The PIECES of SUMMER (7 page)

“Did Jonah say what time he’d be home?” Sarah asked her husband, Raymond, as they
sat down at the kitchen table for lunch.

Raymond shrugged his shoulders. “Just said he was going fishin’, so guess it all depends
on how well things go. I’m sure he’ll be home before supper, though.”

They bowed their heads for silent prayer, and then Sarah passed Raymond the potato
salad she’d made. “Sadie Stoltzfus came by here this morning. Said she wanted to speak
with Jonah.”

“Oh, really? What about?”

“I don’t know. Whatever it was, it must have been serious, because she looked quite
agitated.” Sarah took a tuna sandwich then handed the plate to Raymond. “You don’t
suppose it had anything to do with Meredith, do you?”

He reached for a sandwich and took a bite. “Beats me. What makes you think that, anyways?”
he asked.

“Well, our son has been helping Meredith quite a bit lately, and since Meredith’s
husband was Sadie’s son, she might not like it.”

“Why would she care who helps Meredith?”

“She might be worried that Jonah has a personal interest in Meredith.” Sadie took
a few potato chips from the bowl in front of her then passed it on to Raymond.

“Would that be so terrible?” he questioned, his eyebrows lifting slightly.

“I don’t think so, but Sadie might. She may not have come to terms with Luke’s death
yet. The idea of Jonah or any other man taking her son’s place in Meredith’s life
might be too painful for her.”

Raymond rubbed the bridge of his nose, looking at her with a thoughtful expression.
“I suppose you might be right about that. Even so, it’s Meredith’s life, not Sadie’s
or anyone else’s, so she ought to be free to begin her life again with the man of
her choice, when the time is right.”

Sarah nodded. “I totally agree.”

Just then, the back door swung open, and Jonah, soaking wet and dripping water all
over the floor, hobbled into the kitchen, wearing only one boot.

“What happened to you?” Sarah gasped, jumping out of her chair.

“A tree fell into the stream, and I got my left foot caught in its roots.” Jonah grabbed
the back of a chair for support and groaned. “My ankle’s really swollen, and I either
broke it or sprained it badly.”

“You’d best get out of those wet clothes,” Sarah said, heading to get the clothes
basket. “And while you’re daed’s helping you with that, I’ll go out to the phone shack
and call the doctor—the one in the area who makes house calls to the Amish.” She paused
at the back door and pointed to a spot on Jonah’s chest where his shirt hung open.
“Ach, Jonah! Is that a leech?”

I
don’t like being laid up like this and unable to help with things,” Jonah mumbled
as he hobbled across the kitchen to the breakfast table. It had been two weeks since
he’d broken his ankle, and even though he wore a walking cast, he couldn’t do many
things. Helping Dad paint the barn was out of the question right now. And he hadn’t
been able to go over to Meredith’s and help with any chores. He missed their visits
and the good food they shared whenever he’d been invited to stay for a meal. He longed
to see Meredith’s pretty face and enjoy their conversation.

“Don’t be so impatient, Son.” Mom gave Jonah’s arm a tender squeeze. “You just need
to stay off that foot as much as you can and give your ankle a chance to heal.”

Dad bobbed his head. “Your
mamm’s
right. I can either paint the barn later this summer or I’ll ask someone else to
help me get it done.”

“Who are you gonna ask?” Jonah reached for a piece of toast and slathered it with
Mom’s tasty homemade strawberry jam.

Dad shrugged. “Don’t know yet. Guess I could ask my friend Harvey if his sons, Mahlon
and Amos, might be available to help.”

Jonah shook his head while he used his finger to wipe up some jam that had dripped
onto his plate. “I think you should wait till I can help you.” He paused to lick the
jam from his finger and smacked his lips. “Those two boys probably don’t know much
about painting. They’re farmers, Dad.”

Dad took a drink of coffee. “Maybe you’re right. We can wait and paint the barn sometime
in August.”

“If you want to do it now, maybe I could sit on something and at least help to paint
the bottom part of the barn,” Jonah said. “I’d be off my feet, but I’d have something
meaningful to do.”

“I know how bad you want to help out around here, but it’s probably best if you just
keep resting that foot. There’s nothin’ critical that needs to be done, and the barn
can wait a few more weeks,” Dad assured him.

“Well, one thing I know for sure,” Jonah said, reaching for his cup of coffee, “I’m
going to sit on a stool and barbecue some steaks for supper this evening.”

Mom grinned widely. “That sounds
wunderbaar
, Jonah. I’ll make cucumber and pasta salads to go with the meat. There’s nothing
like nice cold salads for a meal during the hot summer months.”

“And for dessert, I’ll make a batch of homemade ice cream,” Dad put in. “Is there
any particular flavor you’d like?” he asked, looking at Jonah.

“Anything but orange,” Jonah said, shaking his head. “Don’t think I could tolerate
that.”

Mom chuckled. “You’ve always had an aversion to orange. Even when you were a boppli
and I tried giving you orange juice, you’d make a face and spit the juice right out.”

Dad chuckled. “I remember once when you and Jean were toddlers, you snitched her little
pink sippy-cup, probably thinking it had milk it in, and boy, did you get a surprise
when you took a drink.”

“It wasn’t so funny when he spit the juice all over Jean’s new dress, and we ended
up being late for church because I had to take the time out to change her clothes.”
Mom looked at Jonah and wrinkled her nose. “After that, you smelled everything you
ate and drank to be sure it wasn’t flavored with orange.”

Jonah chuckled, despite his melancholy mood. It felt good to be living here in Pennsylvania
with his folks, where they could enjoy being together and reminisce about the past.
But he still wished he hadn’t injured his ankle so he could do more to help them.
Meredith, too
, he thought once again.
I can’t wait till I’m able to pay her another visit and offer to do some needed chores
.

“I’m sorry Jonah Miller broke his ankle,” Sadie said to Elam as he sat at the table,
reading the latest issue of
The Connection
magazine, while she cleared the breakfast
dishes
. “One good thing came out of it, though.”

He looked up. “And what would that be?”

“Jonah’s not going over to see Meredith right now.”

“No, and you’ve made sure that we checked on her often, so that ought to make you
happy.”

Sadie poured Elam a second cup of coffee. “I’m always happy to see Meredith, but are
you trying to make some particular point?”

He placed the magazine on the table and looked directly at her. “I just think you’re
overly
bekimmere
about Meredith.”

“I have every right to be concerned. She’s our daughter-in-law, for goodness’ sake.”

“That’s true, but she’s not our flesh and blood
dechder
, and as hard as this is to say, she’s not married to our son any longer.” Elam leveled
Sadie with a stern look. “I think it’s time you realize that Meredith has her own
life to live, and you’re not in control of her destiny.”

Sadie recoiled. “I’m not trying to control her destiny. I just think Jonah, who isn’t
even part of the family, should not be doing things for her that we, as well as Meredith’s
family, ought to be doing.”

“It’s not our place to decide who should or shouldn’t help Meredith. We should be
grateful that not all the burden falls on just one person and that Jonah’s willing
to help her out.”

Sadie set the coffeepot down and thumped the table. “You might think otherwise if
Meredith ends up marrying Jonah.”

Elam turned his hands palms-up. “If she does, she does. That will be her choice, not
ours.”

“So are you saying that you’d be okay with it if Meredith should marry Jonah?”

Elam gave a quick nod; then he pushed his chair away from the table, grabbed his straw
hat from the wall peg across the room, and headed out the door.

Tears welled in Sadie’s eyes.
I just can’t bear the thought of Meredith becoming the wife of another man. Oh, I
hope it doesn’t come to that
.

“It sure is a hot, humid day,” Meredith commented to Laurie as they sat on the porch,
drinking iced tea with lemon. They’d just gotten home from her eighth and final childbirth
class. All the other sessions had been easy to get through: learning the breathing
exercises and discovering each month how big the baby was as it grew inside of her;
techniques for coping with pain; and how the partner could help during labor. This
final class was the most intense and explained the birth in detail. Meredith didn’t
want to let on, but it made her a bit nervous to think about the pain she would experience
and how long her labor might last. She knew that some women, like her friend Dorine,
experienced a long labor with their first child.

I won’t dwell on it
, Meredith told herself.
I’ll just wait and see how it all goes
.

She raised the drink to her face, enjoying the cool moisture of the glass as it touched
her flushed cheek. “Thank goodness it was air-conditioned at the midwife’s clinic,”
she said to her sister.

“That’s for sure.” Laurie lifted her dark apron and fanned her face with the edge
of it. “It’s times like this when I wish we had air-conditioning like Kevin has in
his car.”

“Speaking of Kevin, have Dad and Mom said anything more about you going out with him?”

Laurie nodded. “I think they’ve finally accepted it, but I know they were hoping I’d
fall in love with an Amish man and join the church.” She sighed. “Since Kevin and
his parents attend a more modern Mennonite church and don’t use horses and buggies
for transportation, Mom and Dad are concerned that I’ll succumb to worldly ways.”

“Has Kevin considered joining the Amish church?” Meredith questioned.

“No. If he did that, he wouldn’t be able to drive his car anymore, and I’m sure he’d
have a hard time giving that up.”

“But if he loves you enough, he should be willing to give up anything.” Meredith’s
thoughts went quickly to Luke. He’d owned a car during his running-around years but
had gladly given it up when it was time to join the church and later get married.

“It’s not just his car he’d have to give up,” Laurie said. “Kevin wants to become
a missionary, and I want that, too. I think it’d be a real adventure, not to mention
an opportunity to help others and tell them about the Lord.”

Meredith’s eyes widened. “You mean move away to some foreign country?”

Laurie nodded. “Kevin has gone on some work-and-witness trips with a group from his
church, and he feels that mission work is what God’s calling him to do.”

“Do Mom and Dad know about this?” Meredith asked.

“Jah. I told them last evening when I stopped by the house to get some clean clothes
before I came here to spend the night.”

“What’d they say?”

“Mom was pretty upset, but Dad took it fairly well. Said I should pray about it—make
sure I felt the same call on my life as Kevin does before I commit to marrying him.”

Meredith nodded. “I think that was sound advice.” She placed her hands against her
ever-growing stomach and smiled. “I’ve already begun praying for my boppli’s future—that
he or she will make wise choices and someday find the right spouse.”

“Your little one will be making an appearance sometime soon.” Laurie reached over
and placed her hand next to Meredith’s. “Are you feeling
naerfich
about giving birth?”

“I’m a little nervous,” Meredith admitted. “The childbirth classes we’ve taken have
been a big help in preparing me for what to do and what to expect. And I must say,
I’m glad this morning was the last session, because it means my time is getting close.”
She sighed deeply. “I just wish my boppli’s daed could be here to witness the birth
of our child.”