The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club (23 page)

“There’s no need for you to rush off. I can rest right here while we visit.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.” Star seated herself again and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as a breeze lifted it from her shoulder. It was warm out today, and she was wearing jeans and a black tank top instead of her usual hooded sweatshirt. She was glad the job of stocking shelves at Walmart didn’t require that she wear a uniform. She wouldn’t feel comfortable dressed in one of those.

“How was your weekend?” Emma asked.

Star shrugged. “Could have been better. At least Sunday sure could have.”

“What happened?”

Star began telling Emma how Mike had acted—controlling the TV remote, telling Star how she should dress, and complaining because he thought she wore too much eye makeup and too many rings on her fingers. He’d also griped about the small gold hoop in her nose, saying it looked ridiculous.

“I finally left the house and went for a walk just to get away from him. Don’t know what I’m gonna do if Mom marries that guy.” Star pursed her lips. “Mom’s so gullible when it comes to men, and I’m not sure she’s making a right decision where Mike is concerned. Fact is, she’s made many poor choices and hasn’t always been honest with me about things either. It really makes me mad.”

“People are human, Star, and sometimes due to circumstances or just plain immaturity, they make poor choices.” Emma sighed. “I made some poor choices myself when I was a young woman during my courting days.”

Star tipped her head. “Courting? Is that the same thing as dating?”

“Well, I believe it’s a little different,” Emma said. “Courting is done with the intention of discovering if you want to be with the person forever. Dating is not as serious. At least that’s how I understand it.”

“Well, dating or courting, I can’t imagine a nice lady like you making poor choices.”

“I did though. When I was seventeen, I chose the wrong boyfriend.” Emma stared into the yard as though remembering the past. “His name was Eli Raber, and he had a wild side to him. Eli liked to drink, smoke, and run around. He also had a bright red car he kept hidden behind his daddy’s barn.”

Star leaned forward, listening intently as Emma went on to tell that Eli had it in his mind to leave the Amish faith and wanted Emma to join him.

“I almost did, too,” Emma admitted. “Had it not been for Ivan coming along when he did, I might have run off with Eli and gotten into who knows what kind of trouble.” She smiled, and some of that sparkle returned to her eyes. “Ivan was so kind and polite. He had good morals and was a dependable worker—helping his father in his harness shop. It didn’t take me long at all to realize I’d found a good man.”

“Hmm … I see.”

“Does your mother love Mike?” Emma asked.

“I guess so. At least she says she does.”

“Is he in love with her?”

“Supposedly, but then who knows? He could just be putting on an act to impress her.”

“Does he have a steady job?”

“Yeah. He manages a restaurant in Goshen, and from the gifts he brings Mom, I’m guessin’ he makes pretty good money.”

“And is this man kind to your mother?”

“He seems to be—so far, anyway. According to Mom, Mike doesn’t drink, smoke, or do drugs either.”

“Then perhaps marrying him is what your mother needs.”

“Maybe so, but it’s sure not what I need.”

“What do you need, Star?”

Star drew in a deep breath, and when she released it, her bangs lifted up from her forehead. “I need someone who won’t look down their nose at me and criticize everything I say or do. I need someone who’ll be my friend. I need someone who’ll care about me the way Grandma did.”

Emma placed her hand gently on Star’s arm. “I care about you.”

“Even though I dress weird and say things in a different way than you do?”

Emma chuckled and motioned to her head covering. “Some people probably think I dress weird, too.”

Still not quite comfortable talking about her life, Star pointed to the pretty flower arrangement in the corner of Emma’s yard. “That’s an unusual flowerpot. Did you get it at the Shipshewana flea market?”

Emma explained that one morning, rather than throwing her husband’s old work boots out, she’d planted carnations in them. “It’s a beautiful reminder of how hard Ivan worked to provide for me and our family,” she said. “I have the other boot in another nature garden out back, where I can see it when I’m looking out the kitchen window. I planted petunias in that one.”

Emma went on to tell Star that the rock in the front yard where the boot sat had been found by her husband while they’d been walking through the woods together one afternoon during their courting days.

Emma paused for a minute, and Star looked at her intently, thirsty to hear more.

“After Ivan and I got married, we lived on a farm, where we worked hard and soon became busy raising our children,” Emma continued. “No matter how busy things got, one thing we remembered to do was to make time for having fun.” She chuckled. “I can still recall a little joke I played on Ivan one time that had us all laughing.”

“What was it?”

“On his forty-ninth birthday, instead of throwing the newspaper away after he’d finished reading it, I hid the paper for a whole year. Then the following year on his birthday, I replaced the current newspaper with the one from the year before. It was hard to keep from laughing as I sat across from Ivan at the breakfast table, slyly watching as I finished my cup of coffee and he read the paper.”

“Did he catch on?” Star asked.

“He never noticed it was year-old news until he was almost done reading the entire paper.” Emma giggled as she touched her cheeks. “You should have seen Ivan’s expression when he commented about the articles sounding like news that had happened a year ago. And, oh my … I laughed so hard, I thought I was going to pop the seams in my dress.”

“How’d he take it when he realized it was an old newspaper?”

“He actually took it quite well. Even laughed about it and told the rest of our family how I’d fooled him real good on his fiftieth birthday.”

Star smiled and leaned back in her chair, noticing the laugh lines that had formed around Emma’s eyes. Something about being with Emma made Star feel good. She hadn’t felt this relaxed or lighthearted in years.

“You know, Star,” Emma said, “those are the kinds of joys, even though they’re simple, that help to keep a person grounded.”

Star was quiet for a moment, thinking how wonderful it must be to have such happiness being with another person. “I like you, Emma Yoder. Yeah, I like you a lot.”

Emma slipped her arm around Star’s waist and gave her a hug. “I like you, too.”

Y
ou look like you’ve eaten a bowl of sour pickles for breakfast,” Terry said when Jan climbed into his truck that morning. “Are you dreadin’ going to work that much?”

“It’s not the work I dread; it’s the comin’ home.”

“Since when have you ever dreaded that?”

“Since my dog was killed.”

Terry’s eyes widened. “Brutus is dead?”

Jan nodded soberly.

“Oh man, how’d that happen?”

“He got out of his pen and was hit by a car.”

“But I thought you fixed the pen so he couldn’t get out.”

“I thought that, too, but I guess he must’ve climbed the fence and gone out over the top.”

“I’m real sorry to hear that. Did you bury him out back?”

Jan shook his head. “It didn’t happen here. Paul—one of the guys who attends the quiltin’ class on Saturdays—said he saw a dead dog on his way to Emma’s that looked just like Brutus. It was over by the 5 and 20 Country Kitchen.”

“Did you see the dog?”

“Nope. By the time I got there, the body was gone. Figured someone from Animal Control had probably hauled it off.” Jan nearly choked on the words. “And I was right, ‘cause when I called the Humane Society, they said a dead German shepherd had been brought in.”

“How do you know it was Brutus? Did they identify him by his tags?”

“Didn’t have any. I stupidly let the dog run around without a collar and never even bothered to get him a license or an ID tag. The description of the dog was the same, though, and when I came home on Saturday, Brutus wasn’t in his pen or anywhere in the yard.” Just talking about losing the dog made Jan feel sick. He’d been struggling with his emotions the entire weekend.

“That don’t actually prove the dead dog was Brutus.”

“Maybe not, but since Brutus didn’t come back, it’s pretty clear to me that it had to be him.”

“Guess you’re probably right,” Terry said as he pulled out of Jan’s driveway.

As they headed down the road, a thought popped into Jan’s head. “Say, would you mind makin’ a quick stop before we head on over to LaGrange to start our next roofin’ job?”

“Sure. Where do you want me to stop?”

“At the Amish woman’s home who teaches the quiltin’ classes. She lives a short ways from here.”

“Why do you wanna go there?” Terry asked.

“When I found out about the dog that had been hit, I left Emma’s in such a hurry I forgot and left my quiltin’ project on her table. If I don’t pick it up, I won’t be able to work on it this week.”

“I still don’t get why you’re takin’ that class, but to each his own,
I
guess.”

“You got that right.” Jan frowned when Terry lit up a cigarette. “Thought you’d given up that nasty habit.”

“I’ve been tryin’ to, but when I get stressed-out I need a smoke.”

“What’s got you feelin’ stressed?”

“My folks.” Terry groaned. “After being married thirty-five years, they’re talkin’ about splittin’ up.”

“That’s too bad, man. Now you know why I’ve never gotten married. Too many complications, and it seems like there ain’t much commitment anymore.”

“Yeah, but I know some couples who’ve made it work.”

“Guess that’s true. Emma Yoder’s a widow, and I’ll bet you anything she and her husband had a good marriage. Even with him gone, her face lights up like a jar of lightnin’ bugs whenever she mentions his name.”

“Yeah, well I hope my folks get their act together soon, ‘cause I sure don’t wanna see ‘em go their separate ways. They’ve been married too many years to throw in the towel.”

“Maybe they oughta see a marriage counselor. That’s what the couple takin’ our class is doin’; although I ain’t sure it’s done ‘em much good.” Jan bumped Terry’s arm. “Turn right here. That’s Emma’s house up ahead.”

When they pulled into Emma’s yard, Jan was surprised to see Star sitting on the front porch by herself. What was even more surprising was that she wasn’t wearing her black hooded sweatshirt.

“You wanna come up to the house and meet Emma and Star?” Jan asked, turning to Terry.

“Naw, you go ahead.”

“Okay. I’ll just be gone long enough to get what I left.” Jan hopped out of the truck and hurried across the yard.

“I’m surprised to see you here this mornin’,” he said to Star as he stepped onto the porch.

“Came to talk to Emma awhile.” She smiled. At least he thought it was a smile. Her lips were curved slightly upwards. “I’m surprised to see you here, too.”

“I’m on my way to work, but I wanted to come by and get the quiltin’ project I left when I ran outta here on Saturday.”

“So what’d you find out? Was it your dog that had been hit?” she asked.

“It must have been, ‘cause when I got home Brutus wasn’t in his pen, and there ain’t been no sign of him since.”

“That’s too bad.” Star’s somber-looking face let Jan know that she felt his pain. He figured behind that defiant attitude lay a heart of compassion. Out of all of Emma’s other students, Star was the one who seemed the most real. Probably didn’t have a phony bone in her body. Jan kind of liked her because she had spunk. Didn’t care what anyone thought of her either. Too bad she wasn’t a couple of years older, or he might consider asking her out. ‘Course, he’d known a few other guys who’d dated younger women, but then he wasn’t really looking to get serious about anyone again. Right now with all the roofing jobs he had lined up for the summer, he had enough to occupy his time.

“Did you check at the Humane Society to see if the dog had been taken there?” Star asked.

He nodded, unwilling to admit that he hadn’t bothered to get Brutus any form of identification.

“So, where’s Emma?” he asked, quickly changing the subject before he ended up blubbering about how much he missed Brutus.

Star motioned to the door. “She went to the kitchen to get us some iced tea.”

“Guess I’ll go inside and ask about my stuff, and then I need to be on my way.”