Harvest of Blessings (23 page)

“
Jah
, for sure we do! What a fine idea.” Mary’s eyes sparkled as she gazed directly at Nora. “Would you have room in your new store for some Amish dolls? I’ve mostly been a quilter, but with moving into the new house—and getting married soon—I’m thinking to sew some projects that don’t take so long. It’ll be a way to bring in a little cash while I’m looking after my family.”

“Amish dolls!” Nora exclaimed. “Those would be a perfect addition to my merchandise!”

Mary lit up like a girl who’d won a prize at a party. “I’ll sew some as soon as I can, then!
Denki
so much!”

As Nora steered the two younger women toward the serving line, she marveled again at the industrious ways of Plain women. They kept up with their housework, raised their kids, and were helpmates to their husbands, yet they looked for ways to make some money in their spare time—whenever
that
was. It made her feel like a slacker in comparison.

But now that you’ve found your way, look how far you can go! And you can take these friends along for the ride, selling their crafts in your store
.

Nora sighed with a sense of great satisfaction as she picked up a paper plate. Everything seemed to be falling into place now, in ways she’d never imagined when she’d decided to move here. Was it her imagination, or had God been paying closer attention to her since she’d come back home?

As his Friday afternoon was winding down, Luke looked at his refrigerated display case and wished he knew of someone—probably female, with a good eye—who could arrange the mill’s displays better than he and Ira did. With another weekend almost upon him, however, he didn’t have the luxury of wishing for what he didn’t have. He stacked the small containers of goat cheese and butter as tightly as he could. Then he replenished the cartons of cage-free chicken eggs and closed the glass door.

It would have to do. He had to restock the shelves with bags of coarse-ground corn grits, multi-grain baking mixes, and rolled oats before he could quit for the day.

“Quite the place you’ve got here, Hooley. How’s business?”

Luke straightened slowly to his full height, quelling the urge to glare at Hiram Knepp. He had
not
heard the bell on the shop door, so he suspected Knepp had slithered in through the milling room—which probably meant he’d been snooping around before he’d entered the store. Ira was out fetching more eggs and taking checks to their suppliers, so there was no telling how long his uninvited guest had been here.

“Doing fine, thanks,” Luke hedged as he moved toward the dry goods shelves. “What can I help you with?”

Hiram shrugged noncommittally. “Thought I’d drop by to see if your store measures up to the rave reviews from some of my Higher Ground flock. Your good-looking neighbor can’t say enough about the traffic you’ve been getting since your grand opening.”

“Nora?” Luke asked. Then he kicked himself for taking Hiram’s bait. He sensed the banished bishop was fishing rather than shopping, because he doubted Nora would discuss his customers—or anything else—with Knepp, after her encounter with him in the diner.

“Nature girl Nora,” Hiram mused aloud in a suggestive, faraway voice. “Nora
au naturel
. But then, you
know
she doesn’t wear anything under those innocent-looking Plain-style dresses—which actually gives a man a lot more to think about than how she used to pour herself into her English clothes.”

Luke pressed his lips into a tight line. If he responded, it would imply that he did indeed know what wasn’t under Nora’s dresses. And if he said nothing, Knepp would carry on about how he’d gotten way beyond first base with her while Luke had not. “You’re out of line,” Luke muttered. “And why are you telling
me
this stuff ?”

“Because you need to know that the redhead next door now has a silent partner,” Hiram replied without missing a beat. His dark eyes glimmered. “Nora realized her business was seriously underfunded, so rather than risk a shortfall before she even opened her doors, she . . . opened to me,” he explained with a rakish shrug. “I’ve bought back the barn, which reduces her overhead to nothing and gives her a cash cushion—”

“This is nonsense,” Luke countered with a glare. “Maybe you ought to move along so I can get some work done.”

Hiram’s knowing laughter echoed beneath the high, beamed ceiling. “Consider yourself warned, Hooley,” he stated as went to the door. “My partnership comes with certain perks—which means you’re out of the picture now, as far as Nora’s concerned. She didn’t want to tell you herself, knowing you’d be upset, so I’ve saved you a nasty confrontation and a whole lot of humiliation, right? You know how feisty she gets when she’s . . . up against a wall.”

The jangle of the bell intensified Luke’s rising fury. Although he suspected Hiram was full of manure, spouting lies about Nora and her financial affairs, the foul odor of his story was more than Luke could stand. Just the hint about Nora not wearing underthings had sent his imagination into overdrive, his jealousy into high gear. All he’d seen of Nora this week was her black van coming and going as she prepared to open her shop—and because consigning dozens of different items from so many clients required a lot of time, he hadn’t bothered her. Luke had hoped to catch her this evening, to offer her dinner out and some time off they both surely needed.

But his attitude was changing. There were things a man just had to know, questions he had to ask, to be sure a woman wasn’t playing him false.

Luke looked out the back window of the milling room. Nora’s van was parked behind her barn—or was it Hiram’s barn again? He didn’t want to believe Nora had given such a snake the time of day, much less her physical affection—but maybe she hadn’t had any say about it. Maybe Hiram had sniffed out her money problems and used them as leverage to get whatever he wanted from her. The excommunicated bishop had a talent for basing his lies on just enough truth to trip up the most rational observer. Luke decided to straighten out this story once and for all.
Right now.

As he strode across the lot between the mill and the big red barn behind Nora’s house, Luke reminded himself not to jump to assumptions—not to force Nora’s hand if she’d been caught between Hiram and a hard place. But he had to know. Even if she didn’t utter a word, the truth would be written all over her fresh, freckled face at the mention of Knepp’s name.

The door to her shop was propped open, so he walked in.

A lemony freshness lingered in the air and ceiling fans stirred the late afternoon stillness. A wide wooden stairway now led up to the loft, where a sturdy railing doubled as a rack for hangings. Nora had already hung several of her unique banners, and she was up there fastening the edge of a large quilt, which served as the central focus of the display.

“Luke!” she called out cheerfully. “I was hoping to see you—to maybe do something tonight. And here you are!”

Without a word Luke bounded up the stairway, his boots making enough racket to fill the barn. It seemed like the perfect sound effect—like a hammer hitting a nail—considering what he had to say to this woman, who was acting as though nothing had happened between her and Hiram. Nora was wearing that bright red, pink, and orange checked dress he liked, but she’d removed the cape and had shoved the sleeves up her arms—probably because she was hot.

Hot
doesn’t begin to cover it
, he thought as he imagined what she wasn’t wearing beneath her calf-length dress. “Yeah, I had some ideas about dinner out tonight, but then I heard some interesting tidbits—” He grabbed Nora by the shoulders. “Hiram tells me you and—”

“Well,
that
should tip you off,” she protested, wide-eyed.

“—he are partners now,” Luke continued in a harsh voice. “I was going to ask about renting your pastureland for more of my grain crops—which would mean a very nice income for you. But maybe the land isn’t yours to rent anymore, eh?”

Nora scowled, struggling to break free from his grasp. “What on earth are you talking about?”

“And maybe the barn is Hiram’s, too—not to mention certain
perks
,” Luke blurted. His pulse was pounding so loudly he could hardly hear what he was saying. Nora smelled so fresh, looked so young and vulnerable, that if he found out she’d gotten intimate with Knepp, he didn’t know how he would keep his hands off her.

“After the way he cornered me at the—do you
really
believe I’d—”

“He tells me you don’t wear underwear, Nora. How would he know that?”

Somehow Nora wrenched herself away from him. Before Luke saw it coming, she slapped his face so hard he staggered backwards.

“Get out! I don’t have to listen to this!” she cried. “I thought you were different from other guys, but
no
—you’re a horse’s rear end just like all the rest of them.” She burst into tears. Then she started backing away from him as though he’d scared the daylights out of her. “Get moving—before I call the sheriff,” she added in a quivering voice.

The throbbing in Luke’s cheek brought him back into focus. He gingerly rubbed his face, amazed at the power Nora’s slap had packed—and aware that she’d knocked some sense into him. But it was too little too late.

He’d been the world’s biggest fool.

He’d accused her falsely. He’d made her cry. He’d insulted her. Worst of all, he’d probably lost her. After what he’d just insinuated about her and Hiram, why would Nora ever want anything more to do with him?

“I—I’m sorry,” Luke rasped.

“Yes, you are—a sorry excuse for a friend,” she hurled at him as she pointed at the door. “Out!
Now
.”

Luke knew better than to protest or plead his case. He went down the staircase a lot slower than he’d gone up it, and when he reached the door, he left without looking back at her. The sound of her sobbing followed him outside.

 

 

Nora wasted no time locking the shop door. Then she plunked down on the bottom step of the stairway and tried to figure out what had just happened. She’d been riding high as her displays fell into place, tagging a few last pieces before she’d figured on calling Luke to go someplace for supper. Mamma and Millie had moved back to the house when Dat came home from the hospital, so she was on her own again.

But
no
. Hiram had obviously spun a juicy tale or two, and Luke had gotten caught in his web.

She held her face in her hands. If she recalled those fast-flying moments of their argument correctly, Luke believed that Hiram had reclaimed the barn and maybe the pastureland. As part of the exchange, the ex-bishop had apparently received some sexual favors and a very intimate knowledge of her dressing habits. Had Nora not been so upset, she would’ve laughed out loud at such outrageous insinuations.

But Luke had believed them. Luke had lost all sense of perspective, and most likely he’d come here immediately following Hiram’s tale-telling.

Nora could easily imagine the ex-bishop sitting in his classic Cadillac somewhere nearby, watching Luke storm over here and then watching him slink away. After Rachel had told her how everyone went on alert whenever they spotted Hiram’s distinctive car, Nora sensed she needed to take the same precautions. If the ex-bishop’s live-in lover had left him, he was on the prowl for another one.

There was a time when Nora would’ve kept this situation under her
kapp
, too embarrassed to admit the fix she was in—or foolish enough to believe she could outfox Hiram. But today’s incident took her back to another barn that had belonged to another bishop who’d counted on her humiliation keeping her quiet.

Never again
, Nora vowed as she rose from the wooden step. She went into the restroom and splashed cool water on her face, considering what she should do. Then she turned off the fans and the lights and locked the store before hopping into her van. With any luck, she wouldn’t find too many folks in the clinic at this time on a Friday afternoon.

 

 

Nora was surprised to see Andy manning the front desk when she entered the empty waiting room. “Wrapping up another busy week?” she asked in the most chipper voice she could muster.

“And I get the evening off for
gut
behavior,” he replied happily. “I’m really pleased with how well your
dat
’s doing with his new CPAP machine. We strapped the mask over his nose, turned on the air flow, and he fell asleep within minutes. Once he got some rest and oxygen and fluids in the hospital, he was a model patient.”

“Happy to hear it,” Nora replied. “Mamma and Millie felt a lot better about going home when they saw such an improvement in his mood. Who knows how many years he’d been suffering from sleep apnea, what with Mamma being the sick one for so long?”

“I’m glad it was such a simple fix. Atlee’s already rigged up an adapter so Gabe can run his machine on a car battery.” Andy smiled kindly at her. “We’ll hope that this improvement in your father’s health will result in improved relations with his family, as well.”

“
Denki
for saying that,” Nora whispered. “Our prayers will be answered, I believe.” She took a deep breath, willing herself not to backslide into the emotional turmoil she’d driven away from a few moments ago. “Where might I catch Rebecca? Has she gone back to her apartment already?”

“Nope, she’s upstairs in her office.” Andy swiveled in his chair and tapped a button on the desk console. “Rebecca, can Nora come up for a visit?” he said into a speaker.

“Sure!” came her immediate answer. “I’m working on her website as we speak.”

There was an elevator in the waiting room, but Nora chose the stairs. She composed her thoughts, prayed a little, and by the time she stepped into the upstairs hallway, she felt confident enough to discuss her situation without getting overly emotional. She saw no need to mention Luke’s name or to take the chance that their spat would become the topic of conversation at the Sweet Seasons.

“Nora! What do you think?” Rebecca said as she gestured to the large screen of her computer monitor. “Look everything over to be sure I’ve got the details right. Your visit has saved me calling you about this.”

Nora’s mood improved immediately as she gazed at the home page header, where her quilted black cows welcomed visitors to the Simple Gifts website. She clicked on the various links, skimming the text on each page. “This looks so cool,” she murmured gratefully. “ The photos of the quilts and Matthias’s horse collars really give a feel for the whole store.”

“Anytime you want to update those with shots of new merchandise, it won’t take me but a few snaps of a camera and a few clicks of the mouse,” Rebecca said. “Is your grand opening information correct?”

Nora returned to the home page and then nodded. “I really like the way you used Ben’s design from my outdoor sign to coordinate everything. I think he’s going to mount it on the barn soon.”