walkway and saw a pi
le of unfolded laundry lying forgotten on a chair by the door, a basket of clothespins keeping it company, she laughed. Some things never changed.
She opened the screen door without knocking and followed the sound of chatter through the house until she found her mother and her sister Carrie in Carrie’s old room. Carrie’s daughter Bliss was in her sister’s arms, playing with a teething ring. Surrounding them were plastic grocery bags of quilt scraps.
Rachel grinned to herself. If Marcus saw the mess, he’d say that it looked like a quilt had exploded. It really was a mess.
“Rachel, look at you!” her mother said as she got up and enfolded her in a warm hug. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” she replied. She knew Carrie and Mamm would think she was referring to her recent morning sickness, but she was actually talking about her mood. She loved being home, and her mother’s hugs were always the best.
Her mother had never been especially slim or even especially pretty. She’d once told Rachel that she used to be sad that she was such a “Plain Jane” when she’d been a teenager. She said she’d always wished that her eyes were a prettier shade of brown or that her eyebrows were arched better or that she had more prominent cheekbones.
But none of that had ever seemed to bother Daed. He always said that he’d fancied Margaret Miller from the first moment he’d spied her.
After greeting Carrie and Bliss, she sat down on the bed next to them. “What are you doing?”
“We’re going to have a quilt auction at the beginning of December to help some widows over in Walnut Creek. I was telling Carrie that the auction was a perfect excuse to use up some of these scraps.”
Rachel had never been a skilled quilter, but she knew enough to be skeptical about fabric scraps. There were a lot of scraps, but not enough of each to make any kind of uniform design. At least, she didn’t think so. “What pattern are ya going to do?”
Carrie grinned. “We’re thinking crazy quilts. Want to help?”
“Maybe. I don’t know.”
Her mother patted her arm. “Don’t worry, child. I know you don’t have time for this. You’ve got Marcus, a boppli to prepare for, and a class of kinner to teach.”
That easy reminder seemed to be all she needed to lose her composure. Tears filled her eyes before she could stop them.
“Uh-oh. What did I say?”
“Marcus wants me to quit,” she blurted. “But I don’t want to.”
Carrie leaned back, picked up a box of tissues from one of the bedside tables, and handed it to her. “Of course you’ll have to quit when you have your babe, Rachel. Everyone does.”
“I know. Even though I wish that wasn’t true, I know.”
Her mother and sister exchanged glances. “Then why are you crying?” Carrie asked.
“Marcus wants me to quit now.” Around a hiccup, she added, “Actually, he wanted me to quit a couple of weeks ago.”
“Why does he want that?” Mamm asked. “He must know that the children and their parents are counting on you.”
And there the tears came again. “He doesn’t care. He’s been so different since I told him I was pregnant. He acted surprised that it happened so quickly, and now wants me to stay home all day long and get a ‘real’ doctor instead of Agnes.”
“Oh, boy,” Mamm said.
Grabbing another tissue from the box her sister had just handed her, Rachel nodded. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to disobey Marcus but I don’t want to do everything he wants me to do either.”
“What have you been doing?” Carrie asked. “Did you teach today?”
“Jah. I told him that I needed a few more weeks. But he’s losing patience.”
Her mother’s pretty brown eyes warmed with compassion. “You are so upset! You should have come over to talk to me weeks ago.”
“I didn’t think talking about Marcus was the right thing to do.”
Carrie rolled her eyes. “Your husband is a handsome man and a good one, too. But that don’t mean he’s perfect, Rachel. Take it from me, sometimes husbands need to be managed a bit. Once you do that, they will start to do what you want them to.”
“You manage Tim?”
“Of course. And if Bethany were here, she’d tell you the same thing about Graham. So would Joy. Her Stephen would be lost without her.”
“And Paul?” She didn’t think her brother would enjoy being managed.
Her mother laughed. “If our Paul ever gets married, I think he will welcome being managed. Of all my kinner, God gave him my penchant for unfinished projects.” Still looking amused, her mother hopped off the bed. “Let’s go get you a snack. You’ve got to be hungry.”
“I kinda am,” she said sheepishly. “I was so worried at lunch, I didn’t eat much.”
As they walked to the kitchen, Carrie said, “I think you should pick your battles, sister. Tell Marcus that you will gladly go to the doctor instead of Agnes.”
“But Agnes delivered Bliss.”
“Jah, but it wasn’t an easy delivery. Tim asked me to have our future children in the hospital.” Looking at her sympathetically, she said, “It wasn’t a hard thing to agree to, Rachel. Tim just wanted me and the babe to be safe.”
“I guess that makes sense,” she said as they entered the kitchen.
“It does,” Mamm said as she bustled around the large, cluttered kitchen. “Marcus loves you. Now, go sit down.”
Rachel sat on one of the red barstools that surrounded the butcher-block island. “I think Marcus is still dealing with the accident at the mill,” she said quietly. “He won’t talk about that day or the fire, but sometimes I see him staring off into space looking sad.”
“It makes sense that he’s still struggling. It was a terrible day,” her mother said as she set a plate of sliced apples, some gingersnaps, and a glass of milk in front of Rachel.
It was the same snack she’d made for all of them when they got home from school. “Mamm, I’m a teacher now, you know. This is the snack you gave me when we were little.”
“It’s still a good one. Now drink your milk.”
Obediently, she did as she was told. By the time she finished her milk and had cleaned most of her plate, Rachel realized that she felt much better. “Danke. I should be getting on home now. Marcus will worry.”
“Want me to leave Bliss with Mamm and walk you home?” Carrie asked. “We can talk some more about things.”
“Nee. I think I’m going to be all right. I’m going to tell Marcus that I’ll start going to the real doctor, but that I want to teach until the doctor says I shouldn’t.”
Carrie grinned. “That sounds like a good plan.”
“I’ll pray for you, too, dear,” her mother said. “And I’m going to start coming up to school once a week to help you clean up your room and walk home with ya, too.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“It is for me,” she said as she treated Rachel to another warm hug. “You are my youngest. And even though you’re all grown-up and married, something tells me that I’m going to always worry about you.”
As she walked out the door and headed to her new home, Rachel realized that she was grateful for her mother’s concern and her sister’s advice. It felt good to know that she had them, no matter what happened.
Chapter 20
Friday, September 18
So, what did you think of last night’s homework?” Meghan, Lilly’s high school tutor, asked.
Soon after her family had decided to allow Lilly to be tutored, her teacher had invited Meghan to stop by the Amish school to meet Lilly. They’d immediately hit it off. Meghan came over the next day to tutor her. So far, they’d had four sessions. Meghan was earning school credit for tutoring Lilly so she was available to come to the school every couple of days.
They’d decided during their first tutoring session to work outside, apart from the other kids, and now they had a pretty good routine. If they attempted to work together in a corner of the room, t
oo many people focused on what they were doing instead of their own assignments.
For her part, Lilly loved the opportunity to work outside in the open. She also loved having Meghan’s attention completely on her. Meghan’s perceptiveness and many questions challenged Lilly in a way that she never had been before.
Now, as they settled into their usual spots at the picnic table, Lilly thought about homework that Meghan had assigned. “It was hard.”
“Too hard?”
“Nee,” Lilly answered with a sheepish smile. “Just hard enough.”
“I’m glad about that.” As Meghan opened up her backpack and started taking out supplies, she filled Lilly in on everything that she’d been doing since they’d met last.
Her chattiness was one of the reasons Lilly enjoyed working with her so much. Meghan was a senior. Her stories about applying for college and the antics at her part-time job at the Homestead Restaurant were always entertaining. She also always had a story about her boyfriend, the past weekend’s football game, or her little sisters.
And she was really smart. She could answer Lilly’s questions without having to look up answers and explained things well. Their time together always passed too quickly.
“Before we get started, what did you think about the science book I left for you?”
“That was harder, but I did okay.” Biting her bottom lip, she said, “I mean, at least I think I did okay. I memorized a good bit of the periodic tables, though I’m not really sure what knowing the symbol for magnesium is going to do for me.”
Meghan pressed a hand to her chest in her usual dramatic way. “Lilly, you’re wounding me! You’re supposed to think that everything I am teaching you is worthwhile.”
“I’m trying for it to be.” She grinned then.
“Trying? Try harder.”
Lilly laughed.
“Lucky for you, Lilly Yoder, that I came prepared for my know-it-all student.” Meghan reached into her book bag and pulled out one very big textbook.
Lilly looked at it with some misgiving. It looked heavy and hard. Not a good combination. “Uh-oh. What is that?”
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