A Mother's Secret (24 page)

Lily gasped. “How dare you say that?
Mamm
abandoned me. You would feel the same way if you’d stayed.”

“Lily, why do you forgive me, but you still can’t forgive
Mamm
?”

Lillian stared at her for a moment. “Didn’t you hear what I said? She
abandoned
me.” She clearly enunciated the word.

“Andrew and I left you too, but you aren’t treating us the way you’re treating
Mamm
. You’re breaking her heart. Can’t you see the pain you’ve caused her? Jesus told us to forgive and love one another. Why can’t you forgive
Mamm
?” Amanda held her breath while her twin stared at her.

Soon Lily’s expression softened. “I’m the one who was left behind. You have to understand that I’m grieving.”

“We still love you, and we’re still your family.” Amanda touched her sister’s hand. “Please tell me that you’ll pray and try to forgive
Mamm
. Can you do that for me?”

“I don’t know.” Lily shook her head and cleared her throat. “I can’t make any promises.”

Amanda suddenly remembered a Scripture passage the minister read at church the previous week. “A verse from Ephesians really touched my heart last week at church. ‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.’ I think that applies to this situation. You really need to forgive
Mamm
.”

Lillian wiped a tear off her cheek. “I’ll try. I promise.”

“
Danki
.” Amanda looped her arm around Lily’s shoulder and hoped she would keep her promise.

Rosemary sat beside her friend Naomi on a grassy hill while they watched members of Rosemary’s youth group play volleyball. Rosemary tried her best to act happy, but she was holding her true emotions inside. Deep down, she longed to cry as disappointment drowned her. She’d been at Eve’s for more than an hour, and she hadn’t spotted Daniel King yet. She’d told Naomi all about her encounter with Danny at the barn raising, and she’d confided that she’d been praying that he’d come to see her today at the singing.

“He’ll be here,” Naomi whispered for the twentieth time since they’d arrived at Eve’s house that Sunday afternoon. “Maybe he’s running late because he’s talking to his parents, or maybe he had to help clean up after lunch.”

Rosemary grimaced at Naomi. “The
buwe
never help clean up in the kitchen after service. They just eat and leave.”

“I know.” Naomi sighed. “I was trying to make you feel better.”

“
Danki
.” Rosemary pulled a blade of grass. “I know I’m acting
gegisch
and immature, but I can’t help it.”

“Rosemary—” Naomi began in a whisper.

“I just like him so much.” Rosemary kept her eyes fixed on the green grass. “Have you ever had a crush that fogs your mind? It feels like you’re dreaming all the time and it’s the same dream. Danny is all I think about. I know it’s wrong, but I can’t stop how I feel.”

“Rosemary, you really need to stop.” Naomi moved closer to Rosemary, but she kept talking.

“I wonder if he likes me too.” Rosemary sighed.

“Rosemary!” Naomi grabbed her arm. “You need to pay attention. There’s a boy right over there who fits your description of Danny. Is that him?”

“What?” Rosemary looked up and found Daniel talking to Benjamin near the row of volleyball nets. She gasped, and her heart raced. “He’s actually here.”

Naomi grinned. “You can stop whining and moaning now.”

“I don’t whine and moan.” Rosemary studied Daniel. “I hope he comes over here.”

“He will. Just be patient and give him a chance.” Naomi squinted in the sun. “It’s the perfect day for volleyball.”

“
Ya
, it is.” Rosemary kept her eyes trained on Daniel. When he looked over and waved, she thought her heart might explode in her chest.

Daniel and Ben began walking toward them, and Rosemary
swiped her hands over her dress and then touched her prayer covering to make sure it was secure.

“They’re coming this way!” Naomi said.

“I know,” Rosemary responded through gritted teeth. “Stop being so obvious.”

“
Wie geht’s?
” Daniel sank down onto a patch of grass beside her while Benjamin sat beside Naomi.

“You made it.” Rosemary smiled over at him.

“She was beginning to think you weren’t coming,” Naomi said, and Rosemary jabbed her elbow into Naomi’s side.

“I got here as quickly as I could.” Daniel turned toward Rosemary. “I have a question for you.”

Her pulse raced with anticipation. “What’s your question?”

Daniel pointed toward the row of volleyball nets. “Why are we sitting here when the sun is shining and volleyball nets are beckoning us?”

“Oh.” Rosemary’s cheeks heated.

“You want to play, Ben?” Daniel asked as he stood.

“
Ya
. I love volleyball.” Benjamin started toward the net. “Come on, Ro. I know you like to play too.”

“Okay.” Rosemary stood up and glanced at Naomi. “Are you coming too?”

“Why not?” Naomi hopped up and walked with Rosemary toward an empty net.

Rosemary stood next to Daniel while he held up a ball and winked at her.

“Are you going to be on my team?” he asked her.

“Absolutely,” she said as her heart turned over.

Rosemary rushed into her house after she and Benjamin arrived home from the youth gathering. She couldn’t wait to talk to her mother and tell her all about Daniel. She rushed into the house and up the stairs to her room. After changing into her nightgown and brushing out her hair, she walked down the hallway to where her mother was reading in bed.

“Rosemary, I thought I heard you get home.” Her
mamm
placed her book on her lap. “Did you have a nice time?”

“I did.” Rosemary stood in the doorway. “Do you have a minute to talk?”

“Of course I do. I always have time for you.”
Mamm
patted the quilt. “Come sit with me.”

Rosemary climbed into the bed beside her mother, and she felt like a little girl again.

“Did your brothers come home too?”
Mamm
asked.

“I think they were dropping off a few friends. They should be here soon.” Rosemary lowered her voice. “I wanted to talk to you alone. Is
Dat
gone?”

“He’s out in the barn working on a project. I’m sure we have a few minutes alone, and we’ll hear him when he comes up the stairs.”
Mamm
placed her book on the bedside table. “What did you want to tell me?”

Rosemary paused and gnawed on her lower lip as the confidence she’d felt earlier evaporated.

“What is it?”
Mamm
asked. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“I’m embarrassed now.”

“You don’t need to be embarrassed when you talk to me.”
Mamm
smiled. “Does this have something to do with a
bu
?”

“
Ya
. He’s so handsome and nice and funny.” Rosemary couldn’t stop a sigh from escaping her lips. “Oh,
Mamm
. I feel like I’m floating when I’m with him.”

“
Mei boppli
is growing up.”
Mamm
pushed Rosemary’s long hair away from her face. “Tell me about this special
bu
.”

“His name is Daniel King, and he works with Ben and Joshua Glick at the horse farm. He’s tall and he’s strong. He came to our youth group tonight. We played volleyball, and we talked and laughed. Oh, it was perfect.” Rosemary flopped back on the bed and stared up at the white ceiling. “I can’t wait until I can see him again. He said he’d come to youth group again next week.”

“How old is he?”

Rosemary hesitated. “He’s nineteen.”

Mamm’s
smile faded a little. “He’s too old for you, Rosemary. Three years is a big gap when you’re a young person.”

“But,
Mamm
, he’s really nice and he’s respectful,” Rosemary said while hoping to temper her mother’s concern. “You don’t need to worry. I just want to get to know him. Next year I’ll join the baptism class, and I won’t date him until after I’m a church member. You can trust me.”

Mamm
nodded. “I do trust you, and he sounds like a nice young man. But I need to warn you. Your
dat
is very worried about you.”

Rosemary grimaced. “He’s still angry about the barn raising? All I did was talk to Danny. We were in public, and we didn’t even sit next to each other. Ben introduced him to me, and then I invited him to come to the youth gathering. I don’t plan on meeting him in secret or spending time alone. I just want to see him at youth gatherings. You have to believe me.”

“I do believe you, and I’m glad you’re telling me about him. You’re not keeping any secrets from me, right?”

“I would never keep secrets from you,
Mamm
.” She thought about her parents. “How old were you when you met
Dat
?”

“I was seventeen, and your
dat
was eighteen.” Her mother smiled as she suddenly got a faraway look in her eyes. “It was love at first sight. I’d gone with my cousin to her youth group, which was in this community. I saw your
dat
across the barn while we were singing, and I knew I had to meet him.”

Rosemary smiled. “That’s so sweet.”

“
Ya
, it was. He came up to talk to me after the singing, and he asked me if I wanted a ride home. We were inseparable after that. We married four years later.”

“So you were only twenty-one when you were married.”

“Now, now. Hold on a minute. Don’t get any ideas. Not every couple is ready to be married when they are that young.”
Mamm
shook her finger. “Your
dat
was already working for your
daadi
on his farm, and there was a little
haus
for us there. Don’t get any ideas about running off and getting married.”

“I’m not.” Rosemary shook her head. “But I hope I can get to know Danny better.”

“Take your time. You’re young.”

Her father’s boots sounded on the stairs, and Rosemary jumped up.

“
Gut nacht, Mamm
.” She headed for the doorway. “
Danki
for talking with me.”

“I enjoyed it.
Ich liebe dich.
”
Mamm
waved at her
.
“See you
in the morning.”

Rosemary jumped into her bed, snuggled under the sheets, and fell asleep dreaming about when she would see Daniel again.

FOURTEEN

T
he following Tuesday Carolyn was baking pies while her mother was mending a pair of her father’s trousers.

“Carolyn!” Rosemary burst into the kitchen and huffed and puffed as if she’d run the length of the back pasture. “You need to come with me.”

“What’s going on?”
Mamm
asked. “Why are you so out of breath?”

“I just ran from the barn.” Rosemary leaned on the counter and caught her breath. “
Daadi
is heading out to the hardware store, and he said he wanted to stop by to visit Ben at Josh Glick’s farm on the way back. Do you want to come with us?”

“He’s going to see Ben?” Carolyn wiped her hands on a towel.

“
Ya,
that’s what I said.” Rosemary beckoned for Carolyn to come. “He wants to leave now. He’s hitching the horse to the buggy.”