Czytaj książkę: «An Amish Reunion»

Chapter One

Paradise Springs

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

The knock came at the worst possible moment.

Hannah Lambright had her grossmammi partway to her bed where she could look out, through the cold rain, at the covered bridge over Hunter’s Mill Creek until she fell asleep for her afternoon nap. Grossmammi Ella depended on Hannah to help her. She refused to use a cane, not wanting to be considered old, though she’d recently celebrated her 90th birthday.

Smoothing the blanket over her grossmammi, who’d already closed her eyes, Hannah hurried from the room. She wiped her hands on her black apron and pushed loose strands of hair under her white kapp. The impatient rapping continued. She opened the door. Words fled from her mouth and her brain as she stared at a handsome face she’d never expected to see at her door. She couldn’t be mistaken about the identity of the man with sleek black hair beneath his dripping straw hat and deep blue eyes set below assertive brows. Her momentary hope that she was looking at his twin brother vanished when she noticed the cleft in his chin.

“Daniel Stoltzfus, why are you here?” she asked.

“Is she yours?”

Only then did she realize Daniel held a wicker container about the size of a laundry basket. A little girl, her golden hair in uneven braids sticking out like a bug’s antennae, was curled, half-asleep in the basket. Chocolate crumbs freckled her cheeks. The kind wore an Englisch-style pink overall and a shirt with puffy sleeves. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen months old.

“Mine?” she choked.

The little girl’s dark brown eyes opened. Her chubby, adorable face displayed the unmistakable characteristics of Down syndrome.

“I was on my way to the covered bridge when I saw her in your side yard,” he replied. “By the time my buggy stopped and I could get out, she’d disappeared behind the house.”

“My honeybees are out there! Did she get stung?”

“I don’t think so. Is this kind yours?”

She recoiled from the strong emotions darkening his blue eyes. Behind his question, she heard unspoken accusations. An answer of ja would mean not only was she an unmarried woman with a kind, but she let the toddler wander near her beehives.

After the five months she and Daniel had walked out together three years ago, did he know so little about her? Didn’t he know she was the dependable one? As she’d been since her mamm died when she was ten years old. When she dared to trust someone again, she’d chosen Daniel Stoltzfus, who’d broken her heart.

“I don’t know who she is,” Hannah said, determined to keep her thoughts to herself. “Just because she was in my yard—”

“And this basket was on your porch. She must have crawled out of it.”

“Why would someone leave her on my front porch?”

“I’ve got no idea.” He glanced over his shoulder. “It’s raining. Can we come in?”

Hannah could think of a dozen reasons to say no, but nodded. She couldn’t leave a young kind out in the cold and damp...nor Daniel.

He set the basket on the well-worn sofa and squatted beside it. When the little girl sat and began to whimper, he said, “It’s okay, liebling. You’re safe.”

She didn’t know if the little girl knew the word meant sweetheart, but the kind began to calm as she gazed at him, trying to figure out who he was.

Hannah bit back a sad laugh. After months with him, she’d been shocked when he turned out not to be the man she’d thought he was. She shook those thoughts aside. The kind should be her sole concern.

The little girl moved, and Hannah heard a crackle. A crumpled and wet envelope was stuck in the basket. Hannah took it and removed a single piece of wet paper. How long had the basket and the toddler been in the rain? She peeled the damp edges apart and was relieved the writing hadn’t been smudged.

“What does it say?” Daniel asked.

She read aloud, “Shelby is your sister. Take care of her.” Looking at the kind, she asked, “Are you Shelby?”

The little girl blinked.

“I guess Shelby is her name.” He began to make faces at the little girl. “Does it say anything else?”

Hannah gasped when she saw the signature.

Daed.

In the fifteen years since he’d left after her mamm’s death, her daed hadn’t written her a single letter. At first, she’d thought it was because he’d been placed under the bann when he abandoned his faith along with his only kind. Later, he’d sent postcards from the places around the United States and Canada. Nevada and Florida. California and Mississippi. Manitoba and Texas. Never anywhere near Paradise Springs. And never with any message other than Daed.

Until now.

What was going on?

“Is it signed?” Daniel asked.

She nodded, unable to speak. Had her daed been right outside the door? Why hadn’t he knocked? Did he think she’d turn him away? She sighed as she realized he might have been afraid she wouldn’t take the basket from him. The rules of the bann were clear—she could speak with him, though her words should be focused on persuading him to confess his sins and return to their plain life. She couldn’t eat at the same table or take a piece of paper from his hand. The whole community hoped a shunning would convince an offender to repent; then family and friends would welcome him into the fold as if the bann had never happened. As God forgave, so should those who loved Him.

“Who signed it, Hannah?” Daniel’s voice was as gentle as when he’d spoken to the little girl.

She gulped, trying to swallow past the lump in her throat. How could Daed have left without seeing her again? Feeling as hurt as the day she’d discovered he’d jumped the fence into the Englisch world, she whispered, “My daed.”

Daniel’s eyes widened. He was as stunned as she was. More than once, while they’d been courting, she’d talked about her hope to see her daed again.

Under a stained blanket, she saw a lump. She lifted out two plastic bags. The handles were tied together. She hooked her finger in the top of one and pulled. The bag tore, and tiny clothing, most in shades of pink, scattered across the floor.

“Her clothes, I’d guess,” Daniel said as he picked up the little girl. He bounced the kind and tried to keep her from pulling off his straw hat at the same time.

The sight was so endearing Hannah smiled in spite of herself. When a chuckle escaped, he looked at her in astonishment.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” That was the most honest answer she had. One minute, she’d been going about her daily routine. The next, the man she’d once believed wanted to marry her was standing on her porch with a boppli in a basket. “I don’t know what to do or say.”

“You could start by holding your sister.”

Sister! She’d never had a sister...or a brother. Her extended family lived in northern New York, too far away except for an occasional visit when one of her cousins married. It’d been her and Grossmammi Ella since her daed left. She’d dreamed of having a sibling. As a kind, she’d prayed night after night for one. Had God answered her prayer like this?

She held out her arms, and Daniel shifted the kind so Hannah could take her.

With a cry, Shelby clung to him. She buried her face in his shoulder, rubbing chocolate into his coat, and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck. Her sobs trembled along her.

“Give her a minute,” Daniel said before murmuring in Englisch, “Shelby, look at Hannah. She likes little girls.”

She shrieked as if caught in a swarm of bees.

Hannah yanked her hands away. Her little sister, the blessed gift she’d yearned for, wanted nothing to do with her. And Shelby cuddled against the man who’d wanted nothing to do with her either.

* * *

Daniel watched the flurry of emotions sweep across Hannah’s face. Frustration. Uncertainty. Regret. Pain. He’d seen the last when she’d found him flirting with other girls. The memory of that evening had lurked in his thoughts for three years, a constant reminder that if he let someone else come as close to his heart as she had, he could wound that person as badly. Better to keep things light and laugh with every girl instead of making a marvelous one like Hannah cry. He wasn’t going to take a chance of that happening again. He’d learned his lesson the hardest possible way.

He wouldn’t have come to the stone-end farmhouse where she lived with her great-grandmother and her bees if he’d had another choice. But he needed to ask for a favor. A big one, and he wasn’t sure if Hannah would agree when they hadn’t spoken in three years.

He should look away from her pretty face, but he couldn’t. How was it possible that Hannah had become even more beautiful? He hadn’t seen her since that evening she’d walked out of his life. His older brother Amos had occasionally mentioned Hannah bringing honey from her hives to sell at his grocery store. Each time, Daniel had changed the subject. He didn’t want to think about how he’d ruined everything between him and Hannah.

In the rainy day’s dim light, her hair was the shade of her honey. Drawn under a green bandana that matched her dress, her hair framed her oval face. Her chocolate-brown eyes displayed her feelings. She’d never been able to hide her thoughts. Now she was upset because the kind refused to go to her.

“It’s okay, Shelby,” he said in Englisch because he suspected she didn’t understand Deitsch, the language the Amish spoke. “You don’t have to go anywhere you don’t want to.”

The kind tilted her head; then she gave him a big grin, showing off tiny teeth. Her eyes crinkled closed, and he saw the striking resemblance between the little girl and Hannah. The shape of their faces, those dark eyes and the shiny, honey-gold hair were almost identical.

“Is your great-grandmother here?” he asked.

“She’s taking a nap.” Hannah continued to stare at Shelby with distress.

“With all this noise?”

“Grossmammi Ella takes a nap every day from one until two-thirty. Even if she’s awake, she won’t come out until two-thirty.” Her lips quirked. “No matter what.”

“That’s weird.”

“It’s her way.”

His nose wrinkled. “Someone could use a diaper change.” He ran a finger along the kind’s tiny arm. “And she’s cold. What she needs is a gut, warm bath.”

“She won’t let me give her one.” Again the dismay filled her voice.

“I’ll help.” He hesitated, then said, “If you’ll let me.”

She glanced toward the front door. As clearly as if she’d shouted, he knew she wanted him to leave.

“This isn’t about what happened to us, Hannah. It’s about what’s happened to your little sister.”

Her face blanched, but she squared her shoulders. He recognized the motion. Whenever Hannah set her shoulders, she was ready to take on a disagreeable task. He’d prefer not to think she saw him as that.

“The bathroom is this way.” She gathered the scattered clothes and bags before leading him into the simple kitchen. She opened the door next to the woodstove and motioned for him to enter.

He couldn’t ignore how Shelby tightened her arms around him when he passed Hannah. He wanted to tell the kind she was making a big mistake. Hannah would do anything for anyone. Everybody knew they could depend on her.

He, on the other hand... He frowned. Trying to explain to Hannah why he’d done what he did would be a waste of breath. He’d failed her three years ago, and he doubted he’d do better now. He couldn’t find the words to tell her how important it was for him to own a business as his older brothers did. He couldn’t admit how scared and worried he’d been to try to handle the challenges of that along with a wife and family. He’d wanted to be honest, but how could he tell the most dependable person he knew he wasn’t sure she could depend on him? And then he’d proved that by flirting with someone else. He couldn’t remember which girl it’d been.

Pushing aside self-recriminations, he carried Shelby into the bathroom as Hannah put the clothes on a counter by the sink. It was a small room. The big bathtub must have been installed for Hannah’s grossmammi. The tub had a door in the side and held a chair where someone could sit while bathing. Hannah made sure the door was locked and lifted out the chair. She shoved it as far toward the window as she could. After turning on the faucet and testing the water to make sure it was neither too hot nor too cold, she faced him.

“Will she let me take her?” she asked.

“Let me get her started, and we’ll see how she does. Can you get a towel and washcloth while I put her into the tub?”

“Ja. They’re right behind you. I’ll get—”

He put out an arm to halt her from reaching past him. When her hand touched his arm, she flinched as if he were connected to an electric circuit and she’d gotten zapped.

Pulling down a towel, she shoved it into his hand. “Why are you here?”

He set the little girl on the floor and knelt to unhook the straps on her overalls. That gave him an excuse not to look at Hannah while he asked for her help. Shelby wiggled as he drew off her wet clothes. Once she was undressed and her braids undone, he rinsed off her bottom before placing her in the tub. She slapped the water and giggled when it flew everywhere, including the front of his shirt.

Taking a washcloth and soap from Hannah, he began washing the kind’s face and arms. He kept one hand on Shelby’s shoulder as he said, “I’ve been hired to strengthen the Hunter’s Mill Creek Bridge so it can be used for heavier traffic again, and I need your help.”

“I’m not much gut with a hammer.”

Was she jesting? He didn’t dare take his eyes off the little girl to see. Deciding it’d be better not to respond to her comment, he said, “I can’t begin work until something is done about the beehive in a rotting board beneath the bridge.”

“Bees? What kind?” Excitement sifted into her voice.

“I think they’re honeybees.”

“You’re not sure?”

He risked a quick glance at Hannah who sat on the chair she’d taken from the tub. She watched how he cleaned the toddler. “You’re the expert. Not me. I can’t tell one kind of bee from another. They need to be moved so nobody gets stung while we’re working on the bridge. I considered spraying them, but I’ve heard there aren’t as many honeybees as there used to be.”

“Ja, that’s true. Pesticides and pests have killed them.”

“That’s why I decided to check with an expert—with you—before I contacted an exterminator.” He cupped his hand and poured warm water over Shelby’s head, wetting it so he could wash her hair. He kept his other hand above her eyes to prevent water from flowing into them.

“Danki for checking, Daniel. Many people don’t. They spray the hive, never stopping to think we need honeybees to pollinate our crops.” She held out a bottle of shampoo. “You’re gut with her.”

“Practice. My sister Esther was a lot younger than the rest of us, and I used to help Mamm. And I’ve got a bunch of nieces and nephews.” He edged back. “Do you want to put the shampoo on her hair?”

“Do you think she’ll let me?”

“One way to know.” Keeping his right hand on Shelby’s arm, he stepped aside.

Hannah eased past him, making sure not an inch of her brushed against him, not even the hem of her apron or kapp strings. She bent over the tub and smiled. “Let’s get your pretty hair clean, Shelby.”

The kind’s lower lip trembled, and thick tears rolled down her cheeks.

Her face falling, Hannah edged away. She wrapped her arms around herself as Shelby returned to her playing when Daniel stood by the tub again.

“How am I going to take care of her when she hates me?” Hannah murmured.

“She doesn’t hate you. She’s scared, and she’s known me longer.”

“Two minutes! That doesn’t make sense.”

“Just as it doesn’t make sense she doesn’t like you. Who knows what goes on in the heads of bopplin?” He shampooed Shelby’s hair, taking care not to get suds in her eyes. He’d stop at his brother’s grocery store and get some shampoo made for boppli before he returned to work on the bridge tomorrow.

At that thought, he said, “I’ll make you a deal, Hannah.” He began to rinse Shelby’s fine hair. “You help me by moving the bees, and I’ll help you learn how to take care of Shelby. In addition, I’ll do all I can to find your daed.”

“How will you find Daed?”

“I can ask the police—”

She shook her head. “It’s not our way to involve Englischers in our business.”

“It may need to be if you want to know the truth about your daed.”

“I don’t know.” She dragged the reluctant words out.

“If the bishop says it’s okay, will you?” He hated backing her into a corner, but she must see that they needed help in the extraordinary situation.

Hannah nodded, but didn’t speak.

Knowing he shouldn’t push her further, he lifted the kind out and wrapped her in a towel before her wiggling sent water all over the bathroom. He watched Hannah’s face, knowing she wished he’d walked away as he had before. But she needed his help. And he needed hers. None of the men he’d hired would get close to the bridge supports while the bees were there.

Putting Shelby on the floor, he grabbed for the unopened bag. He couldn’t reach it.

“What do you need?” Hannah asked.

Your agreement to move the bees, he wanted to say, but didn’t. She was upset, and he didn’t want to make her feel worse. “A diaper.”

She opened the bag and frowned. “Um...”

“Let me look.” He took the bag, and with a smile, he pulled out a disposable diaper. He diapered the toddler and pulled a warm shirt and trousers from the counter to dress her.

Hannah handed him a pair of socks. “I’m sorry. I’ve only seen cloth diapers before.”

“It’s okay.” He hesitated, then said, “If you want, I can take her to our house. My mamm will watch her.”

“No!”

“Are you sure?”

“Ja. My daed could come back. She needs to be here when he does.”

Daniel didn’t argue, though he had his doubts any man who abandoned two daughters would return. “Did you see how I put the diaper on her?”

“Ja. It’s easy.”

“It is. As you’re going to need my help with her, what do you say? Do we have a deal? I’ll help you with Shelby as well as try to find your daed, and you’ll move the bees for me. Do we have a deal?”

“All right, Daniel,” she said as if agreeing to a truce with her worst enemy. He flinched, hoping she didn’t consider him that. He knew he’d have time to find out when she went on, “It’s a deal.”