by Jo Ann Brown
Lifting the little boy off the table, the doctor asked him to walk and to skip and hop with both feet striking at the same time. Tommy couldn’t do either, but the doctor’s encouraging smile didn’t waver.
“I wish all my patients were as good as you,” the doctor said.
“You’re not going to give me a shot, are you?” Tommy asked.
Dr. Kingsley chuckled. “I don’t see any reason to give you a shot today.” He glanced toward Beth Ann.
She didn’t know if the children were up-to-date on their immunizations, so she shrugged.
He nodded, understanding what she hadn’t said. When he turned the subject to Tommy’s walking, the little boy listened. Dr. Kingsley wanted Tommy to start physical therapy at least once a week to strengthen his right leg muscles. In addition, he was going to contact DCF and get permission for the boy to be fitted with a brace.
Seeing Tommy’s concern, he said, “Beth Ann will tell you it’s a simple process. A technician puts plaster around your leg, the plaster like when someone breaks a leg. He’ll remove it in a few minutes after it’s dried. He’ll use it to make a brace just for you.”
“Like Beth Ann’s?”
“Hers is plain white. You can have yours in another color if you want.” He smiled. “The straps that hold it in place come in more colors.”
Beth Ann thought he’d understood until Tommy announced as they emerged into the waiting room, “Guess what? The doctor’s going to break my leg and give me a brace like Beth Ann’s.”
As the other patients turned to look at her, Beth Ann guessed her cheeks were red because heat was a thick aura around her. Telling herself nobody would take the little boy’s words at face value didn’t ease her embarrassment. She looked toward Robert who was trying to stifle a laugh, and she burst out with her own. She wished she could tell him how glad she was he’d come with them today.
* * *
While Beth Ann settled up with the receptionist, Robert oversaw the kinder putting on their coats. He wondered how she managed it multiple times each day because first one kind, then another needed help to get an arm down a sleeve or to find a mitten, or he had to referee a debate over which one had worn which hat to the doktor’s office. He fought his irritation when Dougie, for the second time, acted as if he’d lost his lollipop and was going to take either his sister’s or brother’s. He’d seen how the boy acted out when he felt circumstances were beyond his control, but the examination was done, so Dougie should be relieved.
They walked out onto the street with the kinder squabbling. He watched as Beth Ann regained some semblance of order by taking the younger two by the hands and insisting Dougie walk in front of her as they crossed the bridge and headed toward the green. Awed by her easy handling of the youngsters, he wondered what it would have been like to have had a parent who used a smile instead of the back of a hand.
In spite of his determination to keep his focus on the kinder, Robert’s gaze slipped to his left and the remnants of the covered bridge. It was blanketed with snow, making it look frailer as icicles feathered off every bare board. If only there were a way to obtain the funds to repair the bridge, his worries about finding a job would be taken care of.
You could ask Beth Ann for a loan.
He ignored that niggling voice in his head as he had each time it had brought up the idea. He hated the idea of begging from her, and if she offered him the money, it would negate the terms of her aenti’s will. The money was supposed to be used for her own happiness, not anyone else’s.
Tommy’s small hand grasped his. “If you want to fix the bridge, Robert, you can use my blocks.”
His throat grew thick with emotion. “Danki. If the bridge gets fixed, I’ll ask you to help. Okay?”
The little boy puffed out his narrow chest. “Okay, and I’ll show you how to use them.”
“Gut.”
Robert watched the kind rush forward to catch up with Beth Ann and his siblings. Sweet happiness pumped through his veins. She’d been right when she told him the youngsters would warm up to him if he was himself around them. Or one aspect of himself, he corrected. As long as his temper remained cooped up within him, everything should be fine.
When she chased after the kids when they ran into the fresh snow on the green, she turned and fell backward into the snow. “C’mon! Try it!”
The kinder copied her motion. As she rocked her arms and feet and called for them to do the same to make snow angels, he watched in disbelief. Beth Ann was acting as if she were no older than they were.
She motioned to him. “C’mon, Robert! Try it. I promise it won’t hurt.”
“I don’t think—”
“That’s right! Don’t think.”
He hesitated as she rolled to one side and stood without disturbing the pattern in the snow. She bent to lift Tommy and Crystal from the snow and held out a hand to Dougie. They turned to admire the results.
“Aren’t you going to try it?” Crystal asked him. “We need a whole family of angels in the snow.”
Family? Wouldn’t it be wunderbaar if that was what they truly were? In the snow, with no interference from reality, they could be. Looking at where Beth Ann was chatting avidly with the boys, he had to wonder why he had waited so long.
“Look out!” he shouted before propelling himself toward a section of untouched snow. The kids yelled in excitement as he wiggled his legs and arms as if swimming on his back.
As he got to his feet, the younger kinder rushed forward to hug him and exclaim about his tall snow angel. His gaze met Beth Ann’s, and the wondrous warmth rushed through him anew. He grinned, delighting in the special moment with her and the youngsters. It couldn’t last, because the kinder might not be in Evergreen Corners much longer. He might not be, either, but he was going to relish this joy while he could.
Chapter Twelve
Beth Ann wasn’t the only one wiping tears from her eyes a week later as Glen Landis handed Mr. O’Hearn a Bible inscribed with the names of the volunteers who’d helped raise the house. Harry O’Hearn and his wife, Juliet, had pitched in, helping to build homes for others while they’d lived with relatives in a house as cramped as her little cabin. Not once had they shown any impatience when others, whose need was greater, got a new house.
More than a year after Hurricane Kevin had flooded Evergreen Corners, they were the ones now being welcomed home. As Beth Ann looked at the house, she thought about the people who’d helped build it. Roofers had battled rain and wind and snow to get the shingles in place. Painters had despaired of getting their job done as storm followed storm. Inside, the doorknobs matched, thanks to Robert’s efforts to make sure everything was as it was supposed to be.
One more house needed to be finished, and from the outside, it looked done. However, there remained more than a month’s work inside. In fact, she guessed the volunteers would be scrambling to finish the last details as the February 1 deadline drew near. Many were heading home to enjoy Christmas with family and would return after the beginning of the New Year.
She wasn’t sure what would happen once the final house was handed over to its owners. Robert might leave Evergreen Corners. She’d stay as long as the children were in her care. After that, she had no more idea what she’d do than when she’d arrived in the small town. That hadn’t changed.
Everything else had. She’d fallen in love, four times over, with Robert and the children. They’d become an odd sort of family who didn’t live under the same roof but cared about one another. Each time she sat with the children at the table Robert had made, it felt as if their circle was complete.
It was an illusion.
Glen’s voice freed her from her sad musings. “Let us close with a verse from Deuteronomy 28. The sixth verse. ‘You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.’” He smiled at the O’Hearns and at the crowd gathered in front of the hous
e. “Each time you open the door to your home, let the blessings of the Lord be with you and those you welcome.”
Applause broke out, and someone started to sing the doxology, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow...” Others joined in with the chorus, which they repeated twice. As the last voice faded away, hugs were exchanged.
“A lovely ceremony,” Robert said, standing between her and Isaac on what, in the spring, would become the house’s front lawn.
“It never grows old,” Beth Ann replied. “So often when we do gut for others, our efforts are small, quiet triumphs for God. Not in Evergreen Corners.”
“We’ve been blessed by becoming a blessing for others,” said Isaac.
She understood why her Amish friends hoped the lot would fall upon Isaac Kauffman as their first ordained minister. His faith was as much a part of him as his heartbeat, and he rejoiced in each example of God’s grace in his life.
Rachel and Abby came to stand with her as the men went to answer a question Glen asked them on behalf of the new homeowners. Rachel was dabbing a tissue at her eyes, which were filled with happy tears.
“Today,” Abby said, “makes the hard work worth it.”
“Everyone will forget the scraped knuckles and aching muscles and the days when nothing went right.” Rachel chuckled. “Giving birth to a house might be like giving birth to a kind. The struggle is forgotten when joy arrives.”
Beth Ann smiled. “Falling in love with their babies happens quickly.”
“Too bad it isn’t as easy to know when the right man comes alone, ain’t so?” asked Rachel. “It took me long enough to see what was right in front of my eyes. I never guessed when I came here I’d meet someone like Isaac.” She glanced at the man everyone knew would be her future husband. “He has plans for the years ahead of us. Not just for our family, but for everyone in our growing community.”
“Enough to keep us busy!” Abby laughed. “I need to get back to make sure everything’s on track for tonight’s meal.”
“I need to go, too.” Beth Ann thought about telling Robert she was leaving, but he was deep in conversation with Isaac and Glen.
“Where are you off to, Beth Ann?” Rachel asked. “I thought Abby was the busiest woman in Evergreen Corners, but—”
“You both make me tired watching all you do,” Abby interrupted with a laugh. “Don’t forget, Beth Ann, that you’ve got a whole community to help you with the Henderson kinder.”
“Everyone has already been so helpful,” she said. “The clothing for the children and the bags of groceries on the stairs have been wonderful. I don’t know how you sneak them up the stairs without us noticing.”
The two women exchanged a puzzled glance.
Abby said, “We haven’t sent groceries to you. Meals, ja, but not groceries.”
Beth Ann looked at Rachel, who shook her head. “I can’t take credit for something I didn’t do.”
“So if you didn’t send groceries for us, who did?”
“Maybe,” Rachel said, “Pastor Hershey and his congregation or one of the other churches in town.”
“I’ve already asked him. Back when the first deliveries came. He told me it wasn’t the Mennonite congregation. It might be one of the other churches, but which one? There hasn’t been a single note in any of the bags, but it has to be someone who knows the children because the bags contain their favorite foods.”
“Beth Ann, you don’t have to have an answer for everything,” Rachel said. “Sometimes, we just need to say a prayer to thank our unknown benefactors.”
Realizing Robert’s sister was correct, Beth Ann nodded. She must accept the blessings and stop questioning them. Yet, curiosity teased her.
She told her friends she’d see them later. She needed to do a couple of loads of laundry and figure out what to serve for supper. The pantry shelves were quite full, though no new groceries had been left since before Thanksgiving. Adding going to the grocery store to her long chores list was going to be necessary by week’s end.
“Leaving already?” asked Robert as he caught up with her by the green.
She hadn’t realized he was following her. “I want to get things done before the children get home.”
“How’s it going with Dougie and Crystal at the Millers’ house?”
“They seem to like studying with Kevin and Rosina, because they’re close to the same age. I thought about having Tommy join them, but he loves his new friends at the church.”
“Michael said they’ve fit right in with his kids, and they’re polite and respectful and working hard.” He raised his brows. “I never thought I’d hear anyone describe Dougie as either polite or respectful.”
“He’s doing better with me, too.”
“He seems to like challenging me at every turn.”
She looked up at him as they crossed the green. “Robert, you’ve usurped him as head of his family. He was the man of the house, making sure his brother and sister were fed and safe, until we came along. You and I are making the decisions, and his nose is out of joint.”
“I never thought about that.”
“Children are like sponges. They soak up everything around themselves. As they grow, they’ve got to learn what aspects of things they’ve experienced they want to keep.”
“So as adults, we’re supposed to have the perspective to know what’s gut for us and what isn’t?”
“That’s how it should work.” She smiled. “It’s bizarre when I hear my grandmother’s words coming out of my mouth while I’m dealing with the kids. What a laugh she would get out of hearing me saying things like ‘Stop making such a face before it freezes that way.’”
When he twisted his face into a comical expression, she laughed. He joined in as he led the way up the apartment steps.
She reached for the keys in her purse, and he grew serious as he patted the pockets in his coat and his trousers.
“What’s wrong, Robert?”
“I think I’ve misplaced my keys.” He checked his right trouser pocket again.
“When did you last see them?”
He shrugged. “I was up early to shovel your stairs, and—”
“Robert!” The mayor stood at the bottom of the stairs. “Are you missing your keys?”
He descended, Beth Ann following close on his heels.
“Ja,” he said. “Where did you find them?”
“On the ground by my porch steps.”
“They must have fallen out of my pocket when I was shoveling your sidewalk.” He took them. “Danki.”
“Thank you for clearing the walk.” She smiled at them. “I want you to know I may have found funding to at least start the covered bridge’s repair. No guarantees, but I’m looking into it.”
His broad smile was all the answer he needed to give.
As the two discussed possible funding, Beth Ann listened and prayed God would keep Robert in Evergreen Corners.
* * *
Robert stood to one side of the party at the community center. Many of the plain volunteers had finished eating. Some would leave in the morning to start their journeys home. For the ones who’d come the farthest, the trip could take three days or more. Those who lived in Evergreen Corners lingered over kaffi and dessert.
He heard whispers beneath the conversation. Michael had told him earlier that there’d been another theft at the remaining project house. A whole box of tools, not a large box, but one holding valuable power tools, was missing. A slider to the dining room had been forced open, and it was assumed someone reached in and grabbed the first thing they could put their hands on.
Nobody wanted to be talking about a thief in the days leading up to Christmas, but the authorities had been alerted. The local and county police agreed to drive past the project house, but Robert doubted they’d catch the thief, who’d been cautious so far.
>
When a surge of cold air announced the door opening, he looked across the room to see Beth Ann had arrived with the Henderson kinder. Dougie and Crystal had been at youth choir practice at the same church where Tommy went to day care. He took a single step toward them, but paused as Tommy tossed aside his coat before running to him, his gait more even with his new lime-green brace that peeked out above his boots.
“See? I got penders!” The little boy hooked his thumbs under his black suspenders and pulled them before letting them snap. “Like you, Robert.”
“Suspenders,” corrected his sister. “They’re called suspenders.”
Tommy refused to have his excitement muted. “Whatever they’re called, I’ve got them, too.” Without a pause, he turned to a table of volunteers and announced, “Look! I got penders! I mean, sub-penders.”
As the little boy was congratulated, Robert watched Beth Ann walk toward him. His heart raced and his breath slowed until he wasn’t sure he was pulling in air. She was so beautiful, so caring, and she seemed to have found her place in the world. At least for now. Was there anywhere for him in it?
He knew the answer. No, there wasn’t.
Trying to keep his pain from showing on his face, he smiled when Beth Ann stopped beside him. “Those are quite the suspenders.”
“I found them at Mrs. Weiskopf’s store on a dusty shelf.” She grinned at the little boy, who seemed determined to show off his suspenders to each person in the community center. “Did you know she’s thinking of selling the store?”
“No,” he said at the same time someone else asked, “Really?”
Beth Ann nodded as Dougie joined them after circling the room to see who was there. “She’s mentioned to me the last two times I was in there she’s thinking of moving to Florida to live with her sister.”
Abby stuck her head around the kitchen door. “She’s been saying that since I got here a year ago.”
Going to Abby, Crystal asked, “When do we eat? I’m hungry.”
