The Chill of an Early Fall

by Mary Alford

  She continued to watch him with those soulful eyes, and, all of a sudden, he wasn’t in such a hurry to leave. Through the years, when she’d come home for visits, hope remained alive in his heart. Was he foolishly holding onto something that existed only in his head?

  The thought sent his heart plummeting. He looked away and mumbled, “I’ll see you later,” he mumbled before reaching for the doorknob.

  The shrill ringing of her cell phone came from inside the coat Sadie had just taken off. He swung toward the sound. Watched her reaction as her shoulders hunched and she wrapped her arms around her body in a protective gesture while the phone continued to sound.

  Elam focused on her expressive face. “Are you going to answer that?”

  She shook her head without looking at him. A dozen different questions flew through his head. The phone stopped ringing. Seconds ticked by, and then a beep came from it.

  Sadie strode over to her coat and jerked the phone from a pocket. As she stared at the screen, her hand visibly shook. She flipped the phone over, snapped off the back, and removed the battery. Then she took the pieces and shoved them back into the pocket of her jacket.

  “Sadie—” Her name came out in a frustrated sigh. All he wanted to do was help her, but he couldn’t if she wouldn’t tell him what was wrong.

  Before he could say another word, she pivoted on her heel and left him standing there wondering what dark secrets had followed her to their peaceful Amish community. And how long before they reared their ugly head?

  Chapter Two

  She closed the bedroom door, crossed the room, and sank onto the bed.

  Did you really think you could escape me?

  Seeing those chilling words typed on the screen of her phone had threatened to break her. It proved he wasn’t giving up. She had no idea how he’d gotten her cell phone number.

  The worst part was that she had no face to put to the threats. She really didn’t even know if her stalker was male. Just an assumption on her part because of the notes.

  When they’d first started, she thought them a joke. One of her coworkers playing a trick perhaps. Until the flowers arrived at her apartment. Then, she’d come home one day to find her front door standing open. A dozen red roses along with a note on the coffee table. Always the same. You’ll always belong to me. . . .

  That’s when Sadie knew what she had to do. If she wanted to live, she’d have to leave Billings. And so, she’d called her boss and gave notice. Packed up what she could fit into her car and left the rest. And she’d run.

  A chill sped up her spine. She’d brought her troubles to her innocent mother’s door and that was so unfair.

  A knock nearby sent her jerking toward the sound.

  Mamm opened the door and peeked inside, an expression of concern on her face as she came in and closed the door. “Everything oke?”

  Above all else, Sadie wanted to protect her mother from this. Her life had been hard. She didn’t need to worry about her daughter, too.

  Sadie forced a smile. “Yes, I’m fine. I just needed a moment.” Holding her mother’s penetrating stare was hard. Mamm knew her too well. She’d always known when her daughter wasn’t being completely truthful.

  With a sad smile, her mamm pressed her hand. “I’m happy to have you home again, Dochder. And if you are feeling up to it, I’d like your help preparing the desserts.”

  Sadie struggled to let the worries go. After all, she had no proof he’d followed her here. The caller would have no way of knowing where she was . . . unless he’d traced her phone somehow. That thought alone was terrifying.

  “I would like that very much,” she said and meant it. Doing simple chores like helping her mother bake the desserts she sold at the diner in town would take Sadie’s mind off her own worries.

  “Gut.” Mamm clasped her hand and rose as did Sadie. “Then we should get started.”

  Together they left the room and entered the kitchen where flour, sugar, and other baking supplies covered the worn kitchen table.

  “What will we be making today?” Sadie asked as she surveyed all the ingredients.

  “Jane Wagler tells me that the whoopie pies are always a big seller as are my spice cakes. Today, I thought I’d make two spice cakes to go along with the whoopie pies and perhaps a couple of shoofly pies.”

  Sadie’s eyes widened and she faced her sweet mother. “You make all those baked goods every day?”

  Her mother chuckled and squeezed her arm. “Nein. Only three days a week, or depending on what Jane needs. It brings in money and gives me something to do. And I always make extra for Elam. You know how he loves my whoopie pies.”

  Growing up, Elam shared many a meal with her family. Sadie was no stranger to the Beiler house either. They’d been good friends, and Sadie adored spending time with Elam and his brother.

  “I remember. I’ll leave the whoopie pies to you, though. I wouldn’t want to disappoint Elam.” She winked at her mother. “If you’d like, I can make the spice cakes. I think I remember how you prepare them.” Being in her mother’s gentle care for such a short period of time had done worlds of good for her troubled heart.

  Mamm nodded. “Once we’re finished with these, we’ll prepare the shoofly pies together.”

  Working alongside her mother again reminded her of how much she missed this. Her Mamm. The Amish way of life. Elam.

  Sadie creamed butter, then added eggs and set the bowl aside while she mixed the spices and other dry ingredients. As she worked, she glanced around the familiar kitchen. The cook stove dominated part of the room, the warmth of the heated oven taking the chill from the house. The well-worn table had served several generations of Eichers. She remembered Daed telling the story of how he’d helped his grandfather make the table and benches when he was a young man.

  Sadie doubled the recipe to make two spice cakes. With the ingredients mixed together, she poured the batter into the round cake pans. Once Mamm’s cookie-shaped chocolate cakes finished baking, Sadie removed them from the oven and popped her cakes in.

  Mamm prepared the cream filling while the cookies cooled, then she spread it onto the chocolate cookies and sandwiched them together to make the whoopie pies while Sadie rolled out the dough for the shoofly pie crust.

  “What has got you so anxious, child?” her mother asked and glanced up from her work.

  Sadie kept her attention on pressing the dough into pie pans. “I don’t know what you mean.” She couldn’t look at her mamm and not tell her everything.

  “You do and you know it. I’ve never seen you so frightened before.”

  Had she made a mistake by coming home? The last thing she wanted was to worry her mother or, God forbid, bring a monster into her mother’s peaceful existence.

  While she struggled with an answer, the front door opened. Elam stepped across the threshold, no doubt seeing all the fear on her face. But he kept quiet for now because of the person following him inside. His brother Jonah.

  The younger man spotted her and his face lit up. Jonah removed his hat as he spoke. “Elam mentioned you were here for a visit.” There was no mistaking the family resemblance between brothers. Though Elam was older, both Beiler brothers had the same shade of blond hair.

  Sadie put a smile on her face for Jonah. “I’m happy to see you again, Jonah. How is Willa?”

  “Very well, danki. She’ll be pleased you’re home. You should stop by for a visit while you’re here.”

  “I will,” Sadie promised.

  Elam moved to the table and snatched one of the whoopie pies while Mamm pretended to swat at his hand.

  “Elam Beiler, don’t you dare take another one of those cookies.”

  A mischievous grin spread across Elam’s face as he made a production of biting into the cream-filled treat. Some of the filling landed on his chin, and Sadie couldn’t take her eyes off him. She’d forgotten how handsome he was. That shaggy, dark-blond hair and those blue eyes that saw too much. He was a good foot taller than
she. Sadie recalled how annoying it was as a child whenever Elam played keep away.

  His laugh was infectious as he wiped the white filling from his chin. Before she could look away, Elam caught her staring. Her throat tightened as the laughter left his face, and the past and all the things they’d shared tumbled through her mind. The trip to the bus stop stood out in her head the most. She’d been so embarrassed by Samuel’s betrayal. So sure she’d never outlive it.

  Now, all she wanted to do was turn back time to when she was the happiest. Living here. With her mamm and daed. Elam close by. And the only worries in her mind were how quickly she could finish her chores so she could race to Elam’s house and see what exciting adventure came their way next.

  ◆◆◆

  Her car was stuffed full of possessions, but Elam couldn’t let himself hope she’d come home for good. More likely she was running away from something, or someone.

  Ever since he’d stepped onto the porch and found the door locked—with Sadie waiting inside terrified—he’d known some sort of trouble had chased her home.

  It was a struggle to pull his thoughts away from Sadie, but he must. There was work to do.

  Facing Irene, he said, “After Jonah and I finish plowing and disking, I’ll take the baked goods into town for you. I need to buy some supplies for the farm anyway.”

  Irene smiled her gratitude. “Danki, Elam, but you don’t have to. Sadie and I can harness the buggy as soon as the pies have cooled. I must buy more flour before preparing the next batch of desserts anyway.” She rubbed her gnarled hands together in a familiar gesture to him. It seemed with each new cold spell Irene’s rheumatoid arthritis grew worse.

  “No need for you to go out in the cold. I’d be happy to pick up whatever you need.”

  Irene had kept her worsening condition secret from her daughter, but Elam had seen her suffering many times.

  “Perhaps Sadie can go along with you,” Irene said, and turned to her daughter. “I know Jane would be pleased with a visit from you.”

  Watching Sadie’s reaction, Elam believed if she could come up with an excuse not to go she would.

  Instead, Sadie put a smile on her face for Irene’s sake. “Jah that would be nice. It’s been a few years since I spent time with Jane.”

  Irene hugged Sadie close. She was so happy to have her daughter home again. “She asks about you all the time.”

  Elam held Sadie’s gaze. “Then it’s settled. I’ll pick you up this afternoon.”

  She managed a tiny nod while Elam sneaked another whoopie pie before he and Jonah headed outdoors. The crisp September day held clouds that threatened to unharness a wintery mix at any time. Thankfully, the temperature hadn’t stayed below freezing for long, but the fall temperatures were quickly fading.

  Jonah closed the door behind him, a worried frown drawing his brows together. “Something’s wrong with Sadie. She does not appear well.”

  Elam shot him a look. Though younger by almost seven years, Jonah had proven himself astute in understanding human emotions. More so than Elam. He still didn’t understand what went on in Sadie’s mind when she left her whole life behind because of someone undeserving of her.

  “Jah, something’s troubling her.” He explained Sadie’s reaction when he’d arrived that morning. After she spotted Jonah’s footprints. Then the call.

  “You and Sadie have always been close. Perhaps she will open up to you,” Jonah said.

  Though Jonah never said as much, Elam believed he’d long ago guessed how he felt about Sadie. He’d loved her since he became old enough to realize what love meant. “I hope so. She needs someone to confide in.”

  With Jonah on his heels, Elam headed out toward the plow Irene’s husband had used during his lifetime. Hitched to the plow were his own mare and the one belonging to Irene.

  Elam stared out at the fallow fields. With his heath ailing, Daniel had only planted one of the fields the year before he passed away. Irene was counting on the money from the wheat harvest along with her desserts to make ends meet. Which was why this year Elam and Jonah were going to plow all three of Daniel’s fields. If they planted the crop before the bad weather moved in, the wheat would be protected by a blanket of snow until spring.

  “I’ll start on the south pasture,” Elam told his brother. Jonah had brought over the plow he and Elam used to plant their own fields along with both of Elam’s mares and one that belonged to Jonah’s father-in-law, since each plow required a team of two horses to operate.

  Jonah agreed with a nod. “I’ll start on the one next to you. We should be finished with the plowing and disking by afternoon. We can start the harrowing tomorrow, then the planting in a few days.” Jonah was the most optimistic person Elam knew. He wondered if such blind optimism was Gott’s gift to the youth. Life had a way of changing all that with each new blow it brought.

  “That would be gut.” Elam climbed onto the plow and urged the horses toward the field. At the edge of the property, something shiny caught his eye. He stopped the mares, jumped off and moved toward the object. A cigarette package. Elam glanced at the ground. A set of footprints headed from the edge of the property into the woods nearby. His gut clenched. Someone had been here recently.

  He scanned the area as he followed the footprints. In the distance, what sounded like a car’s engine roared to life. The road into the community lay beyond the trees. Elam ran toward the noise. He reached the clearing, then the road just as a car sped away. Why would someone be watching Irene’s home? Unless they’d come looking for Sadie. The thought was terrifying, but he kept remembering how nervous she’d been when she arrived. And with the feeding she’d been jumping at shadows the entire time. Something had her bothered

  He returned to the plow and the patient horses. As he worked, Sadie’s loaded car taunted him with unanswered questions. What was she running from? A boyfriend? Elam let the thought settle in and decided he didn’t like it much. He and Irene talked about Sadie from time to time, and she’d never mentioned a romantic relationship. Though he suspected Irene knew his feelings for Sadie went much deeper than friendship, she never pried. She was always quick to keep him updated on her daughter’s life in Billings.

  Whatever had brought her back to St. Ignatius, he had a feeling it was bad. And until he knew Sadie and Irene were safe, he’d find a way to stay close. He’d make up whatever excuse needed to convince them to let him bed down on the sofa. He’d lost Sadie once. He wasn’t about to lose her again.

  Chapter Three

  An uncomfortable silence settled between Sadie and Elam as they headed to the small group of shops owned by St. Ignatius community members. All the while, her mind chased after the nightmare that brought her home.

  Elam glanced her way. Something unreadable in his eyes became like a jolt to her system.

  “Irene is happy to have you home. She misses you greatly,” he said after another awkward moment. “She’s a gut woman and she’s been like a second mother to me.”

  Regret tore at Sadie’s heart. Her mother needed her and she’d let wounded pride keep her from being there for her. At the time, she thought her heart would never heal. In hindsight, Sadie realized she’d fallen into the idea of marrying Samuel because people seemed to expect them to wed. Had she ever truly loved him?

  Elam guided the buggy behind the diner and hopped down. As in times past, he held his hand out to her and Sadie grasped it. The tingle of awareness she felt at his touch had her eyes shooting to his. Why was she just now feeling these things?

  With her breath hanging in her throat, she climbed down and slipped her hand free. She couldn’t look at him and not have him see her reaction. Did he feel it too, or was she simply imagining these feelings because of what she was going through?

  Elam picked up the boxes containing the pies and cakes and started for the rear of the diner while Sadie struggled to keep up. She opened the door for him and followed him inside. Jane Wagler had owned the diner for as long as Sadie could reme
mber. Growing up, Sadie had spent a lot of time here. Occasionally when Jane needed help, her mother would come. Whenever possible, Sadie had tagged along.

  From the kitchen, she scanned the diner and spotted Jane taking the order of the only two people in the place. Sadie recognized Rachel, the young woman, right away. Her mamm owned the bulk foods store down the street. Sadie’s mother had informed her Rachel had married the bishop’s son last November. Even through her heavy cloak, Sadie could tell Rachel was pregnant.

  Elam set the desserts on the kitchen counter and removed his hat, running a hand through his golden locks to smooth them into place.

  Once Jane finished the order, she started for the kitchen when she spotted Sadie. A smile spread across her face as she all but ran the distance between them. She stopped long enough to survey Sadie’s face.

  “Well, I’ll be. Sadie Eicher.” Jane swept her into a warm hug.

  After a second, Sadie stepped back and struggled to come up with a response. “How’ve you been, Jane?”

  “Gut,” Jane said with a nod. “The business is doing well, but I miss Mark terribly.” Her smile disappeared, and bleakness entered her eyes.

  Mamm had told her about Jane’s husband passing a few months ago. She squeezed Jane’s arm. “I heard. I’m so sorry.”

  Tears misted Jane’s eyes. “Danki. Staying busy helps.” She noticed Elam. “I see you’ve brought a friend. It’s like old times seeing you two together.”

  Sadie glanced over at Elam.

  “I’ve brought you Irene’s desserts. Sadie helped prepare them.” He smiled and shifted his gaze to Sadie. Their eyes held. She drew in a breath and couldn’t look away.

  “Well, then, Sadie’s help will make them special.” Jane peeked inside the boxes. “Oh my. You and Irene outdid yourselves.” Jane placed the desserts in the display case and moved to the stove. “Let me prepare their food, then we can sit and talk.”