by Debby Giusti
“Looks like you could use a little caffeine.”
“I need more than caffeine.” She accepted the cup with a weak smile and took a long sip.
“You’ll find the spare key on the counter,” he said. “Thanks for letting me keep it overnight.”
“I gave it to you in case there was an emergency. I did not expect you to cook breakfast for us.”
“It’s the least I could do. Plus, I’m worried about you. It might be wise to have a doc check you over, Ruthie. I told you that I plan to go to town today to get some supplies to work on your barn. Come with me.”
“No. I am stiff and sore, but nothing is broken and I will be good as new in a few days.”
He could see the dark lines under her eyes and the way she held her side. Ruthie was tough. Always had been.
“And you do not need to fix my barn,” she insisted.
“I’ve got the time and the wherewithal. Plus it gives me a chance to spend time with Simon and Andrew.”
“I am sure you have other things to do.”
“Not until my father’s house is sold. I’ll check with the real-estate agent today. I called his office when I first arrived in town. His receptionist said it would take a week to get everything ready. I might hurry them along if I stop in today.”
“You would not want to stay on the mountain longer than necessary.”
He heard the subtle hint of sarcasm in her voice and raised his brow.
She ignored his gaze and took another sip of coffee, then placed the cup on the table. “The boys will be downstairs soon. Thank you for preparing breakfast.”
“Breakfast is easy. I’m sorry I couldn’t stop the man from hurting you last night.”
The boys scurried downstairs and bounded into the kitchen. Andrew’s eyes widened. “What smells so gut?”
“Noah has fixed us breakfast.” Ruthie’s smile was warm. “Come sit at the table, and I will pour your milk.”
“But the chores,” Simon insisted.
“I’ve cared for the animals,” Noah assured him. “We can work together on the other jobs after we eat. It won’t take us long.” He pointed to the table. “Sit next to your brother. We’ll eat while the food is warm.”
Simon slipped into his chair. “My stomach is ready to eat.”
“Mine, too,” Andrew said, holding out his glass for his mother to fill.
“Noah has brought us many good things to eat, as well as milk to drink. What do you boys say?”
“Danki, Noah,” they chimed in unison.
“It is gut to enjoy a meal with my neighbors.” He placed a large platter of sausages and scrambled eggs in the center of the table. A smaller plate was piled high with buttered toast.
“Bacon yesterday and sausage today. It is like Christmas.” Andrew took a long chug from his glass, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Use your napkin,” Ruthie instructed. “And we will wait for Noah to join us before we give thanks.”
Noah hadn’t asked the Lord to bless his food since his mother had died. His father had rarely sat at the table to eat following her passing, and Noah and Seth had quickly forsaken many of the Amish ways, including prayer before meals.
Simon and Andrew waited expectantly for him to sit. Sliding into the seat opposite Ruthie, he smiled at the boys. “Shall we bow our heads in prayer?”
They dutifully followed his suggestion, their eyes closed and faces serene. His heart warmed at their innocence. He turned his gaze to Ruthie. She stared at him, one eyebrow arched ever so slightly, as if questioning what he was doing coming back into her life.
Noah glanced down, mentally trying to calm his rapid heartbeat. Unable to focus on prayer, he pulled in a breath and quieted his mind. He needed to ensure his heart didn’t get carried away with thoughts of Ruthie.
Bless her, he silently intoned. And her children.
He raised his eyes to find the boys staring at him and winked at Simon. “Shall we eat?”
Handing the large platter to Ruthie, he said, “Serve the boys and yourself first.”
She arranged the food on the three plates and then offered it once again to Noah. “Breakfast looks delicious.”
“At times it’s nice to have someone else do the cooking.” He glanced at the boys. “Simon and Andrew, you need to learn to cook so you can fix breakfast for your mamm.”
“We do the outside chores,” Andrew said, reaching for his fork.
“And you’re good workers. I could tell that yesterday.”
Simon spread jam on a slice of toast. “Your eye, Mamm. It looks worse today.”
She glanced at Noah. “A bruise comes a day or two after the injury. Do not worry about your mamm.”
“I do not want to see you hurt.”
She patted his hand. “You are a gut son.”
Noah’s stomach tightened. A gut son who needed a man’s guidance. Andrew needed that, as well.
Ruthie didn’t want the boys to know the stranger had returned last night. Noah had to make certain the man didn’t have another opportunity to hurt her again. What type of an animal would attack a defenseless woman? His stomach soured as he thought of what could have happened.
The boys were enjoying the food with enthusiasm. Again he thought of the pain the attack could have caused to both Simon and Andrew.
Much as he wanted to go to town today, he wouldn’t leave Ruthie and the boys alone. Not when the vile man was on the loose. If only Ruthie and the boys would go to town with him.
“Noah plans to go to town today,” Ruthie said as if reading his thoughts. “Would you boys like to join him?”
“Oh, yah,” both boys enthused.
“It has been so long since we have gone anywhere,” Simon said, serious as always and sounding much older than his years.
“Today will be an adventure, yah?” Ruthie smiled.
“What about the chores?” Simon asked.
“We’ll do them before we leave,” Noah assured him.
Ruthie nodded. “Finish your food and the three of you can head outside, while I tidy the kitchen. Many hands make light work.”
“This day could not be better.” Andrew downed the rest of his milk and finished the last of the eggs on his plate. “A gut breakfast and a trip to town make me very happy.”
“What if the man returns while we are gone?” Simon asked, his brow wrinkled with worry.
“We will lock the doors to the house and will not think about him anymore today.”
“I think of him when I see the bruise on your face.”
“Then I must heal quickly so looking at your mamm does not upset you.”
“That is not what I mean.”
She nodded. “I understand, Simon. None of us want to see the man again, but we cannot live life in fear. We have to trust Gott to keep us safe.”
“He did not keep you safe night before last.”
“No, but the fire in the woodpile did not spread and nothing of significance burned. Gott protected us in that way, even if he allowed the man to hurt me.”
“Bad things sometimes happen,” Noah said, hoping to deflect the boy’s upset. “But as your mother said, it could have been so much worse.”
Simon squared his shoulders. “I will not let him hurt her again.”
Noah admired Simon’s determination and desire to protect his mother. For all his good intentions, Simon wouldn’t be a match for an adult who weighed more and was, no doubt, adept at bullying people, especially defenseless women and children.
“You’ll let me know, Simon, if you see anything suspicious, yah? We’ll work together as a team to keep your mother safe.”
“Can I be on your team?” Andrew asked.
“Of course. We three men will protect your mother.” He nodded to Ruthie. “Now let’s take the di
shes to the sink, then we’ll get our chores done and be ready for our trip to town.”
“Are we taking the buggy?” Simon asked.
“I am sure our mare, Buttercup, would enjoy the trip,” Ruthie said. “We will go by buggy.”
The boys cleared the table and then hurried outside.
“I hate leaving you to wash the dishes,” Noah said.
“They will not take long. Do you want me to pack a lunch?”
“If the boys like pizza, we can eat in town.”
“You are spoiling them, Noah. What will I do with them when you are gone?”
Although her tone was light, her gaze was serious.
“We won’t think about that now. Today is for enjoyment, yah?”
“Of course, Noah. Today will be a nice change, but we will remember that your time here will be short-lived. Soon you will leave, and we will go back to life as it was.”
Noah’s life would never be the same. From now on when he thought of Ruthie, he would also think of the son he only recently learned he had and the boy’s brother. Both Amish lads needed an Amish father, not an Englischer who had left the faith.
* * *
Ruthie tried to calm her excitement. Going to town had been a rarity when Ben was alive. Since his death, she had too much work to do on the farm to think about leaving for even a few hours.
The boys shared her enthusiasm. Both of them scrambled into the buggy, talking about what they would see and do in Willkommen.
Noah seemed as pleased as the boys, and said, “It will be a fun day,” as he flicked the reins and guided the mare onto the mountain road.
The weather was perfect. Sunny and bright, which matched Ruthie’s mood. She had worn her black bonnet and pulled it around her face in hopes of hiding the bruise around her eye. Her ribs ached but not bad enough to be broken, and that was something else for which to be grateful.
“I checked the barn again this morning to determine what’s needed to shore it up,” Noah told her.
“Did you see the wood piled behind Ben’s woodshop?”
He nodded. “I did. From the looks of the lumber, your husband was preparing to do the job himself. I’ll just need a few more items before I start work.”
“We can help you,” Simon said from the rear.
“I’m counting on that.”
Ruthie was grateful for the way Noah included her sons in the project. Ben had preferred tackling a job alone rather than guiding young hands through a new task. He had always been less than patient with their sons and with her.
“Age has given you the gift of patience,” she said to Noah. Then she thought of his impatience in leaving Amish Mountain so many years ago. If only he had waited for her.
She turned to glance at the lush mountain scenery, not wanting him to see the confusion that she knew was written on her face. Confusion and pain, even after all these years, because he had left without her.
“I was impetuous in my youth, Ruthie, and for that I’m sorry.”
Did he even realize how deeply he had hurt her? She could not think of it again lest the pain overtake her.
“Virtue does not come easily,” she mused, hoping to deflect her focus onto something else. “My mother said it takes a lifetime. Unfortunately, she did not have long enough.”
“You were always a loving daughter.”
The boys chatted in the rear. Ruthie was thankful they had not heard what she and Noah had said. She never should have opened up the wound from her past. Noah would be leaving soon. She did not want to be left with a broken heart again.
Bracing her shoulders, she steeled her resolve. Noah was Englisch, she reminded herself, as if that wedge between them was not evident. He had rejected his faith at the same time he had rejected her. There could be no going back to what had been so long ago.
SIX
Noah recognized Ruthie’s upset in the way she braced her shoulders and held her neck at an angle. She turned away from him, just as she’d done the night he wanted her to leave with him. She had used her father as an excuse, and the pain of rejection he felt had been so intense and immediate that Noah had fled the mountain, leaving behind that which he loved most.
In hindsight, his pride and concern for his own well-being had taken precedence over Ruthie’s need to care for her father. He had lived with that regret for the last ten years.
With the boys sitting in the buggy, Noah knew this wasn’t the time to go into their past. Although he doubted there would ever be a good time. Ruthie had found a husband, a man she loved in spite of his many flaws, and he’d been taken from her and the boys. Noah would be a hypocrite to wade into the midst of her mourning and pretend he could offer her something more. After losing his brother and his brother’s sweet wife and adorable daughter, Noah didn’t deserve a second chance when Seth had no chance at all.
He flicked the reins, feeling the frustration at his own failings well up in him again. Life wasn’t fair. His father used to say that often in the context that others had more land or money or happiness. His dad had tried to find all that he was looking for in a bottle. Noah had chosen to make his own happiness through hard work, but neither of them had succeeded.
“How long until we get to town?” Andrew asked from the rear.
Ruthie turned and smiled. “Are you impatient, my son?”
“Yah, Mamm. I have wanted to go to town for so long. Now that it is happening, I am too excited to sit still.”
“You must copy Simon and the way he remains quiet.”
“Simon is quiet because he is older.”
Simon shoved his young brother playfully. “Years do not make the difference. I was born quiet and you were born to talk and wiggle. Datt said we were born different.”
“Because you are tall and I am short?”
“You will grow, Andrew. Mamm said I am ready to grow out of my clothes.”
“And your hat and shoes,” the younger boy added. “You said they are both too small.”
Noah turned to Ruthie. “Perhaps we should stop at the shoe store.”
“Spring is almost upon us, and summer will follow soon thereafter. The boys go barefoot when the weather is warm.”
Ruthie’s pride was keeping her from buying shoes. Pride and a lack of resources.
He lowered his voice to keep the children from hearing. “I would like to buy shoes for Simon. Andrew, too.”
She shook her head.
“Think about it.”
Upon entering town, he pointed to the real-estate office. “I need to check on the papers for the sale of my property. Do you want to go into the dry-goods store next door?”
Again, he lowered his voice. “Get new straw hats for the boys. If they sell shoes, buy them, too.”
“The shoes can wait, Noah, and their old hats are fine.”
“Mamm, my hat hardly fits,” Simon moaned. Evidently he had heard a portion of their conversation.
“Please, Ruthie.” Noah leaned closer so the boys could not see the wad of bills he placed into her hand. “Let me do this.”
She stared at him for a long moment and then glanced back at Simon. “Noah is right. You both are outgrowing not only your shoes, but also your hats. We will get hats today and shoes at the end of the summer.”
“Then it’s decided.” Noah smiled. “I won’t be long. If you need something new, Ruthie, I would be glad to buy all the purchases. You and your family were always there for me when times were tough.”
And when his father was on one of his binges, but Noah wouldn’t mention that in front of the boys.
“Thank you, Noah. I will pay you back for the hats.”
“No need.” Except for her pride.
He turned the buggy toward the rear of the store and tied the mare to the hitching post. The boys eagerly jumped down while he helped Ruthie out of t
he buggy.
“I am not used to such attention,” she whispered once her feet touched the pavement.
She stood still for a long moment. He didn’t want to move lest the moment passed and she stepped away.
“You deserve attention, Ruthie,” he whispered.
“We are no longer young teens, Noah.” She turned to gather her sons. “We will see you when you are finished with your real-estate business.”
Noah glanced along the street to ensure no one suspect was hovering nearby. The man who had come after Ruthie at her house was a coward and would hide until darkness, or when she was alone, before he struck again.
Noah would make sure she and the boys weren’t left unprotected while he stayed in the area. But as he walked into the real-estate office, he knew he couldn’t protect them for long. As soon as the sale of his father’s property was final, Noah would leave Amish Mountain.
* * *
“Is it Ruthie Eicher I see?” the female clerk asked when Ruthie stepped into the shop with the boys following close behind.
Ruthie’s first inclination was to turn around and leave the store, but the boys were excited about their shopping adventure, and she would not let her own desire to stay away from people ruin the day for her sons.
She nodded and stepped closer, trying to identify the Amish woman, near her own age, who had greeted them.
“You do not recognize me?” the clerk asked. “I am Fannie Martin. We went to school together.”
The name surprised her since the slender woman standing in front of her looked nothing like the plump Fannie she remembered from her youth. “You are Daniel’s sister.”
“Yah.” The clerk nodded. “I was a year younger and always thought you were the prettiest girl in the school.”
Ruthie’s cheeks warmed. “You should not say such things, Fannie.”
“Of course I should not say them, but still I do. Are these fine boys your sons?”
She nodded, her heart swelling with maternal pride that could not be helped. If pride could ever be positive, it would be a mother’s love for her children.
