Summer Promise (7 page)

It was like a great dance, Miriam thought. With all the bodies in motion in the kitchen, surely one would bump into one other. Someone's elbow would be jostled or somebody would step on someone else's toes and the food would go flying. But somehow, it never happened. There was a stop, a start, a quick step this way or that, and suddenly everyone was seated at the table, right where they belonged.

And throughout it all, Miriam noticed the way Lucas's eyes looked for Annaliese. When they alighted on her, the expression in them was almost like a touch. Annaliese met her husband's gaze, the color rising in her face. Annaliese quickly looked away, but Miriam could see the smile hovering at the corners of her mouth.

They are so in love!
she thought. So much in love it was impossible to hide.
What do people see when they look at me and Daniel?
Miriam wondered suddenly, and then wondered if she really wanted to know.

“Miriam? What wool are you gathering?” Amelia asked.

“None worth spinning,” Miriam answered as she made her lips curve up into a smile. She would not infect the warmth of this family gathering with the chill of her fears. She moved toward the table.

“Sit here, Miriam,” Matthew said. He patted the chair beside him. “I saved you a spot.”

“
Danki
, Matthew,” Miriam said. She slid in between Matthew and Annaliese, trying not to stare across the table to where Daniel and Lucas now had Sarah wedged between them, their shoulders almost close enough to touch. Usually in Plain households the men sat on one side of the table, the women on the other, but years ago, Amelia had relaxed that particular rule with her family and the Lapps, whom she also considered family.

Martin Brennemann, at the head of the table, bowed his head to say a silent grace, and they all did the same. Miriam bowed her head and closed her eyes and let the words of a simple blessing move through her.

I do give thanks,
she thought.
For so very much.

But giving thanks was not the same as saying she never felt want, she thought. What Miriam felt was not bodily hunger, however. It was a hunger of the heart.

“Miriam?” she heard Annaliese murmur quietly.

Miriam's eyes flew open. “I'm sorry,” she said. “I guess I got lost in my prayers.”

“It must be such a blessing to have Sarah home,” her sister-in-law said with a smile. Her eyes strayed across the table to where Sarah sat between Daniel and Lucas. Sarah was reaching for a dish of green beans, and Daniel was holding it just out of reach. He passed it to Lucas over the top of Sarah's head.

“
Ja
, it is—” Miriam began but stopped, relieved, when Amelia's voice rose above the others.

“
Kinder
,” Amelia said, trying without success to make her voice sound stern. “The dinner table is no place for bad behavior.”

“There are places for bad behavior?” Matthew piped up at once. “Where are they?”

“There? You see?” Amelia said, failing to hide a smile.

“There are no places for bad behavior,” Lucas admitted as he set the dish of green beans in front of Sarah. His blue eyes were laughing as he looked across the table at his youngest brother, though it was clear he was making an effort to keep his expression sober. “Can you tell me why?”

“Because no place is hidden from God,” Matthew answered at once.

“
Ja.
” Lucas nodded. “That is so. No place is hidden. You cannot keep secrets from God.”

With a bite of chicken and dumplings halfway to her mouth, Miriam let her fork drop to her plate with a
thunk
. She had never thought of it in quite that way, but Lucas was right. You could not keep secrets from God.

“Is something the matter, Miriam?” Amelia asked.

Miriam shook her head. She had to stop letting everything upset her. She had been off balance all day long.

“No,” she said. “Of course not. To tell you the truth, I think I got greedy and took too big a bite.”

“Don't worry,” Matthew consoled her. “I do that all the time. Sometimes I burn my tongue.”

“That's what I was trying to avoid,” Miriam said. She cut into the piece of chicken and put it into her mouth quickly.

“Tell us about life among the
Englischers
, Sarah!” Elizabeth suddenly burst out, as if she'd been holding in the question ever since Sarah had come through the door but could contain it no longer.

“Oh, yes,” Hannah seconded. “Please tell us. Does everybody really have a cell phone? Would a girl my age have one?”

“Girls,” Amelia warned. “You must not pester Sarah. She is our guest.”

Sarah laughed. “Oh, I don't mind. I'm used to questions, in fact, though usually it's the other way around. When they find out I was raised here, all the
Englischers
want to know about life among the Amish.” She accented the word “Amish” because the word was used only by the
Englischers
. Her head swiveled between Martin and Amelia. “But perhaps you would prefer it if I did not speak of the
Englischers
.”

“No,” Martin said quietly. “We do not mind. It is good to have questions answered. That way, when you make a decision you know it is the right one.”

“You sound just like my father,” Sarah said.

“Jacob was a fine man and a good friend,” Martin Brennemann answered.

“To answer your questions,” Sarah continued, turning back to the girls, “I would say that most girls your age would have a cell phone, Elizabeth, and some your age would, too, Hannah. Certainly they would want one! But it would depend on how the girl's family felt about it. Though many would say yes, I think.”

“Tsk,” Amelia said. “So many distractions.”

“For some,” Sarah acknowledged. She hesitated, as if uncertain about whether or not to go on. “What you must understand is that the
Englischers want
to be connected. Sometimes I think they want to be connected to as many things as possible! They hate the thought of missing something important.”

“But surely they
do
miss something important.” Annaliese's voice was quiet, but she was instantly the focus of all eyes. “How can you know who you are with so much confusion? How can you hear the voice of God?”

Sarah's face lit up, as if Annaliese had asked precisely the questions she had been waiting for. “That's exactly what I wanted to know,” she said. “It's part of why I decided to study social work. I wanted to see if I could find the answers to those questions—and to see if I could help.”

“Help?” Amelia echoed. “Help how?”

“I work with young people,” Sarah answered. “What the
Englischers
call ‘troubled youth.' To put it simply, I—we—the program I now work for—we try to show the young people the way out of trouble by giving them responsibility and teaching them new skills.”

“What kind of skills?” Annaliese asked.

Sarah smiled. “We teach them how to grow a garden.”

Annaliese's dark eyes widened.
“What?”

Sarah's smile became a full-blown laugh. “It's true. Many of the young people we serve come from the inner city. There's no room for a patch of grass where they live, let alone a garden. But learning to grow a garden can teach many things. You have to be thoughtful—to plan ahead—and of course there is also the fun of choosing what you will grow. Then, after the seeds are planted, you must learn to be patient and careful. If you don't water, what will happen, Matthew?”

“That's easy,” Matthew said with a snort. “Nothing.”

Sarah nodded. “That's right. So then what?”

Matthew took a bite of dumpling, chewing as he considered.

“You start over?”

“That's right, too.” Sarah nodded. “You start over. But what if, in the meantime, the boy in the plot next to yours has done everything just the way he should? How does that make you feel?”

Matthew's brow furrowed. “I would want to help him?”

“Maybe you would,” Sarah said. “But not everyone would feel that way. Some people don't like to feel like they are failing while the guy next to them succeeds.”

“I think that I begin to see the point of this,” Amelia acknowledged. “And the
Englischers
pay you to do this work?”

“Not much!” Sarah admitted with a laugh. “But, yes. It's a brand-new program, in fact, and I guess you would say that I help to run it. We have an overall director, but I am the one who works most closely with the young people in the garden.”

She looked down at her plate, as if concerned she would appear to be prideful. “I feel very honored and excited to be given such a job.”

“Of course you do,” Daniel said, scooting back his chair a little and angling his body so that he could look Sarah in the face. Miriam's eyes fixed on the picture they made together. “But why did I never hear your
daed
speak of this?”

Sarah bit her lip. “He did not know of it. He knew I was studying social work, of course, but I hadn't yet told him about the job. It was selfish of me, I admit, but I . . .” Sarah paused and took a breath, as if mustering the courage to go on. “I wanted to tell him in person, so I decided to wait until I came home. I was planning to come anyway at the end of the summer, remember?”

She glanced across the table at Miriam, and Miriam nodded.

“But then Daed died and I . . .” Sarah's voice trailed off. Into the silence that followed her words came the shrill ringing of what Miriam now recognized as her sister's cell phone.

Sarah jumped up, as if she'd been jabbed by a needle, her face flushing scarlet.

“I'm sorry,” she said. She scooted back from the table quickly, the legs of her chair making a harsh scraping sound against the floor. “I'm so sorry. It must be my job. They're the only ones who would call. Please excuse me.”

She stood and, phone still shrilling, dashed out the kitchen door. But she took the time to close it gently, Miriam noticed. The sound of the phone ringing ceased the moment Sarah was outside.

“Gracious,” Amelia said after a moment.

“I'm sorry,” Miriam apologized also. What had Sarah been thinking, she wondered, to bring a cell phone into the Brennemanns' home? It was one thing to have one at their own house, but to bring it with you when you came to visit . . .

“She had a call earlier today, while we were working at the farm stand,” Miriam continued. “It was work then, too.”

“Well,” Martin said, “let us hope that there is nothing wrong. I will have some more green beans, if you please.”

Lucas lifted the dish of beans and passed it to his father. “Daniel says he is thinking of looking for a new horse when we go to auction, Daed
.
”

“
Ach, ja?
”
Martin replied. “What kind?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Miriam saw Elizabeth lift a bite of food to her mouth. Slowly but surely, the meal was getting back to normal.

“A new field horse, Daed,” Daniel replied. “There is plenty of room in the barn. I am thinking that we all would benefit from having another horse.”

“
Ja.
” Martin nodded. “That is so.” He looked at his sons, his blue eyes twinkling. “Not only that, it gives all three of us a very good reason to go to the auction.”

“Lucas needs a reason?” Annaliese said, her eyes deliberately wide.

“I am
so
sorry,” Sarah said as she came back through the kitchen door. She sounded slightly breathless, as she had been pacing around the yard for the duration of her call. “I should have asked before I brought my phone into your home.”

“Do not make too much of it,
schatzi
,” Amelia said. “There was no real harm done. Nothing is too bad at this new job of yours, I hope.”

Sarah shook her head as she resumed her seat. “Not really, no. But the only way I could get extra time off was to promise to be on call. One of our boys is acting out a bit now that I am gone. He isn't bad, not really,” Sarah went on quickly. “He is just more troubled than some of the others. He listens to me, but he doesn't really like to listen to anybody else. Since I left, he has decided to push against the boundaries. They called to see if I would talk to him.”

“So, you are good at this new job of yours,” Martin observed.

Sarah sent him a grateful look. “I hope so.” All of a sudden, her expression changed. “Oh, my goodness!” she exclaimed. “That reminds me. I can't believe I forgot. Speaking of needing to help . . .” She looked across the table at Miriam. “Victor King stopped by this morning while you were out.”

“Victor King,” Miriam echoed. The King farm was several miles along the same road as the Lapp and Brennemann farms. “He came to see me and not Daniel? What did he want?”

“It was to do with the farm stand,” Sarah explained.

“
Mei kinder
,” Amelia said briskly as the voices of the younger children were growing louder. “Are you finished with your meal? If so, you may spend the rest of this fine night out of doors. Annaliese and I will see to the washing up.”

“Indeed you will not,” Miriam put in at once. “Sarah and I will do that.” She smiled at Elizabeth, Hannah, and the twins. “But I agree. It is such a fine night. The young people should be out of doors.”

“May I take Jane, Annaliese?” Hannah asked, as she pushed back her chair.

“Of course. Just try not to let her get too dirty, will you? She had a bath just this afternoon and I would prefer not to have to give her another one.”

“
Danki
, I will be careful,” Hannah promised.

She plucked Jane from the high chair and settled her on one hip. There was a flurry of activity as chairs were scooted away from the table, then pushed carefully back in, and dishes were carried to the sink for washing. Matthew shot out the kitchen door with the same energy that he'd come in with.