An Amish Year

by Beth Wiseman

  “Your daed told me at worship how much he’s been enjoying my vegetables, so I’ve filled the basket.” Katherine flashed her perfectly white teeth as she handed Rosemary the produce. It seemed Katherine was always smiling. Rosemary wondered how that could be. Katherine had lost her husband to cancer a year ago. It had been four years since Rosemary’s mother died, and only recently did her father show any signs of joy.

  “Danki, Katherine.” Rosemary accepted the gift, knowing her father and the boys would be grateful. “Would you like to come in for kaffi or tea?”

  “Nee. I’ve got some mending to do for mei nieces and nephews. I try to help Ellen as much as I can.”

  For a few seconds, Katherine’s smile faded and she got a faraway look in her eyes. Rosemary never knew why Katherine and her husband, John, didn’t have any children. Rosemary was about ten years younger than Katherine, who was in her early thirties. In a flash, Katherine’s smile was back. Rosemary wondered what it would be like to switch places with the woman for a day, to have no one to tend to but herself. Even though Rosemary longed for a husband and children of her own, having even one day to herself sounded like heaven.

  “Anyway . . .” Katherine bounced up on her toes, then glanced around the yard. “I just wanted to get out this morning to enjoy the beautiful weather and drop off these vegetables.”

  Rosemary looked around. In addition to the eyesore that used to be a garden, the flower beds were overgrown, the yard needed mowing, and Abner had left toys all over the place. There just wasn’t enough time in the day to take care of everything. “Ya, okay. Well, danki again for these.” She lifted the basket as she managed a small, tentative smile.

  Katherine looked around again, and Rosemary shifted her stance. “I’m a little behind on my outside chores.”

  Katherine shook her head. “Not at all. I think everything looks nice.” She gave a quick wave and turned to leave. Rosemary had to give her credit. She almost sounded sincere.

  She walked back to where she’d laid the kitchen rug in the grass, gave it a final slap against the tree, then headed inside with the rug and veggies. She was thankful that Abner, Jesse, and Joshua were all in school. But school would be out for the summer in a few weeks. The older boys would likely help Daed tend the fields, but Abner would be in her care all day long, which would slow her down even more.

  As she pulled out a chair and sat down at the kitchen table, she wondered why she was allowing bitterness to consume her. Her mother had died, and these responsibilities were God’s will for her. To tend to her family and to have very little time to herself—and certainly no time for a relationship.

  The sooner Saul found someone else and got on with his life, the better for both of them.

  Saul got his brother lined up first thing in the morning on Lydia Jones’s house. The Englisch woman wanted her entire downstairs painted. Saul thought it was an awful color, a dark burgundy that made the house look even smaller than it was. But Joel was the best painter he had on his six-person payroll. He’d dropped off the other four fellows at another Englisch home where they were putting in laminate floors. He’d been blessed to have plenty of work the past few months, but after these two jobs, he didn’t have anything else lined up, which was a little worrisome.

  “Why would anyone paint the inside of their house this color?” Joel finished covering a hutch by the door with plastic as he eyed the one wall he’d painted last Friday.

  Saul shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s her haus.” He quickly inspected the work Joel had done last week. As usual, it looked good. Joel was only sixteen, but he was a perfectionist, and Saul was thankful he could leave him in a customer’s home, knowing his brother would do a gut job.

  “I’ll be back for you at five.” Saul maneuvered around furniture that he and Joel had moved to the center of the room. “You’ll probably have half of it done by then.” He sighed and stretched out the tightness in his back. Some new job opportunities needed to come up by the end of the week.

  A few minutes later he was pulling onto Lincoln Highway and heading toward Bird-in-Hand. He had a few errands to run this morning, but he’d barely stepped out of his buggy at the market when it began to pour. He hurried to tether his horse, then took off running across the parking lot. He tipped the brim of his hat down in an effort to shield his face from the heavy pelts. He wasn’t paying attention when he rounded a big blue van and slammed right into another person, hard enough that it brought them both down onto the rock-solid cement. He felt his arm sliding across the pavement, but he was more concerned that the person he’d slammed into wasn’t moving.

  Wayne Lantz. Saul’s heart pounded in his chest as he reached over and touched Rosemary’s father on the chest. The older man was flat on his back with his eyes closed.

  Rosemary threw a twenty-dollar bill over the seat before she jumped out of Barbie Beiler’s gray van. The Englisch woman was yelling that Rosemary didn’t owe her anything for the ride when Rosemary slammed the door and raced up to the front of the hospital, dodging puddles along the way.

  Soaking wet, she dripped across the white tile until she reached two women behind a desk. They quickly pointed her in the direction of the emergency room. She only had a few details, but she knew her father had been in an accident in the parking lot of the Bird-in-Hand market. A stranger had shown up at Rosemary’s house, an older Englisch woman in a banged-up white car. She’d said that she was at the market when an ambulance pulled into the parking lot. Rosemary’s father had been taken to the hospital in Lancaster. A young man with him had given her Rosemary’s address. Even though Rosemary didn’t have any reason to doubt the woman, she’d held out hope that maybe it wasn’t her father who had been injured.

  A few minutes later, a nurse escorted her through some double doors. The lump in her throat grew as she walked. She was worried about her father, but as the smell of the hospital filled her nostrils, she was also reminded of all the time she’d spent here with her mother. Dear God, please don’t let my father die too.

  The moment she cried out to the Lord, she felt guilty. She hadn’t shown much appreciation for God’s grace lately. If anything, her bitterness had pulled her away from Him. Just the same, she said another prayer for her father.

  As she followed the nurse behind a curtain and into a small room, she was shocked to see Saul standing at Daed’s bedside. She hurried to her father’s side and edged Saul out of the way.

  “Daed.” She leaned closer to him and put a hand on his arm.

  “What happened?” Before he could answer, she turned to the nurse, who was writing on a clipboard. “How is he?”

  “He’s going to be just fine,” the tiny woman with silver hair said. “The fall knocked him out for a short time, but no concussion.” She raised her eyebrows and pointed with her pen to the end of the bed. “That broken ankle will keep him down for a couple of days, but we’ll send home some crutches so he can be mobile when he’s ready. It’s not a bad break, but he still needs to stay off of it as much as possible so it heals properly.”

  “Daed, what happened?” She eased Saul even farther out of the way, wondering why he was here, but more concerned about her father. “Did you slip on the wet pavement?”

  “It’s mei fault.” Saul took off his hat and rubbed his forehead. “I didn’t see him, and when I got on the other side of a parked van, I ran into him.”

  Rosemary sucked in a breath and held it, while bringing a hand to her chest. She let it out slowly. “You hit Daed with your buggy?”

  “That might have been better,” her father said as he grinned. “Might not have hurt as much as the body slam.” He laughed out loud, and Rosemary looked at the nurse, who smiled.

  “He’s not feeling much pain at the mom
ent. You know, the medication.”

  Rosemary studied her father for a few moments, and once she’d decided that he was all right, she turned to Saul. “What in the world were you doing that made you run into Daed hard enough to knock him down?” She waved a hand toward the end of the bed. “And to break his ankle?”

  “Ach, dochder, settle down.” Her father shifted his position as the hint of a smile left his face. Instead, he groaned slightly, closing his eyes for a couple of seconds. “It was just an accident.” Once he had repositioned himself, he nodded to Saul. “Saul’s got a pretty nasty scrape on his arm.”

  Rosemary noticed Saul’s bandaged arm for the first time, and a twinge of guilt coursed through her for not seeing it sooner. She’d been so worried about her father, and even though fear had fueled her snappy comments to Saul, no one was to blame for this accident. She just wasn’t sure she’d survive if anything happened to her daed. It had been hard enough losing one parent.

  “Ach, it’s okay, Wayne. Not much to it.” Saul held up his left arm, which was wrapped in gauze and tape. He lowered his arm, then his head. “I’m just so sorry.”

  Rosemary’s feet took on a mind of their own, and before she knew it, she was right next to Saul. Now that she knew her father was going to be okay, a part of her longed to tend to Saul as well. Instead, she forced herself to turn to the nurse again. “Can my father go home?”

  “Yes. But he won’t be comfortable riding in a buggy. Do you have a driver?”

  Rosemary sighed, wishing she’d asked Barbie to stay. “Nee, but I can get one.” She reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a piece of paper with Barbie’s phone number. “Can I use your phone?”

  Saul stood quietly at Wayne’s bedside while Rosemary called for a driver. It didn’t take an overly smart man to know that Rosemary blamed him for the accident. Blame he was willing to accept. He should have been watching where he was going. At least they would both fully recover. Saul’s cousin hadn’t been so lucky five years ago when a car plowed into his buggy, leaving him without the use of his legs. The smell of this hospital reminded him of when he went to visit his cousin in Ohio following his accident. He shook the thought away as another worry came to mind.

  “Wayne, were you able to finish your planting?” Saul held his breath as he waited for an answer. Wayne usually planted acres of alfalfa. If he wasn’t done, Saul would have to finish it for him.

  “Nee. But almost. We’ll make do.”

  Saul sighed as he shook his head. “Nee, I’m going to finish the planting for you. It’s the least I can do. If I’d been more careful, watched where I was going . . .”

  Wayne eased himself up in the bed, which, judging by his expression, was a tedious task. His pain medication didn’t seem to be keeping him comfortable. “Now, Saul, don’t you worry about it. You have a business to run.”

  Saul thought about how he didn’t have any jobs lined up for the following week. He hoped something would come up, at least for the sake of his employees, but he had to make this right. “I’m free next week. I can come finish up the planting in the fields, and . . .” He glanced at Rosemary and thought about the weeds growing where her mother used to have a garden. He’d noticed it the last time the Lantzes held worship service. He wondered if Rosemary had gotten around to putting in a garden. “And I can put in a vegetable garden if Rosemary hasn’t had time to do that.”

  “Nee!” Wayne actually lifted himself to a sitting position. “That is not necessary, Saul. I won’t have you doing that. Jesse and Joshua can finish the planting in the fields, and we’ve gone without a garden for the past four years.”

  Rosemary hung up the phone. “Daed, Jesse and Joshua should not be on the plow by themselves. They’re not old enough to be left unattended.” She turned to Saul, and he couldn’t help but smile. She was fearful for her brothers’ safety—as she should be—but she’d also just invited Saul into their lives, intentionally or not.

  “Nee, nee. I’m not having Saul work our land. This was an accident and no one’s fault.” Wayne scowled, shaking his head.

  “Daed’s right about the garden. We’ve gone without one for a long time. But we do need the planting finished.” Rosemary sighed as her eyes met Saul’s, but she quickly turned to her father. “Daed, it’s just not safe for Jesse and Joshua to be on the plow by themselves.” She shook her head. “Too many accidents happen out in the fields.”

  Wayne didn’t say anything, and Saul knew it was hard for him to let another man finish where he’d left off, but Wayne was wise enough to know that Rosemary was right.

  “I can start Monday. Beginning next week, I don’t have any construction jobs. If we still don’t have any jobs by the time Monday comes around, I’ll bring my crew and we can knock it out fast.”

  Wayne looked up at Saul and ran his hand the length of his beard. “Hmm . . . the more I think about it, I do like the idea of you putting in a garden.”

  Rosemary took a step toward the hospital bed, her face drawn into a frown. “Nee, Daed. I’ll get to it.”

  Wayne’s left eyebrow rose a fraction. “When, mei dochder?” Then he shifted in the bed to face Saul. “Rosemary has her hands full with the kinner. It would be nice to have a garden, and I think once it’s in, Rosemary will be able to maintain it. But I will only allow this if I pay you a fair wage for doing it.”

  Saul shook his head, but before he could argue, Wayne added, “That’s the offer. And if I was a man without any work lined up for the following week, I’d take it.” He gave his head a taut nod.

  Saul felt his face redden, and he avoided Rosemary’s eyes for a few moments, but he had to know her reaction to this plan, so he glanced her way. Her eyes were cast toward the floor, her arms folded across her chest. It looked like she was holding her breath.

  Saul looked out the window and rubbed his chin, then glanced back at Rosemary. He wasn’t sure . . . but he thought he saw her smile.

  It was just enough to give him hope.

  “It’s a deal. I’ll see you first thing Monday morning.”

  Chapter Three

  ROSEMARY HELPED HER FATHER OUT OF THE HOSPITAL BED and into the wheelchair the nurse had brought, wishing it was anyone other than Saul who would be spending time at their home. But she figured she would stay inside and avoid him. In the end, the planting would be done, and she’d have a garden. And that would put an end to Katherine showing up with her vegetables. Rosemary would have her own garden. And if Saul did things right, maybe she’d have vegetables to be proud of.

  Saul pushed the wheelchair until they were outside the hospital. Barbie lived in Paradise, so Rosemary knew it wouldn’t take her long to get back to the hospital.

  “Wayne, is there anything else I can do for you?” Saul hung his head for a moment before he looked back at her father.

  Daed shook his head. “I can tell I’m not going to like those things.”

  He nodded toward the crutches Rosemary was carrying. “But it could have been worse, and I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  “It was my fault,” Saul said again. They all started moving toward the circular drive when Barbie pulled up in the van. It was still sprinkling, and as Saul helped her father into the front seat, Rosemary was thankful the area was covered by an awning. She realized that Saul would need a ride home too.

  “We will drop you at your haus on the way.” Rosemary opened the sliding door and climbed into the van, then scooted to the far side. Saul just nodded, and they were all quiet on the way to his house. After a while, Rosemary shifted her eyes to the right to peek at Saul. No smile, and his boyish dimples weren’t visible. He was staring out the window. “Joshua and Jesse can help you in the fields and with planting the garden
, but it won’t be till late afternoon since they’re in school most of the day and have chores.” Rosemary waited until Saul turned her direction before continuing. “So, I don’t know how much time they’ll have.”

  Saul smiled, but just barely. “Nee, I’ll be able to do it.”

  After a few minutes, Rosemary swallowed hard and asked, “How’s your arm?”

  Saul offered her another weak smile. “It’s fine.”

  Rosemary’s father looked over his shoulder. “It’s a nasty case of road rash. I heard the nurse say that. I also heard her say it was real important that you take the antibiotics they prescribed.” He turned back around and spoke to Barbie. “Can you stop at the pharmacy before you drop Saul? The boy needs his medication.”

  “That’s a gut idea. Daed, you have prescriptions too.” Rosemary leaned forward and put a hand on his shoulder as Barbie turned the corner, nodding that she’d heard.

  “I’m not taking those pills for pain. Made me feel all loopy.” He scowled as he shook his head.

  Rosemary glanced at Saul and wondered if he was so quiet because he felt bad about everything or because he was in pain. She bit her lip for a few moments. “Does it hurt?” She was directing the question to Saul, but both her father and Saul answered no at the same time. Rosemary suspected that neither of them was being completely truthful, and as Saul flinched, Rosemary wondered how he was going to finish planting the alfalfa and get a garden put in with his arm in such bad shape.

  “We’ve gone without a garden for a long time.” Rosemary kept her eyes straight ahead as she spoke. “Maybe just finish the little bit of planting Daed has left and don’t worry about the garden.”