In the next few minutes two more women arrived . . . Myra Beiler, a shy young mother Katie had gotten to know at church, had brought along her baby as well. The other person was an Englisch woman Katie was sure she hadn't seen before.
Myra, with a quick look at the other woman, vanished into the back room carting the baby and a large bag, which had to hold a quilt in progress. Katie wasn't concerned about Myra fitting in, since she would know Naomi and Rachel and Emma, of course.
The Englisch woman was another story. Katie smiled at her. “Are you here for the quilting group?”
“That's right.” The woman's answering smile warmed a strong-boned face. “I'm Donna Evans. I hope it's not a problem that I didn't let you know I was coming.”
“No, of course not. You are welcome, Mrs. Evans. I'm Katie Miller.”
“Please, call me Donna.” The woman looked around the shop with frank curiosity. “This is certainly a far cry from the hardware store that used to be here.”
Katie nodded. Mrs. Evans . . . Donna . . . was probably about the same age as Lisa, but there the resemblance ended. Her brown hair was pulled back carelessly and fastened with a clip at the base of her neck. She wore little makeup, just a touch of lipstick, and her plain white shirt was tucked into the waist of a denim skirt.
“Have you quilted before, Donna?” It would be helpful to know what she was dealing with.
“A little,” she said. “I took a class once and made a table runner, but I never felt comfortable enough to try anything larger. Your group seemed the perfect place to get going on a project.”
“That's fine.” Katie hoped her relief didn't show in her voice. It would be difficult to deal with two beginners. “Komm. We're meeting in the back room.”
They walked back together. The woman's appearance and manner eased any apprehension Katie felt about her fitting into the group.
Lisa and Rachel were already deep in conversation, while Myra looked on and nodded sometimes. Myra's little girl sat at her feet, contentedly playing with cloth blocks. She looked up, smiling with the instant love that Down's syndrome babies seemed to show the world, and Katie smiled back, her heart melting.
Naomi was showing the patches for her new quilt to Emma. They all looked up when Katie and Donna entered.
“This is Donna Evans. Donna, I'm not sure if you know anyone here ...”
“Of course I do.” Donna went immediately to where Naomi and Emma sat. “We are old friends.”
“Gut, gut.” Katie took a deep breath, her butterflies returning. “I hope we'll enjoy our time together, helping each other with our quilts.”
Smiles and nods greeted her comment.
“Maybe we can start by showing what we're working on, those of us who've already started something, and . . .”
A step sounded behind Katie, and she turned to see the young woman from the hardware store, Melanie, peering in uncertainly.
“Is it okay if I join you?”
“Ja, of course.” Katie waved her in. “This is Melanie, everyone. Or maybe you know her?”
No one seemed to, but they smiled in welcome, and Rachel, who was comfortable with the Englisch, probably because of her greenhouse business, beckoned her to a seat.
“I haven't been in town very long, and I haven't gotten to know anyone yet. Except Mike, who manages the hardware store. He's my fiancé.” Melanie looked around, her eyes wide with interest.
“So you came here to Pleasant Valley to be close to him,” Lisa said.
“Yes, well, he really wanted me to settle here.” Melanie fixed her gaze on Katie. “I just hope I can keep up with the group. I don't know a thing about quilting, but I want to learn.”
Lisa reached across to pat her hand. “That makes two of us, then. Don't worry. I know all these ladies are going to help us.”
That seemed to set a good tone on which to begin. Katie led them through introductions, and those who were already working on projects showed them. Donna had everyone laughing at her story of her first experience with learning to quilt.
Soon everyone was occupied. Donna, it turned out, had already chosen a simple one-patch design and brought her material, so Rachel helped her lay it out and start the cutting. Emma, who seemed to have a natural authority after having been the valley's midwife for so many years, took on helping Melanie choose an easy pattern for a wall hanging.
Mindful of her plan not to let Lisa take on too much, Katie guided her to a table runner as a suitable first piece. She quickly realized that Lisa, as she might have expected, had an excellent sense of color.
After an hour, as they had planned, Rhoda brought in coffee and coffee cakes. Then, as if irresistibly drawn, she settled on the floor next to Myra's baby, helping her to stack blocks.
Katie listened to the chatter among the women as they helped themselves to food, her heart warming at the sound. It was just as she had hoped. Amish and Englisch were finding common ground. The roomful of women might look like a crazy quilt of colors and styles, but even a crazy quilt was united by a single purpose.
Eventually their time was up, and they began gathering their belongings. Lisa came to clasp Katie's hand.
“This was lovely,” she said. “I can't tell you how much I enjoyed myself.”
“Me, too.” Melanie's smile lit her face. “I can't wait until next week. It's so nice to finally know some people in town.”
“You'll find Pleasant Valley a gut place to live,” Katie assured the young woman. It had certainly proved to be that for her.
“We just need to let more people know how lovely our town is,” Lisa said. “Once we get more tourists coming throughâ”
“Tourists?” Donna shook her head, putting a wealth of scorn into the word. “What would we want with tourists? The last thing we need is to turn Pleasant Valley into another Lancaster County, with its miles of tourist traps and everybody cashing in on the Amish name.”
Fortunately that comment hadn't been aimed at Katie, because she wouldn't have known how to answer. Lisa just shrugged, brushing off the remark with a smile.
“Not hordes of tour buses,” she said. “Just a few travelers with money to spend at local businesses. That benefits everyone.”
Donna didn't look convinced. “Once you start something like that, you can't control it. Mark my words, we're better off as we are.”
Emma nodded, apparently agreeing, while even Naomi looked troubled.
Katie's heart sank. She'd thought Lisa's plan to bring more visitors to Pleasant Valley was a gut one. But it certainly wouldn't be gut to divide the community, would it?
CHAPTER EIGHT
R
achel
goes to Mud Sales several times in the spring, and she says that most of them are just as gut as this one was.” Katie had been telling Rhoda about the sale all through supper. She just couldn't help bubbling about it. This might have been the best sales day she'd had since she'd opened the shop.
“So you could go to more of them, ja?” Rhoda was making an effort to sound interested, at least. She helped herself to another spoonful of the tuna noodle casserole she'd had ready when Katie got home.
Katie had been surprised, and a little touched. She hadn't thought of asking her sister to fix supper, not being sure what time she and Rachel would return.
“I think I might. And maybe I'll take more things to sell next time, since I sold out of everything I brought today.”
“It's gut advertising for the shop, ain't so?” Rhoda said. “You could give out cards with the shop address, or even make flyers.”
“I hadn't thought of that.” Katie studied Rhoda's face, the pointed chin tipped up, the broad forehead furrowed in thought, liking the signs of interest. “Do you think you could design something?”
“You mean it?” Rhoda's golden-brown eyes lit up. “Ja, I could do that. Maybe something with quilt designs on it. I could use the computer at the library.”
“You know how to do that?” Katie wasn't really surprised. Many Amish used computers in their businesses these days, or had Englisch workers to handle the computer side of the work.
“Ja, for sure I can. I'll start working on some ideas right away.”
Rhoda's enthusiasm touched Katie's heart. Maybe all her sister wanted was what she herself did . . . to be needed and of value.
“That will be great.” Katie smiled, shaking her head ruefully. “I've been talking so much I didn't even ask how your day went.”
“Okay, I guess.” Rhoda made a face. “I thought I was going to sell a quilt this morning, but the woman just looked at every quilt twice and two of them four or five times, and then she walked out without buying so much as a pot holder.”
Rhoda sounded so disgusted that Katie had to smile.
“But that's all part of a sale,” she said. “After all, a quilt is a major purchase. Naturally people are going to look around for a while before they decide. Did she say how she heard of us?”
“She said Lisa Macklin told her about us. Oh, and Mrs. Macklin came in to buy some thread. Do you really think that other woman will buy?”
“If we have the right quilt for her,” Katie said, cautious. “And if she does, it will be because you sold her on it.”
“Ja?” Rhoda's face lit up. “You mean I did it?”
“If she buys, it's your sale,” Katie assured her. She had promised Rhoda a small commission on anything she sold, and obviously Rhoda wanted to collect. “Now, tell me about going to the mall. Did you have fun?”
“It was okay.” The brightness seemed to fade from Rhoda's expression. “We looked at lots of stuff. Becky bought a little locket on a chain. She said her mamm said she could get it as long as she wears it under her dress where no one will see.”
“Did you buy anything?”
“Just some lip gloss. Not for color,” she added quickly. “Just to keep my lips from getting dry.”
Katie nodded. She remembered making the same statement to Mamm at that age. Mamm hadn't been impressed, but she wasn't going to make an issue of it.
Rhoda fell silent, seeming distracted, all her earlier enthusiasm gone. Katie sought for a subject to bring it back.
“Did you get something to eat at the mall?”
Rhoda nodded. “We went to the food court for a snack. Some of the boys happened to be there, so they met us.”
There was probably no “happened” about it. Some things didn't change. What was the name of the boy Rhoda had thought was cute?
“Was the Esch boy there?”
“Tommy?” Rhoda met her gaze for a moment, and then her eyes slid away. “Ja, he was there.”
This wasn't the response Katie had expected. “Did you talk to him?”
Rhoda pushed her chair back and picked up her plate, heading for the sink. “No.”
“But I thought . . .” Katie let that trail away when she saw how stiff Rhoda's back was as she stood at the counter.
Rhoda swung around, the plate clattering into the sink. “Becky likes him, okay? The other girls were teasing her about him.”
“Becky is your friend. You can'tâ”
“I know that.” Rhoda flared up in an instant. “That's why I didn't talk to him. But it's not like he's her komm-calling friend or anything.”
“You still can'tâ”
“You think I don't know that? Just because your best friend did that to you, you don't need to think I would.” Rhoda tossed a dishcloth on the counter. “There's a letter for you from Mamm that came today. Probably to ask if I'm behaving.”
She rushed across the kitchen and headed toward her room. The door didn't quite slam, but close enough.
Katie took a shaky breath, not quite sure where all that emotion had come from. She probably hadn't handled the situation very well, but . . .
She fetched the letter from the hall table and sat down with it. She could understand Rhoda being upset because the first boy she'd found interesting here wasn't available. But her accusation about Katie's situation was ridiculous. Just because she didn't want to be seeing Eli and Jessica every day, that didn't mean ... well, anything.
She ripped the envelope open and began to scan Mamm's round, clear writing. Family news first, of course. Everyone was well. Louise had started a new quilt for her wedding, and some of her friends were making another one for her. The strawberries were starting to ripen, and Mamm had made some rhubarb jam.
As Rhoda had predicted, Mamm asked if she was behaving.
We know you will keep her from getting into any trouble.
Katie skipped on to the next paragraph.
Some happy news in the neighborhood. Eli and Jessica are expecting their first boppli in the fall. You will want to send her your good wishes.
The paper crumpled in Katie's hand. Her stomach clenched so hard that she nearly doubled over.
She took a deep breath, forcing her fist to relax, and put the letter on the table, smoothing it out with fingers that weren't quite steady.
Eli and Jessica would have a baby. That was a natural thing. She'd expected it, hadn't she? So why did she feel as if she'd just missed a step in the dark?
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The
off Sunday, when they didn't have worship, was usually a quiet day, Caleb reminded himself. A day for visiting with extended family members.
But there was nothing quiet about today. Andy and Nancy had invited the Brand cousins for supper, and since it was raining again, the children were all inside.
It wasn't that Caleb didn't enjoy his nephews and nieces and young cousins, but the din had reached such astonishing levels that Andy and the other men finally slipped off to Andy's shop for a little quiet conversation until supper was ready.