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Alvin finally got out of the buggy. Luke followed him up the porch steps. At the door, Alvin drew a deep breath and turned the doorknob. Luke followed him in. Emma and Zachariah were waiting for them in the clean and cheery kitchen. The room had wide-plank pine floors. A blue checkered cloth covered the long table in the center of the room. A star quilt in bright shades of red and white covered a quilting frame in front of the far window. The mouthwatering smell of roasting meat and vegetables came from the oven. A pan of rolls sat rising on the stovetop. Emma had always been a good cook.
Luke took his black hat off. Alvin pulled his off, too, and stood at Luke’s side, staring at the floor. From his own experiences, Luke knew Alvin wouldn’t be able to sink through it and disappear no matter how hard he wished he could. He put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and nodded to Alvin’s family. “Afternoon, Emma, Zachariah.”
“Goot to see you, Luke. What brings you here with my youngest in tow? Has he been up to some mischief?”
“Alvin, where is Roy?” Emma didn’t bother to acknowledge Luke. He was used to it, but it still hurt when she pointedly ignored him.
“There was a sort of accident,” Alvin muttered.
“What kind of accident?” Zachariah rose unsteadily to his feet. Emma stood beside him wide-eyed. She pressed a hand to her chest.
“Roy is okay,” Luke added quickly to reassure them. He pushed Alvin forward. “You had best tell them everything from the beginning.”
Alvin nodded, took a deep breath and looked at his sister. “We took the wood to Jim Morgan’s house like you told us to do, Emma. We unloaded it and stacked it in his shed. When we were done, Jim let us sit on his snowmobile. The red-and-white one that goes so fast. You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”
“And?” Emma prompted, the concern in her eyes giving way to speculation.
“Jim went inside to get our money, and his brother Brian showed Roy how to start the snowmobile. Brian let us take it for a little ride. Just a short one. We were coming right back. It was loads of fun. Then...”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. She propped her hands on her hips. “Then what?”
“Roy drove it out on the river,” Luke continued when it was clear that Alvin was out of courage. “The machine broke through the ice. Alvin was thrown clear, but Roy was dumped in the water. Fortunately, Noah and I saw the whole thing. We fished Roy out and got him back to my folks’ place. Mamm and Rebecca thought it best that he stay in bed for a day or so to make sure he recovers and doesn’t come down with pneumonia.”
Rebecca was married to Luke’s oldest brother. She was Emma’s cousin and had worked as a lay nurse in the community before she married Samuel. Luke knew Emma would trust her judgment over anyone else on the subject of her brother’s health.
Zachariah sat down. “Sounds like my boy took more than a little dunking.”
Luke turned his hat in his hands. “He was in the water for a good bit.”
“He got swept under the ice, but Luke saved him,” Alvin said, looking up with admiration in his eyes.
Uncomfortable with the praise, Luke ruffled the boy’s blond hair. “God helped a little. He kept me from falling through the ice, too.”
“I know how treacherous the river ice is this time of year. You risked your life to save my son. Danki.” Zachariah rose to his feet again and held his hand out.
Luke accepted the man’s thanks and shook his hand. “Anyone would have done the same.”
Emma rubbed a hand across her forehead. “So Roy has ruined a machine that costs hundreds if not thousands of dollars. How are we going to pay for it? Does your brother possess a single grain of common sense? What came over him to try and ride a snowmobile? And you just went along with him as if it were okay. I honestly don’t know what to do with you, Alvin.”
“Told you,” the boy whispered under his breath. He stared at the floor again.
Luke was hard-pressed not to smile. “I managed to get a rope on the snowmobile and pull it off the river after Roy was safe. It will take some work, but it will run again.”
“You went back out on the ice? You risked your life to retrieve a stupid machine? What is wrong with you, Luke Bowman?” Emma’s eyes snapped with fury.
Taken aback by her anger, he gaped at her. She had no idea how attractive she was with her cheeks flushed with color and her hands propped on her shapely hips. Her dress was a deep blue, the same shade as her eyes, and her white kapp accented the fiery red of her hair. She was a fine figure of a woman now. Not at all like the skinny girl that he’d dated back when he was nineteen. They had both changed, but he remembered the sweet taste of her lips as if it were yesterday.
“What were you thinking?” Emma demanded.
Luke fastened his gaze on the floor. Best not to think about the times he had kissed those pert lips. “I was thinking it would be a shame to let a fine machine fall into a watery grave. Jim is a good friend of mine.”
“You are unbelievable!” Emma stormed out of the room and up the stairs. The sound of a door slamming overhead reverberated through the house.
Zachariah swung his gaze to Luke. “Forgive Emma’s temper. She has had a trying day.”
“Having Emma mad at me is nothing new. I’ll live.” Luke quelled his desire to follow her and make amends. It wouldn’t do any good, anyway. She could barely stay in the same room with him, let alone listen to his apology.
Zachariah laid a hand on Alvin’s shoulder. “I’m glad you are safe. I give God thanks for His mercy. Are you well enough to go take care of my horse?”
“Sure.”
“Danki, sohn.”
When the boy left the room, Zachariah gestured toward the chairs at the table. “Please, sit down, Luke.”
“I didn’t plan to stay.”
“Humor an old man. Sit for a spell.”
“You’re not so old, Zachariah.” Against his better judgment, Luke took a seat. He knew having him around made Emma uncomfortable. If he heard her coming downstairs, he’d leave.
Zachariah leaned back in his chair. “I feel as if I am a hundred today. How is your family?”
“Everyone is fine. I don’t know if Emma told you, but Samuel and Rebecca are expecting a child in May.” Luke’s oldest brother had married Zachariah’s niece a year ago. Rebecca and Emma had remained close friends.
“She mentioned it the other day. That is goot. A blessing to be sure. Is your father’s business keeping all your brothers busy?”
Luke’s father owned a woodworking shop. Luke and his four brothers as well as several other carpenters from the area made furniture for a high-end furniture dealer in Cincinnati. “We’ve been busy, but Daed plans to close for a month after Christmas and take Mamm down to Pinecrest, Florida, for a few weeks. They haven’t had a vacation in years. Mamm says she can’t take the cold the way she used to. She wants to visit the Amish settlement by the sea.”
“I understand how she feels. I have often wanted to go there myself. Luke, I wanted to talk to you because you’re a fellow who knows his way around machinery. I’ve collected a fair number of items that need some restoration work before they can be resold.”
Luke smiled. “You collect junk, Zachariah.”
The older man chuckled and gave Luke a wry smile. “Ja, I do. But not all of it is junk. Some of it just needs a little elbow grease and a knowing hand to set it to rights. I’ve heard you keep your father’s equipment in tiptop shape.”
Luke grimaced inwardly. He did now, but he hadn’t always been so diligent. An accident in which his oldest brother had been seriously injured made Luke realize how he had failed his family yet again. Now, he took every step of his work seriously. “I try to keep things in working order.”
Zachariah leaned forward. “I want to get my new hardware store open the Monday after Christmas. It’s almost finished. After that, I want to get this place in order over the winter. I want it ready for a farm sale in the spring. It’s time to get rid of it all.”
“That’s a tall order.” Zachariah owned numerous sheds and buildings crammed to the rafters with all manner of stuff. Clearing it out would be a monumental task.
“I know it’s a tall order. That’s why I’m looking for help. My boys and I can’t do it alone. Roy likes machinery and hardware. He has a gift for it. That’s why I want the hardware store finished. He’ll run it one day, but he doesn’t have the skill to get all of my broken-down machinery working. I’d like to hire you to help me for the next few months.”
“I already have a job.”
“Surely your father could spare you a few days a week. That’s all I’m asking for. A few days a week to look over what I have and see what can be repaired and fix it if you can.”
“I think Emma would rather you ask someone else.”
“Your breakup was a long time ago. It’s water under the bridge to her.”
Zachariah might see it that way, but Luke wasn’t so sure Emma did. “I don’t think it would be a good idea.”
Zachariah stared down at his hands for a long moment. When he looked up, Luke saw desperation in his eyes. “I’ve been remiss in not putting money aside for Emma’s dowry. Time just went by too fast. What I get from the sale of my machinery will go to her. She’ll marry soon. I don’t want her going to a new husband empty-handed. I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t important. What do you say? Can you give me a hand?”
Emma was getting married? Luke shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. Emma was old enough and a fine woman, but it still came as something of a shock. It was hard to imagine her as someone’s wife, but she deserved happiness. He wanted her to be happy.
Would helping secure her dowry make up in some small way for his treatment of her in the past? If so, then maybe he could finally put away that guilt.
* * *
Tears streamed down Emma’s face as she leaned against her bedroom door. She didn’t even like Luke anymore. So why did the thought of him risking his life for a chunk of metal turn her blood ice-cold?
He had risked his life to save Roy, too, and she hadn’t bothered to thank him.
His bravery she could admire, but she couldn’t bear his foolhardiness. He hadn’t changed. He would always be the same reckless man who broke her heart.
Rubbing her eyes with both hands, she faced the sad truth. She still went soft inside when Luke smiled at her. For some unknown reason, he still had a hold on her heart.
Until she remembered how irresponsible he was. Why couldn’t she get over this silly schoolgirl infatuation with him?
Sure, he was a fine-looking man with broad shoulders, slender hips and blond hair that curled just enough to make a girl want to comb it into order with her fingers. There were plenty of nice-looking men in her community, but none of them affected her the way Luke did. Her feelings didn’t change the fact that he had gone to prison for dealing drugs after he left the Amish.
It was wrong of her to hold any man’s past against him, but she couldn’t forget the way he had brushed aside her tender heart when she offered to give up everything and leave with him that night so many years ago. She’d learned a bitter lesson. Luke didn’t care about anyone but himself.
She thought she loved him then, but it hadn’t been true love. It had been a foolish teenage crush. He had been right to reject her. Now, she knew better than to believe he cared.
Scrubbing her cheeks vigorously to erase the past and the traces of her tears, Emma paced the confines of her small bedroom and struggled to regain her composure. It wasn’t just Luke. It was everything. Her father’s illness, his desire for her to marry quickly, finding out her brother was ten times more foolhardy than she believed possible—it all added up to a burden too big to carry alone. Luke Bowman’s arrival today was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.
And she was a weak camel to begin with. She sat down on the edge of her bed, wishing she could start the day all over again and have it turn out differently.
A gentle tap at her door proved that wasn’t going to happen. “Emma?”
“Come in.”
Her father peeked around the door. “Are you all right?”
“Nee, I’m not. How can I be after your sad news today?”
He entered the room and sat down on the chair against the far wall. Leaning forward, he braced his elbows on his knees. “You will be fine. You are so much like your mother. She was a strong woman, too.”
He was wrong. Emma wasn’t strong, but he was being brave in the face of his illness. She could do no less. She would pretend to be brave. For him. “What are we going to do with Roy? He’s gone too far this time. He could have been killed. Alvin could have been killed. I think you should tell them how ill you are. Maybe that will shock them into behaving.”
“They will learn of it soon enough. Let them be boys for a few more weeks. Perhaps Roy’s dunking in the river has taught him a lesson.”
At sixteen, Roy was in his rumspringa, the years between childhood and adulthood when Amish youth were free to experience the outside world before they were baptized. Once an Amish man or woman chose to be baptized, they embraced the strict rules of the Amish faith, rejecting the outside world forever. If they chose to remain a part of the English world before baptism, they would be able to do so without being shunned by her church group, although not all Amish churches were so open-minded.
Emma had left her rumspringa behind at twenty and joined the faithful that same year. She knew Luke had yet to make that decision. He had been living Amish for a year and a half, ever since his release from prison, but he hadn’t taken his vows. At twenty-five, his family and the congregation would soon begin pressuring him to make a choice. He couldn’t stay on the fence forever. It was time to declare his intentions. Was he going to be Englisch or Amish?
She forced herself to stop thinking about him. “I pray you are right and Roy has learned his lesson, but he is hardheaded.”
“Like I was. There’s an old Amish proverb my father was fond of using. ‘Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first, then the lesson afterward.’”
“At least Alvin may not follow him so willingly in the future.” Alvin was a sensitive boy and not prone to troublemaking unless Roy put him up to it.
“Alvin looks up to Roy as only a younger brother can. It will take more than this incident to tarnish Roy’s image in Alvin’s eyes.”
Her father was probably right. “Did you look up to your older brother in such a fashion?”
Zachariah chuckled. “Your hair would turn gray if you knew half the things my brother, William, and I pulled when we were their ages.”
She giggled, amazed she could smile after all that she had learned. “You should go and visit him.” Her uncle and his wife along with her father’s sister had remained in Missouri when her father moved to Ohio twenty years ago. He had been to visit them only once in all that time.
“Before it’s too late, you mean? Don’t look so sad. You’re right. I should go. Perhaps I will after the New Year. Until then, I have a lot to do here.”
Besides farming, her father had always planned to open a hardware business that catered to a few of his Amish neighbors with things like lanterns, nuts, bolts and his prized key-cutting machine that was powered by an ancient diesel generator. Only the shell of the building had been completed. The rest of the things he had collected over the years were junk in her eyes, but occasionally someone needed a part for a broken bailer and Zachariah Swartzentruber was the man to see. He had five bailers in various stages of rust sitting in a long shed he’d built to house them. He never came home from market day empty-handed.
Tears pricked her eyes again. What would she do without him? The doctor had to be wrong. “The boys and I will help with whatever you need.”
“I know you will. I want to get my store finished and stocked by Christmas. I have loads of things just waiting to be put out on shelves.”
His store was a room he’d built off the side of the house. The roof was on and the walls were framed, but that was all. His shelves were nothing more than long boards stored in the shed alongside the rusting bailers. “Roy and Alvin can help you finish the store.”
“I need more help than they can give me. My hands are getting weak, and I can’t swing a hammer the way I once did. I need a man’s help.”
“You’re not going to ask Wayne Hochstetler, are you?” The idea of seeing him daily while the work was completed was troubling. What if she didn’t like him enough to walk out with him? How could she face him day after day knowing he was sizing her up to be his wife?
“Nee, for if Wayne has his mind on courting you, he might not be any use to me. A lovesick fellow often makes a poor worker.”
“Then there are a number of young men who should suit your needs nicely. How much will this cost?”
He rose and cupped her cheek with his hand. “Don’t worry your head about it, daughter. Buy the material for a new dress, and let me worry about the money.”
“All right.” She smiled for him.
“That’s my girl.” He started to leave the room.
“I’ll put an ad for a hired man in the newspaper tomorrow.”
“No need. I’ve already hired someone. He starts on Monday.”
Her heart dropped like a rock and she closed her eyes. Please, please, please, don’t let it be him.
“Who did you hire, Daed?”
Chapter Three
“I don’t feel so goot. I don’t think I’m ready to go home.”
Luke suppressed a smile at Roy’s downcast expression as he sat on the edge of the boy’s bed the following morning. Roy looked less like a drowned rat today and more like a fella ready to get up to mischief as soon as Rebecca let him out of bed. Both of them knew better than to make that move without her permission. Luke’s sister-in-law was a force to be reckoned with. She and Emma were cut from the same cloth.
Why hadn’t Rebecca mentioned that Emma was seeing someone? While most Amish sweethearts kept their relationship a tightly guarded secret from the community until the banns were read a few weeks before the wedding, family members usually knew what was going on when a couple became serious. Zachariah’s announcement yesterday had hit Luke like a ton of bricks, although he wasn’t sure why.
That was a lie. He knew why. Emma held a place in his heart that no other woman had been able to fill.
She should marry. Wasn’t that why he had stepped aside all those years ago? Because he wanted her to be happy? He wanted her to build a life in the Amish community where they had grown up. Emma belonged here. She embraced the Amish way of life. It was something he had never been able to do.
All through the rough times when he was on drugs and then behind bars, he imagined Emma living a contented life. He was able to find comfort in that. It had soothed the pain of knowing how poorly he’d treated her. His words that night had been cruel, but they had been for her own good. He knew how much her family was going to need her. He had learned her mother didn’t have long to live, but he had been forbidden to tell anyone, even Emma.
Roy plucked at the covers. “I think I should stay here another day or two.”
“You’re fine. You’re just afraid of what your daed is gonna do.”
“Not daed. Emma. She has a way of looking at you that makes you feel two inches tall.”
“I’ve seen that look. Your daed didn’t seem well when I saw him yesterday.”
“He’s been feeling poorly for a spell, but he saw the doctor yesterday. I’m sure he’ll be better soon.”
“Until then, I reckon that means he needs you and your brother’s help more than ever with the farm chores.”
Roy glanced from beneath his lashes at Luke. “Was he mad at Alvin?”
“A bit. Emma more so.”
“There’s no surprise.” Roy rolled his eyes, forcing Luke to hide another grim.
“Mostly they’re thankful both you boys survived. It was a dumb stunt.”
Roy scowled. “Micah and I watched you ride a snowmobile up and down that river a few years ago.”
“It was a dumb stunt when I did it, too. Micah who?”
“Micah Yoder. We thought it looked like mighty goot fun. He would have enjoyed it.”
“I’m sure he would until he ended up in the water. Not so much fun then, was it? It could easily have been your brother lying here in your place. Or worse. You know that, don’t you?”
A stoic expression settled on Roy’s face. “Ja. I know.”
Luke waited a few moments to let that thought soak in. “Your father mentioned he wants to get some of his equipment ready to sell in the spring. He asked for my help to repair some of his machinery. He offered to hire me for a couple of months.”
Roy’s face split into a wide grin as he scooted up in bed and leaned against the headboard. “Are you gonna take the job? That would be wunderbar.”
“I’m glad you like the idea.” Luke still didn’t know what had come over him. He never should have accepted Zachariah’s offer. He hadn’t even spoken to his own father yet.
“I have so many things to ask you, Luke. You know everything about life in the city and about the things an Amish guy needs to do if he wants to live English. You can teach me that stuff, can’t you? I’m a quick learner.”
A chuckle made Luke look over his shoulder. His brother Samuel stood in the doorway. Samuel’s face still bore the faint scars of the burns he had suffered when their gasoline generator exploded. Luke’s carelessness had contributed to the accident. He knew Samuel had forgiven him, but he had a hard time forgiving himself. His one consolation was that Samuel’s need for a nurse after the accident had brought Rebecca into their lives. Samuel considered Rebecca’s love well worth the pain he had suffered.
Samuel advanced into the room. “Luke can teach you how to get into trouble anywhere, Roy. Amish or Englisch trouble, it doesn’t matter to him. I’d avoid his company if I were you.”
“He sure saved my hide yesterday.”
“And the lesson learned from this?” Luke prompted.
“Don’t take a snowmobile out on the river no matter how thick the ice looks.”
Luke shook his head. He recognized a restless spirit in Roy. It was the same restlessness that had filled him at that age. “The lesson is to stay off snowmobiles and all Englisch machines.”
Roy cast him a sheepish look. “I doubt I’ll get the chance to ride one again since I almost ruined Mr. Morgan’s.”
Luke thumped his finger into Roy’s chest. “It serves you right. Just so you know, Jim Morgan came by to collect his machine. His brother isn’t going to be riding for a while, either. Jim wasn’t happy to hear Brian let you boys ride off without adult supervision.”
Samuel chuckled again. “That is the pot calling the kettle black. You and Jim were always up to no good when the adults weren’t looking. He’s the one who taught you to drive a car when you didn’t have a license.”
Luke frowned at his brother. “You’re not helping, Samuel.”
His brother laughed again. “Daed wants to see you downstairs.”
Luke nodded and rose to his feet. “Okay. I’ll check on you later, Roy. Stay in bed or Rebecca will have your head on a platter and mine, too.”
Luke followed Samuel out of the spare bedroom. In the hallway, Samuel gave him a sidelong glance. “You took a job working for Zachariah? You’re joking, right?”
“I don’t know what happened. I opened my mouth to refuse, but that wasn’t what came out. I agreed to a part-time job for a few months. Maybe more.”
“What were you thinking? Did sticking your head under the ice freeze your pea-size brain?”
“Maybe so.” Until recently, Samuel’s teasing would have made Luke fighting mad, but these days the brothers had come to understand and respect each other.