“What’s going on?” David asked as he picked Lucas up in his arms.
“David,” Ida called from the doorway of the house, “Could I talk to you for a minute?”
David set Lucas down on the ground, anxious to find a reason for the driver but also nervous about what his wife might say.
Ida was standing in the doorway, kneading her hands together nervously.
“David...” taking a deep breath, she managed to look up into his face, “David, Lucas and I are going away for a while.”
David raised his eyebrows in surprise, “What do you mean?”
“We’re going to stay with my parents across town for a few weeks...not for good, just long enough to work some things out...”
“You’re leaving.” David announced, his voice sounding completely emotionless.
“Ach, David, you aren’t making this easy at all!” Ida announced as she reached up to cover her face with her hands, “We’re not leaving...we’re just taking a break.”
“You’re upset because I grabbed him last night?” David chuckled at how ludicrous the entire situation was, “Ida, I didn’t hurt him at all. If you could have seen how hard my daed whipped me when I was a boy...”
Ida shook her head, “It’s not like that. It’s not this time I’m worried about...it’s next time and the next time. David, I don’t know what I’m supposed to think. Something is wrong with you and you won’t even tell me what!”
“So this is all about forcing me to tell you everything I’m thinking?” David interrupted, his voice filled with bitterness.
Ida looked down at her feet, gathering her courage before she said, “You’re a good dad, David. I don’t want that to change. We’ll be back as soon as things are different.”
David threw his hands up in frustration, “Different? What does that even mean? What do you want me to do, Ida?”
“I’m firm on this one, David,” Ida whispered, her voice filled with resolution, “I’m not going to let this family fall apart...and, if I have to do something extreme to keep that from happening, then I will.”
David wanted to stop her. He wanted to physically grab her and hold her down, but he knew that he couldn’t. The church leaders were behind her. And, if David was to act on his instinct, he realized that the police might ultimately get involved.
Stepping back, he let her walk out the door and away from their home.
Chapter Five
David had never realized how lonely their big farm house could feel. Despite the fact that he wasn’t constantly confronted with Ida’s nagging, he couldn’t shake the utter misery of entering the house alone every night.
Each afternoon after work, David would go to Ida’s parents’ house to visit Lucas for a few hours. Although they said nothing, it was obvious that Ida’s parents were not too thrilled with him – one day, they would be ready to beg him to make things right with their daughter, while other days they would seem closer to shooting him and making her a widow.
Although Lucas often cried to go home, he seemed to be adjusting well to their new arrangement. Several of Ida’s sisters lived nearby their parents, so Lucas always had a playmate in his cousins.
Ida and David hardly spoke at all. Sometimes Ida would make an attempt at conversation, but David would cut her short with his icy, one-word replies. As far as it went, he couldn’t see himself stooping to beg her to come home. If she thought he was such a terrible person that he shouldn’t be in the same house as their son, David didn’t see any reason to speak to her at all.
Thursday afternoon, David had just returned home from work and was out mucking a stall in the barn. His bottle of whisky sat nearby, with no reason to hide it any longer. At least he had that one benefit of being alone.
“Hello there David!” The familiar voice of Bishop Pete made David groan inwardly. Turning on his heel, he leaned his weight against the handle of the pitchfork.
“Hello Pete,” he returned in a cool reception, “What can I do for you?”
“I’d like to spare a few minutes of your time to talk, if you don’t mind.”
Giving a shrug, David tossed the pitch-fork aside, “I don’t guess I have much choice, do I?” Pausing for a moment, David continued, “If you’re out here to talk to me about Ida, you’re wasting your time. I don’t know what I can do there.”
Pete pushed back his hat so that he could rub his forehead, “David, watching you and your family...this is painful to see.”
“Then don’t watch,” David suggested.
Pete raised an eyebrow and took a deep breath, “I’m God’s chosen leader of our people. It’s my job to watch. David, your family is breaking in pieces. Aren’t you going to do anything to fix it before it’s impossible?”
David leaded his weight against a barn post, “Pete, I don’t know what you want me to do. I don’t know what Ida wants me to do. Everybody acts like I need to do something...but what? I get up every morning, I go to work, and I provide for my family. I don’t know what more everybody expects from me.”
“Only the Lord knows how to fix this mess,” Pete replied, “And you’d better be spending a lot of time figuring that out with him. David, listen to me, you are losing your wife! Doesn’t that concern you at all?”
“I guess I’ve been prepared for this for a while,” David announced, the words jumping out before he could stop them.
Pete looked at him in surprise, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’ve known for a long time that she was going to go.” Somehow, David’s admission was a shock even to himself.
“You knew she was going to leave and you didn’t try to stop her?” Pete asked incredulously, “Ach, David, that makes no sense! If I knew my wife was going to leave me, I’d do everything in my
