Naomi’s Christmas (31 page)

The doll she was making for Sadie was nearly finished. It had taken longer than she
expected, since she could only work on it in the evenings after she’d returned to
the grossdaadi house. Sadie was too inquisitive, and there was no place at Nathan’s
where she might easily hide it. Tonight she was putting the final stitches in the
cape, sitting in her rocker near the stove in her small, cozy kitchen.

Naomi let the sewing rest on her lap for a moment as her gaze moved around the room.
Even though she spent most of her time at the farmhouse, she still appreciated the
fact that here she had her own things around her—the rag rug on the floor that Grossmammi
had made, the chair where her mamm
had rocked the kinder, the tea towels her sister had made for her hung neatly on their
hooks.

Despite the grief Naomi felt over the breach with her father, she was content. That
was what she’d told Bishop Mose, and she believed it was true. Still, she couldn’t
help the tiny hope in her heart as every day seemed to bring Nathan closer to her.
Perhaps, one day…

A flicker of light from the driveway between the houses startled her, even as she
heard the crunch of tires on the gravel. Who would be coming to see her after dark?
More likely it would be someone for Isaiah and Libby.

But the car drew into the pull-off by her back porch, and she heard women’s voices
along with the slam of car doors. It must be Paula—who else could it be?

She hurried to the door and swung it open. Paula, for sure, stepping carefully over
a patch of snow, but it wasn’t Hannah, her niece, with her. It was Leah Glick.

“Paula, Leah, wilkom.” She couldn’t help an edge of anxiety in her voice. “Is anything
wrong?”

“What could be wrong?” Paula pressed a cold cheek against hers. “Ach, that old heater
of mine doesn’t work so well anymore. I near froze Leah to death getting here.”

“It wasn’t any colder than riding in a buggy in this weather,” Leah said, already
hanging up her bonnet and coat in the hall.

“Komm, schnell. The kitchen is nice and warm.” Naomi hurried them in, her thoughts
revolving around the unexpectedness of this visit.

Paula set a laden basket on the table. “I wanted to bring you some Christmas goodies
to share with the kinder. I’m sure
you have cookies of your own, but what is the sense of being a baker if I cannot share
with my friends?”

Naomi smiled and nodded, moving automatically to put the kettle on, but concern threaded
along her nerves. Leah was not saying enough, and Paula was saying too much. Something
other than Christmas cookies had brought them here tonight.

She looked from Paula, still chattering about the bakery, to Leah, who smiled but
avoided her eyes.

“What is it?” She interrupted Paula’s tale of the number of jars of honey she’d sold.
“I can see that something is wrong. Please, just tell me what it is.” Her mind leaped
ahead to possible answers. “Something is wrong with Daad? Or one of Elijah’s family?”

“No, no, nothing like that.” Leah put an arm around her waist and guided her to a
chair. “I told Paula you would guess there was a problem the minute we came in.”

“Ja, well, no point in starting out with trouble,” Paula said, her voice a little
testy. “We’ll sit down here, and when the kettle boils we’ll have a nice cup of tea,
and we’ll talk about it.”

Naomi sat, clutching Leah’s hand. “Tell me.”

The two women exchanged glances, as if neither one was willing to start. Then Leah
nodded, accepting responsibility.

“There are rumors flying around the valley. You have not heard anything?”

“If you mean about Daad talking to Bishop Mose about me—”

“Ach, no, that is old news,” Paula said. Her round, kindly face was set in worried
lines that contrasted sharply with her usual good humor. “This is about you and Nathan.”

Leah’s fingers tightened on Naomi’s. “Ugly talk has started, and no one seems to know
with whom. But they are saying something is improper in your relationship with Nathan.”

“Improper—” Naomi could hardly take it in. “But that’s ridiculous.” Impossible, that
her friends and neighbors could be saying such a thing about her. “Surely no one believes
such a foolish rumor could be true.”

Leah and Paula exchanged a look.

“This is more than an idle rumor, I’m afraid.” Leah’s blue eyes were dark with worry.

“The talk is about a particular night. They are saying that someone saw that you didn’t
come home from Nathan’s until nearly morning.” Paula rushed the words out, as if she
were giving nasty medicine and eager to get it over with as quickly as possible.

“We have both heard it from different sources,” Leah said. “We each had the same reaction—that
it was foolish and wicked to say such a thing.”

“We both tried to stamp it out right away.” Paula looked as if she wanted to trample
someone or something underfoot. “But it was like a wildfire. As soon as I’d scold
one person for saying it, the story would pop up someplace else, even worse.”

“But I didn’t. I wouldn’t.” Naomi’s hand twisted in Leah’s. “You know that about me.”

“Of course we do. We know you well enough, and plenty of others do, as well. But still,
there is the talk. Was there something…anything…that might have led to folks misunderstanding?”
Leah leaned toward her, face intent.

“It must have been the night Sadie was sick.” Naomi pressed her fingers to her forehead,
trying to make sense of it
all when her stomach was churning so badly she wanted to throw up. “She came down
with the croup just when I was getting ready to leave for the day. Nathan didn’t know
what to do. I had to stay and take care of her.”

“There, I knew there was an answer,” Paula said, relief in her voice. “No one could
expect you to leave a sick child.”

“We were sure there would be some explanation,” Leah said, echoing the thought. “But
you can understand how it looks. What time was it when you came back to the house?”

“It must have been close to three in the morning. I know it was about two when I got
her to sleep after the final attack.” And then she’d stayed still longer, listening
to Nathan, holding him while he wept. But she couldn’t say that, not to anyone. “I
suppose it looks bad, but there was nothing improper. I had to stay until I felt sure
Sadie was well.”

“Nathan will back you up, for sure, but people with nasty minds will say that he would
anyway. What about Isaiah and Libby? Did they come over?” Leah asked, her mind obviously
lining up a defense for Naomi.

“Isaiah came to the farmhouse to check when he didn’t see lights here.” She gestured
around the kitchen. “He knows that Sadie had the croup.”

“If he stayed to bring you home…” Paula began, but Naomi was already shaking her head.

“I knew it would be a long siege, and I didn’t want both he and Nathan losing a night’s
sleep when they had to be up for the milking so early. I sent him home.”

“That’s too bad. If he’d stayed, he could have scotched the rumors in a hurry.” Paula
shook her head. “So there’s no one to say when you came home.”

The kettle whistled, and Paula rose with a light touch on Naomi’s shoulder. The clink
of cups was a soothing and somehow incongruous background to the turmoil in Naomi’s
thoughts and the pain in her heart.

“But that is exactly what someone is saying,” Leah said, frowning at Paula. “You’re
forgetting how exact the story was. Someone seems to know what time it was when you
came back to the house. Someone knows about that night. How? Who could possibly know
about it and feel enough ill will toward Naomi to spread a rumor?”

Memory came back, sharp and clear. “There was something,” she said slowly. “When I
was walking back here in the darkness, I heard something unexpected.”

“What?” Leah shot the word at her.

She shook her head helplessly. “I’m not sure. I’d been looking up at the stars, thinking
how beautiful the sky was, maybe not paying a lot of attention. I just knew that there
was some sound that I didn’t expect.”

“A car going by on the road?” Leah asked. “Maybe someone saw you.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t that, because I’d have noticed the lights of a car.” She shrugged.
“The nearest I can come is that it might have been the creak of a buggy or wagon,
but I just don’t know. And anyway, sound carries a long way at night. It could have
been something at a distance.”

It was Leah’s turn to shake her head. “Maybe, but I’m not ready to dismiss it as a
coincidence.”

Paula cleared her throat, as if preparing to say something unpleasant. “I hate to
say it, Naomi, but do you think it’s possible your daad would spy on you? Or that
he would say such
a thing if he thought it would make you do as he wants?” She set a cup of tea in front
of Naomi and pushed the sugar bowl nearer.

“I can’t believe that of him.” She got the words out quickly, but a shadow of doubt
lingered. She would not have expected Daad to do a lot of things he’d done lately.

“Well, who else?” Paula asked, her tone practical. “I don’t see anyone else with a
grudge against Naomi.”

“I can think of one.” Leah’s gaze sought hers. “Jessie Miller has been downright nasty
about Naomi taking over with her sister’s kinder.”

“But how would she know about that night? How could anyone know?” The more they talked,
the more impossible it seemed to Naomi. “I can’t seriously believe anybody would be
out in the cold watching on the chance of catching me doing something wrong.”

“Maybe Isaiah said something in all innocence, and it got repeated in the wrong quarters,”
Leah said. “After all, he wouldn’t think it necessary to keep your being at the farmhouse
a secret. You were just doing what you’ve always done in taking care of a child.”

“Ja, or even Nathan or his daad might have said something,” Paula added. “Things get
out, one way or another, it seems. Well, at least now that we know what really happened,
we can fight the rumor with the truth.”

“Some people would rather believe the rumor.” Little though Naomi wanted to say it,
she knew it was true. Rumors were easy to start but not so easy to stop. Her cheeks
burned at the thought of what people were saying and thinking about her.

“One thing is certain-sure. You must talk to Nathan about
it.” Leah was using her schoolteacher voice, the one that assumed obedience.

“How can I?” Naomi wanted to weep in pain and frustration. “How can I possibly say
something like that to Nathan?”

“If you don’t tell him, he’ll find out from someone else. It’s better that he hears
it from you.” Paula hesitated. “Do you want us to be with you when you talk to him?”

“No.” She fought to smile. “You are right. This is for me to do.”

No matter how much Naomi dreaded it, Leah was right. It was better for Nathan to hear
it from her, so he was forewarned. But how he was going to take it, she couldn’t begin
to imagine.

As
they finished the midday meal, Nathan took a second look at Naomi. Her eyes seemed
heavy and shadowed, and there had been a tension about her since she’d arrived this
morning, although she’d been as patient as she always was with the children.

He hoped she wasn’t getting sick, with Christmas just a few days away. It might be
selfish, but he didn’t want anything to disrupt the joy of this holy season.

There was no doubt about it, he decided. His thought was definitely selfish. Of course
he wanted Naomi to be well for her own sake, not just for theirs.

The children were scrambling down from their chairs when Naomi turned to his daad.
“I’m sure the kinder would like to take an apple to the pony. Would you go with them?”

“I will,” Nathan said. “Let…” He stopped, realizing he was getting a distinct, if
wordless, message from Naomi.

Daad had already headed for the hall and his coat, shooing the kinder ahead of him.
“Komm, let’s go and see what Coalie is doing, ja?”

“I’ll get the apples,” Joshua said, darting for the basket they kept in the cool back
hall.

“Me, too,” Sadie said.

The door closed on their chatter, and Nathan turned to Naomi. “You have something
upsetting you to talk to me about, ain’t so?”

Naomi nodded. The pain in her eyes shocked him, and he realized she must have been
hiding it all day. A bad feeling sank into him. Naomi might be going to tell him that
she’d decided she must do what her father wanted. He knew how much the breach with
her daad had grieved her.

It had always been a possibility she’d give in to her father to keep peace in the
family. He should have been prepared. Instead, all he could do was wonder what life
would be like here without her. How had she become so indispensable to his happiness
in such a short time?

Not his, he corrected himself quickly. The children’s happiness.

“Naomi, what is wrong? Has your father been making you unhappy?”
Please don’t say you’re moving
out.

But that question simply generated a surprised expression. “No, no. It’s nothing about
Daad.” She sucked in a breath and took hold of the nearest chair back with both hands.
“Last night Paula came to see me. With Leah Glick.”

“Ja?” It must have been more than just a friendly visit if it had left Naomi this
upset.

She nodded, obviously having difficulty getting the words out. “They said—they told
me—” She closed her eyes for an instant. “They said that people are talking about
us. About you and me and that night I stayed late when Sadie was ill. Saying that
something went on.”

“Something went on?” His mind was blank. “What went on was that Sadie had croup and
you took care of her.”

“No.” Color mounted in her cheeks. “They are saying that something improper went on
between you and me that night.”

He could only stare at her. “Leah and Paula think that about us?”

“No, of course not. But they both heard the same rumors yesterday.”

Anger flicked its tail in him like an upset animal. “So they rushed out here to tell
you and make you feel bad? They’d do better to mind their own business.”