“How will Ruth and you get along if you take him home?” I asked Jake.
“No idea.”
“Maybe you can hire a young woman to live in and help,” said Beatrice. “How about Mark’s little sister, Susie?”
“Or Olivia,” I said. “If she’s willing and her parents will consent. Maybe for a couple of weeks, anyway. If a bishop supported the idea, her parents would be more apt to agree.”
Harvey’s beard moved up and down as he spoke. “That’s a wonderful idea. Olivia must stop thinking only of herself, and she should volunteer to help others in times of hardship. Not that Jake won’t assist, am I correct?”
“Yah, of course I will,” Jake said.
An unnerving thought slithered through my mind. Did Harvey hope Jake and Olivia would fall in love and leave me in the lurch? Well, not in the lurch with Harvey there to mend my broken heart. Would a man of God do such a devious thing? I liked to think not, and yet he seemed to be pursuing me.
“The doctor said I should go home,” Ruth said, “but I can’t leave Amos. If he comes around and I’m not here, he’ll be frightened.”
“We’ll take good care of your husband,” the nurse said. “You should go home and rest.”
“Mamm, I’ll drive you,” Jake said. “I need to take care of the livestock.”
“Nee, I’m staying here. There’s nothing anyone can do to dissuade me.”
“All right. Eva? Beatrice? I’ll take you home.”
“No need,” Beatrice told him. “Stephen is on his way.”
Jake frowned and turned to Harvey. “I can drive you home if you’d like.”
“My horse and buggy are at the nursery. I would appreciate a ride there,” Harvey said. “You and I have much to speak about.”
“That’s the truth.”
“When will you talk to Olivia about helping Mamm?” Jake asked.
Harvey examined the wall clock. “Too late tonight, but I’ll go to their church service or their home tomorrow morning to confer with them. I’ll leave a message on the phone in their shanty.” He glanced to me. “You mentioned you might attend your parents’ service. If so, I might see you there.”
“I’ll have to wait and see how I’m feeling in the morning.”
After my wishy-washy answer, Harvey gave me a sour expression.
FORTY-EIGHT
I awoke the next morning when my arm dangled over the edge of my bed and knocked the clock off the nightstand. Some sort of nightmare, I guessed as I reached down to retrieve the clock. Stephen was in my dream. That much I recalled.
My eyes focused on the clock’s hands. Already eight? I’d overslept. I needed to put on my soup of the day but couldn’t remember what I was preparing.
Then it struck me. Today was Sunday, the Lord’s day of rest.
I envisioned my go-to-church attire—my white organza apron and my periwinkle blue dress—still at my parents’ home, which seemed in another county at this moment of blurriness.
I wondered if Harvey would indeed attend my parents’ church service. I couldn’t imagine what he and Jake had spoken about on the way home last night. Had Harvey talked Jake into attending the service with him? That question alone should have made me spring to my feet, but the cabin’s air was cold and clammy, and my nose felt clogged. Had I picked up a virus in the waiting room of the hospital? I could tell I was trying to talk myself into being sick so I wouldn’t have to get up.
But then I sneezed, and sneezed again several times. I reached for a tissue and dabbed my nose. Probably an allergy, I told myself. Dust had always made me sneeze, and I hadn’t scrubbed my living quarters since I moved in.
I sneezed twice more and then coughed. I had a perfectly good excuse to skip church today, but I felt guilt invading me as if I were a sponge in a puddle. I scurried over to the sink, filled up the kettle, and turned on the gas burner. I was thankful I’d brought Mamm’s homemade herbal remedy tea, which seemed to fix everything, especially colds. I’d hunker out in my little cabin all morning. No one would notice. Beatrice had probably already left for church, but I wouldn’t even peek out the window lest she be there waiting for a ride from a friend.
I turned on my small space heater and climbed back into bed. I opened the Bible and decided to have my own church service with just myself and God. I sighed, as I knew I was disobeying the Ordnung this very moment. Or maybe not. Maybe God wanted me to spend this morning at home contemplating his Word and praying for Amos.
Then it occurred to me that I hadn’t heard the dogs today. Usually by now they were out and at least one of them had barked a few times and loped up on my porch. Odd. I hadn’t heard the main house’s back door open and close or a car’s engine idling. Maybe Beatrice was doing the same thing I was. Although she was consistent when it came to attending church.
Ach, last evening had been exhausting. I thought of Amos in the hospital bed, barely breathing. When he did, he must experience excruciating pain with a fractured rib. Hadn’t the poor man suffered enough? Or was he being taught a lesson like Job was? He was completely dependent upon Ruth and Jake. And God. Although I couldn’t remember ever seeing him at a church service when I was growing up. He would’ve been my parents’ age and would’ve sat near my father and brother on the men’s side.
I allowed my thoughts to meander into a fairy-tale world. I imagined Jake’s and my wedding day. We would exchange vows and promise to love and obey. No worries about kissing him in front of the congregation as it was verboten during a church service.
The water kettle screeched.
