I don’t see why you felt the need to follow me out here,” Roman said to his wife as they stepped into his shop after they’d returned home from dinner.
“Because I know what you plan to do, and I’m hoping to talk you out of it. It’s just plain eefeldich to try and glue your crown back in place.” She frowned. “It won’t hold, you know.”
“It may seem silly to you, but I know what I’m doing, and this will save us some money.” Roman ignited one of the gas lamps.
Judith pulled out the chair at his desk and took a seat. “If you insist on doing this, then at least let me help so you don’t get it glued on crooked or put glue where it doesn’t belong.”
He shrugged and started toward his supplies. Most women worried too much, especially his wife.
“Grace seemed sad tonight, didn’t she?” Judith said.
“Guess she was missing Cleon,” he called over his shoulder.
“I still don’t see why he couldn’t have waited to make that trip until after her birthday.”
“I’m heading into the back room now, so can we talk about this later?”
“Jah, sure.”
Roman stepped into the room and turned on another gas lamp. When he opened his toolbox to retrieve the epoxy cement, several things were missing. “Now that’s sure strange.”
“What’s strange?”
Roman whirled around. Judith had followed him into the room. “Some things in this case are missing, including the epoxy cement.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “What all is missing?”
“A hammer, a couple of screwdrivers, a pair of pliers, and two tubes of cement.”
“Maybe you put them somewhere and forgot.”
“Don’t remember puttin’ them anywhere but here.”
She covered her mouth with one hand. “I hope someone hasn’t broken into your shop again. I’m getting so tired of these attacks.”
“If it is another attack, we just need to hold steady and keep trusting the Lord.” He looked around the room. “We don’t know if the missing tools really are part of an attack, and I don’t see anything else missing. The front door was locked when we came in, so it doesn’t seem as though anyone broke into the place while we were gone.”
“You think maybe Cleon borrowed the tools and forgot to tell you?”
Roman leaned against the workbench. “I suppose that’s possible. I’ll ask when he gets back.” He closed the lid on the toolbox and turned down the gas lamp. “Guess I’ll have to see the dentist whether I like it or not, because without that cement, I can’t glue my crown back on.”
Judith smiled. “At least one good thing came out of your supplies being gone.”
He grunted and touched his mouth. “Jah, right.”
As Cleon entered a café on the outskirts of Harrisburg, he noticed a small calendar sitting on the counter near the cash register. Oh, no, today was Grace’s birthday, and I didn’t even send her a card.
He seated himself at a booth near the window and reflected on his wife’s last birthday, when he’d been invited to her folks’ house for supper. They’d made homemade ice cream after the meal, and he and Grace had spent the rest of the evening sitting on the porch swing, talking about their future and holding hands. Cleon had hung around until almost midnight, wishing he could be with Grace forever. Things had sure turned out differently than he’d imagined they would.
He wondered what Grace had done to celebrate her birthday, and as he reached for the menu the waitress had placed on the table, a feeling of guilt swept over him like a raging waterfall. Even if he was Grace’s husband in name only, the least he could do was to acknowledge her birthday.
Cleon thought about a verse from Matthew 6 he had read in his hotel room: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” He still loved Grace, and he needed to forgive her. But if he couldn’t trust her, then how could he fully forgive and open his heart to her again?
Maybe I’ll buy her a gift before I head for home. At least that way she can’t say I didn’t care enough to do something for her birthday. And when she finds out that I’ve bought enough bees, boxes, and supplies to start my business again, maybe she’ll realize that I’m not going to shirk my duties, and that I plan to take care of her and the baby.
A lump formed in Cleon’s throat, and he swallowed a couple of times, trying to dislodge it. God had put Grace in his life for a reason. It wouldn’t be enough to give her a gift and let her know he didn’t plan to wriggle out of his duties to her and their unborn child. Grace’s secret wasn’t the problem. His unforgiving actions and refusal to trust her were keeping them apart.
Truth be told, he hadn’t given Grace a chance to tell him about the boppli and then had blamed her for not telling him the news. He had to give his hurts over to the Lord, for only God could break down the barriers Cleon had erected between him and his wife. He’d been running from what he wanted the most. He and Grace belonged together. He needed not only to forgive Grace, but to seek Anna’s forgiveness, as well. Cleon resolved to do that as soon as he returned home.
As Grace and Anna headed for their house, Anna chattered about how Ruth had hid somebody’s clothes in the woods when they’d gone on a picnic the other day. Grace barely let the words sink in. She was still feeling flustered over her encounter with Gary, and she wasn’t looking forward to spending the rest of the night in an empty house, knowing Cleon wouldn’t be coming home. A lump formed in her throat. He hadn’t even bothered to give her a card, much less a gift.
“Look, Mama, somebody must have left you a birthday gift,” Anna said as they stepped onto the back porch.
Grace bent down and picked up a small package wrapped in plain brown paper. She wondered if it could be from Cleon. Maybe he’d bought it before he left for Pennsylvania and asked someone from his family to deliver it to Grace on her birthday.
“Open it! Open it!” Anna shouted, hopping up and down.
“Calm down. I’ll open it when we get inside.”
Grace pushed the door open and stepped into the kitchen. She placed the package on the table, turned on a gas lamp, and pulled out chairs for Anna and herself.
“Can I open it?” Anna asked.
“Jah, sure, go ahead.”
Anna ripped off the paper, pulled open the lid, and screeched with horror. “Dead mouse! Dead mouse!”
Thinking the child must be joking, Grace reached for the box and peered inside. “Ach! It is a dead maus!” She shuddered and tossed the package to the floor.
Anna started to sob, and Grace gathered the child into her arms. “It’s okay. I’m sure someone’s just playing a trick on Mama.”
As Grace sat rocking Anna back and forth, the bitter taste of bile rose in her throat, and she swallowed to push it down. Who could have done something so horrible? Who could hate her so much that they would want to ruin her birthday?
Her thoughts turned immediately to Gary. When she’d seen him at the restaurant tonight, she’d mentioned that it was her birthday. Could he have driven over here and put the dead mouse on her doorstep?