Simple Deceit (The Harmony Series 2) (18 page)

“I can’t promise anything”—I sniffed—”but it’s a good start.”

“Can I change the subject now, or are you going to start blubbering again?” Gabe asked. “I have something I want to talk to Sam about.”

I shrugged. “Depends on what you say.”

Gabe looked at me carefully. “I’m not sure the odds are good enough….”

I pushed Sam away. “Honestly, change the subject, I don’t care.” I grabbed Sarah’s arm. “I want to see what you’ve been doing since I left. Will you show me?”

Sarah nodded enthusiastically. “I have a worktable set up in back. Come with me.”

I followed her to the back room, leaving Sam and Gabe to their conversation. The room behind the curtain was warm and cozy. A fire burned in a big potbellied stove that sat in the middle of the space. A long workbench sat against one wall where candles cooled in their various molds. The aromas were intoxicating. Homemade curtains covered the windows, the fabric decorated with small flowers and finished with lace. Sarah’s touch was evident. She led me to a corner of the room where a wooden table had been set up for her wood-block printing projects. Several blocks lined the back of the table. Two rollers sat next to them as well as a couple of small paint trays. Sarah reached across the table to some shelves that had been attached to the wall. “Papa made these cubbies for me so I could stack my paper and cards here.” She pointed to one section. “This is all my blank paper and card stock. And over here,” she said, moving her finger to the right, “is all my finished work.” She motioned to me to follow her over
to another table a few feet away. “And this is where everything dries. I wanted to show you three new patterns I’ve designed.” She pointed to a lovely sheet of stationery with a flowering vine that crept up one side. “It’s a passion flower,” she said softly. “I’ve only seen it in pictures, but it’s really beautiful, isn’t it?”

The dark blue color of the flowers intermingled with the green vines. The design was set against a cream-colored paper. The effect was striking. “It’s beautiful, Sarah. I love it.”

She smiled and pointed me to the next row of drying paper. “And I’m certain you know what this is.” The light yellow paper was edged with honeysuckle.

“I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how much I like this,” I said. “You won’t keep much of it in the store.”

We looked at the third design, which was a combination of deep red and purple flowers against a dark blue background. The paper itself was light blue. Sarah had outlined the flowers in a way that made them seem three-dimensional. “This must have taken hours to design and print,” I said. “It’s absolutely incredible. Put me down for the first order.”

She laughed. “I already have twelve orders. Papa brought several people back here so he could show them my work.”

I hugged her arm. “That’s wonderful. I’m really not surprised, though.”

Sarah pointed toward a small table with two chairs. “Why don’t we sit down for a minute? I’d like to talk to you if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind. You’re my friend.”

Sarah sat across from me, folding her long blue dress under her. Her dark hair matched the black apron over her dress. White ribbons on the sides of her prayer covering touched her smooth, unblemished skin. Her natural beauty had no need of makeup. I envied her in this respect. Although I didn’t use much makeup
myself, I was certainly too insecure to go out in public au naturel.

“This is where Papa and I have our lunch,” she said. “Sometimes we go to Mary’s, but Papa doesn’t like to spend money in restaurants.”

That sounded like Gabe. “Where did you and your father sleep last night?” I looked around the room. There didn’t seem to be any place to bed down.

“Oh, Papa brought the blankets in from the carriage. We always carry some in the winter. And John Keystone brought us a couple of cots he keeps in his shop. When he first moved here, he actually lived in the back of his store for a while. Now he has a nice little house outside of town. Papa and I were quite comfortable.” She flushed at the mention of John’s name.

“I saw John briefly when I got into town. He seemed to be doing well.”

She cast her eyes down and wouldn’t look at me. “Oh? I’m pleased to hear that.”

I didn’t say anything. Sarah had never confided in me about their relationship. Not directly anyway.

She raised her head and looked toward the door to the shop. “I—I wonder if I could talk to you, Gracie. About something… personal.” She swung her large, doelike eyes back to me. “I haven’t really had any friends for such a long time. Papa has kept me away from everyone except the people in our small church group for the past several years. He’s afraid I’ll leave him—like my mother did.” She reached up to wipe away a tear that slid down her cheek. “I could never cause my father that kind of pain. I know how much it hurt him. I wonder if being abandoned by the person you love isn’t the worst thing that can happen to a person.” She let out a deep sigh. “You know, I’ve wondered for many years if she left because of me. Perhaps I was too much trouble. It hurts me to think that might be the reason.” She gave me a sad smile. “I realize I don’t
know much about the world. I’m sure there are things much worse that people must bear.”

I reached over and put my hand on hers. “There may be,” I acknowledged. “But losing a parent is right there at the top.” I squeezed her hand. “Your mother left because she was unhappy with herself, Sarah. Not with you. Perhaps not even with Gabe. She may have gone away with another man, but there was something wrong inside her. A healthy person doesn’t walk away from their family. You should never, ever blame yourself for her choices.”

“It’s hard not to. In all these years, I’ve never heard a word from her. If she cared about me, I would think she would contact me, don’t you?”

I didn’t know how to answer the beautiful Mennonite girl so full of grace, dignity, kindness, and pain. I thought carefully. At that moment, the idea of having about ten minutes alone in a room with her so-called mother for some real “come to Jesus” justice sounded very appealing. But that probably wouldn’t set well with someone like Sarah who believed in peaceful solutions. “I have no idea why you haven’t heard from her. But wondering about things you can’t control or situations you have no direct knowledge of is useless.” I smiled at her. “There is one thing I do know. Missing out on being with you should be the greatest regret of her life. You’re a wonderful person. Any mother would be proud to have you for a daughter.”

Another tear coursed down her face. “Oh, thank you, Gracie. You’re so kind. And such a dear friend.” She hesitated and looked toward the door again. “I’m so torn. I need some advice, and you’re the only person I feel safe enough to confide in.”

I knew where this was going, and to be honest, I wanted to get up and run away. Instead I gave her a smile of encouragement.

“There’s a…situation,” she said, almost whispering. “And I’m afraid Papa will be very upset if I tell him about it.” She shook
her head. “He was so angry for so many years. I’m afraid. Afraid if I’m honest with him, life will go back to the way it was before. When he had nothing to do with others, and I had to stay inside all the time.” She stared deeply into my eyes. “I can’t cause him more pain, Gracie. Yet I can’t continue to deceive him either. I don’t know what to do.” She took a deep breath. “You see, I am in love. I am in love with John Keystone.”

From behind us came a strangled sound—more of a groan, really. Sarah’s face turned deathly white. I turned around to find Gabe standing in the doorway, his expression one of incredible rage.

N
o one moved for several seconds. Then Sarah stood up. “Papa…,” she whispered. She swayed suddenly, and I jumped up to catch her before she fell. I lowered her gently to the floor and put her head on my lap. Gabe seemed rooted to his spot by the door.

As I called Sarah’s name and stroked her cheek, Sam came into the room. He had to gently push Gabe out of the way. “What in the world?” he said when he spotted Sarah and me. “Is she okay?” he asked as he hurried to my side. “Is she sick?”

I shook my head at him. “No. She’s not sick. She’s afraid.”

Sam raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Afraid. Afraid of what?”

I met Gabe’s fixed glare. “Of her father. This poor girl is afraid of her father.”

Sam stared at Gabe, too. “Gabe. I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

Gabe looked back and forth between the two of us. “What’s going on is that I allowed my daughter to come in contact with the world,” he snapped. “I see I have made a terrible mistake.”

I pulled Sam down to the floor and transferred the unconscious
girl to his arms. Then I rose to my feet and approached her furious father. “Listen to me, Gabriel Ketterling. Sarah is terrified of hurting you. She loves you more than anything in the world. She certainly didn’t set out to cause you pain. Please don’t turn this into something that will create even more destruction.” I tried to take his arm, but he pulled away from me.

“What part did you have in this?” he railed at me. “Did you encourage her to chase after that…that ungodly man?”

“Gabe,” I said as soothingly as I could. “Sarah just now told me about her feelings for John. You heard her.”

“So you had no idea this betrayal was going on behind my back?”

“Betrayal? What are you talking about? Sarah didn’t betray you. This isn’t about you. It’s about her—and John.”

He took one step closer to me and peered directly into my face. “I asked you a question, Grace Temple. Did you know about this?”

I looked back at Sam, who still held Sarah. She had begun to moan and blink her eyes. There was no way out. I had to tell the truth. I turned to meet Gabe’s eyes with mine. “I suspected it, Gabe.”

He took a couple of steps away from the door. “I want you to leave. Now. You and your boyfriend. And you’re not to ever come around here again. Ever. And let me make this very clear so you understand me.” His whole demeanor was menacing. “You are never to see my daughter again. I mean it.”

“Papa. Papa, please…” Sarah’s plaintive wail shook me. She struggled to get to her feet with Sam holding her tightly. “This is all my fault. Gracie had nothing to do with it. Please don’t take it out on her.”

“Take your hands off her,” Gabe shouted at Sam. “And follow your girlfriend out of my shop. And out of my life.” He rushed
over to Sarah and pulled her out of Sam’s arms. She almost tripped and fell, but Gabe caught her and guided her over to the table, helping her back into her chair. Sarah seemed helpless against her father’s control over her.

Sam stood next to me. “Let’s talk about this,” he said to the enraged man. “You’re being irrational. We’re your friends. You’re important to us. And Sarah is an adult. She has the right to make her own choices.”

Gabe let go of Sarah and advanced toward us. For a moment I was afraid he intended to hit Sam, but Sam held his ground and refused to be intimidated. I prayed there wouldn’t be a fight. Gabe’s anger showed no sign of the passivity his faith embraced. Would physical violence be next? He stopped about two feet away from us, his face twisted with contempt.

“I don’t need your advice on anything. My daughter and I are not your business. Not anymore. And we were never friends. Friends don’t bring pollution into your life.” He focused his attention on me. “If you’d been my friend, you would have told me about John Keystone. You wouldn’t have allowed that…that disgusting heathen to put his hands on my daughter!”

His last few words were screamed at us. Sam took my arm and began to pull me out of the room. At first my concern for Sarah made me fight him, but I could see that Gabe was coming unglued. Sobbing, Sarah waved at us to go. I decided to leave for her benefit, but not before I made sure of one last thing.

I pointed my finger at Gabe. “I want you to know that I will be checking up on Sarah whether you like it or not. If you lay one hand on her, so help me…”

With that, Sam pulled me from the room. We got our coats and made our way out the front door. I couldn’t help but notice the Honeysuckle Grace candle still sitting on the counter. Emotion hit me like a punch in the gut as we stepped outside and closed
the door behind us. The snow that covered Harmony sparkled like millions of little diamonds. But the hurt in my heart dulled the beauty before me. I’d lost my friend. No, I’d just lost two friends.

“We’ve got to warn John,” I said to Sam. “He needs to know what’s coming.”

He shook his head in disgust. “Great. All we need is for him to go tearing in there to save Sarah.” He put his arm around me. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m just worried about Sarah. And Gabe, too.”

He sighed. “You want to tell me what happened? I mean, I realize your suspicions about John and Sarah turned out to be correct. But what set Gabe off?”

“Sarah told me she loves John. She’d never told anyone before. Wanted someone to confide in. Wonderful result, huh? The first time she shares her heart, Gabe goes crazy and bans her from ever talking to anyone again.”

“He didn’t actually tell her she couldn’t talk to anyone.”

I stamped my foot in frustration. “I know that. I’m just trying to make a point.”

He hugged me. “I know. Sorry. Let’s see if John is in his store.”

We hurried as quickly as we could through the snow to John’s, but the windows were dark, the door locked. “He must have made it home,” Sam said. “Good thing. It would be best if he stayed out of town until Gabe calms down.”

“Calms down? I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon. Let’s check Mary’s. If he’s not there, we need to call him.”

“I agree. How about a hot cup of coffee? I’ll use Mary’s phone.”

We walked across the snow-covered street to the restaurant. Sure enough, it was open. I wondered if Mary had spent the night in town, too. When we stepped inside, it was obvious several Harmony residents hadn’t made it home. Many of them were wearing the same clothes they’d had on the night before. The
Crandalls sat together at a table against the back wall. Cora waved and smiled as I approached their table.