The Reconciliation

by Susan Lantz Simpson

  “Cheese is cheese, especially when it’s melted over noodles.” Becky backed away from the pantry and turned to face her freind. She couldn’t stop the laugh that bubbled up at the sight of Lena’s forlorn expression. “Don’t give me that fake pitiful look,” she gasped out between giggles.

  “It’s not fake.”

  “Then you go to the dairy and fetch your cheese. I’ll stay here with the kinner.”

  One of Lena’s thin hands flew to her chest. “Me? I’m still recovering from childbirth.”

  “How convenient!”

  “Are you going to nurse Matthew?”

  “He’ll sleep while you’re gone.

  “You can’t be sure of that.”

  “Since you are no longer expecting, you should be over your food cravings now. I’m still expecting, and I do not crave cheese.”

  “Aw, Becky, I haven’t had macaroni and cheese in ever so long. Cheese has lots of calcium and protein.”

  “So does milk. I’ll pour you a glass.”

  “You’re mean.” Lena poked out her lip in a pout that could rival any of Mary’s.

  “You’re narrisch!”

  “What’s crazy about wanting a yummy, gooey, cheesy, stick-to-your-ribs food?”

  Becky rolled her eyes and then smiled at Mary, who entered the kitchen towing Eliza behind her. “I’m sure the girls would like macaroni and cheese for supper, too,” Lena said.

  Mary jumped up and down, pulling Eliza with her. “Jah! Jah!” she cried. Eliza echoed her squeals.

  “No fair, Lena. You can’t heap guilt on me by involving the girls.” Becky squeezed her eyes shut and clapped her hands over her ears. “I can’t see you or hear you.” A tug on her skirt caused her to crack open one eye.

  “Cheese?” Eliza stared up at Becky and grabbed a hunk of Becky’s dress in her fist.

  “Ach, Lena, you’ve created a monster.” She crouched down to look Eliza in the eye. “How about if you help me find something else?” She scooped the child into her arms and swung around to search the pantry again. “We can make a green bean casserole or . . .”

  “Cheese?”

  “Face it, Becky. Nothing else will do.”

  “This is all your fault, Lena.” Becky whirled back around in time to take in Lena’s smirk. “And you only want me to go to the dairy because you want to play matchmaker.”

  “That, and the girls want cheese.”

  “They didn’t before you set them off.”

  “How can you refuse these adorable, sweet little girls?”

  “Okay. I give up. Let me get my cloak, bonnet, and purse.” Becky set Eliza down beside Lena and stomped from the kitchen.

  “And don’t you dare go to the Food King. We want dairy cheese!”

  * * *

  Becky grumbled as she fought the wind to hitch the horse to the gray buggy. “Cold enough out here to spit snow or sleet or both.” She cast a wary glance skyward. Sure enough, thickening gray clouds threatened to snuff out any rays of sunshine that might possibly send a smidgen of warmth to the earth. “We’d better hurry.” She patted the horse’s neck and climbed inside the buggy, which provided a respite from the wind but not a lot of warmth.

  After she got the horse trotting at a brisk pace, she fumbled to cover her legs with the wool blanket beneath the buggy seat. This would be a test. How quickly could she slip into the dairy, make her purchase, and race home? Part two: Could she slip in and out without being detected by a dark-haired, green-eyed man who made her heart do crazy, uncontrollable flips?

  Apparently Lena’s big, dark horse was as anxious to complete this mission as Becky was. He stepped lively, pulling the buggy quickly along the blacktopped road. His breath puffed out in a cloud around his head. Becky wiggled her fingers inside her heavy wool gloves in an attempt to get the blood to flow and the tingling to stop. She wondered if being pregnant made her more sensitive to the cold. She didn’t remember feeling so cold during previous winters. She thought she recalled other women complain about being hot when in the family way, but maybe that had been in the summer. She was freezing—all for macaroni and cheese. Nee, all because Lena wanted to throw her at Atlee.

  Becky’s icy fingers fumbled to tie the horse to the rail outside the long white one-story building. She promised him she would return as quickly as possible so he could get home to his feed and warm stall. The big horse stomped, snorted, and shook his massive head as if he understood her words. Now to sneak into and out of the building.

  A gust of wind threatened to tear Becky’s black bonnet off her head and send it flying, despite its being snugly tied beneath her chin. She hurried across the gravel parking lot to the entrance, glad to see several cars parked near the building. The more people, the better. An approaching car’s tires crunched on the gravel behind her, snagging her attention.

  Becky hurried to get to the door. She glanced over her shoulder to see a big, dark car. She sucked in a breath and barely squelched a scream. The car’s tags told her the occupants were from New York. She’d observed the same kind of tags on vehicles that had whizzed by her as she scurried along the city’s sidewalks. Her heart thundered, and her stomach rolled over. She had to get inside. She had to hide.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Becky pushed the door open in a panic and nearly bowled over the Englisch couple about to exit. She mumbled an apology and scooted out of their path.

  The woman gave her a polite smile and said, “That wind is really something, isn’t it?”

  “Jah, it’s pretty cold.” Becky didn’t have time to exchange further pleasantries. She had to get out of sight. Her eyes darted around in search of a hiding place. Her heart still pounded so hard it made her already rolling stomach even queasier. Where should she go? Unless someone let her pass through the employee door and into the back, she had no place to hide. If she crouched behind a display case, she would still be in view of anyone who stepped up to the counter. Maybe she should run out the back door and try to escape to the trees behind the dairy. No one would think to search there, would they?

  She could only hope the people in the car didn’t get a close enough glimpse to recognize her. From the distance, she would look like every other Amish woman. She whirled around to flee and crashed into a broad, hard chest. She only barely managed to stifle a scream as she struggled against the two hands clamped around her upper arms.

  “Becky! Becky! It’s me. What happened?”

  “Ach, Atlee!” She wanted to sink into his embrace, but she had to run. Those people would be out of their car and walking through the front door any moment. “I-I have to go. Quick!” She glanced behind her at the still closed door. “Please, Atlee, let me go in back. Now!” She raised her eyes to meet his questioning ones. “Please. Right now!”

  “Kumm.” Atlee kept his hand wrapped around one of Becky’s arms and hustled her through the employee door.

  As soon as the door shut behind them, Becky exhaled the breath she’d been holding. “Nobody can kumm back here, can they?”

  She couldn’t force a sound louder than a whisper, so Atlee had to lean close to hear her.

  “Just employees. What’s wrong, Becky? You’re as white as fresh snow and trembling like the last leaf on a branch in a windstorm.”

  “I-I got scared.”

  “Of what? Did you have a problem with the horse on the road?”

  “Nee. A car.”

  Atlee looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “Huh?”

  Becky knew she wasn’t making any sense. She took a shaky breath and tried again. “In the parking lot, Atlee. There was a big, black car with New York tags. I know those tags. What if . . .”

  “I’ll go and check it out.”

  Becky clung to Atlee’s arm. “Don’t leave me.”

  “I don’t want to, but I want to see who came in. I’ll be right back. Just stand over here out of sight in case someone opens the door.”

  Becky allowed Atlee to steer her to a corner away from the door.
“Hurry!”

  Atlee nodded, patted her hand, and strolled through the door, acting as if everything was perfectly normal.

  Becky shrank back into the corner, berating herself for cowering like a helpless boppli. She moved a hand to her midsection to where her little one grew safe in her womb. She had to protect him or her. The door swung open so hard it banged against the doorstop. Becky nearly jumped through the ceiling. How had they found her?

  The employee who zoomed through the door stopped abruptly, almost as startled as Becky. “What . . . ?”

  Becky interrupted, keeping her voice low. “I’m sorry I scared you. I-I’m waiting for someone.”

  “You aren’t supposed to be back here. Employees only.”

  “I know. I’ll leave in a minute. I promise. I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t want to stay out there with all your customers.” It wasn’t really a lie. She did feel sick—scared, mostly—but the fear turned her stomach upside down and made her feel faint.

  “I can get you a chair.” The young man, who Becky didn’t know well because he was from another district, changed his tone and became more concerned.

  “That’s all right. I’ll be okay in a moment. I don’t want to keep you from your work.”

  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

  Becky nodded. “My freind had to check on something but will be back in a minute. I’m starting to feel better.” Becky tried to smile and wished that last part was true. She only felt slightly better being out of sight. She’d feel much better if Atlee would hurry back to tell her all was well.

  “Are you positive I can’t get you anything?”

  “Nee, but danki.”

  The bu, who was maybe a couple of years younger than Becky, nodded, retrieved the supplies he had come into the room to fetch, and left her alone with her mounting fears. Where was Atlee, and what was taking him so long? She yanked off her gloves and stuffed them into a pocket. She straightened her bonnet, which the wind had blown cockeyed, and nibbled at a fingernail. She knew it had only been a few minutes since Atlee had left, but those minutes felt like decades. Had something bad happened to Atlee?

  She would never have returned to Maryland if she thought trouble would follow her here. She never should have left home in the first place. Why had she wanted to experience the big city before deciding to join the church? And if she was going to go off on her own, she should have at least been smart enough not to get involved with someone almost as soon as she reached New York. Dummchen, that’s what she was. Too naive to spot a liar and a swindler.

  Sure, Vinny had been so kind and sweet when he had waltzed into the café on her very first day. She’d been so nervous and all thumbs. It had been a miracle she hadn’t dumped kaffi or food all over someone. But Vinny had smiled at her and told her she was doing a fine job. He had come every day for a sandwich or just to chat. He’d walked her to the cramped room she rented, to make sure she was safe, he’d said. Right! He had turned out to be her biggest danger.

  But Becky hadn’t known any better. She had believed the best about people. She’d never met someone she couldn’t trust, someone evil, so she’d had no experience to draw upon. Vinny had sent her flowers and bought her little gifts. He’d confessed that he had fallen hopelessly in love with her at first sight. Huh! He wouldn’t have known love if it crawled up his arm and bit him on the neck. She could see that now.

  She had been flattered at the attention and overwhelmed by his pretty words. Vinny had known what he wanted and known she believed in marriage, so he had arranged that phony ceremony. He’d even bought her a pretty lace dress to wear and a little bouquet of red roses. She had happily signed the marriage license, or what she had believed was a marriage license. The first two weeks had been blissful, but then Vinny’s true colors began to emerge.

  Nothing Becky did was gut enough. He even called her a dumb hick. When he demanded to know what was wrong with her after she had raced to the bathroom clutching her belly, she confessed her suspicion. She’d thought he would be happy. After he slapped her, cursed at her, and belittled her for not knowing how to prevent a pregnancy, he told her to “take care of it” or they were through.

  When she told him she didn’t believe in divorce, he threw his head back and laughed a harsh, evil laugh. That’s when he told her they weren’t really married.

  “We signed the paper,” she said. “We had a ceremony.”

  “All fake.” The words cut her to the core. She could still see his sneer. “That minister was my pal Jimbo, no minister by any stretch of the imagination, and that license was printed off the Internet.” He laughed and laughed as tears poured down her face. Then he told her to get out and not return until she’d taken care of the mess she’d gotten herself into.

  She wandered up and down the sidewalk until Julie, a coworker, spotted her and took her in. She stayed with Julie until she could gather enough courage to retrieve her few belongings from Vinny’s apartment. Unfortunately, she chose the wrong time to return. She arrived to find Vinny dead and his horrible freinden standing over him. When they tried to force her to go with them, she fled again.

  She had thought she would be safe at home. After all, she hadn’t seen what had happened in New York. She couldn’t be any kind of witness, so those men didn’t need to worry about her going to the authorities. Had they really tracked her down? Why? Would she have to run away again to protect her loved ones?

  * * *

  Atlee’s senses all went on high alert. Somehow, without looking obvious, he needed to figure out which customers had gotten out of the car with New York license plates. It would be easy if a couple of evil-looking men stomped around searching the place, but Atlee felt pretty sure that wouldn’t be the case. And what would he do if he spotted suspicious-looking characters? Confront them? Accuse them of scaring a defenseless girl?

  Atlee rubbed a hand across his smooth jaw. He would do whatever he could to protect Becky, short of violence. The Amish did not believe in violence. If someone started after Becky, though, he would have an awfully difficult time making himself remember that fact. He took a deep breath, released the tension in his shoulders, and tried to look casual. He’d do a quick survey of the shop before mingling. More customers had arrived, making the crowd similar to a Saturday morning crowd. That might be to his advantage.

  The Englisch women shopping alone and the elderly couples Atlee ruled out altogether. He tried to wander among any groups of males, pausing long enough to eavesdrop on conversations. Most people were repeat customers, but he did linger near a couple of strangers who spoke with a slight accent. Granted, some local folks spoke a little differently, especially the watermen and some of the longtime farming families, but this couple’s accent was different from what he’d heard before.

  The men Becky feared could have brought a woman along to provide a cover. Now where had he heard that before? His younger bruder Ray must have mentioned something like that. The bu was always reading, and his choice of reading material was not always to mamm’s and daed’s liking.

  “The cheeses all look so good and fresh,” the woman said with a wide smile. “We’re glad our neighbors told us about this place.”

  “Are you new to the area?”

  “We’re from New York. Greg is in the military, and we just got transferred here.” She turned her smile on the tall, sturdy-looking man beside her.

  “Wilkom to Maryland. Take your time.” Innocent. Atlee sighed in relief as he shuffled in another direction. The New York car belonged to legitimate customers. Becky would be so relieved. He glanced over his shoulder a final time. The couple were still perusing the cheese cases. No one pulled out a gun or issued any threats. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He needed to calm Becky and convince her that no one was after her.

  * * *

  Footsteps sounded outside her hiding place. If she could have crawled inside a cabinet, she surely would have done so. She held her breath as the door opened much slower than it ha
d earlier. She sucked in a gasp and paused in her nail nibbling. She should have run out the back door when she had the chance. She shouldn’t have involved Atlee at all, that was for sure and for certain. She’d never forgive herself if he got hurt. She wanted to cry or scream, but instead she waited silently for the person to enter and discover her.

  The door opened just far enough to allow a person to slip through. Becky wished she could blend in to the wall. There was no time to hide, even if she could find a place. She clapped both hands to her face and peered through the slots between her fingers. She sucked in another breath and held it. She wouldn’t be surprised if her heart stopped beating, too.

  “Becky?”

  The whisper made her widen the cracks between her fingers. Atlee’s face was the most wilkom sight in the world. Her breath whooshed out in a little sob.

  Atlee crossed the room in two long strides and pulled Becky into his arms. “Shhh, liebchen. It’s all right.”

  Becky tried to squirm away. “Where are they?” She looked around Atlee toward the door.

  “There isn’t anyone here to hurt you. There is a couple from New York. They are shopping for cheese. You know, with the military base close by, we get people here from all over the place.”

  “There aren’t any horrible men here to grab me?”

  “Nee. You’re safe. I don’t think you need to worry about anyone tracking you down.”

  “Safe.” Becky echoed the word and willed herself to believe she was truly safe. She heaved a huge sigh of relief before collapsing into Atlee’s arms.

  Atlee patted her back and murmured soothing words, not all of which Becky could decipher. Tears of relief raced down her cheeks and splashed onto Atlee’s shirt. After a moment, Becky pulled herself together and realized she was in Atlee’s arms. Scarier was the realization that she enjoyed being in Atlee’s arms. She didn’t want to move, but she had to tear herself away. Was Atlee right? Was it ridiculous to think those men would pursue her? Was she putting her freinden in any danger, or were they all perfectly safe?