AR01 - A Road Unknow Read online

  Elizabeth walked out of the break room and found Saul sitting at the counter making a file for her paperwork.

  “Well, I’ll see you day after tomorrow.”

  He nodded and got up to walk her to the door. She gazed up at the gray sky and smiled. “It’s a beautiful day,” she told him.

  “It’s drizzling,” he said as he opened the door for her.

  “Beautiful,” she insisted. She’d found a job her first day looking. She stepped outside.

  “Wait!” he called and he handed her the umbrella she’d left behind. “Here,” he said, opening it and handing it to her.

  Elizabeth gazed up at him. “Thank you.”

  Still he stood there, holding the umbrella.

  “What is it?” she asked him.

  “You have little raindrops in your lashes,” he said.

  If someone hurrying past in the rain hadn’t bumped into him, she didn’t know how long they might have stood there as though no one else existed.

  “You sure you don’t want to come back and wait in the store for your ride?”

  Elizabeth shook her head. “Paula said she was just a few minutes away. She was out running errands.”

  He handed her the umbrella. “If you change your mind . . .”

  She found herself smiling. “I won’t melt.”

  Saul chuckled. “I know. Well, see you day after tomorrow.”

  Paula’s car splashed up to the curb and Elizabeth hurried to open the door and climb inside. After checking for traffic, Paula pulled back out onto the road.

  “Well, you’re looking happy. Good day?”

  “The best. I have a job. It’s temporary, but it’s a job.”

  “Cool. Deets.”

  “Deets?”

  Paula laughed. “Details.”

  Elizabeth filled her in on everything. Well, not everything. If she mentioned Saul, Paula was sure to think she’d gotten the job because she knew Saul. Hmm. It was part of it, but not all of it.

  “I know the store. My dad helped the owner with a small legal matter years ago. He brought Mom some really pretty homemade soaps as part of the fee.”

  “I didn’t even really have a chance to look around much,” Elizabeth said.

  “You’ll have plenty of time to do so once you start working. And by the way, when do you start?”

  “Day after tomorrow.”

  Paula pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant not far from the apartment.

  “What are we doing here?”

  “We’re going to celebrate you getting a job.”

  “But we just went to the grocery store.”

  “It’ll keep. I think we should celebrate. My treat.”

  “I got the job. Maybe I should treat.”

  “It’ll take a while to get a paycheck,” Paula said, turning off the ignition. She reached for her umbrella. “Tell you what. First one inside treats.”

  And she was off like a shot struggling to open her umbrella as she ran.

  Laughing, Elizabeth scrambled from the car, dropping her own umbrella in a puddle, and racing after her. They collided at the front door of the restaurant, giggling, and engaging in a brief elbowing to walk in first.

  Elizabeth stopped, gasping for breath. “Paula, this is not ladylike.”

  Paula tried to stifle her giggles. “You’re right. After you.”

  Lifting her chin in the air, Elizabeth proceeded into the restaurant, only to turn and stare in disbelief at Paula as she prodded her forward with her umbrella.

  A waitress stepped forward. “Ladies? Two for dinner?”

  “Ladies zero,” said Paula, trying to look angelic. “But yes, there’s two of us for dinner.”

  5

  Elizabeth couldn’t help noticing the man at the next table. It wasn’t just because he looked about her age and was attractive with dark hair and blue eyes—he was waving at Paula.

  “I think the man at the next table is trying to get your attention.”

  Paula glanced over and her face lit up. “It’s Bruce Armstrong, from one of my classes.” She gestured at him to come over. “Bruce, how have you been? I haven’t seen you since final exam cram last semester.”

  “Got a B from old man Smithers. You?”

  “An A.”

  “Yeah, you were his favorite.”

  “You know Professor Smithers didn’t have favorites. You just didn’t work hard enough in his class. You thought you could pull it off at the end.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Big mistake. Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

  Paula made the introduction and Bruce held out his hand to Elizabeth.

  “Do you want to join us?” Paula asked him.

  His eyes on Elizabeth, Bruce nodded. “Don’t mind if I do. So, Elizabeth, I haven’t seen you around. New here?”

  She nodded. “I’m staying with Paula. I just moved here. ”

  “Ah, roomies.” He looked up when the waitress approached. “I’m joining these two ladies.”

  “Of course you are,” she remarked dryly. She handed him a menu, took his drink order and left them.

  “Come here often?” Paula asked, grinning. “She seems to know you.”

  He shrugged.

  “I think you like being thought of as a bad boy.”

  “Don’t listen to her,” Bruce told Elizabeth. “I’m a nice guy.”

  Elizabeth had very little experience with guys—Amish or Englisch—but she knew the term “bad boy.”

  “What’s going on?” he asked them. “You two looked pretty happy coming in.”

  “We’re celebrating Elizabeth getting a job today,” Paula told him. “I’m treating her to dinner.”

  “It’s just temporary, but it’s a start.”

  “Hey, congratulations,” Bruce said. “Let me treat you both.”

  “You sure?” Paula asked him. “I thought money was tight.”

  “The parents came through,” he said, closing his menu as the waitress approached with their drinks. “They were happy I pulled my grades up this semester. Thanks to your help, I might add.”

  Paula smiled. “You can thank the study group.”

  “True. They’re not getting dinner, though. Just you and Elizabeth here.”

  Elizabeth watched the easy way Paula and Bruce acted, joking with each other. She’d never been able to do that with a man.

  Then it hit her—not until Saul.

  Elizabeth went still. She had to think about it.

  “Earth to Elizabeth.” Paula snapped her fingers in front of her.

  She blinked. “Sorry. I was just thinking about something.”

  “Something or someone?” Paula asked her.

  “Well, I haven’t seen a girl blush in years,” Bruce said slowly. “I didn’t think they did anymore.”

  Elizabeth felt her skin grow warmer, a sure sign she was blushing even more. She sent Paula a beseeching look.

  Paula got the message. She nodded and turned to Bruce. “We shouldn’t tease Elizabeth. She isn’t used to it. She’s Amish, Bruce. She’s not like Englisch girls you’ve known.”

  Bruce gave her an appraising look, but he didn’t say anything else. Of course, it was partly because the food arrived and like most of the men she knew, he was more interested in getting served.

  “So, are you going to take any classes?” he asked her after he ate a bite of his fried chicken.

  It took Elizabeth a few seconds to realize he was talking to her.

  She shook her head. “Maybe one day.” She hadn’t thought far ahead. If she stayed, she could do anything she wanted. Within reason, of course. She’d only gone to school to the eighth grade so if she wanted to go to college she’d have to get her GED or attend high school.

  But she was getting ahead of herself. Right now, she just needed to concentrate on her job so she could take care of herself.

  Paula dipped a forkful of her chicken salad in the little dish of dressing she’d ordered on the side. “Is your dad sti
ll pressuring you to join him in his law firm one day?”

  “Yeah.” Bruce stabbed some green beans with his fork. “I’m coming around to the idea.”

  “Uh-huh. You mean you’re letting him think he’s convincing you. How much is this going to cost him?”

  Bruce clutched a hand to his chest and groaned. “Oh, how you wound me.”

  “Oh, how I have your number.” Paula finished her salad.

  “The thing is, I was never against becoming an attorney,” he said, picking up his fork again. “But he wouldn’t let me decide what specialty. It’s all about specialty these days. He wasn’t willing to consider me going into criminal law until he thought I wasn’t going to join the firm. It’s time Armstrong and Childers, P.A., diversified.”

  Elizabeth didn’t understand some of what Bruce was saying, but he intrigued her with his boyish charm and easy confidence. And when he looked at her . . . oh, my, when he looked at her she could feel her heart beat faster and a little thrill of excitement ran up her spine. Oh, my, when he looked at her . . .

  She told herself he was just intrigued because she was different from other girls he’d known. That was all. She’d probably never see him again. Or if she did, it would be because he and Paula would study at the apartment or something.

  Paula excused herself from the table and Bruce turned to Elizabeth. “How about we have dinner sometime?”

  Saul found Elizabeth waiting at the store when he arrived to open.

  “You’re early,” he said, secretly pleased at her promptness.

  “One of the students who lives in our apartment building has an early class, so she’ll be giving me a ride here.”

  He unlocked the door, gestured for her to proceed him inside, then relocked the door. They weren’t due to open for a half hour.

  “Paula said she’d bring me but I hated to ask her. She doesn’t do mornings.”

  “I see.”

  “I’ve never been around anyone who didn’t get up early,” she told him as they walked to the break room. “My family always had to get up before dawn, because we had chores on the farm.”

  He showed her the cabinet where she could lock her purse and watched her put her brown bag lunch in the refrigerator. The blue cape dress she wore made her eyes even bluer but he noticed faint lavender shadows beneath them—as if she hadn’t been sleeping well.

  “Miriam’s going to train you. She should be here soon.” Saul filled the percolator, set it on the burner and turned up the gas flame beneath it.

  “When is she planning on starting her maternity leave?”

  “Couple days.”

  He poured them both a mug of coffee and they sat at the table to drink it.

  “So how will you get home?”

  “Paula said she doesn’t mind picking me up, but I’m going to look into the bus schedule later. I don’t want her to feel like she’s a taxi.”

  “If she said she doesn’t mind, I’m sure she doesn’t.”

  Elizabeth took a sip of her coffee. “Sometimes people find it hard to say no.”

  He waited for her to go on, but she lapsed into silence and stared into her coffee.

  “How did the two of you meet? I mean, you lived in Goshen and she lived here.”

  “Paula and her family came to visit Goshen, and she and her mother walked into the shop I worked in,” Elizabeth told him. “The owner was cutting fabric for Paula’s mother—she likes to sew—and Paula started talking to me.”

  She smiled. “Paula’s the most curious person I’ve ever met. She had all kinds of questions about the Amish in Goshen. Since she’s a nursing student and will have Amish patients she wants to understand them. Before we knew it, we were corresponding. Becoming friends.”

  “And you just decided to move here?”

  She shrugged. “It wasn’t long after that.” She glanced at the clock. “When do the others get here?”

  There she was, withdrawing again, he thought. She’d done the same on the bus whenever he got a little too personal with his questions.

  “Miriam will be here in a few minutes. Katie and Rosie come in about noon. They work part-time. More coffee?”

  “No, thanks. When I drink too much coffee, I talk too much.”

  “I can’t imagine that,” he said, and she blushed a little.

  “Tell me what the biggest sellers are for the store.”

  Good question from a new employee. And a good way to change the subject as well. “The traditional Amish crafts are the most popular,” he told her. “The hand-carved wooden items Amos and his son produce. Quilts. And the candles and soaps.”

  They heard someone unlocking the front door and then closing it. Footsteps approached the break room and Miriam appeared. Her face looked pale, and she sank into a chair as if she was already tired, even though the day had just started.

  “Guder mariye,” she said.

  “Miriam, this is Elizabeth Bontrager.”

  “It’s gut to meet you, Elizabeth.”

  “Are you all right?” Saul asked her.

  “I didn’t have an easy night,” she admitted. “But I’ll be fine.”

  “Just let me know when you need a break. Or if you need to leave early.”

  “I’ll be fine.” She took her jacket off and hung it on a peg, then locked her purse up. Walking over to the stove, she leaned over the percolator and breathed deeply. “I can’t wait until I can drink kaffe again.”

  “There’s water and juice in the refrigerator.”

  “I know. But there’s nothing like a cup of kaffe in the morning.” She turned to Elizabeth. “So, glad you’re here. How about I show you the store and get you trained.”

  Elizabeth rose and set her cup in the sink. She followed Miriam out of the room.

  Saul stayed at the table, drumming his fingers on its top. It was good they had someone to work during Miriam’s maternity leave. He wasn’t sorry it was this intriguing woman he’d met on the bus. He’d hoped to see her again.

  But she seemed hard to know and he wondered at her reason for being here in this town. He wondered if she’d stay after Miriam returned to work.

  Miriam appeared at the door. “Shall I open?”

  He looked at the clock and nodded.

  “Everything okay?”

  “What could be wrong? We found a replacement for you.”

  “There is no replacement for me,” she said tartly. “But there is a temporary solution.”

  He glanced at the door and then at her. “See if you can find out how long she intends to stay here.”

  “Until I come back, right?”

  “No, I mean the town.”

  “She didn’t tell you?”

  He shook his head. “Every time I ask her anything personal I see her withdrawing. I haven’t pushed.”

  “Do you want to know for the job? Or for yourself?”

  “For the job,” he said.

  “Schur,” she said. “I’ve known you for how many years?”

  “Miriam.”

  “I’ll find out,” she told him. “I can find out anything.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Ya, I know.”

  Elizabeth fell in love.

  Oh, not with Saul, although he certainly was just as nice a man as she’d thought him to be when she met him on the bus.

  No, it was the store she loved. She’d never been creative—never had the time to be. But here creativity was all around. So much love evident in the hand-carved items and the quilts and the candles and soaps and . . . well, she could go on and on.

  Miriam took her on a tour of the store set up in a plain and simple way with the goods showcased on the rough-hewn shelves. Elizabeth listened to her description of the piece and the person who created it. Customers liked knowing these things, Miriam said, and Elizabeth was interested, too, so she listened avidly as they walked around. Imagine spending your days and evenings creating something as your life’s work—or at least part of your day.

  Some of the th
ings she looked at were made by second-generation craftsmen—the sons of Amos Zook had followed in his footsteps and worked with him. What had begun as a way to make furniture for his growing family during the long, cold winters had turned into a growing skill and a second career as his work was sold here at the store.

  Elizabeth found herself wondering what was happening back in Goshen. Her family was an ordinary one, working hard to maintain their farm. During the winter, her father often worked part-time as a carpenter making kitchen cabinets in a nearby town. His work was practical, never creative.

  Customers came and went. Miriam helped some so Elizabeth could observe her and then gestured at her to take the next one. Elizabeth had been dealing with customers from the time she was just ten and she helped her mamm out with the roadside stand at the farm. Whether it was vegetables or fabric or Amish crafts, she knew how to help a customer and sometimes even make a subtle suggestion to increase the sale.

  “You were gut,” Miriam said, nodding as the customer, a prosperous looking Englischer, left with two full shopping bags.

  Then she frowned and rubbed at her lower back.

  “Time to take a break?” Elizabeth said.

  Miriam shook her head. “Don’t be expecting breaks too often. We work hard here.”

  Elizabeth didn’t take offense. She’d seen Miriam rub her lower back with one hand several times when she thought no one was looking. She glanced around the store and saw Saul working on something at the cash register.

  “I’m going to go straighten the quilts on the shelf while there are no customers,” she told Miriam. “I had to pull some of them out and didn’t get to fold them properly.”

  Miriam nodded absentmindedly, her attention clearly someplace else.

  Picking up one of the quilts, Elizabeth walked over to Saul. “Pretend I’m asking you something about the quilt,” she whispered, holding it out to him. “I think Miriam’s in labor and doesn’t want to admit it. She keeps rubbing her back. I think she’s having back labor.”

  He went dead white. Then he blinked and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he struggled to speak.

  “The quilt!” she hissed.

  He took the quilt and pretended to look at the price tag. “What makes you think she’s in labor?”