A Simple Vow (17 page)

Maybe too convenient?
Luke walked toward the mill, away from any further information he didn’t really want to know. He didn’t like to assume that Cornelius Riehl had barricaded the vault door for nefarious reasons—just as he didn’t want to believe Loretta’s father had broken up her engagement to Will simply because the other Gingerich brothers had displaced him. He shook his head over Cornelius’s demand for higher egg pay—claiming it was a way to cover the extra costs of keeping the twins.

Let it go—but keep it in your mental file,
Luke thought as he circled back to the Wagler place by way of the road. He had a lot of more pleasant things to think about on this sunny afternoon, and his redheaded wife—looking pretty in her flowery dress as she smiled at him from her lawn chair—was definitely one of them.

* * *

As Asa rode into Clifford that evening, he was filled with so much urgent news about the farm and Edith and Will—and Edith!—to share with his brother that he felt like a kernel of popcorn dancing in a hot skillet.

The For Sale sign on the shop building caught him up short.

Asa sat astride Midnight for several moments, staring. Not only had Drew gotten the place listed with Kristin, the real estate agent, but the windows were so clean they glimmered. In what little daylight remained, he could see that the whole place appeared freshly renovated. Had the facade been painted?

After he tended his horse, Asa went inside and turned on the gas shop lights. The large main room had been painted pale sage, and although their in-progress furniture pieces were all pushed to the center, he could tell the wood floors had been cleaned. Even the back storage rooms and the office looked tidier.

“Drew?” he called out as he took the apartment steps two at a time. “Hey, what-all did you do while I was in—”

Asa stopped short in the apartment doorway. The rooms had that hushed feeling that told him his brother wasn’t home. Here, too, the walls were now pale gray-green, and the sparse furniture huddled in the center of the main room. It was a shame their home and shop looked better now than they had while they’d lived here the past few years. And it was a miracle that the transformation had taken place in the day and a half he’d been gone.

The stove had been cleaned, and so had the kitchen floor. On their tiny table, Asa found Kristin’s business card and the invoice from a cleaning and painting service for thirteen hundred dollars.

Money well spent,
Asa thought as he glanced into the bedroom. Now the building was ready for prospective buyers to view, and it stood a better chance of selling for more money.

At the sound of Drew’s boots on the stairs, Asa went out to greet him. “Wow!” he said as his brother entered the apartment. “Fine idea, getting the place spruced up.”

Drew smiled as he set a pizza box on the coffee table. “Kristin’s the one to thank for that suggestion—and for knowing who could do the work so fast. How’re things on the Willow Ridge end?”

Asa grinned as he plopped down on the couch. “You won’t believe how fast the pieces are falling into place,” he began. As he explained about the Hooleys’ purchasing the farm, planning to sell them the acreage when they were ready, Drew nodded.

“That makes a lot of sense—saves us from having to invest so much, too.” He took the chair nearest the coffee table and helped himself to a slice of the steaming pizza. “And what did you do about a building for the shop?”

“The Brenneman brothers across the road had already prepped some sketches and crunched some numbers for us,” Asa replied eagerly. As he showed his brother the paperwork Aaron had given him, summarizing their construction choices, Drew seemed a lot readier to relocate.

“I vote for the metal building,” Drew said after he’d glanced at the figures. “It costs more, but it’ll require less maintenance. It’ll make us look prosperous from the get-go, too—because if Willow Ridge is like most Plain towns, the shops are frame construction or even outbuildings that have been repurposed.”

Asa’s eyebrows rose as he helped himself to the pizza. His brother was making some astute observations. “
Jah,
Nora’s Simple Gifts shop was once a high-dollar horse barn, and the other places look pretty typical. Wooden buildings painted white, mostly. We really need to get you up there to meet—”

“I’m ready to move,” Drew cut in. “The prospect of getting this place ready to sell was holding me back, but my time was well spent this weekend. Watching those guys paint with their sprayers and then clean the windows and these old floors was
amazing
.” He eyed Asa with a cryptic smile. “But not as amazing as Edith, if the shiny-bright smile on your face is any indication of how you spent your time with her.”

Asa laughed out loud. “Edith! How can I describe her with mere words?” he said, aware he was being a little melodramatic. “Long story short, we’re courting!”

Drew’s eyes widened. “
That
was fast.”

“It’s meant to be. Just looking into her big brown eyes, watching her tend the twins—who’re growing like weeds thanks to goat milk from the bishop’s wife—tells me she’s the woman God chose to be my wife.” Asa ate for a moment, wondering how much personal stuff to share. He didn’t want to betray Edith’s trust; the two of them had talked of some very personal matters. “If it weren’t for her
dat’s
objections, I could see us getting hitched very soon—”

“Why does it matter what he thinks?” Drew challenged. “You’re both of age, right? And both already members of the Old Order church. Right?”

Asa sighed. He suspected Edith had been subjected to more of her father’s lectures after he’d left this afternoon. It bothered him that Cornelius Riehl was so quick to find fault with him, and with Will—and with everything else, it seemed. “We wanted to do this on the up-and-up, because two little babies are involved,” he explained. “But when I asked Edith’s
dat
for his blessing, he laughed in my face. He thinks this whole situation is even more dubious now that Will Gingerich has moved to Willow Ridge to farm for Luke Hooley.”

Drew considered this as he went to the fridge for two cans of soda. “How’s Edith handling all this? Most girls would obey their
dats
and call off the courting on their fathers’ say-so.”

Asa smiled. “Not Edith! She says my commitment to her has inspired her to stand up to her father, and to live life the way she sees fit. She’s one of a kind, Drew.”

Pausing, Asa dared to make a sudden leap of faith. “I’m going to get a letter from our bishop and present it to Bishop Tom in Willow Ridge, to prove I’m in
gut
standing with the church here. Once he publishes our intention to marry, there’s nothing Cornelius can say! Then we can set our date for whenever we’re ready!”

“That should make your intentions perfectly clear to everyone who matters,” Drew said with a decisive nod. “And it establishes the two of you as a family where those twins will grow up the way they’re supposed to.”

Asa smiled warmly at his brother. “
Denki
for your vote of confidence, Drew. It means a lot that you’re willing to change your whole life on this whim I’ve had about moving to Willow Ridge.”

Drew shrugged. “What’s left for us here in Clifford? We’ve always been loners—outsiders—here in a town of mostly English. Our parents might not like it that we’re moving farther away, but they’ll be happy about your finding a girl to hitch up with. Now they’ll start prodding me to do the same.”

“
Jah,
that’s how it works,” Asa murmured. “Will was getting acquainted with the single girls on Sunday. He had several of them to choose from.”

“That’s all I need to hear!”

As they polished off their pizza, Asa felt grateful for his brother’s change of heart. He’d always suspected that Drew stopped to visit a girlfriend or two while Asa was on furniture-finding trips or making deliveries, but he hadn’t pressed for the details because his brother tended to keep his love life to himself—probably so their parents wouldn’t hound him about settling down.

Asa smiled. Someday soon he’d go tell their parents his good news—but he had other priorities, too. “I’m going to deliver that bedroom set to Hal Gillespie tomorrow. My goal now is to finish the other projects I’ve taken on for customers around here so we don’t have to haul those pieces to Willow Ridge,” he reasoned aloud. “And I’ll call Aaron Brenneman tomorrow, to get him going on our new building.”

“Cool! I’ll upholster and sell the pieces we’ve already got, rather than going to any more sales.” Drew looked around at the walls of their main room. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to finish off the upper level of the new shop as an apartment, so I won’t be horning in on you newlyweds.”

Asa was surprised his brother felt that way, but he reminded himself that Drew hadn’t yet seen the house they were buying. “Plenty of rooms where we’re going—four bedrooms and an attic that could be remodeled, if you feel the need for more privacy,” Asa insisted. “That way you wouldn’t have to scrounge up your own meals, or—”

“Maybe I like the idea of coming and going without interrupting your um,
schedules,
” Drew put in with a knowing smile. “And maybe sharing a house with two babies will be more of an adjustment than I’m ready for. Although . . . if I think sharing your place will work out, we could rent out the apartment. It would be another source of income.”

Asa considered this idea. He might feel the same way if he were going to be the bachelor rather than the new husband in this situation. “Might as well have the Brennemans finish the upstairs while the place is under construction, then. They’ll do it faster and a lot better than we would.”

“Can’t argue with that.”

Asa smiled. It felt good to reach this level of understanding with his brother. The whole shift to Willow Ridge would go much more smoothly now that Drew seemed ready to make the move.

I want to move there tomorrow—load up the stuff and be there when Luke signs the final papers,
he thought eagerly.
Having patience is the hardest part.

Chapter Fourteen

Nora looked up from tagging new merchandise Thursday morning, returning Edith’s bright smile as she came inside. “
Gut
morning, girlie. I just opened the shop, and you’re my first visitor.”

“Dat went to Kansas City for clock parts, so we got an early start to our day,” Edith replied. “I have these three bigger baskets for you, and a few smaller ones in the buggy yet. I’ll be right back!”

As Edith jogged outside, Nora picked up the largest basket and admired the intricate tricolor pattern at its upper rim. She was always excited when her crafters brought in items unlike anything else in her store, because fresh merchandise kept her regular customers coming back.

“These are fabulous, Edith!” she said when the girl returned with another basket that held several smaller ones of various interesting shapes. “They all look so tightly woven and sturdy. And every one of them is different!”

“Here’s my inventory list,” Edith said, handing over a piece of notebook paper that listed her eight baskets and her prices. “This was a
gut
way to use up some of the dribs and drabs of supplies I had—”

“Every crafter accumulates those,” Nora put in.

“—and it kept me busy after Asa went back home on Sunday,” the girl continued in a rush. “I—I won’t have time to make more baskets for a while, though. I’ll be sewing my wedding dress and apron, and I told Rosalyn and Loretta I’d make their new side-sitter dresses, too.”

Nora nearly choked in surprise. “You’re already planning your wedding? But you’ve only known Asa—”

“Two weeks today,” Edith said with a giddy grin. “He asked if he could court me this past weekend!”

Nora bit back a lecture. She didn’t have the heart to spoil this young woman’s dreams. “Well, congratulations,” she murmured as she searched for appropriate words. “Have you set a date?”

“We’ll do that soon,” Edith replied with a confident nod. “My sisters and I saw a bulldozer across the road today where the new Detweiler furniture shop will be, so if the Brennemans are getting the foundation ready, it won’t be long before the building goes up. I’m thinking Asa will be here to look it over this weekend.”

Nora couldn’t help but be happy for this dear, compassionate girl, yet she still had reservations about the whole situation. “Asa’s a very nice guy,” she said. “And Luke’s glad he recommended Will Gingerich to do the farming, but—”

“You think it’s too soon, don’t you?” Edith asked with a hint of disappointment. “Believe me, Dat’s already read me the riot act. I’m either too young to marry, or this is all moving too fast, or he’s determined that Will or his family will claim the babies and things won’t be the same between Asa and me.”

Nora cleared her throat. “Those reasons have occurred to me, too,” she murmured. “The voice of my own experience is crying out to warn you of the pitfalls you’re too ecstatic to see, Edith. What’s your hurry? Once Asa and his brother move here, you’ll have all the time you need to get better acquainted. To be sure you’re suited to each other.”

Edith looked away, feigning interest in the pottery pieces Nora had been tagging. “I—I love him, Nora,” she whispered. “He’s all I can think about.”

Nora grasped Edith’s hand. “I know all about what you’re feeling,” she said gently. “When I married Tanner I was barely eighteen. I thought he was the handsomest, most industrious, most loving man I could possibly find. That was after I’d had Millie out of wedlock and left her for my brother and his wife to raise. I was getting by on what I earned cleaning a couple of motels that Tanner’s family owned.”

Edith’s brown eyes widened at this information. “You married an English fellow?”

“Yup. I didn’t think my family here would ever accept me again. When wealthy, up-and-coming Tanner proposed to me, I thought he’d be my ticket out of perpetual poverty,” Nora recounted quietly. “I believed him when he vowed to love, honor, and cherish me. But he was older and more worldly, and after about ten years I discovered he was seeing another woman.”

Edith sucked in her breath. “What did you do?”

“What
could
I do?” she asked, squeezing Edith’s hand. “Tanner divorced me, without warning. Said I was boring and unsophisticated. I had to get smart fast, because he thought I was too naïve to press him for more money. I hired a lawyer and went after a
much
larger settlement than Tanner was going to give me.

“As I was licking my wounds, figuring out what to do with my life, I realized I hadn’t had the vaguest idea about what real love was all about,” Nora went on. “I’d been so enamored of Tanner’s looks and wealth and sweet-talk—thrilled that he wanted to be with somebody like little
me
—I totally missed the signs that he was only playing games.”

“That was really cruel of him.”

“
Jah,
but it was really stupid of me, as well,” Nora said earnestly. “I rushed in with my heart all aflutter instead of having my head on straight.”

“But then you found Luke,” Edith said, her smile returning.

“And from the first, I knew him for a flirt and a flatterer. He thought it’d be a feather in his cap to land an English woman who drove a fancy car and could afford the biggest house in Willow Ridge.” Nora’s eyebrows rose as a catlike smile overtook her face. “I didn’t believe a word Luke Hooley said—and I told him that to his face. Made him prove himself every step of the way.”

Edith considered this, but the lovestruck glow remained on her face. “It’ll be that way with Asa, I just know it. He’s such a fine, sincere man—willing to take on somebody else’s kids, too.”

“But once you’re hitched, it’s forever,” Nora insisted. “For Amish couples, divorce is never an option.”

Edith sighed. “I’m so ready to have a family, Nora,” she whispered. “And ready to be out from under Dat’s roof, too. Asa’s nothing at all like him, you know.”

Nora’s heart went out to the young girl standing before her. She had her doubts about some of Cornelius Riehl’s business practices, but it wasn’t her place to pry. “
Jah,
I wanted to live anywhere except with my
dat,
too. He was a preacher—and when he found out I was pregnant, he wouldn’t have believed that a bishop from another district had taken advantage of me, so I didn’t tell him that part at first,” she explained. “I lived with an aunt until Millie was born, and then I left. I know all about having a
dat
who makes you follow all the Old Order rules and then casts you aside when you don’t measure up.”

Edith’s expression wavered. She appeared caught between Nora’s hard-luck story and her own rose-colored images of love and romance.

“Just think about what I’ve said, okay?” Nora asked. “If Asa’s the right man for you now—the husband God wants you to have—he’ll be all the more loving and wonderful, say, six months from now. And by then, he’ll have established his new shop so he can focus more on you and the twins.”

“You might be right,” Edith mused. When one of her father’s clocks chimed and its music box played a short melody, she waited for the song to finish. “But like that clock, my life’s ticking away, and I don’t want to miss a minute of living with Asa. I’ve got plans for freshening up the house, making it ours, and—well, I need to be going,” she added quickly. “My sisters are minding the twins, and I told them I’d be back as soon as I picked out our dress fabric at the quilt shop.”

Nora kept her sigh to herself.
You can lead the horse to water . . .

“
Denki
for speaking your mind, and for looking after me, Nora,” Edith murmured. “Your words and friendship are such a gift to us girls now that our
mamm
is gone.”

“Any time I can help, let me know,” Nora insisted as her young friend headed for the door. Her warnings and advice had gone in one of Edith’s ears and out the other, but Nora had spoken her mind. She’d expressed similar doubts to her daughter Millie about marrying Ira, yet hadn’t that relationship turned out to be mature and mutually beneficial for her seventeen-year-old daughter and Luke’s brother?

I hope I’m just an old mother hen who’s clucking too much, Lord,
Nora thought as she wrote out tags for Edith’s beautiful baskets.
After all, I don’t know everything, the way You do.

* * *

Asa bounded up the steps to Bishop Tom’s porch and knocked exuberantly on the door. On this beautiful Friday morning he felt like a man on his way to a finer life than he’d ever imagined. As he heard footsteps inside, he couldn’t keep a wide smile off his face.

“Bishop Tom,
gut
morning!” he said when the door opened. “If you’ve got a minute, I’d like a word.”

“Sure I do, for a fella like you,” the bishop said as he swung the door open. “I was mighty excited yesterday, seein’ a dozer doin’ the dirt work for your new shop.”

“They’re to pour the foundation today, so I wanted to be here,” Asa said. He stepped into the large front room, removing his straw hat and jacket. “Aaron says he’s got his crew constructing the metal sides already, too, so once the concrete’s set, the main walls can go up pretty fast.”

“Those Brenneman boys are a fine team,” Tom remarked, gesturing for Asa to follow him. “If we talk in the kitchen, we can probably sample some of the goodies Nazareth’s takin’ from the oven. Ya timed this visit just right, Asa.”

“
Gut
morning, young man!” Nazareth said as she deftly flipped a pan of sticky buns onto an oblong tray. “I’d figured to take fresh milk over for Leroy and Louisa, so maybe you’d like to do the carrying. Bet you’re headed that direction anyway.”

“I am, and I’d be happy to take it,” Asa replied. His eyes widened as the bishop’s wife plated two large, pecan-crusted rolls and carried them to the table. “It’s the least I can do if you’re going to feed me this way—and
denki
so much for providing the milk that’s making those babies grow so well. How much do I owe you for that?”

Nazareth waved him off. “My little goats are tickled to help out. Truth be told, they give more milk than I have time to make into cheese for the mill store anyway,” she admitted. “Think of it as labor you’re saving me.”

Asa was speechless for a moment. Where else had he ever experienced such generosity? Although he got along fine with the folks in Clifford and the neighbors near his parents’ farm, he couldn’t imagine them donating milk on a regular basis for babies who weren’t even local. “Well, again,
denki
from Edith and Will and me,” he said as he loosened the outer layer of his sticky bun with his fork. “You’re a lifesaver, Nazareth—literally.”

“
Jah,
she’s a keeper,” Tom remarked. When he smiled at his wife, his face glowed, and his crow’s-feet deepened. “And it was a fine sight, as well, watchin’ Will work the field nearest the road with a team of Percheron mules. We had him over for dinner yesterday. Nice young fella.”

“He’s pleased to be farming for Luke and Ira. Ready for a fresh start—and oh my word,” Asa blurted. “This sticky bun is the
best,
Nazareth.”

She beamed at him from the kitchen counter. “I enjoy watching you young men tuck away so much food. Tom and I are of an age we have to cut back some, if we’re to squeeze through the doorways.”

The bishop laughed along with Asa, and then looked at him intently. “But ya didn’t come here to discuss us gettin’ old and tubby,” he remarked as he cut into his roll. “Ya looked like a man on a mission when I answered the door.”

Asa pulled an envelope from his jacket pocket and handed it to the bishop. “It’s a letter from my bishop back home, telling you I’m a member in
gut
standing—because I want you to publish my plans to marry Edith at your next church service.”

Bishop Tom’s mouth fell open. “I’m all for young folks gettin’ hitched,” he finally managed to say. “But this is feelin’ rather
sudden,
son—”

“Why, it was the day of the Hooley wedding—just a couple weeks ago—when Jerusalem and I found you on the side of the road,” Nazareth recalled. “Are you sure you and Edith are ready for this? Some folks’ll wonder if you’re not healed from that hit you took on the head.”

Asa chuckled. He’d figured his announcement would cause a stir. “I
am
back in town partly for a follow-up visit with Andy Leitner about my concussion,” he replied. “But otherwise, it’s just a case of two hearts beating as one from the moment they met.”

Bishop Tom read the brief letter and set it away from his plate. As he cleared his throat, he focused intently on Asa. “I hope you’re not gonna tell me ya got carried away, so now you’re savin’ Edith from any embarrassment nine months down the road.”

Asa’s fork clattered to his plate. He had
not
expected the bishop to hint about
that
. “Absolutely not,” he insisted. “Edith’s not that kind of girl, and I wouldn’t turn her into one.”

Tom let out a relieved sigh. “All the same, it’s feelin’ a bit rushed.”

“We haven’t set a date yet,” Asa pointed out. “I just want everyone here—especially her
dat
—to know my intentions are honorable. Long-term.”

“
Jah,
it’s forever,” the bishop insisted as he glanced at Nazareth. “I’d not wish my previous humiliation on anybody, after my first wife left me for an English fella. When the marriage vow’s broken, it stirs up turmoil God never intended His children to suffer.” Tom looked away, as though recalling this event still caused him pain. “Lettie’s leavin’ shattered our family, even though our kids were grown and married,” he murmured. “Had Nazareth not come along, I’d still be a desolate man today.”

Asa’s eyes widened. He thought carefully about how to word the question that came to mind. “You . . . you remarried, Bishop? I didn’t think the Old Order allowed—”

“We got word that Lettie was killed in a car accident with her English husband,” Nazareth explained as she came to stand beside Tom. “Even so, folks looked askance on our relationship for a while. We’re just saying, Asa, that you’d better search your soul long and hard before you take Edith as your wife. It’s a noble idea, raising those babies together, but it’ll bring challenges you can’t foresee. I’ll go milk the goats now and let you fellows talk.”