A Simple Amish Christmas (24 page)

He glanced at her once more.

Arms crossed, clutching the puppy to herself as if she might fly to pieces. She continued to stare at him, as tears ran in rivulets down her face.

Stared at him as if he were someone she didn’t know.

And perhaps that was the truth.

So he murmured to his mare and drove away.

24

 

A
nnie stared down at the squirming pup in her arms.

She glanced up when the sound of Samuel’s buggy, retreating down their lane, registered in her heart.

“Would you like me to take the hound?” David’s voice was quiet, and he stood a few feet from her, still back and toward the barn.

Annie turned slowly, after she’d brushed at the tears with the heels of her hands. She knew her face must look a mess, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

“
Ya
, please.”

He accepted the warm bundle from her arms, and the little hound immediately began licking him on the chin. Still, David didn’t smile. He did pet the pup, attempting to calm it, and studied her with a concerned look.

He didn’t say anything, or ask anything.

He simply waited—like a friend or
bruder
would.

“What just happened, David?”

“I believe maybe Samuel misunderstood what he saw.”

She nodded in agreement, pulled in a deep steadying breath as they returned to the barn.

“But I tried to explain. He wouldn’t even listen. He…” Her words fell away. Perhaps it wasn’t proper to be discussing this with David. She should wait. Speak with her
mamm
tonight, but that was hours away, and she had a weight on her heart threatening to crush her.

“Samuel walked in at the worst possible moment, Annie. I wouldn’t be too hard on him. Maybe if you give him time to reflect on what he saw, he’ll reconsider. Or maybe if I go and speak with him—”

“No.” She reached out, touched his arm. “You’ve been a
gut
friend to me, but this isn’t between you and Samuel. If he can misinterpret such a small thing, if he won’t even hear me out, then perhaps he isn’t the man I thought he was.”

David frowned as he tucked the puppy into a wooden kennel they’d made for him, made and hidden in her
dat’s
office portion of the barn—a portion Reba didn’t enter without permission. “I’ve never known Samuel to be the jealous type, though. Or hasty in his judgment. Something else must be at work here.”

Annie thought back over his words, about her deserving someone younger, about his obligations to Rachel. But she couldn’t explain that to David—not without the tears spilling again.

Instead, she reached forward and caressed the pup. “He’ll be all right here?”

“
Ya
, it’s plenty warm, and Reba won’t be able to hear him from the main part of the barn. It’ll be a nice surprise.”

“
Danki
,” Annie said softly, then stood and stumbled out into the December day. It seemed less bright now, though of course it wasn’t. The sun still shone in the sky.

Christmas Eve.

Where had all the hope and joy of Christmas gone?

Climbing up into the buggy, she headed down the lane, toward the Smuckers. If she could do nothing here, perhaps she could do some small good there.

 

This time, when Annie pulled up in front of the Smucker home, no one stepped out on the front porch to greet her.

Actually, it looked like no one was in the house, though laundry did hang from the line.

She also noticed Mr. Smucker working out beside the barn.

Might as well knock on the door, though. She’d driven this far.

Sharon answered the door after her second knock. The girl appeared to have gained a bit of weight in the short time since Annie had seen her.

“Annie, I didn’t expect you to come by today.”

“I was thinking of you,” Annie replied honestly. “May I come in?”

“Of course.” Sharon opened the door wider, then stood there as if unsure what to say next.

Finally she offered, “My
mamm
went into town to pick up a few last-minute things for Christmas.”

“That’s all right. Maybe you and I could visit a little while.”

“Would you be needing to examine me again?” A look of concern passed over the young girl’s face, and Annie wondered again why the exams bothered her so.

“No, Sharon. Not unless you’re feeling differently.”

“Feel about the same—though my
boppli
seems to grow each day.” She placed her hand on top of her protruding stomach. “Don’t remember my
mamm
being so big with my little
bruder
.”

Annie smiled, trying to put her at ease. “It’s different with everyone. Some women carry their babies to the front, so the stomach looks and feels larger. Other women carry their babies more to the back. They look smaller, but with the smallness comes more of a backache.”

A genuine smile crossed Sharon’s face for the first time. “I’ll take the big stomach, then. What with the gas and the going to the bathroom so much, I don’t need a backache too.”

They stood there for a moment, afternoon sunshine spilling into the living room, when the sound of a teakettle pierced the silence. “I was just making some hot tea. Can I make you a cup?”

“That would be
gut
.” Annie followed her into the kitchen and resisted the urge to take out her patient book and start making notes. Sharon’s color was
gut
, she was moving around easily, and the gas and increased urination sounded normal enough.

They settled across the table from one another, each holding a mug of hot tea.

“How’s the knitting coming?”

Sharon beamed at her now. “
Wunderbaar.
I had knitted before, but only scarves and small things. Since I haven’t…” she stumbled, pushed on, “left the house, I’ve had a lot of time to learn how to make booties, caps, even little sweaters. I’m actually becoming quite talented with the knitting needles.”

Annie’s temper rose toward Mr. Smucker for not allowing Sharon to leave the house. She tamped it down and focused on Sharon. “It’s
gut
you’re using your time well. The baby will be here before you know it.”

“
Ya.
” The young girl gazed down into her tea, took a tentative sip. “That’s where
Mamm
is now. In town buying more yarn… and things.” She pulled her bottom lip in, worried it, then glanced out the window at the bright sunny day. When
the tears began to spill over, she pushed away from the table, mumbled “Excuse me,” and fled.

Annie waited for a few minutes, then rose and rinsed out the glasses. When Sharon still didn’t return, she became concerned and went in search of her.

She walked back to the room she’d examined her in, stopped at the door standing slightly ajar. Soft sobs from the other side tore at her heart.

She knocked lightly, then pushed the door open.

Sharon lay on her side, facing the wall.

“May I come in? I don’t want to intrude, but I’d like to make sure you’re all right before I leave.”

“I’m fine,” Sharon mumbled.

Annie entered the room, sat on the side of the bed. “It’s normal to be emotional while you’re pregnant. Faith Blauch told me she cried enough to fill up a milking pail the two weeks before little Noah was born.”

Sharon sniffled, rubbed her nose against the arm of her dress. “What would Faith have to cry about? Faith has a husband.”

Reaching forward and pulling Sharon’s hair back away from her face, Annie wondered how to answer that—she recognized it for what it was.

A heart’s cry.

“Is that what this is about? You having no husband?”

Sharon didn’t answer, but her crying lessened a bit.

“I don’t know your situation, Sharon. I don’t know how you arrived at this point or what happened before today, but I do know one thing. The
boppli
growing inside you is a miracle— one I’m
eiferich
about. One you will love and your family will love.”

Still sniffling, Sharon sat up, her back against the headboard, her legs—which Annie could now see were a bit swollen— propped up on the mattress. “Do you truly believe that?”

“I do, every word of it.”

Sharon stared at her a minute, and Annie knew she was being sized up, realized Sharon was making a decision. Finally she sighed, reached for a handkerchief on the little table between the two beds, and said, “I didn’t imagine it being this way.”

“Being pregnant?”

She shook her head, then waved her hand at the bassinet sitting at the foot of her bed. “This. Life. When I started seeing Keith, he said he loved me. He acted different from Amish boys—exciting and different.”

Plucking at the bedspread, she didn’t look up for a few seconds. When she did, Annie thought the tears pooling in her eyes would spill again. Instead, she raised her chin, stared out into the hall. Something like a shiver passed over her.

“What are you thinking of now, Sharon?”

“It’s nothing.” Her voice grew smaller. “It doesn’t matter.” “It might make you feel better if you told someone, though, and if you asked I would keep it between the two of us.”

Sharon looked at her then as though Annie might offer the one road back to a place she longed to be. “I didn’t want to. He said it wouldn’t hurt, said all the
Englisch
girls did. He said if I cared about him I would.”

Annie waited, her heart hammering. Waited though she knew what Sharon’s next words would be.

“Still I couldn’t, because it’s against our ways. Seeing an
Englisch
boy was one thing, but being with one in such a way—I knew it was wrong.” The tears spilled now, but just two of them, as if a sacrifice of two tears to his memory was plenty.

“Then he went away for a time. He said it was with his work, but I think he meant to punish me. When he came back, I wanted him to stay. Wanted to show him I did care about him, so I… I did what he asked.” She rubbed her stomach, not really talking to Annie any longer. “Only twice, but I suppose that’s all it took.”

Annie reached out, covered Sharon’s hand with her own.

“When he went away the second time, he didn’t come back.” Sharon glanced down, her gaze locking on Annie’s hand over hers. When she looked up, the tears were gone. “And you know what?”

“What, Sharon?”

“I don’t want to see him either. I can do this. I can do this on my own.”

“But you don’t have to do this on your own, sweetie. Because you’re surrounded by people who care about you.”

“Even my father?” Her words were sharp like a stone.

“Even your father. Our
dats
might have a hard time accepting some things, and they might have difficulty when life curves away from the road Amish normally take, but Sharon, never doubt your father loves you. Give him time. Pray for him. I know this is going to work out fine.”

She enfolded the girl in a hug, left her there to nap, then quietly left the house.

Annie had the maturity to walk away and let things be, but Phillip Smucker picked that moment to walk from his barn to his house.

He looked up, saw her, and stopped.

Annie thought for a moment he might turn and walk back into the barn, but he didn’t. He nodded once and kept walking toward the house. “Annie,” he said.

“Mr. Smucker.” She waited there by her buggy, thinking he would pause at least to inquire why she was there. When he
headed toward the porch steps instead, she moved in front of him. “I’d like to talk to you about Sharon.”

“I’ve nothing to say.” He met her gaze when he said it, then looked away.

Knowing she needed to maintain control of her anger, Annie pulled in a deep breath, fought to keep her voice low, and said clearly, “You might not have anything to say, but I do.”

“Best say it to Ruth then. She’ll be back from town directly, I expect.”

“It’s not Ruth I need to speak with.”

Phillip jerked his gaze back toward her. “I don’t understand—”

“I know you don’t,” Annie said softly.

“I’m not sure I understand completely, but I do know there’s a young lady in there who needs her
dat’s
love and acceptance.”

“I don’t expect you to be telling me what my daughter needs.”

He started walking away, but Annie hurried to catch up with him. “Apparently someone needs to, and I believe you and your
fraa
asked me to come out and look after Sharon’s medical condition. Or you asked Bishop Levi to find someone, and he found me. So you either trust him or you don’t.”

“Is this about Sharon’s health?” Phillip turned on her, frustration edging his voice.

“As a matter of fact, it is, Mr. Smucker.”

He stormed away from her then, didn’t stop until he’d reached the nearest tree and stood studying it. When he turned back, Annie saw some of the struggle had gone out of him— much of the pain remained, but a bit of the resistance he’d been carrying was gone.

“The girl seemed fine this morning. Is she sick?”

“She’s not sick, Mr. Smucker. She’s pregnant.”

He flinched at the word.

“Your grandchild will be born soon, probably in this very house—the same house Sharon was born in, but I can’t assist that birth alone. Belinda needs to come and see her.”

He shook his head. “I’m not ready yet—”

“This
boppli
will come whether you’re ready for it or not. I’m worried about Sharon’s emotional state, which could affect the
boppli’s
health.”