Her Brother's Keeper (14 page)

Hannah fought the urge to cry. She hadn't been to the monthly gathering since Ethan died. And she had to admit, it felt good that she'd been missed. “I would like to go. I want everyone to meet our cousin Mary who is visiting from Texas. Did you meet her at worship service?”

Edna shook her head. “
Nee
, but I saw that your family had a guest. I meant to introduce myself, but your
mamm
was making the rounds with her, and I didn't get a chance. It would be nice for her to meet everyone next Thursday.”

Hannah thanked Edna again, then headed toward the house, munching on a cinnamon stick as she walked. The glazed apple cookies now held second place to this tasty treat. She'd stash a few somewhere that Jacob couldn't find them. Maybe a late-night snack for her and Mary.

As she walked up the porch steps, she wondered how Mary's date with Isaac was going, but she couldn't help but wonder if things would have turned out differently if Isaac's father hadn't taken ill. Would Isaac have eventually asked her out? Would she have ever met Ethan? She knew better than to question the Lord's plan for her life. But there was no denying that the idea of Isaac and Mary together bothered her, even if she wasn't comfortable sharing this new feeling with anyone.

Isaac ate a little bit of everything Mary brought, although it had been a challenge. Not only were there no eggs in the tuna salad, but there was way too much relish and hardly any mayonnaise. And he wasn't sure why she'd brought potato salad to accompany the tuna salad, but it was just as bad. Maybe mothers didn't teach their daughters to cook in Texas. Or maybe they ate differently there. He was scared of the pie, but it actually turned out to be wonderful. When he commented on how great it was, Mary said Hannah had baked it. This wasn't surprising. Hannah was a good
cook. Any man would be blessed to feast on her cooking on a regular basis.

Mary talked a lot. Sometimes it seemed like nervous chatter, but Isaac couldn't fault her. He hadn't been out on a date in a long time, so he'd been a bit anxious in the beginning too. She explained how she became Amish when she was nineteen, so that explained a lot. Especially her inability to speak their language.

“I like your hair that color,” he said as she was packing up the leftovers, which were plentiful.

“Thank you.” She smiled. “I mean,
danki
.”

Isaac waited for her to tell him why she'd changed it, but when she didn't, he decided to ask. “What would make you change it?” He wasn't even sure if that was allowed.

Mary fell into a story about a hair product she'd used on her hair to make it easier to manage. She had long, thick hair, so that made sense. Then she told him about showing up at breakfast, not realizing it had turned her hair green, and they'd both laughed.

Mary was a pretty woman, but they didn't seem to have much in common. She said she didn't enjoy gardening, and Isaac thought of tending the land as a gift, a way to provide without having to rely on outsiders. And he'd discovered she didn't like to cook either, which explained today's meal.

She'd asked a lot of questions about Ethan, and it had been a challenge to answer her truthfully without giving up information he wasn't comfortable sharing. He
thought he'd done pretty well sidestepping some of her inquiries. But he had a few questions of his own.

“It wonders me how Hannah is doing. Do you think she is ready to move on with someone else, or is she still grieving? We always hear that time heals, but they appeared to be so in love . . .”

Mary put the thermos of tea she'd brought into the picnic basket, closed it up, and set it aside. “I think the thing that bothers Hannah the most is not knowing why her fiancé took his life. She said it's hard for her to move forward not knowing the truth.”

Isaac swallowed hard. He hated that he knew why, and he briefly wondered if he should tell Mary, who would most likely tell Hannah. But he just couldn't bring himself to. He couldn't decide if the truth would hurt Hannah even worse.

He tried to follow up with a few more questions about Hannah, but Mary wasn't sharing information either.

Charlotte folded up the blanket she'd brought and stood up. She'd learned one thing for certain on this lunch date. Isaac knew something about Ethan that he wasn't sharing. He'd danced around the issue without giving a direct answer to most of Charlotte's questions. She didn't think he was lying; he was just being evasive.

“This was nice,” she said as they walked toward the
buggy. Isaac was easy on the eyes, but he wouldn't have been someone she could date even if they were both Amish or both English. They didn't have much in common. He enjoyed working on his land, building things, and eating. She liked to read books—and a host of other things she couldn't share with him—like having her hair and nails done, shopping at the mall, dinner at nice restaurants, makeup, and clothes that didn't make her look like a granny.

On the ride back, they were both quiet, but when they passed by Ethan's old house, Charlotte couldn't pull her eyes away. She would go there soon. It was a tiny house, so that must have been the reason Ethan had bought the pretty tract of land where Hannah had taken her. She wondered if Hannah had packed up Ethan's belongings. Where was she storing his things?

By the time Isaac slowed the buggy to a stop at the place she was calling home for now, she noticed that all three buggies were gone, so Lena and Hannah must have each traveled somewhere separately since she knew Jacob and Amos had left early that morning for construction supplies.

So, her date with Isaac wasn't all she'd hoped it would be. But it hadn't been a total bust. Maybe she didn't know why Ethan killed himself, but Isaac definitely knew something. And Charlotte had no doubt that Isaac had feelings for Hannah. He'd tried to act cool asking questions, but he hadn't fooled her.

Isaac stepped out of the buggy and walked around to her side. He offered her a hand stepping down.

“Danki
for bringing the picnic. It was nice getting to know you.” He looped his thumbs in his suspenders and smiled.

“It was very nice getting to know you too.” She took the picnic basket and blanket when he handed them to her, and she caught him look over her shoulder twice toward the house. She considered telling him that Hannah wasn't home, but she didn't want to embarrass him. “We should do this again.” Charlotte grinned. “But I'll get Hannah to help me with the food.”

Isaac's face took on a flush anyway. “
Nee
, it was, um . . .”

Aw, it's sweet that he doesn't want to lie.
He could be a good influence on her. “It was awful,” she said, then laughed. “All but the pie.”

She was trying to figure out a way to find out what else he knew, but he spoke up first. “Do you want to do this again next Saturday?”

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “Um, yes.
Ya.
That would be nice.”

“Gut
. Then it's a date.” He turned, gave a quick wave, and Charlotte watched him head down the driveway until he was out of sight.

“Uh oh.” She shook her head, wondering if she'd read him wrong. Maybe all the questions about Hannah had just been to keep the conversation going. Maybe Charlotte had unintentionally led him on and now he
was interested in her. It had been a long time since any man had shown an interest in her, so there was an air of flattery swirling around, even if he was Amish. She walked to the house with a bounce in her step.

Eight

H
annah hurried to the couch when Mary turned and headed toward the house. It had been impossible to pull her eyes from Mary and Isaac, and even though she felt guilty for watching them say goodbye, she couldn't help but wonder if he would kiss her, even if just on the cheek. Relief washed over her when that didn't happen, which only confused her more. She quickly reached for a gardening magazine on the coffee table and began thumbing through it.

Mary rushed into the living room, but stopped abruptly. “Oh. Hannah. I didn't think you were here. Where's your buggy?”

Hannah closed the magazine and placed it on the table as she sat taller. “I let Jacob borrow it. At the last minute,
Daed
needed him to deliver a piece of furniture while
Daed
went for supplies.
Mamm
had a checkup at the doctor.”

“I thought you didn't like to loan Jacob your buggy because it leaves you without wheels.”

Wheels?
Hannah felt a flash of annoyance at Mary's Texas slang. “I'm not going to deny him use of it when he truly needs it.” She could hear the clipped tone in her voice, so she took a deep breath and made her expression more pleasant. “How was your date?”

“Pretty good, I guess. He's a super nice guy.” Mary sat down in the rocking chair against the far wall and pushed with her feet, kicking the rocker into motion. “We're going on another picnic next Saturday so I guess he had fun too.”

Hannah picked up the magazine again and started flipping the pages. “
Ach, gut.
I'm happy for you.”

They were quiet for a few moments.

“Um, you don't sound happy for me. You sound all out of whack about it.” Mary crossed one leg over the other as she kept rocking.

“Why do you do that? Talk that way. It isn't appropriate.”

Mary stopped rocking. “How is the way I talk inappropriate?” Her cousin frowned as she folded her arms across her chest and uncrossed her leg.

Hannah raised one shoulder and dropped it slowly, but she didn't look up and kept flipping pages in the magazine. “I would think that you would try not to use so much slang. Maybe try learning more Pennsylvania
Deitsch
.” She finally looked up at her cousin. “I don't think you should talk the way you sometimes do. It's not
the way a proper Amish woman speaks. We don't say things like that. I know you didn't choose to be Amish until you were grown, but respectfully, you should behave in a way that represents who we are.”

Mary rose from the chair, took a step forward, her head tipped to one side. Hannah braced herself, prepared for a lashing. But instead, Mary was quiet for a few moments, then said, “You're right. I'm sorry. I'll try to watch the way I speak.”

Hannah let out a heavy sigh before she stood up. “
Nee
, it's okay.” She shook her head as she searched for an explanation about her bad mood, but there was only one thing bothering her. And it didn't have anything to do with the way Mary talked. “I've just been having a rough day. Uh, Ethan. He's . . . been on my mind.”
Oh dear Lord, forgive me for the lie.
Hannah realized that this was the first day in a long time that she hadn't thought of Ethan, making her fib that much worse.