Plain Promise (16 page)

“I think it’s
wunderbaar gut
that Grandpa has someone to spend time with and play chess,” Lillian said. “I was just . . . shocked.”

“That must be where Pop sneaks off to sometimes, those times when he is on foot.” Sarah Jane hung her black cape on the rack and untied her bonnet. “Because he can walk across the pasture to get to Lizzie’s house.”

“Does it bother you about—I mean, do you care since . . .” Sadie tried to reword what she was trying to say. “Your pop was married to Irma Rose, to your
mamm
, for a long time.”

“No, no, no,” Sarah Jane said. “I’m happy for him to have someone to spend time with. The only thing that upsets me is when he takes the buggy or takes off on foot without telling me where he’s going.” She chuckled. “I guess he’s mostly at Lizzie’s.”

Sadie and Lillian locked eyes, both knowing that Lizzie’s house wasn’t always the place Jonas went.

Lizzie had been watching the clock for nearly forty minutes. Jonas said eight o’clock. She reached for the battery-operated contraption he’d given her yesterday, before he’d been caught sneaking to her place later that afternoon.

She chuckled. Jonas seemed to enjoy the sneaking around more than the games of chess they played, always trying to keep his daughter and granddaughter on their toes. She’d told him repeatedly not to be worrying them in such a way. Lizzie was glad Sarah Jane and Lillian knew about their friendship now. Maybe she’d get to see more of Jonas. How she loved that feisty old man. It had been forty years since she’d loved that way. The good Lord took her Johnny much too soon. But after all this time, Lizzie had Jonas.

She tried not to pay it too much mind when Jonas called her Irma Rose every now and then, or when he seemed to think she
was
Irma Rose and would recall times they’d spent together. He’d certainly loved his Irma Rose. She turned up the volume, twisting the dial on the walkie-talkie just the way Jonas had showed her. She laughed when she heard his voice.

“Breaker, breaker. You there, Lizzie?”

She laughed harder. “Oh, my!” she said aloud to herself as she fumbled to push her own talk button. “Jonas, is that you?” And, as he’d instructed, she released her hold on the button.

It was quiet for a few moments. “Who else would it be, Lizzie?”

She pictured Jonas at home, with his big, bushy, gray brows edged upward. And she was thrilled that he called her by her name. Lizzie put her hand to her chest and smiled, feeling more alive than she’d felt in a long time. They’d only been spending time together for two months, but during that time, her arthritis had been better, her appetite had improved, and she had a kick in her step that she didn’t have before she fell in love with Jonas Miller. Lizzie hadn’t shared her feelings, but surely he knew.

“I reckon the weather’s gonna be frightful the next few days.” Lizzie released the button. She dreaded being cooped up at home with no visitors, no way to leave—and no Jonas to keep her company.

“Gonna miss me, now, aren’tcha?” She heard him chuckle.

Yes, I am
. “I’ll miss beating you at chess.”

“Has that ever happened?” Lizzie heard him snort out a laugh.

“I reckon it’s happened several times, Jonas Miller!” She threw her head back and laughed. She felt like a schoolgirl who had a crush on the most wonderful boy.

“You didn’t forget our promise we made to each other, did you, now?”

Lizzie pressed her lips together, knowing the serious nature of the promise she and Jonas had made to each other a while back. They didn’t speak of if often, but with each passing day, it seemed more and more important. “No, Jonas, I did not forget.”

She could only hope that
he
wouldn’t forget either.

Kade watched with fascination as Tyler read the Bible. And he waited with nervous anticipation for Tyler to reveal some sort of message for Kade. But then Kade shook his head and wondered if he’d made too big a deal about the verses Tyler had spoken before. Probably a coincidence, repeating what he’d read.

If that was his line of thinking, why did he continue to encourage Tyler to read the Scriptures? Tyler was content reading, but his son didn’t say a word. Kade was jarred from his musings by his cell phone.

“Hey, partner. Monica’s parents have made the arrangements,” Val said. “Friday at two o’clock in her hometown. You’re going to be pushing it to get there from the airport in time. I had Tina at your office arrange for a car to pick you up. Which reminds me, should we go ahead and have someone fly to Pennsylvania to drive your car back? I’m sure you have no intentions of returning there.”

Kade still couldn’t believe Monica was gone. He had loved her so much at one time, but his heart ached more from those memories than from missing her now. “I haven’t really thought about it.”

“Is Tyler going to do all right on a plane?”

“I hadn’t really thought about that either.” Kade knew that was something he’d better think about now. “I didn’t see anything in Monica’s notes about Tyler
not
flying.”

“Listen, I went ahead and took it upon myself to call Penelope and told her to go ahead and start interviewing nannies. And what about a school for Tyler? Do you want him to live at home and attend a special school, or do you want to send him to a school with in-house boarding?”

“What?” This was all happening way too fast. “I mean, I don’t know, Val. I haven’t had time to think about all these things.” His housekeeper, Penelope, had been with him for years, but she wasn’t qualified or energetic enough at her age to take care of Tyler. “I don’t want him living away at a school, though. I want him with me.”

“You still want a nanny, though. Right?”

Kade took a deep breath. “We can talk about all that later.” He glanced around the simply furnished cottage, the cozy fire, and Tyler sitting quietly and reading on the floor. And he could see through the window that it was starting to snow. It was like something out of a Thomas Kinkade painting. He wasn’t ready to leave.

“Does Tyler seem to understand what happened?” Val asked.

“No. I tried to explain it to him, but he didn’t seem to comprehend what I was saying.” And that truly saddened Kade. Monica was his mother, and he wished for her sake that Tyler had some sort of feelings about her death, even if only mild ones, to honor the woman Monica had tried to be. On the other hand, he felt relief that Tyler wasn’t grieving from the loss.

“So, what do you think about having someone fly there and drive your car back?” Val asked again. “That way you wouldn’t have to go back there.”

Something about that idea bothered Kade. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but Sadie’s face flashed before him. He recalled the way they had looked at each other in the hallway, and again in the kitchen. Something about her stirred things inside him. Not manly things, as he would have expected, but more of a spiritual whirlwind. It was confusing, and not something he was sure he was ready to walk away from for good.

He remembered the way Sadie had talked about her relationship with God during dinner. She talked about Him as if He were a close friend of hers, someone she chatted with regularly.

“No, I’ll come back to get the car.”

“I’m so sorry about all this, Kade.”

Kade was sure he heard Val’s voice crack, and it touched him that his friend truly felt for his situation.

Val filled him in on a few more details, and they said their good-byes

Sadie and Lillian closed all the shutters outside the shop in preparation for the storm. Lillian and Sarah Jane said they would check on Lizzie on their way home. Sadie imagined they were curious about Lizzie’s friendship with Jonas and wanted to take the opportunity to talk with her. She smiled when she recalled the story about Lillian catching Jonas coming to Lizzie’s. How sweet if they were courting at that age, she thought.

Milo’s letter was on the kitchen table when she walked into the house through the kitchen door. She didn’t have an urge to read it. Instead, she pulled open her kitchen drawer and tossed it inside. It landed on top of some other household papers. It didn’t seem to warrant a place upstairs with her other letters, which she had treasured for so long.
Too long
.

Sadie poured herself a glass of meadow tea. She’d just sat down at the table when a loud pounding on the front door caused her to jump up.

She hurried around the corner of the kitchen and flung the door open. Snowflakes dotted a heavy, brown quilt in Kade’s arms. “Kade, get that child in here,” she said. “What are you doing out in this weather?”

He pulled the quilt back from Tyler’s face. The boy was smiling from ear to ear. “Fun!”

Sadie laughed. “Your
daed
bringing you all bundled up out into the snow is fun, no?” She leaned down closer to Tyler.

“The faster I clomped across the snow, the more he bounced, and the louder I could hear him giggling.” He set Tyler on the floor, and the boy immediately wrapped his arms around Sadie’s legs.

“Hug,” he said.

Sadie squatted down and embraced Tyler. “I
lieb
hugging you,” she said, nuzzling him closer.

After a few moments, Kade eased onto the couch. Sadie pulled away from Tyler and walked to a rocker on the other side of the room. Tyler followed, and she was surprised when Tyler crawled into her lap.

“Tyler really seems to like you,” Kade said, and then frowned. “More than he likes me.”

“He’s used to having a mother, and . . .” She stopped. “I’m so sorry for your loss, Kade. And for Tyler.”

Kade leaned back against the couch. “I loved her very much at one time.” He paused and looked hard at Sadie. “But now all I have are memories of that love. I haven’t loved her—in that way—for a very long time.” He shook his head. “But it’s still painful to think of this happening to her.” His eyes shifted to Tyler’s tiny face, burrowed against Sadie’s chest. “I don’t think Tyler understands.”

Sadie could see the despair etched across his face. “What brings you out in this weather?” she asked when Kade seemed permanently lost in thought. She thought briefly about being alone with him, or at least without the company of other adults, but she suspected these were special circumstances.

“I think Tyler is missing one of his plastic letters,” Kade said. He rubbed his stubbly chin.

“I don’t know how he knows this, but every time he dumps them from the lunch box, he starts to cry. He keeps holding up the
E
letter, and when I took inventory, it appears that there are four of every letter, but only three
E
s.

Dark circles under Kade’s eyes indicated he might not have slept much last night. “Maybe it’s in between the cushions on the couch,” she said.

Kade began to search the couch, lifting the cushions slightly as he went.

Sadie glanced out the window. Heavy blankets of snow were falling. “Kade, you are going to have a
baremlich
time traveling. It will be much worse by morning. You might not be able to get out.”

“I was thinking about that. Maybe I should leave for the airport this afternoon and get a room near there.”

Tyler laid his head on Sadie’s shoulder, and she gave him a squeeze. “He is such a precious gift from God. You’re so very blessed, Kade.”

Kade continued to search for the missing letter, running his hand along the part of the couch where the back met with the seat. “Why don’t you have any children, Sadie? You’re so good with Tyler and all, and I was just wondering. I mean, I know your husband passed, but . . .” He paused and looked up at her. “Sorry. It’s none of my business.”

“Ben and I wanted children very much. God didn’t see fit to bless us with any before Ben died.” This was a conversation she didn’t want to have, especially with Kade.

“Well, you would have been a great mom.” Kade smiled.

“Maybe you still will someday. I understand you have a suitor.”

“What?” Who had he been talking to?

“Your elderly friend, Jonas. He told me about a man from Texas who is coming to see you soon.”

“Ah, yes,” Sadie said. She didn’t feel the need to elaborate and looked away from his questioning eyes.

“I hope it works out for you.”

Maybe it was the way he said it, but somehow Sadie felt the comment was not genuine. “
Danki
,” she answered anyway, and then stood up. She attempted to put Tyler down, but he clung to her neck, so she balanced him on her hip.