Martha paced in front of her dog kennels, stopping every couple of minutes to watch Heidi and her remaining three pups frolic on the concrete floor inside the chain-link fence. She had placed another ad in a couple of newspapers, including The Budget, hoping to sell the rest of them. So far she’d sold one female pup to Ray and Donna Larson, and a male to an Amish man who lived near Sugarcreek. Flo, the female beagle, hadn’t become pregnant yet, but Martha hoped that would happen soon.
Maybe I should go over to the Larsons’ after lunch and see how their puppy is doing. It would give me a chance to talk to Donna about the situation here and find out if she or Ray might have heard or seen anything suspicious.
“I invited the folks to lunch at my house,” Grace called from the barn doorway. “It’s ready now, so are you coming?”
“Jah, okay.” Martha took one final look at the dogs and hurried toward the front of the barn. “Did Dad tell you about Fritz?”
Grace nodded with a grim expression. “When he came up to my house a few minutes ago with Mom, he told us the whole story.” She touched Martha’s arm. “I’m sorry it happened but glad the dog wasn’t hurt.”
“Dad’s trying to blame Luke, but I’m not convinced.”
“Me, neither. I’ve been saying all along that Gary’s responsible for the terrible things that have happened to our family.” Grace bit her lip and stared at the ground. “Except for the mess I’ve made with my marriage. That’s my fault—no one else’s.”
Martha slipped her arm around her sister’s waist as they started walking up the driveway toward Grace’s house. “You made a mistake in keeping the truth from Cleon, but that doesn’t give him the right not to forgive.”
“Maybe not, but I should have told him sooner, not kept it hidden until Anna showed up.”
“No one’s perfect, Grace. We all make mistakes.”
“I seem to take the prize in that department.” Grace stopped walking and drew in a shaky breath. Her face looked pale, and dark circles rimmed her eyes.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling grank?”
“I don’t think I’m really sick, but I’ve been having waves of nausea for a couple of weeks.”
“Have you missed your monthly?”
Grace nodded soberly.
“Sounds to me like you might be in a family way.”
“I–I’m afraid that might be the case.”
“It’s nothing to look so down in the dumps about. If you’re going to have a boppli, that’s joyous news.”
“It would be if things weren’t so verhuddelt around here.”
“You’re right about things being confused, which is why I’m going over to the Larsons’ this afternoon to see if they know anything.”
“Why would they know anything? Surely you don’t think that nice couple would want to hurt us in any way.”
Martha shook her head. “Of course not, but I’m hoping Ray might have seen something with those binoculars he uses for bird watching. Or maybe Donna has heard something from one of the people she drives to appointments.”
“I’d feel a lot better if the attacks would stop,” Grace said, “but that doesn’t solve my problem with Cleon not coming home.”
“Have you heard from him lately?”
“Not since he sent that letter saying he was making more contacts for honey sales and didn’t know when he might be home.”
“Guess you can’t write back and tell him you’re pregnant, then.”
“I haven’t seen a doctor yet, so I’m not sure I’m in a family way. Maybe my symptoms are caused from the stress I’ve been under.” Grace halted when they came to the steps leading to her back porch. “Please don’t say anything to the folks about this. If I’m still feeling nauseated by the end of the week, I’ll make an appointment to see the doctor.”
“You promise?”
Grace gave a quick nod.
As Cleon exited the store he’d visited in hopes of soliciting some business, he spotted an English girl skipping down the sidewalk beside her mother. It made him think of Grace’s little girl, who was about the same age. After Grace’s secret had been revealed, he’d made no effort to get to know Anna, but then, she hadn’t seemed that interested in him, either.
A pang of guilt shot through him. Anna might not be his child, but she needed a father. Her own father had died when she was just a baby, and her grandfather—the only father she’d ever known—had left her with strangers to begin a new way of life. Even so, Cleon wasn’t sure Anna would ever accept him as her father, and he didn’t know if he would ever feel comfortable in that role.
He pulled his gaze away from the English girl and spotted a phone booth down the street. Since his folks had a phone shed outside their home because of Mom’s meal-serving business to tourists, he decided to give them a call and let them know he’d be on his way home soon.
Cleon entered the phone booth and dialed his mother’s number. Ivan answered. “Cleon, I’m glad you phoned, because I have some bad news.”
“Has something happened to Grace? Have there been more attacks at the Hostettlers’?”
“I don’t know about that, but there’s been one here.”
“What’s happened?”
Ivan cleared his throat a couple of times. “It’s your bee hives—they’re gone.”
“Gone? What do you mean?”
“They’ve been destroyed.”
Cleon’s knees went weak, and he had to brace himself against the phone booth to keep from toppling over. “All of them?”
“Jah. Every last one has been burned. There’s nothing left but a pile of ashes.”
“Wh–when did this happen?”
“I’m not sure. I hadn’t checked on things for a few days, and when I got done helping in the fields earlier today, I decided I’d better see how your hives were doing. That’s when I discovered they’d been ruined. Some of the bees were flying around with nowhere to go, but I’m sure a lot of ‘em were burned with the hives.”
Cleon groaned. With no hives and no bees, he had no more honey to sell. And if he had no honey, he had no job other than farming for his father, which he’d rather not continue to do.
“I can’t figure who would do this to you or why.”
“Could have been some disruptive kids out for a good time, or maybe it was done by someone who’s got something against me.”
“Come on, brother. Who would have anything against you?”
Cleon had no answer. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Are you going to start up some new hives when you get home?”
“I—I don’t know.”
“I’m sure Grace will be glad to see you.”
Cleon cringed. Despite his anger at Grace, he really did miss her—missed what they used to have together. He knew he’d hurt her by leaving, but she’d hurt him, too, and he wasn’t certain he could ever trust her again.
When lunch was over and Grace’s folks had left for home, she decided to put Anna down for a nap.
“Are you sure you don’t want my help with those?” she asked Martha, who stood near the sink drying the last few dishes.
“No, you go ahead upstairs.” Martha waved a soapy hand. “Maybe you should lie down awhile yourself. You’re looking even more peaked than before we had lunch.”
“I am feeling a bit tired, so maybe I will take a short rest.” Grace headed for the door. “See you later, Martha.”
A short time later, Grace had Anna situated in her room, so she stretched out on her own bed across the hall. It seemed odd to be living in this house—the home Cleon had started building when they’d first become engaged, the place where they were supposed to be living together.
Tears trickled down her cheeks and splashed onto the dahlia-patterned quilt. Dear God, I’m so sorry for what I’ve done to my family and Cleon. Won’t You please bring my husband home so I can make it up to him?