A Promise for Miriam (42 page)

When would she grow taller? At least she could hear well enough.

As the adults were guiding the children to the steps in front of the building, a man stepped up and started speaking into something that made his voice loud. Grace thought it only made him sound noisy. In fact, he reminded her of the bull in the pasture when he was in one of his moods. He could stomp and snort and make the craziest sounds. That was what this man sounded like.

Was he why they were here? Miriam said they were here to sing their songs and show people what it really meant to be Plain.

Grace watched her teacher and Esther as they arranged everyone on the steps, tallest in back and shortest in front. She tried not to listen to the man speaking, but some of his words leaked into her head.

“Proud to announce a new business venture…”

“Venture” was a word she didn’t know yet. She’d have to look it up in the big dictionary at school.

“Joining hands with the people of Cashton…”

She had never met this man, she was sure of it. She had met some
Englischers
, like Doc Hanson. Was he in the crowd? Yes! He was standing by the newspaper people with their cameras.

Oh. The cameras. Goose bumps popped up on her arms, but then she noticed that the cameras were only around their necks. They weren’t looking through them. Maybe Rae had put something on her sheet of paper. Maybe Rae had explained what it meant to be Plain.

Now the man wasn’t talking anymore. Instead a woman was. Her voice was better.

“Before Mr. Drake reveals more about the renovation of the hotel, we thought it would be nice for the press to hear a presentation from our local Amish schoolchildren. As you know, this is a rare treat, and I personally want to thank the schoolteachers—Miriam King and Esther Schrocks—as well as the school board of the Plain School on Pebble Creek for bringing the children into town today.”

There was a smattering of applause. The woman waited for the crowd to quiet, and then she continued talking. “We consider the Amish citizens of Cashton and the surrounding area to be a vital part of our community. As such, we always want to respect their unique lifestyle, their beliefs, and their history.”

Grace couldn’t see her, but she could hear the smile in her words. “A member of our local media has given you a handout that highlights basic facts about the Amish in general and the Cashton Amish in particular—facts anyone can easily verify if they are so inclined. And now I hope you enjoy the songs of the schoolchildren.”

Suddenly Grace didn’t mind that she was still short, because she could see Miriam, and she could see her dad standing behind her with the rest of the church members. When Miriam held up her hands to signal for them to start, the voice that came out of Grace’s mouth was stronger than ever before. And that was a miracle.

Singing out loud was so much better than singing in her head.

All of the songs were her favorites—one was in German and two in
Englisch
. She didn’t have to worry about forgetting the words because they were ones they sang in school and church every week.

When they were finished, everyone in the crowd clapped. This time they clapped louder and longer than they had for the woman who spoke. Then Miriam motioned for them to sit down on the steps.

The man with the angry voice started speaking again, and he didn’t sound any happier. If anything, he sounded as if he wanted to be somewhere else. Grace knew what that sounded like because for a long time she didn’t want to be here—but now…well, now here was home.

Chapter 51

M
iriam couldn’t help laughing at the pile of lunches on the front table. Each year she tried to think of something different to do for Valentine’s Day, but this year her heart wasn’t in it—no pun intended.

Probably because her own love life had come up against a quarry wall. Not that she had anyone to blame but herself.

Aden had come home again over the weekend. He’d received her letter, and they had talked about it. She reminded him that she still counted him as an important
freind
. He’d taken it well, ducked his head, and smiled. She’d seen the hurt beneath, but knew it was best to be honest with him rather than to pretend to care for him in a way that she didn’t. As her
mamm
was fond of saying, “You can’t make cider without apples.” Perhaps that particular proverb didn’t specifically refer to love and marriage, but to Miriam’s way of thinking, it fit perfectly.

So Valentine’s Day had crept closer, and she’d had no inspiration. Esther had gone through her folder of ideas and chosen the lunch swap activity she’d used years before.

“I think they must have enjoyed preparing for the day from the looks of things.” Esther pulled a chair up beside her. “Everyone is washing up.”

“
Gut
. I wasn’t sure we’d ever settle the twins down after recess.”

“
Ya
. They have a lot of energy.” Esther glanced back over the room. “Did I tell you that Joseph heard Mr. Drake is completely changing the renovation concept?”

“Rae stopped by our house on Sunday and said the same thing. The new name for the business is Amish Anthem.”

Esther beamed at her. “I love it! I wasn’t sure what he was going to do after the speech he made last week. Honestly, those statistics he quoted made no sense in my opinion. All that talk of expenditures and job projections. Sounded
narrisch
to me.”

“Apparently, Drake goes a little crazy when he’s made to look the fool in front of the press, but there was nothing he could do about it. The children singing was the final bit of push the media needed to win the town over—”

“That and Rae’s Amish information sheet.”

Miriam nodded. They had won the battle with Drake. He’d even agreed to a much scaled-back retail model that was without arcades, astronomy, and acoustics.

So why didn’t today feel like a victory?

Hannah and two of the older girls let loose a harmony of giggles from the middle row.

Esther shook her head, as if that hadn’t been her a few short years ago. “Did you notice the lunch John made? I’m sure he’s hoping Hannah will choose it. He set it way at the back so the younger students wouldn’t see it.”

“That, and there’s an
H
on the heart he glued on the outside.” Miriam sent her a sideways glance. Young love could be so poignant. Most years she would laugh at such things. Today it made her want to climb the steps to her room, crawl into bed, and pull her oldest, most favorite quilt up over her head.

“The cookies and punch are set out at the back for afternoon games,” Esther said. “I’ll start everyone on the lunch exchange.”

Moving to the front of the room, she began pulling names from the Valentine box. As she pulled each name, the student would come forward and select a lunch from the table. Everyone laughed when Luke chose the pail with pictures of mice all over it. There was no doubt Grace had decorated it and that it was meant for Sadie, but the girls were good sports about it.

Sadie leaned over to Grace and said, “I still have your valentine card,” while Luke pretended to be confused about the entire thing.

“What? I like mice. They’re interesting creatures.”

He wasn’t fooling anyone. He’d taken to sitting with Grace during recess every morning, though he still hung around the boys at lunch.

When there were only two lunches remaining, Miriam stood to select hers, but Esther moved forward. “I’ll go next.”

There were quite a few giggles as she chose the nicer of the two boxed lunches that were left—one that Miriam had seen Eli give to his middle child to bring into the room that morning.

A solitary lunch box remained on the table. It was simple and undecorated on the outside, though it had paper handles glued to it in the shape of hearts.

“This is going to be a hard choice,” Miriam murmured.

Now the girls were all whispering to one another, while the boys were watching her intently.

Had she missed something? Surely they had not placed a rubber snake into her box.

Suddenly her memory slipped back to the year she had first used the lunch swap for Valentine’s Day. Daniel Lapp had been in her class then. He’d thought it clever to fashion a false bottom into a lunch box. When the young lady had picked it up, the bottom had fallen out. Her entire lunch had fallen out on the floor, to the delight of the class.

She lifted the lunch carefully, one hand holding on to the paper heart handles and one hand supporting it from underneath. Nothing popped out of the top. Nothing fell out of the bottom.

“Aren’t you going to look inside?” Esther asked.

Miriam noticed that all eyes were riveted on her.

“Of course. Yes. I’ll look inside right now.” She set the box back on the table and opened it slowly, leaning back slightly as she did. When nothing sprang out, she stepped closer to gaze inside.

There appeared to be dozens of hearts cut from paper that had been colored red, purple, and blue. They were all different sizes, but none larger than the palm of her hand. And they were all blank. Who had taken the time to cut out so many?

The laughing in the classroom increased as she continued pulling them out and setting them on the table. She could feel something solid underneath, so surely there was food down below, but there was something else on top of it—a larger sheet of paper.

By now the girls were giggling so hard they were bending over. Miriam couldn’t help but join them. “Seems a real Cupid made my lunch.”

She pulled out the final sheet of paper. It was a large heart cut from red paper.

This sheet was not blank.

When she opened it up and read the words written there, tears began to sting her eyes.

Blinking rapidly, she folded the heart and placed it in her pocket. “Time to eat,” she declared and then she turned so she was facing away from the class.

Esther stepped in front of her.

“Are you okay? I thought it was a gut thing…”

Miriam closed her eyes and forced herself to gain control over her emotions. “Can you watch the children?”

“Of course.”

She didn’t bother to carry the lunch box, but the note—that she took with her.

Gabe was working in the barn when he saw the buggy coming down his lane. At first he thought something might be wrong, but then he realized it was because of the note. Of course it was the note. Had he really expected her to wait until after school was out?

He’d be lucky if she didn’t box his ears.

Walking out into the afternoon sunshine, he met her before she’d made it to the pasture fence.

“Miriam.”

“Gabe.”

As he helped her from the buggy, he noticed she was clutching the red heart in her hand. She glanced at him once and then walked over to the workbench he’d pulled into the doorway of the barn.

She ran her hand along the stall door he was sanding. “Almost finished with the barn renovations?”

“Almost.” He waited, but she didn’t pick up the conversation. She only stared out over his pasture. “I suspect that isn’t what you came to talk to me about.”

“
Nein
. It isn’t.” Opening the valentine, she ran her palm down the crease in the sheet of paper. “I wasn’t expecting this.”

“Really? You can honestly say you didn’t know how I feel about you?”

When she finally looked at him, the tears in her eyes drew him closer, until there was only the old sawhorse between them. “But you told me to consider an alternative.”

“Did you?

“
Ya
.”

“And?”

She shook her head no.

Instead, she asked what had been wounding her heart for weeks. “Why? Why did you ask me to go to him? To see his district? My feelings have been obvious for a long time—”

“Look around you, Miriam. This place…it still needs so much work. I was hesitant to ask you to commit yourself to such a life of labor.”

“Why?” Her hand came down and whacked the red heart. “That’s my decision to make. You can’t decide that for me.”

A single tear escaped and traveled down her cheek. Picking up the sander he’d been using, she carefully set it on top of the heart. He made his way around the sawhorse, but she held a hand up, stopping his progress.

“It’s for me to choose, Gabe.”

“I know that. I know it now.” He cleared his throat and pushed on with what needed saying, with what wouldn’t fit on the heart. “I knew it when I heard you went to see Aden but still came back to Cashton. I waited, and you didn’t leave again, and I hoped that meant—”

“Aden is a
gut freind
, but that is all. I don’t choose him. I choose you.”

Now happiness struggled against his fear. “Are you sure, Miriam? I’m a little like this old farm—falling apart in places, showing promise in others. I’ll take a fair amount of work. Are you positive?”

For her answer she flew into his arms, and he wondered why he’d ever doubted her.

She was a strong woman, Miriam King. Strong enough to teach at the Plain School at Pebble Creek all those years. Strong enough to bring along the farm beside Pebble Creek. Strong enough to care for both him and Grace.