The Winnowing Season (30 page)

She shook her head. “A friend of his got sick and needed his help.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Her brows furrowed. “Who were you talking to?”

“I …” Rhoda didn’t want to sidestep Camilla’s question. She could tell Camilla, couldn’t she? “I lost my sister a couple of years back, and her voice rattles around inside my head until I have to release some of my thoughts.”

The sweet, compassionate smile on Camilla’s face indicated she understood far more than Rhoda would have expected. “I’m so glad you’re here. Come.”

When Rhoda stepped inside, she saw twinkling white lights along the ceiling, running from one room to the next. Camilla’s instruments were sitting in the same room as the Christmas tree—a guitar, a piano, two cellos, and a saxophone.

A saxophone? How did she know what it was?

Another name came to her too—Zachary.

Rhoda had visited several times, and Camilla had played the piano and cello for her, but never the saxophone. Bob played an acoustic guitar. Until today Rhoda hadn’t even seen the saxophone, but she’d been in this room numerous times. It was real, wasn’t it? When she could do so in a natural way, she intended to touch it.

Camilla took the basket. “What have you brought us?”

“It’s Amish Friendship Bread.”

Camilla brought the basket close to her face and breathed deep. “I smell chocolate chips.”

Rhoda slid out of her coat. “Ya. I made this batch more like a dessert than a dinner bread.” She made her way to the saxophone and touched it. It was real. “Is this a saxophone?”

“Yes.”

“Do you play this instrument too?”

Camilla shook her head. “No. That kind of wind instrument takes a lot of lung power.”

Rhoda willed herself to be a little bold. “Bob, then?”

“No.” Camilla stared at the instrument, looking as if a long, painful story was buried deep inside her. “But Bob
is
manning the kitchen.” Camilla smiled. “We’d better get in there before we have burnt clam chowder and rubbery broiled mussels for dinner.”

Rhoda followed Camilla, but the name Zachary kept circling inside her head.

Even if Zachary was a real person somewhere and needed her to do something—like when Rhoda knew her neighbor needed help so she broke into the woman’s home to rescue her—what could she do unless she knew more? Camilla and Bob were wonderful people to spend time around, but they were very closed about their past and very uncomfortable with even the simplest questions.

Zachary Dumont
. The name made chills run through her.

Why was this happening to her? Was she losing her mind, or was God trying to tell her something through the only method Rhoda was capable of hearing Him?

Peace wrapped a blanket around her as she finally understood herself a little better. These apparitions were simple, really. She didn’t want to yield to any intuition, so her imagination poked and prodded her until she finally heard something she couldn’t deny.

God, do You want to lead me in a direction I’m fighting You on? If so, I yield to You. Direct my steps. If it’s not You and only me, please help me learn how to make this stop
.

Peace flooded her again, only stronger this time, and she knew that God would guide her without fail. But in which direction—to understand the words Emma spoke and the things Rhoda saw or to finally lay them to rest?

Samuel put the pruning sheers into the vise grip and turned the handle until it was secure. He still couldn’t believe that Jacob hadn’t made it home in time for
Christmas or New Year’s. All these years he thought he knew Jacob. Apparently not. The man missed his first holiday season with his girl to spend it helping an Englisch woman and her child.

It irked Samuel, but there was nothing he could do about it. He placed the whetstone against the blade and applied pressure with short strokes as his
Daadi
Sam had taught him.

Today was January third. If Jacob didn’t get home within the next week, he would miss Leah’s birthday too.

But regardless of that, it was time to start pruning trees, and they had no shortage of branches to lop off.

Nicole had called earlier, asking if she could come by. She had flown to Colorado to ski with friends and family over the Christmas holidays, and while there she had talked to her uncle, an arborist, about the orchard. She said she couldn’t wait to tell Samuel what the man had said.

Samuel still had a few reservations about this woman entering their lives, but she was a good distraction. A welcome one. And certainly easier to deal with than Samuel’s missing brother.

Celebrating Christmas without Jacob had been disappointing. Celebrating it with Rhoda had been a mixture of pleasure and misery. At times Samuel thought Rhoda seemed as lonely and vulnerable as he was. He could still see her smile and feel the warmth of her hands as she passed him his Christmas present. The two books she had given him had meant something special.

It had taken humility for Rhoda to buy the book on organic apple farming titled
Apple Grower: A Guide for the Organic Orchardist
for him, considering he had wanted her to read books instead of attending the seminar. Her gift of the parallel Bible meant she’d taken the time to notice what he really needed and then had sought it out.

Jacob was witless not to be here with her. Sometimes, when Samuel least expected it, he caught himself starting to believe that Jacob wasn’t the best man for Rhoda.

“Hey.” Rhoda walked into the barn, a knit scarf, one of his gifts to Leah,
around her neck. “Any messages?” She pointed toward the barn office as she walked in that direction.

“Sorry.”

“He’s supposed to call today.”

“Around midnight, right?” Samuel pointed outside. “It’s broad daylight.”

“I realize that. I just thought I heard the phone ring.”

“It was Nicole.”

Her brows wrinkled a bit, barely noticeable really, but it meant that something he’d said had bothered her. At times, like now and on Christmas morning, he was sure he saw more for him in her eyes than should be there. He hoped he was wrong. Could he continue stuffing his feelings and restraining himself if she returned his feelings? That would be a nightmare that would not end. It would rip him and Jacob apart. Divide their family. Possibly undermine the new settlement. It would do far worse things to Rhoda, because women bore the brunt of such events, as if they had used their seductive powers to cause such a divide. It wouldn’t be true, but it’d be how folks would feel.

“What’d she say?”

“She’s coming by in a bit. She learned a couple of things about orchards over the holidays, and she wants to share it.”

“How much information does one man need?”

He studied her as she held his gaze. Was that it,
that
thing he saw in her eyes, hinting that she cared? Refusing to give merit to his fantasies—and to his greatest fear—he continued sharpening the tool. “I’m glad she’s willing to offer advice … and friendship.”

Rhoda cleared her throat. “Fine. But when you first asked me to partner with you, you hesitated about Landon remaining by my side and even coming on your property, and now you’re flirting—I mean, flinging the doors wide open for Nicole.”

Was he flirting with Nicole? Flinging the doors open?

He didn’t think so. He loosened the vise and repositioned the pruning shears. “Maybe I need a distraction. Is that okay with you?” Samuel brushed metal dust from the
blade. He didn’t want to snap at Rhoda. He wanted to pull her into his arms and …

He heard a car pull into the driveway. A quick glance told him it was Nicole.

Rhoda nibbled her bottom lip, a look of displeasure etched on her face. “I guess three’s a crowd.” She walked out of the barn, spoke a greeting to Nicole, and went toward her greenhouses.

Samuel waved at his visitor.

Nicole scurried into the barn. “It’s so cold today. I can’t believe you’re going to start pruning now.” She pulled a wrapped gift out of her purse. “Belated Merry Christmas.”

“What have you done?” It looked to be a pocket-size book.

“Open it.”

He ripped the paper off. “You got me a VOM.” He’d never had one, but as he understood it, they were used to detect energy flow and troubleshoot problems with the stored electric current.

“I did?” She looked confused and peered at the gift, but Samuel had a few things about her figured out, and he knew she was teasing.

“Thank you.”

“A keeper of solar panels and numerous six- and twelve-volt batteries must be able to measure voltage, current, and resistance.”

“I may not hold the power, but this gives me the ability to measure it.”

“Exactly. I’d say you’ve been paying attention.”

“Definitely.” He had to in order to learn all he needed to about solar panels and harnessing the sun’s energy for the horticultural lights and anything else the Amish would need battery power for. But more than that, he focused on everything Nicole said in order to forget about Rhoda if only for a few hours here and there. His mouth went dry. “I didn’t get you anything.”

“When that happens in my family, we give the person a hug.” She held out her arms. “Well?”

He laughed and hugged her, feeling awkward and far removed from his
Amish roots. But he also felt the power of her friendship. “So”—he slid the VOM into his coat pocket—“tell me what your uncle had to say.”

Is this what his life was coming to—looking to an Englisch woman to ease his loneliness?

Did he know himself any better than he knew his brother?

TWENTY-EIGHT

From the wagon bench Rhoda tugged on the reins, guiding the team through the thin layer of snow and toward the barn. She’d read that Maine averaged over six feet of snow most winters. Thankfully, this wasn’t one of them, at least not thus far. The first full week of January had been mild.

She just wished Jacob were here to enjoy this cloudless day with her. He’d been gone for three weeks. His reasons had changed from Sandra and Casey being ill to Sandra’s sitter being too sick to keep Casey while Sandra worked. Jacob said Sandra couldn’t afford to lose her job, but he was doing what he could to find a reliable sitter. Rhoda had no doubts that being a single parent without grandparents to help had to be one of the hardest, loneliest things.

Zachary Dumont
. The name circled inside Rhoda’s head almost nonstop, and she had prayed about it often since her last visit with Camilla and Bob. But the more time she spent with them, the more she believed Landon was right—Camilla’s past needed to be left alone. Isn’t that what Jacob needed from people? If Rhoda could, she would give that to him. And to Sandra. And to Camilla.

The pruned branches that filled the buckboard rattled as the wagon lumbered from the orchard onto the driveway. Her load would make good kindling once it dried out.

Steven came out of the house, a thermos and disposable cups in hand. She drove into the barn, and he wasted no time in joining her. “Here, get a cup while I unload.”

She took the thermos. “Denki. Nothing like a bit of coffee to help warm a body and dull the hunger. When’s lunch?”

Steven grabbed a pitchfork and climbed onto the back of the wagon.
“Phoebe says the chili has been on the stove for about thirty minutes. It’s ready when we are but will be better if we give it another hour.”

Rhoda poured the caramel-colored drink into a disposable foam cup. Phoebe had already added cream and sugar, making it too sweet for Rhoda’s taste, too creamy for Samuel’s, and too bitter for Leah’s. So no one got the coffee exactly as he or she liked it, but they appreciated that Phoebe sent it out each day.

The phone rang.

“Stay put. You’re on break.” Steven hopped down. “I’ll get it.”

Rhoda’s breath was puffy white, even in the barn. This place was starting to feel like home, except for the gaping hole left by Jacob’s absence. He seemed more like a boyfriend who called her regularly and visited when in town rather than an important part of this settlement and the team.

“Hey, Rhodes.” Steven came out of the office. “That woman who wanted to interview you for the organic websites is on the line.”

Rhoda’s heart jumped. She put the lid on the thermos, tossed out the rest of her coffee, and set the cup on the seat. She paced her steps, in no hurry to bumble her way through a conversation. She had been bracing for this call for more than two months, but she’d hoped the woman had changed her mind.

She picked up the receiver. “This is Rhoda.”

“Yes, uh.” The woman’s voice was interrupted by a clicking noise. “Could you hold, please? I’ll be right back. I’ve been waiting for two weeks on the call that’s coming in.”

“I’ll hold.”

Jacob
.

Rhoda missed him. Was this woman going to say something that would make Jacob stay gone even longer?

With Steven and Landon’s help, Samuel managed this farm quite well in Jacob’s absence. But Samuel didn’t love to laugh and tease and cut up the way his brother did. Still, Samuel was here with an attentive mind, a strong opinion, and ready hands. Day or night. But she wasn’t comfortable with how much he
gravitated toward Nicole, and his willingness to do so surprised her. Maybe, they all were feeling a little extra room to be themselves now that they were away from the all-seeing eyes of the Amish community.