Plain and Fancy

by Wanda E. Brunstetter

  “Some quilters use their scraps of material for the Double Wedding Ring because the pieces are quite small.” She smiled and lifted one edge of the quilt. “Others plan their quilt with great care, alternating light and dark rings.”

  “I think I’ll buy this one,” Laura said. “I love the variance of colors and the interlocking rings.”

  “And I believe I’ll keep looking awhile.” Darla chuckled. “No sense picking the first one I see.”

  When Laura didn’t answer, Darla poked her in the ribs. “Did you hear what I said?”

  Laura stood frozen in her tracks. Her heart pounded like a pack of stampeding horses, and her throat felt so dry she could barely swallow.

  “Laura, what’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” “It’s ... it’s Eli ... and that woman.” Laura’s voice cracked. “I—I had no idea he would be here today. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have come.”

  Darla craned her neck. “Where is he, and what woman are you talking about?”

  “She seems really possessive and thinks she’s Eli’s girlfriend—and maybe she is now that I’m out of the picture. They’re right over there.” Laura pointed toward the root-beer stand several feet away. “I shouldn’t be surprised to see them together, but it hurts, nonetheless.”

  Darla grabbed hold of Laura’s arm. “Come on. We’ve got to get you out of here right now.”

  Laura jerked away. “I’m not going anywhere. This is a free country, and I have as much right to be here as they do.”

  “I’m sure, but you don’t want Eli to know you’re here. Do you?”

  Laura dropped her gaze to the floor and shrugged. “Maybe.”

  “What? The guy threw you over for someone else, and you want to grovel in the dirt in front of him?”

  “He didn’t throw me over, and I wasn’t planning to grovel. I was just thinking I should probably say hello.”

  “Now that’s a real brilliant idea.” Darla turned back toward the stack of quilts. “You can do whatever you like, but I came here to look at handmade Amish items. That was our assignment, you know, not saying hello to some cute Amish guy.”

  Ignoring her friend’s comment, Laura took a deep breath and marched straight up to the root-beer stand. “Hello, Eli. How are you?”

  “Laura? What are you doing here?” Eli’s eyes were wide, and his mouth hung slightly open.

  “I’m looking at quilts,” she answered, fixing her gaze somewhere near the center of his chest. “I—I have an assignment to do, and—”

  “Come on, Eli, let’s go.”

  Laura turned her gaze to Pauline. She stood beside Eli with one hand on his arm in a possessive gesture, and she offered Laura an icy stare.

  Laura’s legs felt like rubber, and tension pulled the muscles in her neck. She had a deep sense that she had done the wrong thing when she’d asked Eli to leave his Amish faith, and she couldn’t ignore it a moment longer. She took a guarded step forward. “Eli, could we talk? I need to tell you something.” Her mouth went dry with trepidation as she stared into his blue eyes and recognized hesitation.

  A few seconds ticked by. Then he shrugged. “I guess it would be all right.” He glanced over at Pauline. “Could you wait for me at the hot dog stand? I won’t be long.”

  Pauline scrunched up her nose. “Are you kidding me?”

  He shook his head. “I’ll just be a minute.”

  She glared at Laura, then stalked off, muttering something in Pennsylvania Dutch.

  Eli turned back to Laura. “Should we go outside?”

  She nodded and followed as he led the way to the nearest exit. When they stepped outside, he motioned to a wooden bench near the building.

  Once they were both seated, Laura felt a bit more comfortable. At least now she could gulp in some fresh air, which she hoped might tame the brigade of bumblebees marching through her stomach.

  “What did you want to talk to me about?” Eli asked.

  “Us. I wanted to talk about us.”

  “There is no us, Laura. I thought you understood that I’m not going to leave my faith. In fact, I’ve decided to—”

  “I do understand, and I’m sorry for asking you to give up your way of life.”

  “Thank you for understanding. Someday you’ll meet the right man, and—”

  Laura lifted her hand and covered his mouth with her fingers. “I’ve already found the right man.”

  His eyebrows raised in obvious surprise. “You have? That’s good. I wish you all the best.”

  She compressed her lips in frustration. Was Eli deaf, dumb, and blind? Couldn’t he see how much she wanted to be with him? She grasped both of his hands and gave them a squeeze. “The man I’ve found is you. I want no other, and I never will.”

  “But, Laura—”

  “I know, I know. You won’t leave the Amish faith and become a fancy Englisher.” She swallowed hard and drew in a deep breath. “That doesn’t mean we can’t be together, though.”

  He tipped his head and looked at Laura as if she’d lost her mind. “It doesn’t?”

  “No, it doesn’t. Not unless you’ve found someone else.” She leaned closer to him. “Have you, Eli? Are you in love with Pauline?”

  He shook his head. “We’re still just friends, but—”

  “Do you still have feelings for me?”

  “Jah, but you know—”

  “Well, good. I can solve our problem by coming over to the other side.”

  A deep frown creased Eli’s forehead. “I’m afraid I don’t get your meaning.”

  “I’ll join the Amish faith and become Plain.”

  “What?”

  “I said—”

  Eli held up his hand. “You don’t know what you’re saying, Laura. A few folks have joined our faith, but not many. It’s not all cakes and pies, you know, and there would be much to learn—classes to take.”

  “I’m sure it wouldn’t be an easy transition, but I can do it, Eli. I can do anything if I set my mind to it.”

  ***

  Eli couldn’t believe Laura was offering to join his faith. During the time they had been seeing each other, he’d often found himself wishing for just such a turn of events, but after she’d asked him to join her world, he was certain she would never consider becoming Amish. Now she suddenly wanted to become Plain? It made no sense at all. He studied her intently. She seemed sincere, but truth be told, Laura didn’t have any idea what she was suggesting.

  “I do love you,” he admitted, “but—”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I was afraid you might turn me away.”

  Eli breathed in the strawberry scent of Laura’s hair and reveled in the warmth of her touch. How could he make her understand, yet how could he say good-bye to her again?

  “These last few months have been awful,” Laura said with a catch in her voice. “I need to be with you.”

  “But you might not be happy being Amish, and then what? As I said, it would be a hard thing to change over and give up all the modern things you’re used to having. You would have to learn our language and accept our religious views.”

  She nodded. “I know it won’t be easy, but with your help, I can do it. You will help me, won’t you, Eli?”

  Eli filled his lungs with fresh air as he struggled to make a decision. He lifted Laura’s chin with his thumb and stared into her sea green eyes, hoping to find answers there. He wanted to be with her more than anything. Yet he didn’t see how it could ever work out.

  When she smiled at him the way she was now, it was hard to think. Hard to breathe. Hard to know what was right and what wasn’t.

  “Eli, what’s your answer?”

  Pushing the niggling doubts aside, he finally nodded. “You’ll need time to adjust, but I’ll help you in every way I can.”

  CHAPTER 14

  Once Laura made her decision to become Amish, the purchase of a second quilt was completely forgotten. The first order of business was t
o find Darla and tell her what she planned to do. Then she would need to go back to the interior design school and withdraw. After that, she would call her parents. That was going to be the hardest part, because she was sure they wouldn’t understand. Eli’s job was to tell Pauline the news, and also his parents, and she was sure that wouldn’t be easy, either.

  Eli stood from the bench where they had been sitting. “As soon as I leave the farmers’ market, I’ll head over to my sister’s place and see if she would be willing to let you live with her.”

  Laura stood, too. “Do you think she would do that?”

  “Jah. Martha Rose and I are close.” He chuckled. “It’s always been hard for her to tell me no, and I’m sure she would be a big help in teaching you everything you’ll need to know about our way of life.”

  Laura gripped his arm. “I’m a ball of nerves, Eli. What if Martha Rose says I can’t stay there? What if your folks don’t accept me? What if—”

  Eli held up his hand, halting her words. “Tomorrow I’ll hire a driver to pick you up at the school in Lancaster, and we’ll drive over to Amon and Martha Rose’s place so you can meet them.”

  “That’s okay,” she said. “I’ll need to turn in the car I’m leasing, so I’ll have someone from the rental company drop me off in front of the variety store in Paradise. You can pick me up there, if that’s all right.”

  “Jah, sure.” He smiled, and it gave her a sense of reassurance. “I’m sure everything will work out okay.”

  ***

  “I still can’t believe what you’re planning to do,” Darla said, as she and Laura drove back to their school. “Don’t you realize what you’ll be giving up? Don’t you know how hard the transition from English to Amish will be?”

  Laura nodded. “I know it won’t be easy, but I can do it. I can do anything if I want it badly enough, and this is something I really want.”

  “You want to live the Plain life, without all the modern conveniences you’ve become used to?”

  “Well, I—”

  “Think about it, Laura. You won’t be able to use your computer to send e-mails anymore. You won’t be allowed to wear makeup, jeans, or any fancy clothes. You’ll have to trade in your leased car for a horse and buggy.”

  Laura shrugged. “I’m sure it won’t be easy, but I can do it for Eli—because I love him and hope to be his wife someday.”

  “Can’t you talk him into leaving the Amish faith? You told me once that he’s not joined the church yet, so he wouldn’t be shunned if he were to become English.”

  “I did ask him about leaving once, and it wasn’t long after that he said we should go our separate ways.” Laura clenched her fingers tightly together in her lap. “I was miserable those months we were apart, and I won’t let Eli walk out of my life again, no matter how many sacrifices I might need to make.”

  Darla gave the steering wheel a couple of taps. “Suit yourself, but don’t come crying to me when things don’t work out.”

  “I won’t. You can be sure of that.”

  ***

  As Pauline waited near the root-beer stand for Eli to return, she became increasingly anxious. What had that English woman wanted to speak with Eli about, and why had he agreed to talk to her? She hoped he hadn’t given up his plans to take membership classes this summer and join the church in the fall. Surely he wasn’t thinking about leaving the Amish faith and going English.

  “Oh, good, I’m glad you’re still here. I need to speak with you.”

  Pauline whirled around at the sound of Eli’s voice. She felt relief to see that the English woman wasn’t with him. “Is everything all right, Eli? You look kind of flushed.”

  He drew her away from the table and over to one corner of the room. “I need to tell you something.”

  “What is it?”

  Eli stared at the concrete floor as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I—I’ve tried to tell you this before, but there’s really no way it could work for us to be together.”

  Her forehead wrinkled. “Why not? We’ve been courting for a couple of months now, and I thought we’ve been getting along fairly well.”

  He lifted his gaze to hers. “There’s no easy way for me to say this, but I’m in love with Laura.”

  “The Englisher?”

  “Jah.”

  “You’re going to leave the Amish faith to be with her?”

  He shook his head. “Laura wants to become Plain.”

  Pauline tried to let Eli’s words register in her brain while fighting the tears pushing against her eyelids. This couldn’t be true. It had to be some kind of horrible joke. No one just up and decided to join the church—to her knowledge very few ever had.

  “You’re a nice person, and I’m sorry if I’ve led you on or hurt you in any way.” Eli touched her arm. “I thought I could forget about Laura and move on with my life, but after seeing her today, I realized that she’s the one I love and want to be with.”

  Pauline shrugged his hand away. “It won’t work, Eli. That fancy woman will never become one of us. I doubt she could last one week as an Amish woman.” Pauline’s heart felt like it was breaking in two, but there was no way she would admit to Eli how much he had hurt her, or that she’d hoped to become his wife someday. She lifted her chin and stared right into his blue eyes. “You’re verhuddelt if you think things are going to work out for you and Laura, but if she’s what you want, then don’t expect any sympathy from me if things go sour.” Pauline turned on her heels and stalked off.

  “Where are you going? Don’t you need a ride home?”

  She shook her head and kept on walking. She would find her own way home, even if it meant phoning one of their English drivers for a ride.

  ***

  As Eli left his sister’s place and headed down the road toward home with his horse and buggy, he reflected on the conversation he’d had with Martha Rose and felt relief that she’d agreed to let Laura stay with her and Amon while she took her training to become Amish. Martha Rose had also been willing to instruct Laura in cooking, sewing, and many other things she would need to know in order to become part of the Amish community.

  Eli was sure that once his sister met Laura in person and saw how nice she was and realized that she wanted to become Amish, everything would work out fine and dandy. Now all he had to do was break the news to Mom and Pop.

  ***

  Mary Ellen was just putting lunch on the table when she heard a horse and buggy come into the yard. She glanced out the kitchen window and saw that it was Eli. “I wonder what he’s doing home so soon,” she said to Johnny, who had just finished washing up at the sink. “I thought he and Pauline were going out to lunch after they left the market, and I figured he would be gone most of the day.”

  Johnny shrugged. “Guess there must have been a change of plans.”

  “I hope they didn’t have a disagreement. Eli can be kind of headstrong sometimes.”