Plain Promise (28 page)

But he couldn’t help but wonder how Lizzie was and what she might be up to right now.

Jonas pushed the thoughts about Lizzie aside and turned into Sadie’s driveway. He stepped out of the buggy onto the packed snow, glad the sun was out and warming things up a bit. Jonas knocked on the door of the cottage.

To his surprise, a small person answered. A cute youngster. Must be the slow child he’d heard the others talking about. “Hello. Where is your pop?” Jonas asked.

“Pop, pop, pop!” the boy yelled, but he didn’t move from the door. “Pop, pop, pop!”

Jonas couldn’t help but grin. The young lad was beaming and cute as he could be.

He heard footsteps approaching and saw the
Englischer
coming up behind his son.

“Jonas.” The fella looked surprised, ran his hand nervously through his hair. “What brings you here?” Then he looked down at the boy. “Did you meet Tyler? Tyler, this is Mr. Jonas.”

“Just
Jonas
will be fine,” he said. “Hello, Tyler.” He tipped his hat in the child’s direction. “I’m just checkin’ on you.” Jonas lifted his chin, eyed the
Englischer
. “Why are you still here? I understand the boy’s mother passed. Don’t you need to be gettin’ back to the city?”

“I probably do.” Kade shrugged. “But I’m not ready to face my life back there, plus I told Sadie I’d take care of things around here while she’s gone, which reminds me . . .” He put his hands on his hips. “Her
friend
forgot to show me how to take care of these animals.”

“
Ach
, you mean Milo, her future husband?” Jonas asked. Then he laughed. “I reckon to venture that you don’t know a thing ’bout tending to Sadie’s animals.”

“I don’t believe I’ve heard anyone say that Milo is her future husband.”

Jonas was enjoying the
Englischer
’s irritation, which he knew was wrong in God’s eyes. But he couldn’t help himself. “They’ll be wed soon enough, I reckon.”

“Whatever.” Kade rolled his eyes. Jonas grinned. “Is there something you need, Jonas? Tyler, why don’t you go play with your letters.” Kade motioned for Tyler to step into the house, and the boy did so.

Jonas pushed back the rim of his hat. “Just checkin’ on things.” He paused, then sighed. “But I reckon since I’m here, I’d best show you how to tend to Sadie’s animals since you said you’d take care of that, which was probably a silly thing to do.”

“It can’t be that hard. Let me throw on my shoes and coat, and get Tyler dressed. We’ll be right back.” He paused at the door. “Do you want to come in, out of the cold?”

Jonas shook his head. “I’m plenty fine right here.”

“Okay.” Kade closed the door.

It just didn’t make no sense to him why the
Englischer
didn’t go back to where he came from, unless he had some pretty strong feelings for Sadie. After a couple of minutes, Kade and the boy were back.

“Come on, Tyler.” Kade escorted Tyler through the doorway and closed the door behind him. “We’re ready.”

When they got to the barn, the boy’s eyes lit up at the sight of Sadie’s two horses. He ran to the stall and climbed up on the first notch of the gate.

“You like the horses?” Jonas asked. He patted the boy on the head. The child jerked away from him like Jonas had hurt him.

“He doesn’t like to be touched,” Kade said. “Well, I mean, he does. He likes to be hugged, but he sort of lets us know. He doesn’t like to be touched otherwise.”

Jonas nodded, although he wasn’t sure he understood what Kade meant by that. “This here is Sugar, and that one is Spice. Silliest names I’ve ever heard for horses.” Jonas shook his head.

“Sugar!” the boy echoed enthusiastically. Jonas couldn’t get over what a handsome youngster he was. He had to admit, if he was fair, the boy did get his looks from his father.

“They like to have their noses scratched. See here.” Jonas showed the boy how to scratch Sugar’s nose, then Spice’s. Then he walked around the barn and showed Kade where everything was kept. Feed, supplies to clean the stalls, horse grooming brushes. “You’ll be needin’ to tend to the pigs as well.” Jonas stopped and studied Kade’s fancy clothes. “You gonna be able to handle all this?”

“It doesn’t look like all that much. Feed the horses, clean the stalls, brush them. Check their water. Feed the pigs. Did I miss anything?”

Jonas narrowed his brows. “I reckon not.” He had to admit, it warmed his heart to see Tyler having such a good time. “He seems to have taken a special liking to the horses.” Jonas pointed to Tyler, who was still scratching the horses on their noses.

“Yes, he does. I’m still trying to learn the things he likes and doesn’t like. He’s autistic. Do you know what that means?”

“I reckon I don’t much.” But Tyler looked to Jonas like he was just being a normal little boy at the moment.

“Well, for example, he can read. But he doesn’t understand what he reads. I guess you could say he has a limited understanding about some things.”

Jonas could see the worry in the
Englisher
’s heart for his boy. “He looks like he’s having a mighty
gut
time right now.”

Kade smiled, donning the proud look of a father. “Yes, he does look like he’s having a
gut
time.”

“
Ach
, you speaka
da Deitch?”
Jonas grinned at Kade’s attempt.

“No, not much. Only what I’ve picked up from Sadie.” Jonas watched Kade staring at the boy, as if worrying about the fact that he was different.

“Children like Tyler are a special gift from God. There’s a special place in heaven for them,” Jonas said.

“That’s what Sadie said.” Kade didn’t look up though. He kept staring at the boy.

“Sadie is a smart woman.”

“Yes, she is.”

Jonas wasn’t sure about this
Englischer
, but one thing was for certain—he appeared to be hurting about several things. Mostly his son. And Sadie being gone. Jonas knew what it was like to be detached from a child. Sarah Jane had left them when she was eighteen to live in the
Englisch
world. They’d only been blessed by her return a few years ago. And Jonas also knew what it was like to love someone you couldn’t have. He’d been in love with Lizzie for a while now, even though it was a dishonor to Irma Rose. Jonas could tell that Kade was in love with Sadie—something about the way he spoke her name. And Kade certainly had worry in his heart about the boy.

“How would you boys like to take a ride in my buggy into town? I wonder if Tyler would like that.”

Kade looked confused. Rightly so. Jonas had given the man a rather hard time since he’d arrived in Lancaster County. “Seriously?”

“
Ya, ya
. We best enjoy the sunshine. We can have coffee in town.” Jonas figured it might keep his mind off Lizzie. He didn’t have anything else to do anyway.

“That would be great. Tyler, you ready to go for a ride in the buggy?” He turned toward Jonas. “Thanks, Jonas. This will be fun for Tyler, and there is something important I want to ask you.”

Jonas couldn’t imagine what Kade wanted to talk about, so he shrugged. “Let’s be on our way, then.”

16

IT WAS TWO WEEKS BEFORE LILLIAN RECEIVED A LETTER from Sadie. She’d reprimand her friend later for not checking in sooner, but for the moment she was thrilled to pull a letter from her mailbox.

“Look, Anna, a letter from Sadie,” she said to her little one. Anna was cutting another tooth and a bit fussy, so Lillian set the letter aside and gave Pete a flick of the reins. “We’ll read the letter when we get to
Mammi
Sarah Jane and
Daddi
Jonas’s
haus
. How’s that?” Lillian pushed back Anna’s soft hair from her face and checked the buckle on Anna’s car seat. Many of the Amish carry their babies on their lap, but Lillian wasn’t comfortable with that. Maybe it was the time she’d spent in the
Englisch
world, where car seats were a necessity, but she wanted Anna safely strapped in, even in the buggy.

Lillian reached down and rubbed her expanding belly.
Less than
two months to go
, she thought, as she pulled onto Black Horse Road. The weather had warmed to a cool thirty-eight, and the sun was making a regular appearance. Still cold, but a welcome relief following the nasty blizzard they’d recently gone through. Lillian was looking forward to spending the day baking and chatting with her mother. And she was looking forward to reading Sadie’s letter. She couldn’t imagine what adventures Sadie must be having, since she’d never been far from Lancaster County. Since Lillian had lived in Texas prior to converting to the Old Order Amish in Pennsylvania, she was anxious to hear what her friend thought about the Lone Star State, and more important, how things were going with Milo Troyer.

But as Lillian headed down the road, she felt compelled to make a stop along the way. She knew her grandpa wasn’t spending time with Lizzie any longer, and Lillian thought she’d check on her. The first few days after their initial breakup, her mother said Grandpa had been a bear to live with, moping around the house, complaining that Sarah Jane didn’t play chess with him enough, and even complaining about the food her mother was cooking. But then, her mother had told her that an unlikely friendship had developed. Grandpa had been spending his free time with
Englischer
Kade Saunders, who as it turned out, proved to be a challenging chess partner.

It didn’t make any sense to Lillian, though. What could those two possibly have in common outside of chess? Grandpa had bordered on being mean to Kade since the moment they met, citing his distrust for the man on more than one occasion. Lillian guided Pete down the drive to Lizzie’s house. She unstrapped Anna and grabbed a loaf of banana nut bread she’d made, along with a container of chicken soup. Balancing Anna on her hip, she struggled up Lizzie’s porch steps.

“Lillian, how
gut
to see you,” Lizzie said. “Come in, child. Come in.”

“Hello, Lizzie. I brought you some banana nut bread and some chicken soup.” She set Anna down on the wooden floor once they were inside.

Lizzie squatted down to Anna’s level. “You are getting so big.” Lillian set the soup and bread on Lizzie’s table. “I hope you don’t mind us stopping by. I was worried about you.”

Lizzie stood up. “
Ach
, I be fine,” she said. “And you stop by for any reason, anytime. And, oh, how I’ll enjoy this bread and soup.”

“No, Anna,” Lillian said when Anna reached for an apron Lizzie had hung on a nearby rack. Lillian turned toward Lizzie. “She’s a handful these days.”

Lizzie walked to her cabinet and pulled a box of crackers down. “Can she have some of these?”

“Sure.” Lillian set Anna in the wooden armchair at the end of Lizzie’s table. Once Anna was settled, both women sat on either side of the table. Lillian glanced around the kitchen and saw a frightful mess—dishes in the sink, open containers of food left unattended on the counter, and the floor didn’t look like it had seen a broom in weeks. “Lizzie, are you doing okay these days?”

“
Ya, ya
. I do just fine.” Lizzie smiled.

Lillian was wondering how long it had been since Lizzie’s nieces, or anyone, had visited.

“How about a glass of sweet tea?” Lizzie stood up and walked toward the counter. She pulled two glasses from the cabinet.

“That would be
wunderbaar
,” Lillian said. She continued to study Lizzie’s kitchen. There were several pill bottles to one side of the sink. Two of the bottles were knocked over and empty. Lillian stood up and walked to the sink. She picked up one of the bottles. “Lizzie, do you need me to get these filled for you?’”

“No, no. Those are old bottles. I have
mei
refills upstairs by the bed.” Lizzie placed two glasses of tea on the table, along with a glass of milk for Anna. “Can she drink from a glass?”

“
Ya
, she does, with some help. Sometimes she still takes a bottle, but we’re trying to wean her from that.” Lillian took a sip of tea and struggled to gulp it down. Sweetest tea she’d ever had, and she wondered how long that pitcher had been in Lizzie’s refrigerator. She grabbed Anna’s plastic glass filled with milk before Anna had a chance to get it to her lips. “Actually, Anna had a bottle before we left. Maybe just some water for her?”

“
Ya, ya
.” Lizzie smiled and went to retrieve a fresh glass. As Lizzie pumped water from the sink, Lillian sniffed the milk. Then grimaced and set the glass aside, confirming what she’d feared.

Lizzie returned to the table and handed Anna the glass. “Oops,” she said when water trickled down Anna’s chin.

“She’s still a messy drinker when it comes to cups,” Lillian said. She wiped the water from Anna’s chin with her thumb. “Lizzie, is there anything you need?”

“No, I have all that I need. But
danki
, Mary Ellen, for bringing me the bread and soup. Is for sure I will enjoy it.”

Lillian decided not to correct her on the name. Instead she smiled. “You’re welcome, Lizzie.” Lillian stood up. “I best be off.
Mamm
is expecting me. But Lizzie, I’d be glad to pick you up anything you might need from town.”

“No, dear. I’m fine.” Lizzie stood up and patted Anna on the head. “You take care of this little one and tell your
mamm
and Jonas I send my best.”

Lillian nodded, unsure whether to tell Lizzie how much she knew her grandfather missed her. But Lizzie was smiling and seemed glad she’d stopped by. She didn’t want to cause any upset for Lizzie