Love's Abundant Harvest (14 page)

Manny's eyes flickered back to Lucy. “When you feel up to it, I'll take you over
to your farm. A few people are starting the cleanup. It'll take some time to get
things cleared away, but I thought you might want to see what's going on.”

Lucy tried not to look at him. She was too fragile, and he was everything she needed
at that moment, but she couldn't accept. “I need to go to the hospital today.”

All eyes went to her as the women were reminded of the responsibility Lucy had to
take care of. “But I would like to go to the farm later. I don't know what I'll be
up to just yet.” She hated to be so weak and indecisive, but her emotions were unraveling
at the sight of him, not to mention the thought of taking care of the huge mess ahead
of her.

“Don't worry yourself about any of this. It will all get taken care of in due time.
I just wanted to offer my help when you need me.” He was done talking, but his eyes
didn't move, and neither did Lucy's.

“You know you can't leave until we feed you, so pull up a seat.” Frieda offered her
chair and went to the stove to make him a plate.

Mamm
stood, and he took her arm. “If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed.
Danke
for coming over, Manny. We'll be taking you up on your offer.”

Rosy took over for him and headed for the stairs. “You're an angel, Manny Keim.”

He grinned and took Rosy's chair next to Lucy. “I have to be honest. I do come for
the food as well as the company.”

Frieda let out one of her bellowing laughs. “Well, there's no shame in that.”

“We're always glad to have you, Manny.” Nellie went to help Frieda, but Lucy knew
full well they would be listening.

Manny averted his eyes and fiddled his thumbs. “I hope I'm not bothering you by coming
around.” He tilted his head toward Frieda and Nellie. “You have plenty of help. I
feel like I should be taking care of you . . . but you can tell me to jump in the
lake whenever I become a nuisance.”

Lucy laughed, hurting her throat, and she put a hand to her neck and reached for
her cup.

He handed it to her. “See, I did it just there by making you laugh.”

She took a drink of the lukewarm tea. “You could never be a nuisance, Manny.”

“Get to know me a little better, and you'll change your mind.” His grin made her
smile. She was glad he had no idea of the demons she lived with.

A
s Manny walked to Lucy's farm, he couldn't get the vision out of his mind of Lucy
in the ambulance the night before. Even more, he was embarrassed to admit, he couldn't
forget the sight of her long, red hair tucked around her—a light color, like fall
leaves, soft and pleasing to the eye. He shook his head; now was the worst time possible
for him to be thinking such thoughts.

When he got to the
haus,
he switched gears and refocused on the task at hand, which
was to take care of her farm. He wondered how Sam had gotten along doing everything
by himself. He had only enough Holsteins to provide them with the milk they needed,
and they didn't have much livestock. What Sam did have was crop. He'd had a lot of
money in that silo, more than he could ever use. Manny wondered why he hadn't sold
more of the precious grain and seed. From what he'd observed, they lived conservatively,
in contrast to his income.

This was the time of day when the chores were done and breakfast was over, so there
would be people stopping by to help clean up Lucy's farm until around noon. Not all
were Amish; some from town came by to offer what they could, from physical work to
meals and machines that would do the work of a dozen Amish men. Bishop Atlee was
arriving today from the Amish community, where he spent a good deal of his time,
to help decide what needed
to be done and observe the situation. Manny wondered how
he would respond to their using English machines. The locals deemed the area unsafe, which was why they'd stepped in. Manny understood
both sides and was eager to learn what would be decided.

As he walked up the path to Lucy's, he heard a buggy approach. He waited to see who
was coming up to the
haus
, as most went down the path that led to the silo, or what
was left of it.

“Morning. You here to help out?”

Caleb's presence made Manny feel better. Not only would they be working side by side,
making decisions together, but he could tell him about Lucy. He didn't know what
to say or how to explain what was happening. If anyone could set him straight, it
was Caleb, and he was one of the deacons, which could work to Manny's advantage
to get things done around here.

Emma poked her head out from beside Caleb. “And we brought you food!” Emma was one
of the most down-to-earth young women Manny knew. He thought a lot of her—especially
at that moment, hearing she had food.

“You know you don't deserve her, right, Caleb?” Manny grinned and went around to
Emma's side to help her down. She stumbled a little, and he maneuvered around her
so she didn't lose her balance. “What did you make me?”

“Are you more interested in my cooking or me?” she teased and took the arm he offered.
“I know how you like whoopee pie, so that's for dessert.” She wagged a finger at
him. “Not before.” He'd been known to take a bite or two as soon as the pie was within
reach.

“I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best.” He slowed down to her leisurely
pace and looked over at Caleb, who
seemed overly happy today—strange, considering
what they were there do to. “What are you smiling about?

“Who, me? Just grateful for what I have and what's to come.” He winked at Emma and
took the basket from her. “You making good progress?” Caleb scanned the area, shading
his eyes with one hand.

Manny heard the skepticism in Caleb's voice but didn't blame him for asking. “
Jah
,
it doesn't look like it, but actually we are. I don't think anything can be salvaged
to the point anyone could live here . . . at least not for a while . . . until the
ground is restored and the debris hauled away.”

The grass was torched black. So was the soil where acres of crop had been burned
to the ground. Cornstalks were scattered in disarray, along with tobacco, wheat,
and other crops. Large chunks of cement had been set aside in a heap so crews could
get to the silo, which was almost ground level. The
haus
wasn't safe, and not much
beyond the kitchen and mudroom still stood. As he looked at it now, quite a few areas
were exposed, the main reason for any demolition. The job he hated the most was trying
to salvage what they could to give to Lucy. He wondered how much she'd be able to
take without opening wounds.

“That's such a waste. Sam was running an incredible farm here.” Caleb stopped talking
abruptly. “I'm sorry. I should be asking about Lucy and how she's dealing with all
of this, and about Sam's funeral and all.”

Manny gave Caleb an understanding nod. “Abram got caught up in the fire. He didn't
make it to the hospital.”

“Good man, Abram . . . ” Caleb looked at the ground, and they all paused for a moment.

Manny cleared his throat. “It's hard to know the right
thing to say and do. When
I offered to help Lucy look over the farm, I thought it would be giving information
and helping to keep things organized, but the emotional end of this has been a lot
harder than I thought. Most people want to know how to help Abram's family and Lucy—more
than worry about this place. It seems to have become a sad memorial for what happened
here, and no one seems to want it back the way it was.” Maybe that didn't come out
right, but Manny felt the need to tell someone what he had observed.

“You're doing what you can, and that's all that's expected of you. I'm sure Lucy
really appreciates what you're doing here.” Emma gave him a peck on the cheek. “You've
always had a soft heart.”

Manny shrugged, unsure how to accept what was meant to be a compliment. He didn't
always believe what Emma said was true as she tried to lift his spirits, but in this
case she was right. Manny's bleeding heart never seemed to cease, especially for
someone like Lucy.

“Where's a good place for us to eat, Manny?” Emma scanned the area and stopped when
she saw a picnic table in the middle of nowhere. “Where did that come from?”

“It's one of the few things that was salvaged. There are some personal items that
were collected that you might want to give to Lucy.” Manny was tempted to open the
box marked with Lucy's last name and sift through her belongings but then stopped
the thought. Something that wasn't right came over him when he thought of her, but
try as he might, he couldn't keep the thoughts at bay. The more he learned about
her and the battles she'd been through, the greater he felt the need to protect her.

She was shut up like a clam that he wanted to open, sure to find the pearl inside.

“Manny, come eat.” Emma frowned and put her hands on her hips. “I think you're losing
your hearing.” She set down a plate filled with deviled eggs, minced-meat sandwiches,
baked beans, and pie.

“This makes my mouth water just looking at it.” After spending the last year alone,
Manny had learned to appreciate whatever food he was given. Having someone cook
for him was a real treat.

“I love feeding you, Manny.”

“Hey!” Caleb shot back around a bite of his sandwich.

“I love to feed you too.” Emma pecked Caleb on the cheek and poured them some fresh-squeezed
lemonade. She put the jug in her basket and sat next to Caleb. “So what are you two
going to work on today?”

Caleb looked over at the
haus
. “Looks like the
haus
has to be leveled pretty far
down to the ground. Too bad. It was a nice one. Big too.”

Emma nodded. “It appears that Sam had a lot of everything. I didn't realize how
much until this all happened.”

“Didn't seem like they had much company, with most of his family passing away.” Caleb
reached for another sandwich, and a chunk of minced meat plopped onto his pants.

Emma handed him a cloth napkin. “He was the oldest of a small family, right?”

“Think so. I only saw him on Sundays coming home after church meetings.” Manny hadn't
given Sam much thought. He knew little about him, as did most of the community.
Sam had been one of the few who liked his privacy. He didn't talk much, and Manny
couldn't remember ever seeing him smile. But then he hadn't been around
him enough
to make any judgments about him . . . until he met Lucy.

“If we tackle that pile of wooden slats, this place will be pretty much done.” Caleb
was scanning the mound of lumber that had once made a home.

Manny wondered how Lucy felt about losing her home. Devastated, he was sure. But
was there also some sense of relief? She'd had something hanging over her head, something
that might make her glad this place was no longer her home. He wished he could get
her to open up and tell him everything he wanted to know.

“Let's get to it. Thanks for lunch, Emma.” He kissed her on the top of the head and
started clearing the table.

Emma put a hand on his. “Go on. I'll take care of this.” She shooed him away and
glanced at Caleb. “I'll be back before dinner. Manny, you're welcome to come over
and eat with us. You'll be tired and hungry after you're done here.” She put the
rest of the utensils in a plastic bag and put them in her basket.

“You don't have to twist my arm.”

Emma waved and got into the buggy, turned around, and went down the dirt path from
Sam's
haus
. Manny put on his work gloves and started hauling charred beams and siding
over to a pit they would use to burn the useless wood.

Caleb got the fire going, just big enough to do the job, and gave Manny a hand with
the larger pieces. After about an hour, they decided to take a break and got out
their water bottles, drinking to cool their parched throats.

Just as they were finishing up, a buggy that was starting to look familiar to Manny
came down the lane. He pulled
off his dirty gloves and tucked them into his pants,
took off his straw hat, and ran a hand through his hair.

“You're primping like a girl.” Caleb smiled over at him. “I take it that's Lucy.”

Manny tried to ignore Caleb's remarks by keeping his eyes on the dirt road. “Hello.”
Manny took the horse's reins and then went to help her out of the buggy.

“Manny, Caleb, how's it going?” Her gaze wandered from what was left of the silo
to the leveled
haus
that she had called her own for nearly two years' time. He thought
he saw her eyes water, but she moved past him quickly enough that he couldn't tell
for sure.