Looking for a Miracle (10 page)

He smiled. “Oh, fair to middlin’. I’m in town picking up a new harness for one of my daed’s plow mules. I thought I’d stop by the market to see what’s doin’, and I was just figuring on going somewhere to get a bite of lunch pretty soon.”

Mom’s face seemed to brighten. “Would you like to join me and the girls at the Plain and Fancy Restaurant? If we can ever find Nadine, that is.”

“I haven’t seen her, Mom,” Rebekah said. “Not since we separated earlier.”

Daniel motioned across the room. “I saw her over at Kauffmeirs’ root-beer stand. She was talkin’ to a couple of fellows about her age.” He gave Rebekah a crooked grin. “I’d be happy to join you for lunch. The Plain and Fancy is one of my favorite eating spots.”

“Well then, let’s see if we can round up that stray daughter of mine, and we’ll go eat ourselves full,” Mom said with a nod.

As Nadine followed the others to a table at the Plain and Fancy, she wondered why she had been scolded by Mom for talking to Luke and Sam Troyer over at the root-beer stand and yet Rebekah had been allowed to bring Daniel Beachy to the restaurant with them. As usual, everything went her sister’s way, and it didn’t seem fair that Rebekah was so spoiled.
Luke and Sam must think I’m still a little girl who has to check in with her mamm every few seconds,
she fumed.

She looked over at Daniel, who had taken a seat beside Rebekah’s wheelchair.
He likes her. I don’t care what Rebekah says. And I’m sure she likes him, too, even though she’s too stubborn to admit it.
Nadine glanced at Rebekah, who wore a smile on her face, and she was sure the satisfied look wasn’t just because they were about to eat lunch at her favorite restaurant.

“Is everyone as hungry as I am?” Vera asked, as she took a seat between Mom and Nadine. “I didn’t take time to eat much breakfast this morning, and I think it’s finally caught up with me.”

“I know I’m hungry,” Daniel said, giving his stomach a couple of thumps. “’Course my mamm says I’ve been hungry since the day I was born.”

“What’s wrong, sister?” Rebekah asked, glancing across the table at Nadine. “You look like you might not be feeling so well.”

“It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

“Probably drank too much root beer at the farmers’ market,” Mom put in. “That is where I found her, after all.”

“I didn’t drink any root beer at all,” Nadine said with a frown. “I never got the chance because you dragged me away from there, saying it was time for lunch.”

“I didn’t
drag
you anywhere, Nadine.” Mom clicked her tongue. “How you do exaggerate sometimes.”

Vera cleared her throat. “If I might change the subject...”

“Certainly,” Mom said, giving their driver a pleasant smile. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Well, I subscribe to
The Budget,
and when I was reading it the other day, I noticed that there’s going to be a barbecue next week for the volunteer firemen in our area and their families. I know that two of Andrew’s brothers are volunteers, so I was wondering if you would all be going to that.”

“I’d like to go,” Nadine spoke up before Mom could open her mouth to reply. “My friend Carolyn went to the one last year, and she said—”

“We’ll have to wait and see how it goes,” Mom interrupted. “We might be busy with other things that day.”

“I’ll bet if Rebekah wanted to go, you’d say it was okay.”

“Not if we had other plans, I wouldn’t.”

Nadine was about to say something more on the subject, but Mom put her finger to her lips and shook her head. “We’ll talk about this later.”

Rebekah glanced over at Daniel and noticed that he seemed to be staring at the place mat underneath his silverware. Was he thinking about that incident at the market with the English fellows? He might be wondering if he should tell her mother about it, after all.

Rebekah hoped he wouldn’t go back on his promise because it had been stressful enough to go through that ordeal without having Mom in some kind of a stew over what could have happened to Rebekah had Daniel not come along when he did.

“How’s your new business going?” Daniel asked suddenly, breaking into Rebekah’s thoughts.

“It’s doing real well,” she said, feeling a sense of relief that he wanted to talk about something on a more positive note. “We went to the garden center in Lancaster this morning, so I could buy more plants and some packets of seeds that I can start during the winter.”

Daniel’s eyes seemed to brighten. “I think spending all day around plants and flowers would be wunderbaar. I wish I could do something more enjoyable like that. I’ve got a love for flowers that just won’t quit, but my daed says being a dairyman is important work.” He crinkled his nose. “My uncle Jake—the one I told you about who lives in Ohio—has invited me to move out there and help in his greenhouse.”

“Why don’t you go then?” The question came from Nadine, who leaned her elbows on the table and looked intently at Daniel. “Or is something keeping you here?”

Daniel shrugged. “I’ve thought about his offer, but Ohio’s kind of far from my family and friends, and I’m afraid I’d be lonely out there.” He glanced over at Rebekah, but she averted her gaze.

“Living near one’s family can be important in times of need,” Mom put in. “None of my immediate family lives close, but I appreciate having Andrew’s family to call my own. They’ve always been there for us—through the good times and the bad.”

Rebekah’s thoughts drifted back in time—back to when she’d had her accident. She still remembered how everyone in the family had rallied with food and money for the hospital bills. That’s when Grandma had decided to move in with them. She had a heart full of love and wanted to help out.

“When I marry someday, I hope to teach my kinner the value of a loving family,” Daniel said with a note of conviction.

If you married Mary Ellen, you’d be getting a wonderful family,
Rebekah thought ruefully.
What a shame she’s passing up someone as good as you, Daniel. Maybe when I see Mary Ellen at church on Sunday, I’ll tell her that, too.

Daniel enjoyed the Pennsylvania Dutch meal they had been served, which consisted of fried chicken, meatloaf, buttered noodles, potato filling, homemade rolls, chowchow, and green beans, but he didn’t enjoy watching the disagreeable looks Nadine kept shooting at Rebekah. Had their mother noticed it—or even Vera, the English driver Sarah had hired today? If so, what must they be thinking?

Had something happened between Rebekah and her sister earlier in the day, or was Nadine taking out her frustrations on Rebekah because her mother had caught her flirting with the Troyer boys? Whatever the reason, Daniel could tell that Nadine wasn’t happy, and her sulky attitude seemed to put a damper on everyone’s meal. For the last ten minutes, Rebekah hadn’t said more than two words to Daniel, and he figured it might be because she was upset with Nadine. Either that or she was still fretting over the incident with the rowdy English fellows at the farmers’ market.

Daniel clenched his teeth. It had been hard for him to control his temper and not give in to the temptation to punch those two in their snooty noses. But that wasn’t the Amish way, and he was pleased that he’d been able to run them off by his words. He could understand why Rebekah didn’t want her mother to know about the unpleasant episode. If Sarah was upset because one of her daughters had run off to flirt with some Amish boys, he could only imagine how she would have reacted to Rebekah being tormented by those rude Englishers.

He glanced over at Rebekah again and watched as she ate the piece of apple-crumb pie their waitress had just brought. “This is pretty tasty, jah?” he commented, after he’d taken a bite of his own piece of pie.

She smiled and nodded but gave no other reply.

“If you need some help setting out those plants you bought this morning, I’d be glad to come over later today and assist.”

“That’s nice of you, Daniel, but I’m sure there are things at your place that need to be done, and I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“It’s no imposition. I’d be glad to help in whatever way I can.”

“Well, if you really want to, I won’t turn down the help.”

He nodded enthusiastically. “I’ll go straight home after I’ve finished my dessert, drop off the harness I picked up for my daed, and then head on over to the greenhouse.”

“Danki,” Rebekah said with a heart-melting smile. “I really appreciate that.”

“Danki for runnin’ to town for me this morning,” Daniel’s daed said, when Daniel entered the barn and handed him the harness he’d picked up at the harness shop near Bird-in-Hand.

“You’re welcome.”

“Did you make it by the farmers’ market to get some of that fresh-squeezed apple cider your mamm likes so well?”

Daniel nodded. “Picked up a couple of jugs when I first got there and put ’em in my buggy while I looked around for a bit.”

“So that’s why you’re late gettin’ home, huh?” Pop placed the harness on a shelf inside one of the horse’s stalls and turned back to face Daniel. “I thought maybe you might have gone out to lunch at your favorite restaurant.”

Daniel’s face heated up. “Actually, I did—after I left the market.”

Pop nodded and gave Daniel a thump on the back. “That’s no reason for ya to be lookin’ so embarrassed. I know you’ve got a hole in your leg that has to be kept filled up.”

Daniel chuckled. Pop always had liked to tease about his ravenous appetite.

“So, where’d you eat? At the Plain and Fancy?”

“Jah. I shared a table with Sarah Stoltzfus and her daughters. Her English driver was with ’em, too.”

“Ah, I see. Did you run into them at the restaurant then?”

“Actually, I saw Rebekah along with her mamm and sister at the market, and Sarah—well, she invited me to go with ’em for lunch, and I said I would.”

Pop moved toward the barn door. “Sarah’s a good woman, and she’s had a lot on her hands since Rebekah got hurt and ended up in a wheelchair.”

Daniel nodded as he followed his father out the door. “Speaking of Rebekah—I was wondering if it would be all right if I went over to her greenhouse this afternoon. I want to help her set out the plants she bought in Lancaster this morning.”

Pop shook his head and kept right on walking. “I’m needin’ your help here. Got a fence that needs mending in several places, and your brothers are already out there workin’ on one section of it.”

“How long is it gonna take? Couldn’t I go over to the greenhouse after I’m done?”

“From the looks of things, we’ll be workin’ on fences at least until suppertime, and then we’ll have the milkin’ to do after that.”

Daniel felt a keen sense of disappointment all the way to his toes. He’d been counting on seeing Rebekah again today, and he’d as much as promised that he would go there and help out. What would she think if he didn’t show up?

“Can I at least drive over there and tell her I’m not comin’, so she won’t think I went back on my word?”

Pop halted and turned to face Daniel. “You should never have given your word in the first place. You knew when you left here this morning that there would likely be some kind of chores waiting when you got home.”

“But Pop—”

“Enough said. Now grab a hammer, and let’s get busy.”

“Would you like me to stay and help with those?” Mom asked Rebekah after she and Vera had finished hauling the plants into the greenhouse for her.

Rebekah smiled but shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, but Daniel said he’d be coming by soon to help.”

“That’s awfully nice of him. He seems to have taken an interest in you, daughter.”

Rebekah was glad Nadine had gone up to the house. If she’d heard what Mom had just said, she would have probably put in her two cents’ worth and insisted that Daniel was sweet on Rebekah.

“He’s interested in flowers, Mom,” Rebekah said, maneuvering her wheelchair over to the table where her plants had been put. “There’s nothing more to it than that.”

Mom gave her a knowing look, shrugged, and then headed for the door. “I’ll ring the bell when supper’s ready.”

“Jah, okay.” Rebekah was glad Dad had thought to build a ramp leading up to the front door of her greenhouse. That way she didn’t have to bother anyone to help her get to and from her place of business. When it was time for supper, she just wheeled herself right out the door and up to the house.

As soon as the door closed behind Mom, Rebekah grabbed the ledger she kept on the shelf under the front counter and got busy recording the names and prices of all the plants she had bought. By the time she finished that job, she hoped Daniel would have arrived.

Sometime later, Rebekah glanced at the clock on the far wall and frowned. It was almost three and still no Daniel.
I wonder what could be keeping him?

She rolled her chair across the room and peered out the window. No sign of Daniel’s rig. She pressed her nose up to the glass. No sign of any buggies going by on the road, either. Had Daniel forgotten about coming, or had he changed his mind and decided not to come after all?

“Jah, that must be it,” she muttered, a keen sense of disappointment threatening to weigh her down. She should have known better than to let herself get so worked up about the idea of spending a few hours this afternoon with Daniel in the greenhouse.

She sighed and rolled her wheelchair away from the window. “Guess I’d better get busy and set these plants out myself, because it surely won’t get done otherwise.”

The preaching service that week was held at Uncle Amos and Aunt Mim’s house. It was the first Sunday of September, and the weather was still unbearably hot, feeling stickier than the flypaper hanging from the rafters in Dad’s barn. All the doors and windows were flung wide open, but Rebekah thought it was still much too uncomfortable to be inside with a bunch of warm-bodied folk today.

She maneuvered her wheelchair next to the backless bench where Nadine sat with several girls her age. Her eyes scanned the other benches on the women’s side of the room, searching for Mary Ellen. She wasn’t in her usual place, and Rebekah worried that she might have gotten sick and wouldn’t be in church at all today.

“I wonder where Mary Ellen is,” Rebekah whispered to her sister.

Nadine shrugged. “How should I know?”

“I hope she isn’t sick,” Rebekah said, choosing to ignore Nadine’s curt words.

“I don’t think so.” Nadine pointed to the door. “Here she comes.”

Rebekah wished she had been able to talk to her cousin before church started, but she guessed what she had to say could wait until the service was over. She had lain awake for several hours last night, rehearsing what she would tell Mary Ellen about her decision to let Johnny court her. She had planned to suggest that Mary Ellen give Daniel a chance, but after he’d promised to show up at the greenhouse the other day and hadn’t followed through, Rebekah wondered if it might be better for Mary Ellen not to get involved with Daniel, either, because apparently he couldn’t stick to his word.

“And now, before we close our service for the day,” the bishop said, “I’d like to announce some upcoming weddings that will be held in our community. The marriage of Johnny Yoder and Mary Ellen Hilty will take place on the second Thursday of November.”

Rebekah’s mouth fell open, and she sat in her wheelchair too stunned to move. She was so shocked by Bishop Benner’s announcement that she didn’t hear the other names he published before the congregation.

What on earth was Mary Ellen thinking? How could she have agreed to marry Johnny without consulting her best friend about it first? Surely she would have wanted to get Rebekah’s opinion on something as important as this. In the past, they had always talked things over whenever either one of them had a big decision to make. Rebekah had discussed her plans to open a greenhouse with Mary Ellen, so it made no sense that Mary Ellen would become betrothed to Johnny without mentioning it to Rebekah.

Maybe their friendship wasn’t as strong as it used to be. Maybe Mary Ellen cared more about Johnny than she did Rebekah.

Of course,
Rebekah reminded herself,
when a person falls in love, no one else matters so much anymore. Once Mary Ellen and Johnny become husband and wife, they’ll put each other first, and I guess that’s the way it should be.

When the service was finally over and the people had been dismissed, Rebekah drew in a deep breath and forced herself to move her wheelchair toward the front door. Mary Ellen would probably expect hearty congratulations from her family and friends—especially her best friend. But how could Rebekah offer such congratulations when she felt so betrayed? She knew it was the right thing to do, but it wouldn’t be easy.

Rebekah swallowed against the burning sensation pushing at the back of her throat and wheeled onto the front porch. Was the pain she felt because she hadn’t been told about the engagement, or was it the fact that she was intensely jealous? She and Mary Ellen had shared nearly everything up until now. When they were young girls, Mary Ellen had gotten a rabbit, and she’d made sure that Rebekah had one, too. When they were a few years older, Grandma had given Rebekah a faceless doll. Immediately, she had asked Grandma to make one just like it for Mary Ellen.

Things had begun to change of late, however. Mary Ellen was moving on with her life in a direction Rebekah was sure she could never take. She also knew it wouldn’t be fair to expect her cousin to give up love, marriage, and a family of her own because Rebekah couldn’t have those things, but it hurt, nonetheless. If Mary Ellen thought Johnny was the best choice for a husband, then who was Rebekah to say otherwise? She would simply have to accept it. Maybe Johnny would settle down once he and Mary Ellen were married. It might turn out that his playfulness would be exactly what his wife would need during times when things didn’t go so well.

Rebekah scanned the yard and caught sight of Mary Ellen walking across the grass with Johnny. With a sense of determination to do the right thing, she glided the wheelchair down the ramp Uncle Amos had built for her sometime ago and headed in the direction of the young couple.

As Rebekah drew near, she reminded herself to be happy for her best friend no matter how much her heart was breaking. She had nearly reached the spot where Mary Ellen and Johnny stood when she was greeted by yet another surprise.

“Have ya heard the news about Aunt Grace and Uncle Lewis?” her cousin John asked as he and his twin brother, Jacob, walked beside her.

Rebekah shook her head. “What news is that?”

“She’s in a family way. They’re gonna have a
boppli,
” Jacob put in.

“Really? I hadn’t heard.”

“Their boy, Matthew, is already seven years old, and I’ll bet he’s gonna think a little bruder or
schweschder
is a real bother.” John’s forehead wrinkled as his eyebrows drew together. “I can still remember when our little sister was born. It seemed like Maddie cried all the time.”

Rebekah chuckled despite her dour mood. “Kumme now, John. You and Jacob were only four when Maddie joined your family. You weren’t much more than a baby yourself, so I doubt you can remember much about it at all.”

“Jah, I can,” Jacob asserted. “All Maddie ever did was eat, sleep, cry, and wet her
windle. Bopplin
are such a bother!”

“When you get married and start a family of your own, you’ll change your mind about babies,” Rebekah said.

John chuckled and thumped Jacob on the back. “That might be true, but I doubt my brother will ever like anything about dirty diapers.”

“That will never be a problem because I ain’t never gettin’ married.” Jacob shook his head with such vigor that his hat fell off.

“Jah,” John agreed, “Jacob and I have decided that we’re gonna stay single for the rest of our lives.”

Rebekah smiled and grasped the wheels of her chair. “If you two will excuse me, I’ve got to congratulate the happy couple.” She rolled away quickly before she lost her nerve.

Rebekah found Mary Ellen and Johnny surrounded by several well-wishers, so she stayed off to the side, awaiting her turn. She would be glad to be done with this so she could get off by herself for a while to think things through. When the others finally cleared away, she maneuvered her wheelchair close to the smiling couple.

“Congratulations, you two.” She tried to make her voice sound cheerful, even though her heart ached something awful. “You’re full of surprises; that’s for sure.”

Mary Ellen’s smile widened, and Johnny nodded enthusiastically. “It was a surprise to most, but surely not to you, Rebekah,” he said. “You’re Mary Ellen’s best friend so she must’ve told you about our plans.”

Mary Ellen’s smile faded, and she stared at the ground. “No. I—I didn’t tell Rebekah you had asked me to marry you.”

“You didn’t? Why not?” Johnny’s tone was one of surprise, and his eyebrows lifted high on his forehead.

Rebekah looked over at her cousin, wondering the same thing.

“Could we speak privately for a minute?” Mary Ellen asked, bending down to whisper in Rebekah’s ear.

Rebekah glanced up at Johnny for his approval.

“Jah, sure, go ahead. It’s fine by me,” he replied with a shrug.

“Let’s go down by the pond,” Mary Ellen suggested. “I don’t think anyone else is there right now since everyone’s waiting to eat.”

“Shouldn’t we help the other women get lunch on?”

“We won’t be gone long, and there are plenty of others here to help so we probably won’t even be missed.”

“Well, okay then.” Rebekah wheeled off in the direction of the pond, and when they reached the taller grass, making it hard for her to maneuver the chair, Mary Ellen took over pushing.

A couple of ducks on the water dipped their heads up and down and flapped strong wings as if they didn’t have a care in the world.

“They look so happy,” Mary Ellen said, dropping to a seat on the grass.

“Almost as happy as you and Johnny seem to be,” Rebekah mumbled.

“Oh, we are,” Mary Ellen’s voice bubbled like a sparkling stream, but when she looked up at Rebekah, her dreamy expression turned suddenly sorrowful. “I’m sorry for keeping our betrothal from you. It’s just that—well, I was afraid you might be upset.”

“Upset? Why would you think I’d be upset?”

“We’ve always done everything together. If I got a bunny, you got one, too.”

“If I got a doll, so did you.”

Mary Ellen nodded. “But this time, I was afraid you would be hurt that I was getting married and you weren’t.”

“That’s just the way of things,” Rebekah said flatly. No use telling Mary Ellen how she really felt. “There comes a time when little girls must grow up. I’ve come to realize that I can’t have everything my friend has.”

“Oh, but you can.” Mary Ellen touched Rebekah’s shoulder. “Well, maybe not at the exact same time as me, but someday you’ll fall in love and get married.”

Rebekah groaned. “We’ve had this discussion before. I’m not able to get around like you, and I doubt that any man would want to be stuck with a handicapped wife.”

“Other women—some much worse off than you—get married and even have children.”

“It doesn’t matter because no one is in love with me.” Rebekah shrugged. “Besides, I have my new business now, and if I can become self-supporting, then I won’t have need of a husband.”

“Love can change all that.”

“As I said, there’s no one to love.”

“‘Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass,’” Mary Ellen recited the verse from Psalm 37.

Rebekah gave her wheelchair a sharp turn to the left. “We’d better get back. I’m sure they’re probably getting ready to serve up the noon meal by now, and we should be there to help.”

Mary Ellen looked like she might want to say something more, but instead, she grabbed the handles of Rebekah’s wheelchair and directed it toward the house.

Many of the families lingered for most of the day, enjoying the good food and the fun of being together. It was a time for laughter and games, stories to be told and retold. No one seemed in a hurry to return home to the evening chores that waited to be done.

But Rebekah wasn’t anxious to stay around the Hilty farm and be reminded of her cousin’s happiness. Even the news about Aunt Grace expecting a baby had sent a pang of regret to her tender, aching heart. She knew it was wrong to harbor feelings of jealousy, and she also knew she had been unkind to Mary Ellen earlier. Since her family had no plans to leave early, the noon meal was over, and everyone seemed occupied, she decided it would be a good time for her to find a place of solitude and talk to God about a few things.

Rebekah wheeled off toward Aunt Mim’s garden, where an abundance of flowers and herbs grew. Maybe after some time in the beauty of colors and fragrances that only God could have created, she might find forgiveness for her attitude and could return to the yard feeling a bit more sociable.

A firmly packed dirt path ran through the middle of the garden, and Rebekah had no trouble navigating it with her wheelchair. She rolled right between two rows of pink roses and stopped to drink in their delicious aroma.

Closing her eyes and lifting her face toward the warming sun, Rebekah sent up a silent prayer.
Dear God: Help me to be a gracious friend and accept the fact that Mary Ellen will soon be a married woman even though I’ll always be single. Help my business to do well so I can keep busy and make a good living. Amen.

Even after Rebekah had finished her prayer, she kept her eyes closed, allowing her imagination to run wild.
Wouldn’t it be like heaven to stand in a garden like this one and whisper words of affection to a man who had pledged his undying love to me?
She could almost feel his sweet breath on her upturned face as she envisioned the scene in her mind. She could almost hear his steady breathing as he held her in his arms, whispering words of endearment.

“The roses are sure beautiful this time of year, jah?”

Rebekah’s eyes flew open, and she whirled her chair in the direction of the deep voice that had pulled her from the romantic reverie.

Daniel stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets and a peculiar expression on his face. “I’m sorry if I scared you. I could see that you were probably meditating, but I figured you would have heard me come into the garden.” He grinned, causing the skin around his eyes to crinkle. “My mom always says my big feet don’t tread too lightly.”

Rebekah had to smile in spite of her melancholy mood. “You’re right. I was meditating.” She chose not to mention what she had been meditating on or that she was still a little put out with him for not coming over to help set out the greenhouse plants as he’d said he would do.

As if he could read her mind, Daniel knelt on the grass beside her wheelchair. “I’m sorry about not comin’ over to the greenhouse the other afternoon. My daed needed me to help fix some broken fences, and I couldn’t get away.”

“I figured you were either too busy or had changed your mind about coming,” she said, staring down at her hands, clasped tightly in her lap. “It took me awhile, but I finally got all the plants set in their proper place.”

Daniel shook his head. “I didn’t want to be too busy, Rebekah. I really wanted to help you, and I would have come over to let you know I wasn’t able to help out, but Pop wouldn’t let me leave.” He drew in a deep breath and blew it out with a puff of air that lifted the ties on Rebekah’s kapp. “I’ll be glad when I’m out on my own and don’t have to answer to my daed anymore.”

Rebekah wasn’t sure how to respond to that comment. It wasn’t like Daniel to speak out against either of his folks, but she figured he was probably talking out of frustration.