Joseph waited for a second, struggling to choose his reply carefully. He was talking to a reporter, after all. This was no time to muddle up his words.
“I am not angry with you. I believe you spoke out of concern, although you might have picked a better place to do it, maybe.” He remembered something, and he shifted to dig into his pocket. “Here is your credit card, with Naomi’s apologies for forgetting to return it. I thank you for loaning it to her.” He placed the plastic rectangle in the cup holder between their two seats.
“Yeah, well. Naomi’s like a sister to me.” Eric’s fingers clenched around the steering wheel, and Joseph recalled what Naomi had told him, that this Eric had lost his younger sister to her heart trouble sometime back.
Joseph’s conscience jabbed him. Maybe this man was a reporter, but he was also a fellow human being, and one who’d shown Naomi a good deal of kindness. The very least Joseph could do was show kindness in return.
He cleared his throat. “I apologize for seeming unfriendly. The truth is, I am uneasy, but not because of your driving. I’ll be talking money with the hospital about Naomi’s surgery, and such conversations make me naerfich.”
“Oh.” Realization dawned on Eric’s face as he maneuvered his small car around a semi. “I can understand that. Is that why you’re going to the hospital without her? I wondered.”
These Englischers sure did like to ask questions. “I don’t want her fretting herself over this.”
“She would, too.” There was an uncomfortable pause before Eric added, “I don’t mean to be nosy, but my sister had cardiac problems, too, you know. Hospital stays get expensive even when you have good insurance. Just between you and me, are you going to be able to swing this?”
That was what Joseph was going to the hospital to find out. “I hope. Often hospitals give Plain folk discounts because we pay in cash.” And he had the farm to sell, if it came to that.
Which it very likely would.
“Doesn’t your church community help you people cover your medical bills?”
Another question. Joseph sighed, trying to hang on to his patience. “They do, ja, as they can. Naomi’s church back in Kentucky paid for most of her first surgery, along with her brothers. She’s uncomfortable asking them to pay for another operation, but she’s not technically a member here yet, and anyhow, this is a struggling community with little money to spare. Our bishop has promised to see what help he can pull together, but it likely won’t be much. I will find a way to make up the rest of it.” He made that promise as much to himself as to Eric.
Eric pulled into the hospital parking lot and parked. “I’m sorry, man. Financial trouble seems a pretty rough blow, especially given everything else that’s happened to your family.”
Joseph gave his companion a suspicious look, but the man didn’t appear to be fishing for information. He seemed genuinely concerned.
“Gott will provide what is truly needed,” Joseph said quietly. He unlatched the car door. “I thank you for the ride, Eric. I’m not sure how long I will be inside.”
“Don’t worry about it. Stuff like this takes as long as it takes. Hospitals are usually pretty happy to talk about payments, though, so I doubt you’ll have to wait long. I’ll be here when you’re ready to go home.” The Englischer pulled out his cell phone and began fiddling with it, his thumbs flying over the screen.
Joseph unfolded himself from the car and shut the door. Clutching his hopeful sheaf of papers, he headed toward the double glass doors leading into the hospital.
A long hour later, he walked back out into the chilly parking lot, feeling as if he’d just done a full day’s hard labor. Talking numbers with men in suits wasn’t something he was particularly good at, but he’d pulled out his bartering skills and done the best he could.
It hadn’t been quite good enough.
The amount the hospital had set for Naomi’s procedure had been more money than Joseph could have imagined, almost three times the value he’d been quoted for his farm. After a lot of wrangling and discussion with the hospital management, the price had been dropped by nearly half. It was still a good bit more than the farm’s value, though, and that posed an additional problem. Joseph had only come up with one possible solution.
He didn’t like it. Naomi would like it even less, which meant he’d best get it all arranged before he went back home.
When he reached the car, Eric’s attention was fixed on the phone he’d balanced against the steering wheel. The Englischer glanced up as Joseph opened the car door.
“All done?”
“Not quite.” Joseph sank into the low-slung seat with a sigh. “Do you have time to make one more stop?”
“Just tell me where you want to go.”
Joseph reached into his pocket and produced Mona’s card. “I need to go to this office, please.”
“You’re going to talk with a real estate agent?”
“Ja.” He hesitated, then shrugged. He might as well share the worst of it. Folks would know soon enough. “The cost of the operation is more than I’d expected. I need to see about selling my farm. A movie company was interested in it earlier. One of their writers tried to lease it. I got a lawyer to stop that, and they weren’t very happy. Well, now they can have the whole place outright, as long as they’re willing to pay enough.”
Eric whistled. “Oh, I expect they’ll pony up the money, all right. But your family’s lived on that place for generations, right? Selling it seems pretty drastic. Are you sure this is what you want to do? Isn’t there some other way you could come up with the financing?”
“There is no other way. And ja, I am sure.”
He was. All his life, he’d loved the old farm, and he’d expected to turn it over to his own son one day. He’d never imagined selling it, much less like this.
Now, though, he’d surrender it gladly to whoever would pay the money needed to make Naomi healthy again. In the end, his decision had been simple.
But although the farm was legally his, his decision wasn’t the only one that counted. Knowing what was likely to come of today’s meeting, he’d talked it over with Emma and Mirry. Emma’s agreement had come instantly over the phone line. Mirry’s had been no slower. His sister’s face had paled, but she’d nodded grimly and told him to sell the farm, if that’s what it took.
Naomi mattered more. To all of them.
“You know what?” Eric said suddenly. “Sit tight for just a minute.” He grabbed for his phone, working his fingers furiously over the screen.
Joseph watched him silently, bemused. What was the Englischer doing now?
He expected Eric would offer some explanation, but after several long minutes, Eric simply set down the phone, backed up the car, and drove out of the parking lot.
In fact, the younger man didn’t speak again during the whole drive back to Johns Mill, although he seemed skittish. He kept tapping the steering wheel and darting uneasy glances in Joseph’s direction.
For a few seconds, Joseph wondered over the change, but then he dismissed it from his mind. He’d enough business of his own to tend to. As they passed the county line, Joseph closed his eyes and leaned against the seat, trying to work out how best to explain all this to Mona.
When the car slowed, Joseph opened his eyes—and frowned. Eric hadn’t taken him to Mona’s office after all. They were pulling into the farm’s driveway.
Before he could speak, Eric turned, his blue eyes glittering with excitement. “I know. This isn’t where you asked to go. I’ll take you to the realty office in a minute, if you still want to go. But first, I’d like to talk to you and Naomi. Okay?”
Joseph couldn’t imagine what Eric needed to speak of that wouldn’t wait. Still, the man had just done him a favor, flatly refusing to take any payment. “Of course. Please come in.”
In the kitchen, Naomi was kneading bread in Mam
m’s big wooden bowl, three glass loaf pans sitting greased and ready. Miriam sat at the table, a half-finished quilt square in her hand. His sister’s welcoming smile faded when Eric trailed Joseph into the kitchen.
“It’s all right, Miriam.” Naomi spoke before Joseph could. “This is Eric. His sister and I were real gut friends.”
“Hi.” Eric halted just inside the back door, as if he sensed Miriam’s fear.
Miriam’s cheeks paled. She rose, edging away from the Englischer without turning her back on him, like a kitten confronted with an unfamiliar dog.
“Excuse mich,” she murmured politely, her voice trembling. “I’ll just go upstairs.” She backed her way to the stairs, then hurried up them. A second later, they heard her door bang shut.
“Sorry,” Eric said, shooting a sheepish glance at Joseph. “I think I scared her.”
“It’s not your fault,” Naomi reassured him. “Miriam would be uneasy around any Englisch fellow. But it’s good for her to see one, I think, even if it does upset her. Still.” Naomi cocked her head listening. “Maybe I’d best go upstairs and check on her.” She walked to the sink and began washing flour and bits of dough off her fingers.
Joseph cleared his throat. “Miriam will be all right for a few minutes, Naomi. Eric has something he wants to speak to us about.”
“Oh?” Naomi’s eyes darted between the two men as she dried her hands. “What is it?”
Eric squared his shoulders. “Well, I kind of . . . did something. I hope you aren’t going to be mad.”
Both Naomi and Joseph looked at him now, puzzled.
“Why would we be angry with you?” Naomi asked finally.
“Because of this.” Eric pulled out his phone and ran his fingers deftly across the screen. He handed the device to Naomi, who frowned down at it.
Astonishment and confusion flickered over her face. “I don’t understand.”
Joseph took the phone from Naomi’s fingers and squinted down at the screen. A huge figure with a dollar sign in front of it looked back at him. He glanced at Eric, who was bouncing nervously on his heels.
“It’s a fundraising page I set up for Naomi’s surgery right before we left the hospital. I know,” he hurried on, “I should have asked first, but I wasn’t sure you’d agree, and anyhow, I didn’t know if it would even amount to anything. But . . . it did. The thing went viral in under thirty seconds, and it’s still trending.” He turned to Joseph. “I don’t know how much they told you the surgery was going to cost, but whatever it is, I’m pretty sure this will end up covering it and then some. I found you another way, man. You won’t have to sell your farm to that movie studio after all.”
“Joseph!” Naomi frowned at him. “This is why you didn’t want me to come with you today, ain’t so? You knew I’d never agree to you selling this farm. And to sell it to the people making that awful movie? How could you even consider such a thing?”
He looked down at her troubled face and spoke quietly, firmly. “It is my farm to sell, Naomi, and you are worth more to me than it is.” He turned back to Eric. “I don’t understand. You asked people for money? For us?” He glanced back down at the dollar amount on the screen. Eric was right. It was more even than the original fee the hospital had quoted him. Still, Joseph shook his head. “That’s very kind of you, but we can’t accept it.” He held out the phone.
Eric didn’t move to take it. Instead, he made a frustrated noise. “You’d accept money from your church, why not from them?”
“Taking money from our own people is different.”
“Well, I think you’re being narrow-minded. Maybe these people aren’t Amish, but they’re people with good hearts who feel for you and your family and all you’ve been through. They can’t change what’s already happened, but when I gave them a shot at helping you out of this jam, they jumped on it. Obviously. Refresh the screen. I bet it’s gone up even more while we’ve been standing here.”
Joseph had no idea how to refresh the screen, and anyway his mind was busy sifting through what Eric had just said.
“Naomi,” Eric was saying, “talk to him. Make him see reason.”
Naomi looked at him. Her lips firmed, and Joseph waited for her to take Eric’s side. Instead, she stepped forward and gently took the phone out of his outstretched hand. She held it out to Eric.
“Joseph isn’t comfortable with it. This was very kind of you, Eric, and of them, too. We thank you for it, but we can’t accept this money. But”—she turned to Joseph—“we’re not selling the farm to those movie people, either.”
“Naomi—”
“Nee, Joseph. I’ll scrimp and pinch until the cows come home, if that’s what it takes, but I won’t see you lose this place because of me. I just won’t.”
Eric slowly reached out to accept his phone, but Joseph’s eyes were fixed on Naomi. His gaze skimmed her sweet, stubborn face, lingering on the milk-pale cheeks.
Scrimp and pinch.
As the Hochstedler Dairy had faltered and failed, his mother had scrimped and pinched with a vengeance. Determined to help her husband keep his family business, Levonia had stretched every dollar as far as she could and gone without all the little comforts that women treasured.
That’s why Daed had made the difficult decision to close down the Hochstedler Dairy, the business his family had built by hand, stone by stone. Joseph had seen his father’s face when the milk check ran out too early in the month, watching his tired wife mend and scrape, struggling to make it to the next one. Closing the dairy had never been about the money, Joseph realized, not really. It had been about Mamm.
Looking at Naomi now, Joseph finally understood his father’s decision. In fact, he wondered that Daed had held out as long as he had. Joseph knew he couldn’t have done it.
Naomi had as much fight in her as Mamm had ever had, but she’d never had Levonia’s strength. Such a life would wear her down fast and hard. Joseph knew it with a cold, unshakable sureness. Even if the operation was a success, even if everything they were hoping for came to be, it would be so.
He wasn’t having it. He’d gladly sell this farm—or anything else he owned—first.
Naomi was watching him. As if she knew his thoughts, she shook her head. “Nee, Joseph. We’ll have to find another way.”
There was no other way. He started to tell her that, then stopped.
Because it wasn’t true. There was another way. A strange way, maybe. An Englischer’s way, but still.
It was a way.
He cleared his throat. “Explain it to me, the money on your phone. How does this work?” Naomi gasped softly, then pressed her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide.
Eric said, “Sure. It’s simple, really.” He moved next to Joseph and tapped on his phone, bringing up the screen again.
Joseph listened carefully to Eric’s explanation. Afterward, he stood silently, his brow furrowed, trying to think it through as best he could, trying to find some way to square Englisch with the Plain.
“The problem is,” Joseph said finally, “this is more money than we need, Naomi and I. I don’t think it’s right to take so much money for just us. We are not the only ones struggling in our community. If this money could be used to help more folks, and everybody only took just what they had to have, then maybe . . . maybe it might be all right.”
He had Eric’s full attention. “What are you thinking?”
“Well.” Joseph’s mind scrambled, working to make sense of the dilemma he’d been handed. “I’ll have to check with Isaac, for sure, but lots of Plain farmers here in Johns Mill are having to find new ways to make a living. Could be we could use that money to help them do that, to start businesses up that could help the men support their families. Then some good could come out of all this trouble, maybe.”
“I don’t know.” Eric spoke slowly, thoughtfully. “I mean, it’s a nice idea
and amazingly unselfish, really. But these people donated the money to you, Joseph, to pay for Naomi’s surgery and to keep you from selling your family farm. That’s how I pitched it. I’m not sure we can ethically use it for something different.”
“I’ll take some. Enough to pay the hospital’s up-front fee and a little to set up a woodworking shop, maybe, big enough to earn a living with. But that’s enough for us, and I wouldn’t feel right taking more, not when there are other folks with needs, too. Why don’t you ask them?” He pointed to the phone in Eric’s hand. “You’re quick enough with that thing, from what I’ve seen. Tell ’em what we’re thinking and see what they say. If they want their money back, let them take it. But could be they won’t.”
“Could be.” Eric studied him thoughtfully. He shrugged. “Only one way to find out, I guess.” He bent over his phone, his thumbs flying over the screen.
Naomi stepped up beside Joseph, tugging his sleeve until he bent down close. “Is this all right with you? Truly?” she whispered in Deutsch.
“We’ll see what Isaac says, but if he agrees, ja. I suppose it is all right.”
“And if he doesn’t?”
“Then you’ll agree to my selling the farm, and we’ll do the best we can.”
Her brows lowered. “I’ll never agree to selling this farm.”
He glanced down at her and smiled. “Ja, you will. Sooner or later.”
She didn’t smile back. “Nee, I will not. I don’t know yet what Gott’s will is for me, but I do know one thing. I’ll rest easier if you have this place you love to come home to, whatever happens.”
Joseph’s smile faded, but he dropped the argument. There was no point in it. He’d never find the words to make Naomi understand what he himself knew with a grim certainty.
If he lost her, whether he still owned this farm or not wouldn’t matter.
There would be no home for him anywhere then.
Shelter in the Storm Page 29
