AR01 - A Road Unknow Read online

  “With an Englisch friend. I don’t think so. And if I remember correctly, she’s twenty.” He took a bite of pot roast and wondered when the questions would stop.

  “Is she pretty?” she persisted.

  “Yes, Saul, is she pretty?” his father asked.

  Saul frowned at his father. “You have eyes. What do you say?”

  “I say I’d be interested in knowing if you think she’s pretty,” Samuel told him, grinning as he finished his supper and leaned back in his chair.

  “Saul!”

  He wanted to roll his eyes at his mother, but he’d learned never to do it when he was thirteen and did it once. Just once. “Beauty’s in the eyes of the beholder,” he said.

  She threw her hands in the air. “Ask a simple question!” She stood, walked over to the counter and picked up a plate of brownies. “There’s dessert for men who clear the table.” She glanced meaningfully over her shoulder.

  Saul and his father cleared the table in record time.

  “Ice cream?” Samuel asked.

  “Schur,” Waneta said with a smile. She carried the plate of brownies to the table and began putting them on plates and passing them to Samuel and Saul.

  “I think she just treated us like kinner,” Samuel said to Saul.

  “Ya,” Saul agreed. He turned to his mother. “May I have two scoops?”

  Samuel snickered.

  Waneta handed him a plate with two scoops of ice cream as well.

  Saul chuckled and began eating his dessert.

  “So, she’s pretty, eh?” said Waneta.

  He nodded and looked sheepish.

  “What do you know about her?” Waneta asked as she began eating her brownie.

  “She’s a nice maedel,” Saul said with a shrug.

  “She’s not here for rumschpringe,” Samuel spoke up. “She’s running away from something, not running around.”

  Saul stared at him. His father didn’t usually talk like that. But there was no question he’d hit the nail on the head about Elizabeth. While Saul still felt Elizabeth was a mystery, even as he puzzled about her being with the Englisch man, he didn’t think she was into wild behavior. He was a good judge of character. His dat, too. He wouldn’t have told Saul he should hire Elizabeth—even for a temporary position—if he had any reservations.

  He took another bite of the brownie topped with ice cream and thought about seconds.

  “Maybe I should stop by and take a look for myself,” Waneta mused.

  Samuel patted her hand and reached for another brownie. “You know you decided to the minute you started asking questions tonight.”

  She grinned. “True.”

  Saul’s phone vibrated. He looked at the display. “It’s from Leroy. Miriam’s husband,” he said, reading the text. “She just had a boy who weighed nearly eight pounds.” He texted his congratulations and turned back to look at the plate of brownies. “I think I’ll have another of those to celebrate.”

  “It’s as good a reason as any,” his mother said with a smile and reached for his plate. “One scoop of ice cream or two?”

  “Paula called while you were out on break,” Saul told Elizabeth when she walked into the store the next afternoon. “She said she had to see her faculty advisor and she was going to be late.”

  “Oh, okay.” Elizabeth started for the back room to put up her purse.

  “I told her I could give you a ride,” he said.

  She stopped and turned to look at him. “You don’t have to.”

  “I’d be happy to. It’s on my way home.”

  “How did you know—oh, my address is on my resumé.”

  He nodded.

  “If you’re sure?”

  “I am.”

  “Danki.” She walked back and locked up her purse. It wouldn’t have been a hardship to take a bus home, but rain was predicted later in the afternoon.

  She was helping a customer with a quilt when an Amish woman walked in. The woman smiled at her and walked around, browsing the shelves. Katie and Rosie approached her and they greeted each other like friends, although Elizabeth couldn’t hear their conversation. They looked in her direction and Katie nodded, then walked on to the front of the store to greet a customer.

  Elizabeth wondered briefly if this was one of the people whose work was sold here and if she was here to see Saul. Or maybe she was shopping. Every time she looked up, the woman was watching her curiously.

  “What’s this pattern called?”

  She returned her attention to her customer. “It’s Sunshine and Shadow. Sometimes called Diamond in the Square because of the geometric shapes.”

  Clearly torn, the woman hesitated and bit her lip. “It’s awfully expensive.”

  “A good handmade Amish quilt isn’t cheap,” Elizabeth said. “But this is made by one of the best quilters in the area. Look how many stitches per inch. Hundreds of hours go into something like this. I like to call it practical art. It warms your heart and soul to look at its beauty but it can cover you with warmth as well.”

  “What a beautiful thing to say.”

  Elizabeth stroked a hand over it. “It’ll last for a long, long time. Quilts like this get passed down in families.”

  “You’re right,” the woman said. “I’ll take it. It’s something I can leave my daughter. If she doesn’t try to talk me out of it when I get back to Florida.”

  Elizabeth wrapped the quilt in tissue paper and placed it in a shopping bag. She presented the credit slip to be signed and when she gave her the receipt she included a brochure of some of the store’s quilts.

  “Maybe she’d like to look at this,” Elizabeth told her. “There’s also a website listed on the back. She can look at more quilts, if she has a computer.”

  “The store uses a website? I thought the Amish didn’t use computers.”

  “An Englisch friend of the owner takes care of it.” She handed the bag to her customer and smiled. “I hope you enjoy this for many years to come.”

  “I’m sure I will. Thank you, dear.”

  She watched her customer walk away and then sighed happily. Saul should be very happy with the sale. It was her second quilt sale today.

  Elizabeth closed the cash register drawer and looked up into the face of the Amish woman who’d come into the store a few minutes earlier.

  “Hello. I’m Waneta Miller. Saul’s mother.”

  “Oh, it’s gut to meet you. I’ll go get Saul for you.”

  “No, I didn’t come to see him,” she said. “I came to see you.”

  “Me?”

  The woman’s eyes danced merrily. “Just thought I’d say wilkumm.”

  Elizabeth was touched. “Why, thank you.”

  “Mamm! I didn’t know you were here.”

  She turned as Saul approached the counter. “I just got here.”

  “Had to see for yourself, eh?”

  “Of course.”

  She said something Elizabeth didn’t understand since they didn’t speak Pennsylvania Dietsch back in Goshen. But Saul looked at his mother sternly.

  “Speak English, Mamm.”

  Waneta looked at Elizabeth. “I just told him I agreed with him that you are pretty.”

  “I didn’t say to tell her what you said,” he told her with a sigh. He looked at Elizabeth. “Sorry.”

  “Sorry for saying you think I’m pretty?” she teased, surprising herself at her boldness.

  Waneta laughed. “And she has a sense of humor,” she said.

  “Where’s Daed?” he asked.

  “He’s picking up new glasses. He’ll be coming back for me in a few minutes.”

  “Excuse me,” Katie said. “Rosie and I are leaving now.”

  “Danki,” Saul said. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”

  The twins exchanged hugs with Waneta, winking at Elizabeth over her shoulder, then hurried out of the store, holding the door open for a customer who entered.

  “Excuse me,” Elizabeth said to Waneta. “I’d bett
er see to my customer.”

  “Mamm, maybe you’d like a cup of tea while you wait for Daed,” she heard Saul say as she walked away.

  Waneta sighed. “I suppose since she’s busy.”

  Elizabeth smiled. Something told her she’d had a narrow escape.

  Samuel came in a short time later and nodded at Elizabeth. “Your fraa is in the back room with Saul.”

  “How is it you escaped her asking you questions?” he asked, his eyes twinkling behind new glasses.

  Elizabeth stuck her tongue in her cheek. “She asked a few, but a customer came in.”

  He chuckled. “Well, let’s see if she can leave without asking a few more. She is a curious woman, my Waneta.”

  Before he could get her, Waneta emerged and met them at the front of the store. She tilted her head to one side and studied him. “And look how handsome you are in your new glasses.”

  “Just for that I’ll take you to supper at the new restaurant you’ve been wanting to try,” he said, offering his arm to her.

  She laughed. “I’ll take you up on it.” She looked at Elizabeth. “Maybe we can go to lunch one day when I’m in town.”

  “That would be nice,” Elizabeth said.

  “An inquisition will be on the menu,” Saul murmured, as he came to stand beside her and watch his parents leave.

  She laughed. “She seems like a very nice woman.”

  “A very strong one. It’s stood her in good stead as she fought the cancer several years ago.”

  “That must have been rough on your family.”

  Saul nodded. “Especially Daed. He insisted on being with her for every doctor appointment. Every chemo treatment. So I took over the store so he wouldn’t have to be there.”

  “So why didn’t he come back after everything was over? After she went into remission? She is in remission, right?”

  “Ya. Daed decided he wanted to make the most of the time they have left. He’d worked so hard starting, then running the store.”

  “And he saw you’d done a good job.”

  He shrugged as if embarrassed at her words. “I had a good teacher in him.”

  Elizabeth turned the front door sign from open to closed and locked the door and Saul worked on the day’s deposit.

  “Would you mind if we stopped for a few minutes to look in on Miriam on the way?” he asked a little while later as they waited by the front door for their ride. “She’s at home.”

  “You don’t have to give me a ride—” she began.

  “You can sit in the van if you don’t want to go inside,” he said quickly. “I’ll just be a minute.”

  A short time later, he glanced at her when the driver pulled up in front of Miriam’s home. “I think Miriam would like you to come in,” he said. “Her husband said she was glad you insisted she go see a doctor.”

  The last thing she wanted to do was see a boppli . . . but she couldn’t say so to Saul.

  She got out of the van.

  7

  He’s beautiful,” Elizabeth told Miriam.

  In truth, the baby looked like a shriveled little pink peanut like so many newborns did. But what else could she say? Miriam and her husband, Leroy, were sitting there in their living room, the new baby cradled in Miriam’s arms. And both parents were beaming.

  “They sent you home already?” Saul asked.

  “I had a baby, not a serious illness,” Miriam told him with a chuckle.

  “If you say so.”

  Miriam turned to Elizabeth. “Thank you for insisting I go see a doctor. She said many women don’t recognize back labor.” She tilted her head and studied Elizabeth. “But you did and you haven’t ever had a baby.”

  “I come from a large family,” Elizabeth said briefly.

  Miriam covered her yawn with her hand. “Would you like to hold Daniel?”

  “No,” Elizabeth said quickly. Then, when the others stared at her, she tried to smile. “He looks like he’s about to fall asleep there.”

  “Shall I go put him in his crib?” Leroy asked.

  “I . . . guess,” Miriam said slowly. “Tired, too.” She blinked as her husband took the baby from her arms. “I think the day is . . . catching up with me.”

  Elizabeth frowned. Was she imagining Miriam looked pale and her eyes seemed a little glassy?

  “Leroy, show Saul where we put the crib he gave us.”

  Saul followed Leroy from the room.

  “Miriam? Why don’t you go on to bed and I’ll go wait for Saul in the van?” Elizabeth suggested.

  The other woman stared at her for a long moment. “I—what?”

  “You need to lie down. You’re tired.”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  “Do you want me to fix you a cup of tea?”

  Miriam frowned. “Yes, it would be nice. I can’t seem to keep my eyes open.”

  “Why don’t you go to bed? I’ll call Saul—”

  “No need to rush off. I can’t go to bed anyway. Leroy’s parents are coming over in a little while. They haven’t seen the baby yet.”

  “I’ll be right back. Why don’t you stay put and rest?”

  There was a knock on the door. Elizabeth went to answer it and found Phil standing on the porch.

  “I’m sorry, but I need to make an emergency run to a pharmacy for a prescription for a client,” he said. “Would you see if Saul would mind if I did it first and came back for the two of you?”

  “I’m sure it’s fine,” she told him. “See you when you get back.”

  When she returned to the living room, she saw Miriam had taken her advice: she was lying on the sofa. As Elizabeth bent down to put the cup of tea on the table near the sofa, she frowned. Miriam just didn’t look right. If anything, her face was paler.

  Something made her touch the woman’s forehead. It felt cold and clammy.

  She jostled Miriam’s shoulder. “Miriam? Are you feeling all right? Miriam?”

  But the woman didn’t rouse. Alarmed, Elizabeth backed away and glanced at the doorway. What was taking the men so long to return? She hurried down the hall and found them standing over the baby’s crib.

  “Leroy? I’m worried about Miriam. I think something’s wrong with her.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “One minute she was talking to me and the next she was slumping back on the sofa.”

  “She’s probably just exhausted,” Leroy said.

  Elizabeth turned on her heel and walked back into the living room. Miriam hadn’t moved. She shook her shoulder and called her name but the woman didn’t stir.

  “We should leave so she can get some rest.”

  Leroy knelt in front of his wife. “Miriam? Come on, I’ll help you to bed. Miriam?”

  When she didn’t rouse, he turned to them. “She must be exhausted. I’ll carry her to bed.”

  “No,” Elizabeth said. “I think this is more than exhaustion.” She turned to Saul. “May I borrow your cell phone?”

  When he handed it to her, she tapped in Paula’s cell phone number. “Paula’s studying nursing. I’m going to ask her what to do.” When Paula picked up, she said quickly, “It’s Elizabeth. I’m worried about a friend. We stopped by to see her on the way home. She came home from having a baby today, and we’re having trouble waking her. I think we should call 911.”

  “I agree,” Paula said tersely. “I don’t need to hear more. Hang up and do it right away.”

  Elizabeth hit disconnect and dialed 911, then gave the phone to Leroy when the dispatcher asked her for the address.

  The baby began to cry. Leroy glanced in the direction of the baby’s room, but Elizabeth touched his arm and indicated she’d go see to him.

  She leaned over the crib and tried patting him gently on his back, but he just cried harder. She bit her lip and then with a sigh lifted him carefully from his crib and crooned to him. Still he cried.

  “I know you want your mamm, but she can’t come right now,” she whispered, rocking him g
ently in her arms.

  “Is he okay?” Saul asked her as he walked into the room.

  “I think he’s just hungry. I hope Miriam has some formula.” She looked at him. “Saul, what are we going to do? I’m sure Leroy is going to want to go with Miriam to the hospital.”

  “Leroy says his parents will be here soon.”

  A siren came wailing down the road toward the house and pulled into the driveway. Saul held open the door and paramedics rushed into the living room. Elizabeth slipped into the kitchen with the baby to stay out of the way. She spotted a bag with the hospital’s name on it and looked inside, sighing with relief when she saw the six pack of little bottles prefilled with formula. Her mother had brought home similar tote bags the last two times she’d had a baby and delivered them in the hospital instead of at home.

  “We’ll get some formula in your tummy right away,” she promised Daniel.

  Leroy came to the doorway and looked relieved when he saw her holding his son.

  “We’re staying until your parents get here,” she told him. “You go with Miriam.”

  “Danki,” he said, and a few minutes later she watched him follow the paramedics wheeling the gurney with Miriam out the front door.

  The ambulance siren started up again, the sound growing fainter as it drove away. Elizabeth sat and touched the nipple of the bottle to the baby’s mouth. He took it eagerly and the sound of his suckling filled the quiet kitchen.

  “Guess this is different from last night,” Saul said.

  They were sitting at the kitchen table. Elizabeth continued feeding the baby who stared owlishly at her. Saul drank a cup of coffee and watched them.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I saw your roommate brought a friend to pick you up yesterday.”

  “And?”

  He reddened. “Nothing. Just making conversation.”

  Elizabeth didn’t know what to say so she said nothing.

  “Are you settling in okay? I mean, at the apartment. Things in general.”

  She nodded. “Paula has made me feel very comfortable. So has everyone at the store.”

  “Gut.”

  “The town seems nice. It reminds me a little of Goshen.”

  “I’ve never been there.”