And all the while, Lena breathed a prayer for the brokenhearted woman.
CHAPTER
26
Mid-February was still a month away from spring-cleaning, but Lena was impatient to free the yard of winter’s debris. “I just want to be done with it. Do ya know that feelin’?” she asked Mimi.
“Ach, spring’ll be here quicker than we realize,” Mimi replied, agreeing with Lena. “I feel it in my bones.”
Lena finished slip-stitching the facing to an Englischer’s vest. “I hope Rebekah’s holdin’ up all right, traveling by herself.” She glanced at the day clock on the wall. “I wonder when she gets in.”
“I feel for her—just as she’s startin’ to recover from her husband’s passing an’ all,” Mimi said quietly.
“She didn’t say how long she’ll be stayin’ back home when I was over there yesterday. Do you know?”
Mimi shook her head. “Could be a while . . . if her sister lingers.”
“Well, I hope it isn’t as grave as that. And meanwhile, Cora Ruth has her hands full with the children. Thankfully Melvin can help some till plowin’ and planting begin.”
“Rebekah should be back by then.”
“I hope so,” Lena said, then lifted her friend up to God while she knotted the long black thread and began to make small stitches around a newly created buttonhole.
What was it about the smell of wood shavings that woke up the senses? Harley wondered as he stepped inside Manny and Arden’s cabinetry shop. The place was already open to the public, and two other farmers were there tossing around the idea of remodeling their wives’ kitchens.
“Word’s gotten out ’bout you two,” Harley could hear one of them telling Arden, who looked mighty professional in a tan carpenter’s apron.
Harley waved at him. “Manny around?”
“Back yonder,” Arden said, pointing him toward another room, where Harley found his son-in-law bent over a sawhorse, beads of sweat standing on his brow.
Harley wandered over to greet Manny, who nodded and kept sawing. Not wanting to keep him from his work, Harley moseyed around the place, impressed by how well laid out it was, in particular the organized pegboard where hand tools hung on the nearby wall.
After a few minutes, Manny quit sawing and asked if he needed some help. It was the first he’d spoken since Harley’s arrival there.
Harley simply said he’d stopped by to wish him and Arden well in their new line of work. “I realize it’s been a couple weeks already, but willkumm to the neighborhood.”
“Denki.” Manny looked like he was eager to get back to work, and for a moment, Harley figured that was that. But then Manny looked up again. “Tessa’s happier here . . . sees her sister and the rest of the family more often.”
“I’m sure your parents miss seeing ya, though.”
“Oh jah. Mamm liked helpin’ with the baby some.”
Harley overlooked the latter comment, knowing that Mimi enjoyed having baby Joey around, too.
“But there’s more work for me here. And honestly, I’d had it with dairy farmin’,” Manny said as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. “Just ain’t suited to it.”
Harley nodded. “Some like it; some don’t.” He was real pleased Manny was giving him the time of day, something that had rarely happened since he’d swept Tessa off her feet and moved her away from home. For certain, those had been two dismal years for Mimi—and for him. Strong willed as Tessa had always been, Harley had hoped she might choose a young man from around here, one familiar with their church Ordnung. But once Manny’d caught Tessa’s eye, no one but him would do. “Well, Mimi says to drop by anytime for coffee and sweets.”
Manny bobbed his head.
“I’ve kept ya long enough.”
Manny returned to work, and on Harley’s way out to his horse and buggy, he saw Abram Mast. Always glad to chew the fat with an old friend, Harley waited till Abram had tied his mare to the black hitching post before calling to him. “Fancy meetin’ you here.” Harley chuckled as Abram came over. “Gonna sign up for a kitchen remodel?”
“Why, are you?” Abram grinned.
“Business is rather robust.” Harley motioned with his head.
“I’d like to pick Arden’s brain, but maybe I oughta drop by another time.”
Harley glanced at the shop. “Are ya still thinkin’ of ditchin’ dairy work?”
“Actually, I may have found someone to rent the dairy and the cropland, too.”
“Is that right?”
“Just kinda fell into my lap,” Abram said, shaking his head. “Funny how these things work. We stew and we fret, an’ then when we finally throw up our hands, the Good Lord provides.”
They stood and talked further about the tendency to keep God at a distance and cling to one’s own way. Then Abram said so long and headed into the shop.
Harley knew it was time to get home to finish the daily barn chores. He looked forward to telling Mimi about today’s visit. Manny seemed more comfortable around me today, thought Harley, glad of it.
Sunday evening, Lydia dropped by for Lena in her father’s buggy as planned, since Eli had gone out of town to be at an auction bright and early Monday morning. “Nice of you to come for me,” Lena said as she climbed in on the left side.
Lydia smiled as they rode off together. “Word has it this Singing will be better attended than usual ’cause of the hayride afterward.”
“I’m sure you’ll miss Eli bein’ there.”
“Well, it’s always fun to see you, Lena Rose.”
Lena smiled to herself; she appreciated that Lydia wasn’t like some girls who, once they started going for steady, seemed to leave their girlfriends in the dust. “I enjoy our friendship, too,” Lena said.
Lydia smiled ever so brightly.
Twilight was falling fast, and carriage lights twinkled on the back roads that ran alongside the snow-blanketed fields. From this distance, Lena thought the other buggies looked like large lightning bugs as they rolled toward the Mast farm.
“I brought my published poem along, like you asked.” Lydia reached behind her and handed Lena a black folder. “You can use the flashlight if you
