An Amish Match (16 page)

“Help me?”

“Gladly.” He put his arm around her, and she leaned against him as he guided her to a chair. She wished she could always depend on his steady strength.

As Timothy took Sammy's hand, Joshua knelt beside her and put his fingers lightly over hers, which were protectively pressed to her belly. “Listen to me, Rebekah. I'm going to tell you two things that are true. If you don't believe me, ask God.”

“You've never lied to me.”

“And I won't. Look deep in your heart, and you'll know what I'm about to say is the truth. First, any choices Lloyd made were
his
choices. Nothing he chose to do or not do is your fault. God gives us free will, even though it must pain Him when we make bad choices.” When Timothy shifted uncomfortably behind them, he didn't look at his son. His gaze remained on her. “Second, Rebekah, with our
kinder
here to witness my words, I vow to you that I will never intentionally hurt you in word or deed.”

A hint of a smile touched her trembling lips as she spoke the words she had the day he asked her to marry him. “You know it isn't our way to make vows.”

“Other than vows of love. Those we proclaim in front of everyone we can gather together. Before our
kinder
, I vow that I love you.”

“You love me?”

“Ja, ich liebe dich.”
The words sounded so much sweeter in
Deitsch
, and her heart soared like a bird on a summer wind.

A loud knock sounded on the back door. Joshua rose as Timothy tensed, fear on his face. Rebekah reached out and took the boy's hand. When he looked at her, she gave him a loving smile. If the police had returned, Timothy wouldn't have to face them alone.

When Joshua opened the door, Brad Granger stood on the other side. He was a balding man, who was wearing a plaid robe over a pair of gray flannel pants. He had on white sneakers but no socks. “May I come in?”

“
Ja
. Of course.” Joshua glanced at her, but she had no more idea than he did what to expect from their neighbor.

Brad had every right to be furious if Timothy had taken the car without his permission. Their neighbor entered and called over his shoulder, “C'mon in. Lurking out there won't resolve any of this.” His voice was raspy with the emotion he clearly was trying to control.

A slender form edged into the kitchen. Alexis's hair covered most of her face, but when she looked up, Rebekah could see that the girl's eye was deeply bruised, and a purplish black line followed the curve of her left cheekbone. She stared at the young girl whose face looked like reflections Rebekah had seen in her own mirror. Pain lashed her anew as she glanced at Timothy who quickly looked away. No! She didn't want to believe that the young man who had comforted her so gently had struck his friend.
Oh, please, God, don't let it be true!

“How are you?” Timothy asked, stepping forward. She couldn't miss the concern in his words or his posture.

“It'll look worse before it looks better,” Brad said with a sigh. “The EMTs who stopped by warned her that she's going to have two reasons for a headache in the morning. The bruises and a hangover.” He looked at his daughter. “Go ahead. This won't get any easier if you put off doing what you should have done in the first place.”

Rebekah was surprised when Alexis turned to her. “Tim thinks you found the beer in the barn.”

“And the well house,” she said, putting her hand on Joshua's arm when he opened his mouth to ask a question. He remained silent as she added, “I did find it. I was afraid it might belong to someone in this family, but it didn't, did it?”

“No. The beer in the barn was mine.”

“Alexis—”

She interrupted Timothy with a sad smile. “You don't need to cover for me any longer, Tim. I've told my parents everything. Now I need to be honest with your folks so they know the truth.”

He nodded, his shoulders sagging in obvious relief.

“I didn't think it was any big deal,” the girl said, then shivered. “That is, until the police came to the house. They told me that Tim might get arrested because he took my car and crashed it. That's when I knew I had to be honest. I can't let Tim pay for my mistakes when he was simply trying to be a good friend.” She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I asked Tim to hide the beer so my parents wouldn't find it. I brought it over the other night and he agreed, though I could tell he didn't like the idea of deceiving our parents. Tonight I picked him and the beer up, and we went to a party out by the Conestoga River with some of my friends.”

“Where you drank the beer?” Joshua asked.

“Yes. You must have seen the beer cans in the car.” She grimaced. “Chief McMurray sure did! But Tim didn't have any beer.”

“I don't like it.” Timothy shrugged and smiled weakly. “Tastes worse than it smells.”

“I did drink some of the beer.” Alexis sighed when her
daed
glared at her. “Okay, I drank a lot of the beer. Too much to drive home. Tim suggested I call my folks, but I didn't want them finding out that I'd had so much to drink. I insisted I was okay to drive home. He took my keys and wouldn't let me.”

Rebekah patted Timothy's arm and said, “You did listen to your
daed
about drinking and driving.”

“Hey, sometimes he's right.”

Even Sammy laughed at that, though he couldn't have understood why. When he yawned, Joshua picked him up and cradled him in his arms. Rebekah's heart almost overflowed with joy at the sight of the strong man holding the little boy so gently.

Her attention was pulled back to Alexis, who was saying, “So it's true that Tim drove without a license, but he did it to keep me from driving drunk.”

“And you told the police that nobody else was in the car, Timothy, because you didn't want Alexis to get into trouble,” Joshua said as if he were thinking aloud. “You shouldn't have lied to the police.”

“I was honest with them. I didn't say I was alone,
Daed
. I said I was driving by myself. I was because Alexis was asleep in the passenger seat, so she wasn't helping me.”

“Timothy, a half truth is also a half lie.”

“I know.”

Alexis interjected, “If that deer hadn't jumped in front of us, he would have gotten us home without anyone knowing the truth.”

“But God had other ideas,” Brad said quietly. “He was tired of Alexis's behavior and brought it out of the shadows.” He turned to Timothy. “I'm sorry you were caught up in this mess, son, but thank you for being such a good friend to Alexis.”

Timothy took the hand Brad held out to him and shook it. “I didn't want Alexis to risk getting kicked out of school. She has her heart set on attending the University of Pennsylvania.”

Looking to where Joshua had come to stand beside Rebekah, Brad added, “You've raised a fine son, Joshua. I hate to think what might have happened if he hadn't been there tonight.”

“Then don't think of it,” Joshua said quietly.

Brad turned to Timothy. “The police will still want to talk with you, son, but now to confirm what Alexis has already told them.”

“We will cooperate with the police.” Joshua gave his son a look that said he would tolerate no more half truths.

“I know you find that uncomfortable, so I'm doubly thankful to you.” Brad smiled. “Chief McMurray has assured me, Timothy, that any pending charges against you, other than the driving without a license, will be dropped. Even extenuating circumstances won't wipe out that ticket, but Alexis will be paying the fine for you.”

“Danki,”
he said.

“No, son, thank
you
for making sure my daughter got home alive tonight.”

“I'm sorry,” Alexis whispered. “I hope we can still be friends, Tim.”

“We'll always be friends.” He glanced at his
daed
. “Just friends.”

Brad and his daughter urged them to sleep well and left. As soon as the door closed, Timothy turned to Joshua.

“I am sorry about the half truths,” the boy said. “Even though I thought I had a
gut
reason, I know there's never any
gut
reason to lie. I hope you can forgive me.”

“I already have.” He handed Sammy to Rebekah.

She took him and almost cried out as a pain cut through her back and around across her stomach. It faded as quickly as it had started, so she carried Sammy in and set him on the sofa. He curled into a ball, never waking.

Turning around, she watched Joshua put his hand on his son's shoulder. “If we expect to be forgiven, we must be forgiving. Now I must ask you to forgive me.”

“For what?” Timothy asked.

“I should have given you a chance to explain. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions.”

“You didn't have far to jump. I
was
driving the car, and it's my fault it crashed.”

“But it's a
daed'
s job to listen and learn if he expects his
kinder
to do the same. I'll try to do better next time, if you'll forgive me for this mistake.”

“I heard a wise man once say that if we expect to be forgiven, we must be forgiving.”

Joshua glanced at Rebekah, and she smiled. There were many challenges before them with their
kinder
, but she and Joshua would weather each storm as it came.

Together.

“We have to stop hiding secrets from each other,” Joshua said. “Secrets don't have any place among the loving members of a family. They ended up causing us even more pain.”

“I know that now,
Daed
.”

Joshua looked at her.

“I know it, too.” She blinked back tears. “But I couldn't bear the thought of people looking at Sammy and judging everything he does to decide if he's starting to take after his
daed
.”

“No one will. They'll see that he is like his
mamm
. Generous and loving. I've said it before, but I need to say it again, because I can't keep it a secret any longer.
Ich liebe dich
.”

Happiness welled up in her at his words and his loving gaze. As she reached out to take his hands, she stiffened. Pain scored her again. Harder this time. When she bent, holding her hands over her belly, she heard Joshua and Timothy ask what was wrong.

She had to wait for the pain to diminish before she could gasp, “It's the
boppli
. It's coming.”

Joshua kept one arm around her as he ordered, “Timothy, go to the Grangers and use their phone.” He fished a piece of paper out of his trousers. “Here is Beth Ann's number. Call her and tell her to come
now
!”

Timothy grabbed the page and ran out.

With Joshua's arm guiding her, Rebekah went to the bedroom. She reached it as another contraction began. They were coming close together. Why hadn't she had more warning? Then she realized she had. Her aching back could have been mild contractions. She'd ignored them.

After he helped her lie down on the wide bed, he said, “And I thought we'd had enough excitement tonight.”

She tried to smile, but another contraction bore down on her, and she couldn't think of anything but riding its crest until it receded. She opened her eyes and saw Joshua's worried face.

“Do you think Beth Ann will get here in time?” he asked.

“I hope so.” She clutched his hand. Looking up at him, she said, “I'm glad you're here, Joshua.”

“I wouldn't be anywhere else.”

There was so much she longed to say, to tell him how she loved him and how sorry she was to have ever believed he would treat her as Lloyd had. Gripping his hand, she focused on the
boppli
, who was coming whether the midwife was there or not.

Chapter Fifteen

T
he bedroom was quiet. The
kinder
were upstairs, tucked in their beds for the night. Beth Ann had finished up and left along with the doctor. Sadie would be returning in a few hours to help with the new
boppli
and take care of the household until Rebekah could manage on her own again.

Joshua put the dish towel on the rack where it could dry. Taking a deep breath, he yawned as he gazed out the window. The moon had set, and the stars were a glittering tapestry of God's glory. To the east, a thin, gray line announced the coming of a new day.

The day another
kind
had joined their family.

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
His favorite verse echoed in his mind, this time a praise instead of an urging to get through yet another day while weighed down with grief.

Wanting to see the little one again, because it had been so long since there had been a
boppli
in the house, Joshua tiptoed into the downstairs bedroom to make sure
mamm
and
boppli
were doing well.

Despite his efforts to be quiet as he edged around the bed, Rebekah's eyes blinked open. With her magnificent red hair scattered across the pillows and a joyful smile warming her lips, she was more beautiful than he'd imagined. She held out a hand to him.

Sitting on the very edge of the bed, he asked, “How are you doing?”

“Happy.”

“
Ja
, I know.” He didn't say any more. There wasn't any need.

The night had begun as a nightmare. One that left his hands shaking whenever he thought of what could have happened when his inexperienced son had driven that powerful car along the twisting, hilly road. It had ended with healing between him and his oldest, as well as the appearance of his youngest.

At that thought, he reached down into the cradle Jeremiah had made and lifted out a swaddled bundle.

“She is sweet,” he said. “Debbie is going to be so pleased to have a sister.”

“Wanda Almina Stoltzfus,” Rebekah murmured. “Welcome to the world.”

He handed the
boppli
to her. “
Mamm
will be pleased that you want to name this little one in her honor.”

“I was named for my
grossmammi
, and I loved having that connection. Little Wanda will have that same connection with your
mamm
and mine.”

“A very special gift for her very first birthday.”

“I'm glad you think so.” She looked from the beautiful
boppli
to him. “
Danki
for being here, Joshua.”

“Where else would I be when our
boppli
was being born?”

“Our
boppli
,” she whispered.

“I cannot think of her any other way. I am blessed to have three sons and two daughters.” He chuckled. “They make me
ab in kopp
way too often, but I am even crazier in love with you.” He became serious. “I told you that earlier tonight how I love you. Do you love me?”

“
Ja
. Looking back, I think I started falling in love with you the day you came with your nervous proposal.” She laced her fingers through his much wider ones. “At first I tried to stop myself because I knew you still loved Tildie.”

“But—”

“Let me say this, Joshua.” When he nodded, she continued. “I knew that you still love Tildie, and I thought there was no place in your heart for me. It took me far too long to realize that our hearts can expand to love many people. Timothy, Levi and Debbie hold a place in my heart as surely as if I had given birth to them. I see you with Sammy and Wanda, and I know you'll be a devoted and loving
daed
for them.” She laughed. “Look how far my heart has expanded to welcome your
mamm
, your six brothers, your two sisters and the rest of your family. I'm blessed that there's no limit to the number of people a heart will hold.”

“As long as there's always a place for me.”

“There always will be.”

He gently kissed her lips, knowing she was spent after the night's events. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future to kiss her more deeply, and, as Rebekah Mast Burkholder Stoltzfus's husband, he didn't intend to let a single one pass them by.

* * * * *

Keep reading for an excerpt from
THE COWBOY'S TWINS
by Deb Kastner.

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