The Decision Page 5

  “I’m sure your help will be appreciated.”

  Although Sara was a small-boned woman, not more than five feet tall, she had a determined spirit as well as a generous heart. Jonah didn’t doubt for a minute that she would help in whatever way she could. He studied Sara for a moment, noting that her brown eyes were a shade darker than her hair. She was a good-looking woman, for sure, and Harley had often said he was a lucky man. But Jonah was lucky, too, having fallen in love with Elaine, who was every bit as pretty as Sara.

  “Helping each other out is what families are supposed to do,” Sara said. “Betty and Herschel have helped me plenty since Harley died, and of course several others in our community have done that as well.”

  People helping people, Jonah thought. That’s what the Bible teaches. Right now, though, assisting Elaine and her grandma was uppermost in his mind, because whether they wanted it or not, help from him and others in their community was what they both needed right now.

  After Jonah left the Stutzmans’ and was on his way to Elaine’s, he thought more about Sara. She was only twenty-four and already a widow. On top of that, she had a little boy to care for. Sara was fortunate to have her husband’s family close by. Harley had been gone ten months already, but his family was still healing. From what Jonah had heard, they’d been a big help to Sara and her little boy. Now she would be helping them while Betty recuperated. It was good they had each other to lean on. Jonah would continue to be available if she needed anything, too.

  He switched his thoughts back to Elaine, hoping that by next year at this time, they might be married and living in the house he’d purchased not long ago. Jonah was anxious to get started on a few minor improvements, but other than repainting some of the rooms, the house didn’t need a whole lot done to it. The place was actually in move-in condition. He also wanted to sand the living-room floor and finish it with a new coat of varnish. His goal was to get that and the painting completed before he and Elaine got married, but Jonah was confident that he had plenty of time.

  The lane leading up to his home was edged by bushes that turned to a brilliant red in the fall. Those needed a bit of trimming, but he’d decided to wait on that until early in the new year. Knowing there would be little red berries on the bushes over the winter, Jonah didn’t want to take a natural food source away from the birds. The property had a small barn that someday he hoped to enlarge, giving him more space for his buggy business. A pond behind the house was stocked with plenty of fish.

  Jonah’s mind wandered to the future. He pictured children sitting next to him as he taught them to fish and swim during the hot days of summer. On chilly winter evenings, he envisioned sitting around the bonfire at the far end of the pond, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows after ice skating with his wife and children. The house Jonah purchased had four large bedrooms on the second floor and two downstairs. Jonah smiled thinking of the children who would one day fill those upstairs rooms. He couldn’t wait to become a father and give his children a loving home, just like his parents had given him. Elaine would be a good mother. Even though she’d lost her parents at a tender age, because of Elaine’s grandparents, she understood what it was like to be loved and raised in a secure environment.

  Jonah’s thoughts did a reverse, and he wondered how his parents were doing back in Pennsylvania. He even reflected on his folks’ border collie, Herbie. Jonah missed having a dog around, and soon after he and Elaine got married, he planned for them to get a dog. For now, though, Jonah just needed to be there for Elaine and Edna, helping them in any way he could.

  CHAPTER 6

  Leah had just come up from the basement of her parents’ home, where she gave reflexology treatments, when her mother called from the kitchen, asking for help getting supper on the table.

  “Okay, Mom, I’ll be there as soon as I wash my hands,” Leah responded. Ten minutes ago, she’d seen her last patient for the day, Susan Diener, an elderly woman from their church district. After Susan had left, Leah had put away her massage lotion and repositioned the recliner people sat in while she worked on their feet. As she always did after the final appointment, she checked her schedule to see who would be coming for the next treatment session and made sure the basement area was ready and in order. It was Friday, so there would be no more patients until next week.

  Leah had learned reflexology from her maternal grandmother, who’d since passed away, and Leah saw her ability as a gift to help others through this unique method of healing. At least, that’s what her grandmother had always called it. Reflexology wasn’t a replacement for a doctor’s care, but by massaging and pressing certain reflex zones on people’s feet, she’d seen recoveries from various ailments.

  When Leah finished up in the bathroom, she went straight to the kitchen to see what she could do to help out. “What do you need me to do?” she asked her mother, who was busy stirring a pan of gravy on the stove.

  “You can make a tossed green salad and then set the table,” Mom answered. Her brown eyes appeared even darker than usual in the dimness of the room.

  “No problem.” Leah first turned on the gas lamp that hung over the table. Then she took out the salad ingredients from the refrigerator, placing them on the counter next to the sink.

  “How’d things go with Susan?” Mom asked after she’d turned down the stove and started mashing the potatoes.

  “Fairly well. She’s only had a few treatments, but already her sinus issues seem to have improved.”

  Mom looked over her shoulder and smiled. “That’s good to hear, Leah.”

  After Leah washed the head of lettuce and started tearing its leaves into a bowl, she glanced at the perpetual calendar sitting on the windowsill. Elaine and Edna would be busy getting last-minute things done before their dinner guests arrived. Closing her eyes, she lifted a prayer on their behalf.

  Upon entering his sister’s cozy, two-story house, Jonah sniffed the air. “Is that baked ham I smell?”

  Jean, who’d been setting the dining-room table, blinked her dark eyes rapidly and smiled at him. “Jah, and I chose ham because I know how much you like it, dear brother.”

  He stepped up beside Jean and gave her a hug. “I’m blessed to have such a thoughtful sister.”

  “And I feel blessed to have her as my fraa,” Jean’s husband, Nathan, proclaimed when he entered the room with their three children. Rebecca, the oldest, who had recently turned four, ran over to Jonah and clutched his hand. “Horsey ride?” she asked in their traditional Pennsylvania-Dutch language.

  “Jah, sure.” Jonah got down on his hands and knees and told the cute little dark-haired girl to climb onto his back. The next thing Jonah knew, two-year-old Stephen gave a whoop and climbed on, too.

  “Giddyup, horsey, let’s go for a ride!” Rebecca hollered, gripping Jonah’s shoulders.

  Putting one hand in front of the other, Jonah made his way around the dining room, avoiding the table; then he headed down the hallway, made a U-turn, and came back again. The children giggled and shouted commands for their horsey to go as fast as he could. It was fun hearing his niece and nephew giggle, but Jonah hoped his knees wouldn’t give out.

  By the time they’d made it back to the dining room, Jonah was ready for the game to end, and equally relieved when Jean said it was time to eat supper.

  “Come on, children, give your uncle a rest.” Jean winked at Jonah and smiled. “I’m sure Uncle Jonah had a tiring day.”

  Jonah had a great sister, and they’d always looked out for each other. Truth was, he’d do just about anything for his twin.

  After Nathan put their six-month-old son, Zeke, into his playpen, the rest of them gathered at the table, with Stephen in his high chair. After silent prayer, Jean passed the ham and baked potatoes, followed by a bowl of fruit salad, some rolls, and a dish of creamed peas.

  Jonah took a bite of ham and smacked his lips. “Sure wish I had someone in my house who could cook as well as you do, Jean.”

  “Danki, Jonah
.” She smiled and blotted her lips on a napkin. “Our mamm taught me well, and if you’d hung around the kitchen a bit more when we were kinner, you could probably cook as well as I do.”

  Jonah grunted. “I doubt it, but I get by well enough, and I don’t go hungry, so guess I can’t really complain.”

  “Maybe you oughta find a good fraa,” Nathan said, reaching over to place more peas on the tray of Stephen’s high chair. Jonah was surprised when the boy ate them, and eagerly, too. When he was growing up, he’d always hated peas. Green beans, too, for that matter.

  “Did ya hear what I said about finding a good wife?” Nathan asked, bumping Jonah’s arm with his elbow.

  “Jah, I heard, and I’ve been thinkin’ on it.”

  “So you haven’t asked her yet, huh?” This question came from Jean.

  “Asked who?” Jonah grabbed his glass of water and took a drink. He didn’t want to talk about this right now, but his sister probably wouldn’t give up until he answered.

  Jean squinted her brown eyes at him. “I was talking about Elaine. She’s the one you’ve been courting, right?”

  Jonah gave a nod.

  “Well, when are you going to ask her to marry you?” Jean persisted.

  “Whenever I feel the time is right.” Jonah grabbed a roll and slathered it with strawberry jam. “With the recent passing of Elaine’s grossdaadi, now is not a good time.”

  “What’s for supper? What’s for supper? Pretty bird…pretty bird…What’s for supper?”

  Elaine grimaced, rolling her eyes. “I hope that silly parakeet isn’t going to carry on like that all evening while the tourists are here.” She didn’t know why she felt so edgy tonight. Maybe it was just her fatigue.

  “Millie’s excited because she knows we’re cooking supper.” Grandma glanced across the room at her parakeet’s cage. “If she gets too noisy, I’ll have to cover her cage.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Elaine agreed. “Maybe we should cover it before our guests arrive. Better yet, why don’t you take her to your bedroom where she’ll be out of sight?”

  “She might really get to squawking if she’s all by herself; I may just cover the cage.” Grandma drank a second glass of water, even though just moments ago she’d emptied her first. “Just remind me, though. I’ve been kind of forgetful lately. And I don’t know what’s making me so thirsty. Guess I must have eaten something salty today.”

  Elaine couldn’t deny that Grandma had been forgetful. Even before Grandpa’s death, Grandma had seemed a bit absentminded at times. Elaine figured it was part of growing older, although she herself had times when she couldn’t remember where she’d put something. Just the other day, she’d gone upstairs to retrieve an item, but by the time she got to the top step, she’d forgotten what she went up there for. The thing that concerned Elaine the most about Grandma were the symptoms Leah had observed the other day. When Elaine had asked Grandma about the dizziness she’d felt, Grandma made light of the situation, saying she’d gotten up too quickly after setting her laundry basket down, but felt better once she’d had something to eat.

  “How would it be if I called next week and made you a doctor’s appointment?” Elaine asked, reaching for the basket to fill it with the rolls she’d made earlier.

  The wrinkles in Grandma’s forehead deepened. “Whatever for? Is it because I’m thirsty and said I must have eaten something salty earlier today?”

  “No, of course not. I’m worried about that woozy spell you had the other day, and I think it would be a good idea if you saw the doctor, just in case.”

  Grandma set aside the pickles she’d been slicing. “In case what?”

  “In case your light-headedness was caused by something more than just bending down and standing up too quickly.”

  Grandma frowned and poured herself more water. “I don’t want to go to the doctor. They poke and prod too much. Maybe I should see Leah and get my feet worked on.”

  Elaine lifted her shoulders with hands palms up. “If you see the doctor first and he doesn’t find anything beyond the scope of Leah’s abilities, then I’m in agreement with you letting her work on your feet.”

  Grandma folded her arms in a stubborn pose. “I’ll think about it.” Then she quickly unfolded her arms and gestured to the kitchen window. “Right now, we need to greet our guests, because the tour bus has pulled in.”

  CHAPTER 7

  After Sharon Sullivan, the tour guide, had introduced Edna and Elaine to the people who’d come for dinner, Edna smiled and said, “I hope you’re all hungerich, because there’s enough food here for everyone to have seconds and maybe even thirds.”

  “What does hungerich mean?” a young woman who wore her hair in a ponytail questioned.

  “Oops!” Edna felt her cheeks warm, embarrassed by her slip of the tongue. “Hungerich is the Pennsylvania-Dutch word for hungry, which is what I really meant to say.” She glanced at Elaine to see her reaction, but she had just placed bowls of mashed potatoes on both tables and made no comment.

  Edna quickly followed with the gravy, and then she set a bowl of creamed corn beside it. When everything had been put on both tables—potatoes, gravy, corn, fried chicken, roast beef, bread, and pickles, she returned to the kitchen to get some butter and jam. Edna didn’t know why she felt so rattled this evening, but her hands were damp with perspiration, and her stomach did little flip-flops, like it used to when she’d first started hosting dinners for tour groups and was unsure of herself. She’d been doing this for a good many years now, so there was no reason to feel apprehensive or jittery. Maybe it was too soon to be doing this. It would be a week tomorrow since Lloyd had died. Maybe Edna was wrong in thinking she needed to stay busy in order to deal with her loss. Perhaps she shouldn’t have worried about trying to fulfill her obligation to the tour group. Well, it was too late for speculations. The people were here now, and she’d make it through the evening somehow.

  “That’s strange,” Edna muttered when she discovered there was no butter on the counter. She was sure she’d taken two sticks of butter from the refrigerator earlier and put them on butter dishes, along with knives. Maybe Elaine took it into the other room and I didn’t see it there.

  Edna opened the refrigerator and removed the strawberry jam Elaine had bought the other day. After she’d divided the jam into two dishes, she took them to the dining room and placed one on each table. Scanning the length of both tables, she saw no sign of the butter, which meant that Elaine had not brought them in. That’s so odd. I wonder what happened to them.

  Feeling even more flustered, Edna headed back to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator again, thinking she might have just thought she had taken the butter out earlier.

  “What are you looking for, Grandma?”

  Edna jumped. She hadn’t realized Elaine had come into the room. “I’m searching for the budder. I was sure I had set the dishes on the kitchen counter, but now they are nowhere to be found.”

  “I haven’t seen the butter,” Elaine said. “They are probably still in the refrigerator.”

  “No, they’re not.” Edna shook her head vigorously. “Come see for yourself if you don’t believe me.”

  “It isn’t that I don’t believe you, Grandma.” Elaine moved across the room. “I just can’t think of anywhere else the butter would be.”

  Edna moved aside and let Elaine look over the contents of the refrigerator. A few seconds later, Elaine stepped back and said, “You’re right, there’s no butter in there. Do you remember taking them out of the refrigerator?”

  “I—I thought I did.” At the moment, Edna wasn’t sure about anything. To make matters worse, she was beginning to feel woozy, like she had the other day.

  Elaine clasped Edna’s arm. “You look pale, Grandma. Are you feeling grank?”

  “Well, I…” Edna grabbed the back of a chair for support, fearful that she might topple over. “I don’t think I’m sick, but I do feel a bit light-headed.”

  “Sit do
wn and put your head between your knees,” Elaine instructed, helping Edna into a chair. “Are you feeling the way you did when Leah was here the other day?”

  Edna lowered her head. “Jah, but I felt better after I’d had something to eat.”

  “I’ll fix you a plate of food right now and see if that helps. If not, then it might be best if you go to your room and lie down.”

  “I’m not going to bed and leave you here to wait on all those people by yourself.”

  “I’m sure I can manage.”

  “You might make it through, but then you’d be more exhausted then I am right now. I’m sure that once I’ve had something to eat, I’ll be fine,” Edna insisted.

  “As you wish.” Elaine took a plate from the cupboard and dished up some potatoes, corn, and gravy that had been keeping warm on the stove. Then she took a piece of chicken from the oven and added that to the plate. “Here you go, Grandma.” She set the food on the table in front of Edna, along with a knife and fork.

  Edna offered a brief silent prayer and quickly ate a piece of chicken. “Yum. This tastes as good as it looks. I hope our guests are enjoying their meal.”

  “I’m sure they are, Grandma, but right now, I am more worried about you.”

  Edna ate a few bites of potatoes and flapped her hand. “I’m fine. Feeling better already, but I would like a glass of water.”

  “I’ll get it.” Elaine opened the cupboard where the glasses were kept, but instead of removing a glass and turning on the water, she lifted out the butter dishes and held them toward Edna. “It looks as though you may have accidentally put these in the cupboard when you took down the glasses to set the table for our guests.”

  Edna gasped and covered her mouth. “Ach, could I really have done something so dumm?”

  “It wasn’t dumb,” Elaine said, shaking her head. “You’ve been a little absentminded since Grandpa died, but that’s perfectly understandable.” She started toward the other room with the butter, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll take care of things in there while you finish what’s on your plate.”