Miriam's Secret (32 page)

If so, Shirley could understand. Sometimes out of nowhere she sorrowed for Jonas despite her best efforts not to. Oh, if only things could have been different for them. What if Jonas's parents hadn't left the Amish faith and community? Or what if she'd been born
Englisha
or at least Mennonite? Then she might someday say marriage vows with Jonas. But that was impossible the
way things stood. Still, she could imagine Jonas sitting among the men and laughing. They were worlds apart in their faith, yet he would fit in here. She and Jonas were more one in heart than they were different. Shirley sighed at thoughts that could never be. Her thoughts drifted back to her sister.

Was Miriam perhaps thinking similar thoughts about Ivan? Did she wonder what would have happened if Ivan had never looked at Laura Swartz? What if he had stayed true to his earlier love for her? What if Miriam had been given the farm by Mr. Bland a few weeks earlier—before Ivan had given in to Laura's charms? Miriam would have taken him on those terms,
yah.
But now the inheritance of the farm had changed everything. Shirley glanced again at Miriam. She was her old self now, joining in the laughter, her dark mood apparently gone.

Now it was Emery Yoder's turn to tell a tale. He'd apparently taken it upon himself to poke fun at the former storytellers. He lifted his chin high as the story unfolded. “And then the
daett
asked his son, ‘Now what was it you saw?'

“ ‘A snake,' the son said. ‘A big snake. Thick as your arm and over eight feet long. It wiggled in the grass. I stood frozen to the ground. I couldn't even scream.'

“The
daett
laughed. ‘We don't have such big snakes in Oklahoma. Now in Texas maybe, but not here.'”

Soft chuckles went around the benches as Emery continued. “ ‘Well,' the son said as he contemplated his
daett
's words. ‘Maybe it was only six feet long—but it was big.'

“The
daett
regarded his son with a stern face. ‘Are you sure?'

“The son blinked. ‘Well, maybe it was as thick as my hand and four feet long.'

“ ‘You shouldn't tell tall tales,' the
daett
reminded his son.

“The son pondered his story again. ‘Okay. Maybe it was a little one. But he looked big!'

“The
daett
slapped his son on the back. ‘Are you sure the grass didn't blow in the wind and that was what you saw?'

“ ‘Maybe.' The son backed down from his tale even more. ‘It might have been something like that.' ”

Wry grins and cheerful laughter spread around the circle.

“So maybe you didn't choke on that salty lemonade?” another man added.

“Just keep that story in mind whenever you hear tales about me.” Emery tried to look really wise, but he ended up laughing at himself. “I suppose I did have a rough time of it that hot workday.”

“At least he 'fesses up!” Wayne slapped Emery on the back before standing up. “Time for me to head on down the road, fellows. You take care of the young women now.”

“Isn't it about time you took care of one yourself?” one of the men teased.

Wayne glanced at Miriam, who turned all colors of red. He grinned. “I've been thinking about it, but let's not go there today, okay?”

Laughter followed Wayne as he left to retrieve his horse from the barn. Several of the other men also rose and headed for the barn. Shirley stood too. She reached over to nudge Miriam on the arm. “Isn't it time for us to go too?”

Miriam jumped, and her face got even redder. She'd been lost in thought—whatever those thoughts were. Her sister had it bad for Wayne whether she wanted to admit the fact or not. Shirley was glad. Miriam deserved a break.

Betty spoke close to Shirley's ear as Miriam turned to talk to the Kuntz sisters. “I'll tell Wayne you're ready to leave. He'll want to help with the horse.”

“Sounds good,” Shirley said. Why not help Miriam along in her relationship with Wayne?

Betty hurried away, and minutes later she was waving from the barn door, a look of triumph on her face. Wayne must have agreed to help. Shirley nudged Miriam again. “Come on. Our buggy will soon be ready.”

Turning from her conversation with Naomi, Miriam said, “What?”

“Time to go,” Shirley told her. “Wayne's getting Sally ready for us.”

Miriam gasped. “Oh!”

The Kuntz sisters smiled. “Goodbye for now. We'll see you tonight at the hymn singing.”

Shirley and Miriam picked up their things and walked to the barn. They greeted Betty and Wayne cheerfully. “Thank you, Wayne!” Miriam said. “But you really didn't have to help us. We're not the helpless Yoder sisters from Possum Valley.”

Wayne looked at Miriam and smiled. “I was more than glad to help you.”

Miriam smiled in return. “Thank you, Wayne. I appreciate this.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

O
n a Sunday evening two weeks later, Ivan was sitting on the couch in the living room at the Swartz home. Outside, the late-summer sun hung low on the horizon. Ivan drew his gaze away from the window and forced himself to focus. Sitting beside him, Laura was fidgeting with a fold in her dress. She'd been tense all day, even when her usual sunny smile was thrown his way. He could tell from clear across the room at the church service that she had an extra crease in her jawline and wariness in her eyes. But when she climbed into his buggy after the hymn singing, she chattered nonstop all the way home and was continuing to do so even now.

“You should have been there. Aunt Martha stopped by to visit this week. She stayed for two whole hours right in the middle of corn-cutting time. At least she helped while we talked, although I'm not sure we got any more done than we would have without her. We talked about everything and anything. Aunt Martha
thinks there will be plenty of weddings again this fall. She even dropped a hint about us, Ivan, although we haven't been seeing each other that long. Aunt Martha knows that full well and understands perfectly…”

And Ivan listened. Mostly because he expected the moment to arrive when she stopped so they could face whatever was bothering Laura. He didn't have to think long to imagine what that might be. They had never quite settled the Miriam Yoder issue to Laura's satisfaction.

Ivan returned his gaze out the living room window. He could ask what was wrong, but why do that? He didn't really want to know, and he figured Laura would get there sooner or later. Had she found out about the letter he'd written to Miriam? Miriam had never answered, so how would Laura find out? Miriam wasn't the type of girl who would blab that kind of thing around. Or maybe Laura had learned of his visits to the Yoder place in the weeks before the two young women had left for Oklahoma. Someone might have seen him and mentioned it.

Ivan stiffened when Laura cleared her throat. He was up to none of this. He'd bolt the house if she started in with questions about Miriam. What kept him here was Laura's charm and her kisses, though there had been fewer of those lately. Ivan didn't want to talk about Miriam. Surely Laura understood that.

Her voice cut through his thoughts. “I'm sorry I talked so much on the way home.”

“I liked it.” He looked at her. In a way it was true. Maybe not for the reasons Laura might think. He liked the sound of her voice. Also, as long as she chattered, he didn't have to worry that she'd bring up Miriam.

“Really?” Her face brightened.

“Of course!” Ivan smiled. “You're beautiful, Laura, and your voice is charming. What's not to like about you?”

She colored considerably. Her voice carried an edge when she spoke again. “Please don't lie to me, Ivan. I couldn't handle that right now.”

“I'm not lying!” He stared out the window. The sky had darkened completely. Now would come the questions. And now he would leave—beautiful and charming though Laura was.

“You're not lying?”

He heard the hesitation in her voice. “No!” He turned to face her. “Why do you think I'm still here?”

She flinched but rallied her nerve. “Do you like the person I am? Even though I'm shallow and immature and not like Miriam?”

“Miriam!” He made a face. “What has Miriam to do with you and me? She's not even in Possum Valley.”

“What if she was?” The question came quickly. “Would you still be here…with me?”

Ivan sighed. “
Yah
, Laura, I would. I like you. Now can we talk about something else?”

“Then why don't you kiss me anymore?”

Her face was turned up to his endearingly, he thought. “Because I've been trying to behave myself.” He looked away. “We have been going pretty fast, you know.”

Her lips trembled. “Is that the only reason?”

“Of course!” He didn't try to keep the irritation out of his voice.

“Then you
do
love me?” Her arm slipped into his.

He forced himself to relax. “More than you'll ever know, Laura.”

She beamed and drew closer. “Oh, Ivan! You don't know what it does to me to hear you say it. I was beginning to think you…you…” She stopped mid-sentence. “But I won't think such things! Not about you. I can trust you, right?”

“I'll always like you, Laura.” His arm tightened on hers. “There's no question about that.”

She frowned. “Even though I'm not like Miriam?”

“I'm not talking about Miriam.” The edge was back in his voice.

She sighed and leaned against him. “And neither do I want to talk about Miriam. I'm going to forget about her completely and only think of us.”

“Suits me fine.” His hand sought hers.

She looked up at him. “Did you hear what I said about what Aunt Martha said about us?”

His smile widened. “About our wedding this fall?”

The words rushed out. “Of course Aunt Martha wasn't serious, and there really isn't a wedding yet.”

He reached over to touch her lips. “That's why we have to take it slow, Laura. I'd love to kiss you…even right now…but we'd better not.”

The heat burned on her cheeks. “You're so noble and true, Ivan. How can I ever be worthy of you? I'll never be in a million years.”

He smiled wryly. “I'm no saint, dear.”

“Oh, Ivan!” She clung to his arm. “You've never called me ‘dear' before! Will you always call me ‘dear'? Even when I get all old and wrinkled and have borne a dozen children?”

His laugh rang through the room. “That's getting a little ahead of ourselves, isn't it?”

She snuggled against him. “I can't help thinking about such things. You'll be such a
wunderbah daett
to our children. I can't imagine one of them ever leaving the faith, or even going astray slightly. You might even be a minister someday, Ivan. I'm sure Aunt Martha would cast her vote for you.”

Now his face had turned bright red. Yet her praise and confidence comforted him. Miriam would never say such things, not in a hundred years.

Her fingers stroked his face. “You'll look so
gut
in a beard, Ivan. You're handsome now, but the maturity of a beard will add so much. Every girl in the community will wish then they had put forth more effort to snag you.”

He chuckled. “I'm sure you have to look long and hard to see much
gut
in me.”

Her laugh was soft. “You're so modest and humble, Ivan. And so sweet. I can't imagine what was wrong with Miriam that she couldn't see it.”

He stiffened beside her. “Who says I care about what Miriam thinks?”

Her fingers stroked his arm. “You don't have to deny your admiration for Miriam, Ivan. I'm just glad you picked me. I feel honored you changed your mind.”

“It's not what you think,” he managed. Words rose to his lips, but he held them in. There would be no benefit in a disclosure of where his wanderings had taken him with Miriam, and from the sound of things Laura already suspected. And why should he mention that Miriam had rejected his advances?