A Simple Winter: A Seasons of Lancaster Novel (27 page)

ook at that!” Susie pointed to a car parked near the house as Adam turned the gray carriage down the lane. “We have a visitor. More people to share the good news with.” The delight that lit her face was typical of Susie. “Sunflower Susie,” Mamm used to call her.

“That’s true,” Adam said as he slowed the horse. Sister Susie had a knack for finding the potential for fun in everything. An endearing quality, though sometimes he felt that it was his duty to keep her tethered to the earth.

“I’m so very happy about the test results. I’ve been feeling fine, but it’s wonderful good to hear Dr. Trueherz say it.”

“Good news, indeed, and I know you worked hard to stick to your diet, Susie girl. We’re all proud of you.”

Her face lifted to the pale winter sun, much like a sunflower in July. “I’m so happy, and I can’t wait to share it with everyone.”

Adam smiled as his attention strayed momentarily to the car. Did it belong to Sadie’s Englisher boyfriend, the one she’d been
hiding all these weeks? A weekday afternoon wasn’t really appropriate courtship time, but he supposed it would be good for him to meet the guy. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.

“I’ll help you unhitch Thunder,” Susie offered when he halted the carriage beside the car. “That way we can go in together with a burst of good news!”

“Sounds like a plan.” As they worked together on the quick task, it struck him that fourteen-year-old Susie had been forced to grow up over the past year. Granted, the whole family had been challenged in new ways, but for Susie that meant an end to Mamm’s tender loving care for her condition. Susie was coming along, but for Adam the responsibility of taking her for her checkups with Dr. Trueherz reminded him of the parental role he’d taken on. It reminded him of the cloud of loss that still hung over the farm every day, the absence of Mamm and Dat.

While Susie took Thunder to the pasture, he hung the harness up in the tack room. When he emerged from the barn, his sister waved at him, running toward the house.

“I’ll race you there!” she shouted.

Adam picked up his step, breaking into a jog. The sight of Susie, hearty and healthy, her cheeks tinged pink from running in the cold, eased his heart. Mamm and Dat would have been proud of her. In moments like this, that cloud of sorrow lifted.

She bounded in through the mud porch, turning back to tease him. “I win, but you didn’t try very hard, I could tell.”

“I’ll take you next time,” he said as the warm air and sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies welcomed them into the kitchen. Katie and Sam knelt on benches, trying to spoon cookie dough onto trays, with the help of Mary and another woman seated between the kids, holding the spoon for Katie.

Brilliant colors glowed in the lamplight: the orange copper of her hair, the turquoise and blue stripes of her sweater.

Remy McCallister.

He paused, wondering for a moment if he’d wished her here.

Then Susie let out a shout with the good news that Dr. Trueherz was thrilled with her numbers, and suddenly it was like Christmas morning. As Susie and Mary chatted, Adam nodded to Remy, who nodded back. He couldn’t stop smiling, but then this was a happy moment for his sister so he figured that was all right.

Hearing the stir of excitement, Gabe, Jonah, and Simon came in from the barn to share in the news. The room brimmed over with the sounds of bright conversation and Susie’s favorite clapping game, the smells of buttery dough baking in the oven, and the warmth from the potbellied stove.

Such a joyous scene that Adam stood by the doorway for a time and watched it unfold, wishing he could ignore the one thing wrong with this picture. Remy, who always managed to fill a room with light and laughter, did not belong here. She lived a fancy life, a world she would return to soon, leaving this happy scene to fade in their memories.

Why had she come here?

Back in the city market she’d made some excuse about buying a quilt, but plenty of customers purchased quilts through the family business without stepping foot in the house or even in the town of Halfway.

Part of him wanted to believe she had come to see him. That she recognized the undercurrent that swirled between them and had to act on it in some way. He liked the theory that she’d followed him here because she couldn’t get enough of him, couldn’t get him off her mind, which was sort of the way he felt about her. But then, it was a little arrogant to think that his personal magnetism had drawn her here. That line of thinking would lead him toward hochmut, the sin of pride.

He folded his arms, watching Remy carry Katie to the sink to
help her wash dough from her hands. The children were taking to her like bees to honey. All the more reason to send her off, quickly, before she broke their little hearts.

He grabbed a towel, crossed to the sink and tended to wiping Katie’s hands as Remy lowered her to the stool. “I can finish that for you. Don’t want to keep you here if you want to hit the road before dark,” he said.

It wasn’t a warm reception, and he did not intend it to be.

But Remy didn’t pick up on his brusque tone. One eyebrow rose as she shifted to the other foot, her hips swaying in the process. An innocent move, though it reminded him that he was a man. “Oh, I’m not leaving yet,” she said. “Mary invited me to stay for dinner, and since it smells so good, I can’t resist.”

“You’re staying for dinner?” Adam asked. “Aren’t you worried about the storm headed this way?”

“They’re not predicting any precipitation until tomorrow morning.” She tapped her pocket. “I keep checking my BlackBerry, and the forecast hasn’t changed.”

Adam sat down on the bench beside Katie, resigned to a few hours of torture. “I’d be careful if I were you. These back roads can get pretty icy.”

“Relax. I’ll be ahead of the bad weather, and that stew smells amazing.”

“And Remy needs to talk with you,” Mary added. “That’s why she came all this way.”

“That, and Sadie,” Remy said, wiping Katie’s nose and helping her down to the floor.

“Talk? Now’s as good a time as any.” He held out one hand, gesturing for her to begin.

She laughed. “Not now. I was thinking of a more private conversation. Besides, Susie’s news is very exciting, and I wouldn’t want to walk out on the celebration.” She sank down onto the bench
beside him, lowering her voice. “But I was wondering about this ‘condition’ everyone keeps talking about. What does Susie have?”

“It’s a metabolic disorder that’s common among the Old Order Amish.” Adam rubbed his chin, the sweet spot where his soul patch used to be. “Glutaric aciduria type one, they call it. Her body has trouble processing amino acids. So when the amino acids build up in the body, they can be toxic, especially to the brain. But a lot of the times, the condition weakens the body and the baby dies from a cold or measles. Something simple.”

Remy’s eyes opened wide as she glanced at Susie. “Sounds serious.”

“It can be. We had two siblings who died from it, both when they were toddlers. David came right after me, but I remember little Deborah, who was born between Mary and Sadie. She seemed just fine as a baby, but died before she turned two from the flu. Mamm was heartbroken for the babies she lost.”

“I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.”

“Now, they can screen newborns. That’s how Susie was diagnosed.”

“And the expense … without health insurance, it must be astronomical.”

“We’re very fortunate to have Dr. Trueherz. He’s working on a research grant, so most of Susie’s medical care is free, as long as we travel to his clinic.”

Adam watched her soak it all in. Granted, it was a lot to absorb—down to the very name of the disorder. But Remy seemed unfazed.

“And Susie is beating it?”

“It’s being controlled by diet. She takes riboflavin supplements and follows a very strict diet that avoids amino acids.”

Eyes bright, Remy smacked the knees of her jeans. “Good for her. She deserves a little celebration, right?”

“You don’t know Susie.” Adam raked back his hair. “For her, every day is a celebration. It’s all one big party.”

“Excuse me?”

Adam felt a slight sting on his upper arm, then realized Remy had snapped her finger against him. “Hey …” he growled. “We’re a nonviolent society.”

“Don’t dis your sis. You need to appreciate her exuberance.”

“I didn’t dis anyone.” He rubbed his arm, thinking that he didn’t need her approval but wanting it nonetheless.

As the door opened and the schoolkids barreled in with greetings for Remy and gasps of delight over Susie’s good news, he mulled over his own twisted feelings. He wanted Remy to leave, but at the same time he wished she would sit back down beside him. That was the thing about Remy that both attracted and frustrated him.

His feelings for her defied logic.

s day gave way to evening, Remy felt a stab of guilt. An entire afternoon had passed, and she still hadn’t talked to Adam about permission for the article. Here in the kitchen, Simon and Mary had no idea she was observing them for her piece, and although that made her feel a little dishonest, she kept telling herself she would be vindicated when she straightened things out with Adam.

Which she would do … right after dinner.

Right now he was busy in the barn with the rest of the family, who had filed outside for the afternoon milking. Although the sudden exodus had drained the kitchen of noise, the warm, cozy atmosphere prevailed. The aroma of fresh-baked cookies gave way to the smells of onions, meat, and vegetables cooking down to a savory stew, along with two loaves of bread Mary had somehow slid into the oven during the earlier commotion.

Her current task was to help Simon with his schoolwork. Adam
had explained that the boy was being kept at home for the next few weeks, until the threat of “nosy journalists” faded.

That had twisted the knife in Remy’s guilty heart.

While Simon leaned over his paper, inscribing neat columns of the “nine” times table, Remy noticed that night had fallen beyond the kitchen window. The end of the day had come too suddenly, with sunset occurring early this time of year. What had happened to her plan to tell Adam everything the moment she saw him?

Her timing had been off. First, Adam had been gone. Then the children had dozed off leaning against her, sandwiching her between sleeping angels. Mary’s honesty had spoken to her heart, and then Susie’s joyous news had educated her on an entirely different facet of King family life.

Arlene’s voice crowed in her head: “Excuses, excuses.”

Every time she came in contact with this family, she abandoned her journalistic ambitions in exchange for the possibility of friendship. God help her, she was falling for this family.

Her forearms propped on the table, she turned back to Simon, who put his pencil down and handed over the paper with a proud grin.

“All done.”

“Good job. Now, you’ve got geography. A unit on the fifty states, right?”

“He’s to learn the fifty states, and draw a map of one of them,” Mary said.

“I can help you with that.” Remy reached for his elementary primer to locate the map section in the back. “I still remember my states, but you’re on your own with drawing the map. Everything I draw looks like a sick lamb.”

“That’s okay. I already chose my state. Florida.” While she tried to locate a map, he began to draw, his lips puckered in concentration.

“Florida might be a tough one,” Remy said. “Personally, I always liked Colorado or Wyoming. Simple rectangles.”

“I can do Florida. It looks like a small gun.”

Remy’s mouth dropped open at his comment.

Stirring a pot on the stove, Mary didn’t seem to hear.

Remy stared at Florida on the map. “You’re right. The shape does resemble a gun.”

“A handgun,” Simon said with a quiet confidence that was chilling. “That’s what the bear had. A real gun in his hand, and a picture of one on his head.”

“What?” Remy’s heartbeat accelerated at the thought of Simon sharing details from the crime scene. Was he being truthful, or just imagining things? “You said the bear had a picture of a gun on his head?” A tattoo? “How did you see it with all his hair?”