The Winnowing Season (6 page)

“I’ve been around enough to know there’s some reason they’ve waited this long. Maybe they want to stop her from going to Maine. Or maybe …” His Daed glanced behind him. “Is she in good standing with her bishop?”

“She’s not keen on him asking her questions. That’s about all I know. Why?”

“Maybe her bishop wants credit among his flock for addressing this issue, but he’s doing so in a way that leaves her without enough time to prove who did it.”

His Daed could do more speculating and jumping to conclusions than anybody Samuel knew. “Surely not. He’s a man of God.”

“That means more to some men than others.” His Daed removed his hat. “Listen, I know you think you need her skills, but maybe you should allow this to be a sign and go to Maine without her. Open your eyes. Wherever she goes, there’s trouble.”

“Are you kidding me? Wherever mankind walks, there’s trouble. It’s been that way since Cain slew Abel, or before. If you want to keep blaming her for every little imagined thing, you go right ahead, but do so quietly.” Samuel looked his father in the eyes. “Are we clear?”

“The tornado was
imagined
?”

“Do you have any idea how ridiculous it is for you to spend one second thinking she caused that? It’s embarrassing, Daed. It should embarrass you to think it and, worse, to voice it. She’s a good person, and you’d know that if you stopped listening to a bunch of rumors and your own fears.”

“I’m not deaf. At least twice I’ve heard the two of you going round and round about how to do business things. She’s difficult.”

“She has her areas. I can’t deny that. But so do I. And so do you.” If nothing else, this conversation should prove that to his Daed. “And so do Jacob and Leah. I really don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

His Daed sighed. “I don’t want this to be the last exchange between us before you leave.”

“It won’t be. We’ll talk later, but I need to call Karl.”

His Daed hugged him. “I’m gonna miss you being around to keep your old Daed straight.”

Samuel returned the hug. This was his Daed: quick to believe rumors, blame women for the ills of the world, and not want his sons angry with him, but Samuel loved him.

His Daed left, and Samuel went into the barn office and called Karl. When no one answered, he left a message.

Restless and frustrated, he went back to the main part of the barn. What
if Rhoda continued to refuse to attend the meeting or to go to Maine? He went to the far end that had a view of the orchard and propped his elbow on the doorframe.

How had he and Rhoda ended up so angry with each other that they shook hands on going separate ways?

Thoughts of Catherine came to him. He once thought he wanted to marry her. She would’ve yielded to his desire to turn in Rueben to the church leaders. Actually, she’d have thanked him for standing up for her.

Love was so uncontrollable. Catherine had adored him, and he missed that. Yet he loved a woman who was seeing his brother.

Rhoda
. She’d chosen to sever her partnership with Kings’ Orchard, and yet she thought Samuel was running roughshod over
her
life?

He’d been rash. In the heat of the moment, ready to rid his life of this woman who tormented his dreams and knotted his emotions, he’d shaken her hand on it.

He rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth. “
You’re
the fool, Samuel.”

“Is that insecurity I hear?”

Catherine’s voice eased its way past his thoughts, and he turned. She smiled. “The buzz through the community says you’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

Anxiety rippled through him. Were they? It would be almost impossible to restore the Maine orchard without Rhoda’s expertise, and if her brother and his wife weren’t there to fulfill other necessary roles, would he, Jacob, and Leah dare to try to make a go of the place? Would Jacob go without Rhoda?

What a mess.

“Hi, Catherine. How are you?” Samuel’s response was void of warmth, but he was doing what he should. He used to will himself to act a certain way in all circumstances, and he lined up accordingly. Not anymore. Not since he met Rhoda.

“As well as expected. So you’ll leave as scheduled?”

Why had his love for Catherine evaporated like morning dew in summertime? Even more important in light of what had happened today, given time, would his feelings for Rhoda disappear? On his life and soul, he hoped so.

He wiped his forehead. “We’ve got more to do than we can get done, but we’re supposed to leave around four tomorrow morning.”

Catherine glanced out the door behind him. “And yet you’re standing here, gazing out at the orchard.”

“Apparently so.”

He’d expected to see Rhoda and Jacob top the hill by now. Had she gone by the summer kitchen and gotten Landon to drive her home?

Samuel shook his head hard. He
had
to stop thinking about the woman. She wasn’t his to think about.

The Morgan he had left in the orchard pranced into the barn. Catherine backed out of the way, and Samuel took the horse by the reins.

“You seem lost.” She grabbed two towels off the gate and passed one to Samuel. They began wiping down the animal.

It seemed odd, but he was glad Catherine had stepped in to see him before he left. “I guess I am.” Relief in admitting that washed over him.

“How so?”

His brother had finally found someone he really cared about. And yet Samuel was waffling between wanting her more than he had ever wanted anything in his life and wishing he’d never met her. How could one person have changed and strained all of Samuel’s most important relationships? His Daed. His brother. Catherine. Even himself. Yet Rhoda seemed to have no clue about any of it.

For that, at least, he was grateful.

What if she
did
move with them after all? Could he continue to keep his feelings from her? His best chance of doing so was to continue being a source of irritation to her.

He put the horse in her stall and fed her. When he finished, Catherine was waiting patiently. They didn’t talk about his burdens. That’s not who they’d been, even on their best days, so why would she ask a question like that now?

“I see that bewildered look in your eyes. Can you see that I’m changing?” She fidgeted with the strings on her prayer Kapp. “When I think about who we were, I’m sort of surprised we lasted as long as we did. I mean, you were good to me, but, well, you know what I was like.”

That he did, but her always wanting him to fix what was going wrong in her life and shoulder his burdens without sharing them with her wasn’t what ended them. “It wasn’t your fault, Catherine.” He swallowed against the guilt nipping at him.

Two years of courting. Hints of promises from him that he would ask her to marry him when he could afford to buy a home. Then he ended the relationship. At the time he had no idea why he no longer wanted to marry her. Later, in Maine while inspecting the property with Rhoda, he realized what had been happening inside him.

Now, more than a month after their breakup, Catherine still wasn’t ready to let go. The craziest part was that after years of hemming and hawing around with Catherine, Samuel would jump at the chance to ask Rhoda to marry him now if she weren’t involved with Jacob.

He had so much going on inside his head. He needed to talk. “I was so sure I could make this move work. Now I’ve done something that has Rhoda saying she won’t go, and Jacob’s going to have plenty to say about that once we’re alone. It’s scary to think of leaving the orchard in Eli’s hands. He’s barely nineteen, and I’d rather Jacob stay here, but …” Samuel didn’t trust himself to be in Maine without Jacob there between him and Rhoda. “I don’t know what else to do.” He turned back to look out over the field. “What’s really eating at me is that I’m not even sure who I am anymore.”

What kind of man yelled at any woman the way he had yelled at Rhoda? Or shook her hand, severing important ties to her, just because they were in the heat of a moment?

Catherine inched forward. “I’ve asked myself that question enough since you broke up with me that I sort of have an answer for you. You’re a stubborn, capable man who’s like a pioneer trying to get through the Alleghenies before any roads were built. Every time you cross one mountain, another one is staring you in the face. You’ll get to the top of this one too, and maybe it’ll be the highest, most challenging one you will ever face.”

He turned toward her, feeling encouraged. And confused. Such kindness couldn’t be typical coming from an ex, could it? “Denki. I hope you’re right.” What did he need to do to conquer this mountain? Ideas started running through his mind.

“Are you taking Hope?”

Samuel pulled his attention back to Catherine. “What?”

“Hope. Our … the dog.” Catherine studied him, looking as if she’d just realized how little their dog meant to him. “I was asking if the dog is going with you.”

“No. She’s staying. Katie and Betsy will say good-bye to two older brothers and an older sister. I think they’ll need Hope here. Besides, Rhoda doesn’t like it when she gets underfoot.” If Rhoda was even going.

The reality of her decision hit him full force.

“Rhoda,” she mumbled. Catherine had accused Samuel of caring for Rhoda long before he’d known how he felt. “At least the upside to her entering your life is that Hope will still be here for me to visit. Or maybe she’ll decide to take Jacob and the dog and leave
you
here.”

Samuel appreciated Catherine’s efforts to send him off on friendly terms. He liked the differences he saw in her—less needy, more honest about herself. “I’m on Rhoda’s last nerve, so she might like that plan about now. Do me a favor and don’t put any ideas into her head.”

She laughed. “Nothing said here today goes anywhere. And if you ever want to talk …”

He swallowed hard. Some doors were best left shut. Had he opened this one?

She lowered her eyes. “I didn’t mean …” She looked at him. “Or maybe I did.” She drew a deep breath. “It’s good to see you, but I’d better go before
I’m
on your last nerve.”

As Catherine disappeared, he knew he had to convince Rhoda to attend tonight’s meeting. Then she would see that Rueben had been mistreating other women in their community, and she’d know Samuel had been right to involve the church leaders. But even if Samuel went to her, what would it take to convince her to attend tonight?

FIVE

Despite Samuel’s manipulation, Rhoda felt the warmth of what Jacob held out to her—a sense of protection and security from the world. But how would he feel about her after tonight’s meeting?

She held his hand tighter as they approached a fork in the path. One trail led to the driveway surrounding the bustling King home, and the other went to the solitude of her herb shed.

Jacob smiled down at her. “You don’t have to go to the house.”

Relief worked its way through her aching shoulders. “Denki.” Even tonight, with visitors coming from all the districts, Jacob gave her what she needed most: solitude over socializing.

“Anytime.” He winked and released her hand. His long strides soon made him disappear over the knoll.

She hurried in the direction of the shed. It housed a month’s experiments she and Samuel had done, but more than that, it had become a frail but definite substitute for her former hiding place—the Morgansville fruit garden that Rueben Glick had destroyed.

While walking past the east end of the barn, she spotted Samuel in the doorway. They were a good rock’s throw away, but their eyes met—like alpha wolves from separate packs.

He understood nothing about her. Which was fine. She didn’t need him to if he would just mind his own business.

She had met Samuel before Jacob and had been drawn to Samuel’s sense of loyalty and love of horticulture. When he asked her to visit Kings’ Orchard and consider becoming a partner, she had confided her darkest secrets to
him—the ones he had a right to know before she could in clear conscience accept his invitation. Unlike most people, he hadn’t judged her forewarnings and her mishandling of them as dabblings in witchcraft. In that moment she’d experienced something so powerful it took her breath away.

A sense of freedom from years of isolation and loneliness.

As much as she hated to admit it, Samuel had captured a piece of her heart that day, the way a friend does, extending grace and companionship when they are needed most.

But as it turned out, Jacob was the one who accepted her clumsy and peculiar ways. Unlike Samuel, he had no interest in making sure she ate all her vegetables, so to speak. It wasn’t in him to try to drag her into a situation she hoped to avoid. Instead, he liked making her life easier.

Maybe that’s why Jacob had entered her life—God knew she needed someone to shield her from herself and from people’s negative reactions to her.

Samuel King sure wasn’t going to do that. He would be more likely to incite folks, albeit unknowingly, to want to burn her at the stake.

The shed came into sight, and she longed to disappear inside. Its gray, weathered boards ran vertically, with gaping spaces between them. The tin roof had probably begun rusting before she was born. But she and Samuel had converted it from a storage shed no one had used in years to a building in which they could experiment on growing herbs in the colder Maine climate and ways to speed up the process of biotic decomposition for mulch and compost.

She lifted the wooden door latch and went inside. The outside of the building showed its age, but the inside was a grower’s delight: rows and rows of vibrant herbs with commercial-grade lights hovering above them. The lights were a new thing for her. They simulated sunlight on the vegetation, and while they weren’t as effective as natural light, they helped a great deal. Samuel had set up a car battery to power the lights, but the battery constantly needed recharging. So he had two batteries for swapping out, and he lugged them back and forth between here and the barn, where he’d hook up the drained one to the recharging wires that were connected to a solar panel in the barn. She didn’t
know who had originally put the solar panel in the barn years ago, but she knew the Kings had paid for the installation. Getting panels installed in Maine would be another hurdle they’d face once they arrived.