Zeke showed Kiah and Henry around Luke’s workshop, and after learning Henry had construction experience, he assigned him to work with Vernon. Not that Vernon had done much working. Mostly he’d slammed things around and watched Zeke sand and join seams, as if he didn’t know how to do anything except supervise and make noise.
Kiah’s job in Shipshewana was raising and training buggy horses, but he did have some barn-raising experience. With him helping Zeke, it was a good chance for them to catch up with each other while getting some serious work done.
“Where are you staying? Do you like it there?” Zeke asked as he measured the board on the workbench a second time, then sawed a needed angle.
Kiah took the cut board and handed Zeke another. “They placed Henry and me with the semiretired buggy repairman and his wife. They’re older, and no children, I guess. They live in town in a tiny one-bedroom haus, and so we’re sleeping in sleeping bags tossed on the living room floor. The kitchen is overrun by tiny, little ants. And we’re fed bean soup and corn bread for every meal except breakfast. So far, breakfast is exactly two poached eggs and a bowl of oatmeal. I’m going to be skin and bones by the time we leave here.” On cue, his stomach rumbled.
Zeke chuckled. “You exaggerate.”
“Not by much,” Henry said from nearby. “He didn’t mention the innumerable cats, either. They’re everywhere.”
Kiah rolled his eyes. “For sure and certain.”
“We’ve had fried chicken or sandwiches every meal so far. Except breakfast,” Vernon grumbled. “And our noon meal today is more of the same. I peeked.”
“I’ll trade you cold bean soup and dry corn bread for your fried chicken.” There was a note of teasing in Henry’s voice.
“I accept,” Vernon said.
Henry’s eyes widened.
A strained silence fell.
“They’re serving us leftover wedding food that is being used up before it goes to waste,” Zeke clarified. He struggled to process Vernon’s attitude. Zeke was raised to eat what was set in front of him without complaint. And the food at the Lantzes’ haus was good, though the reason behind it had to be painful. Especially for Gracie.
Or maybe not, if it meant she didn’t have to marry Timothy.
“How about you? Any unmarried daughters?” Kiah finally broke the silence.
“With twelve brothers, ain’t it a wonder?” Zeke said, quoting Cliff.
“Eleven,” Vernon corrected.
Zeke caught his breath, turned, and glared.
Vernon spread his arms wide. “What? He fell from the roof of the barn. There’s only one possible outcome.”
“As of last night, he was in surgery and still alive. Besides, with Gott all things are possible,” Zeke said quietly.
“In the perfect world.” Vernon turned away. “One daughter is as good as married, and the other is special-needs.”
Zeke clenched his fist and then released it with a prayer for patience.
“So no romance for you, either.” Kiah smirked.
“Not supposed to date while we’re here, anyway.” Zeke shrugged. But he struggled to keep a straight face and block out the memories of the kisses and flirting he’d shared with Gracie.
Thankfully, Vernon had nothing to say to that. Vernon might not have realized what nearly happened on the steps right before Gracie’s fall. But if he missed their frequent glances at each other, the man was blind.
“Zeke’s been taking the special-needs girl on walks.” Vernon’s voice was filled with thinly veiled contempt. “Guess there’s someone for everyone.”
Kiah gave him an irritated look.
“She’s fourteen, Vernon,” Zeke snapped. What had gotten into calm, easygoing, perfect Vernon?
And then he knew.
Zeke had been put in charge, making him feel less like a loser, and Vernon didn’t know how to handle it. And Zeke’s prior feelings toward Vernon, the perfect supervisor at the RV factory, were like Vernon’s now toward him. Resentment and maybe jealousy.
Zeke really did need to pray for patience and grace in order to work with Vernon.
Because out of the two men, Zeke handled the upheaval from the storm better.
* * *
Grace went out to the barn to hitch Charlie Horse to their one remaining buggy, but both the horse and the buggy were gone. Of course. Daadi Cliff needed transportation for his errands today since he’d sent his wagon home with Reuben to return his tool chest. And with no phone, they had no way of calling for a driver.
Despite her will, there was no way to get there. Guess she had to stay home and obey Daed, after all.
She didn’t want to go inside and tell Mammi she’d have to walk to the visitation. To postpone the inevitable, she stopped by the stall to check on Ben Gay. She fed the gelding the piece of carrot she’d carried to give to Charlie Horse. She gave Ben Gay a final pat on his nose and was turning to leave the stall when gravel crunched in the driveway. A vehicle door slammed. And a few seconds later, the vet walked into the barn.
“Hi, Miss Gracie. Your grandfather wanted me to come out and check the horse’s leg.”
Daadi Cliff must have called from his own barn. And therefore might be back somewhat soon after his chores and could drive Mammi to the visitation, after all. Maybe? Or no. He’d be a while because he would’ve called the vet first thing.
“He was walking with a limp when he returned home this morning.” Grace led the way back to the horse’s new stall. “If you aren’t too busy when you finish, could you drive my grandma and me to a visitation?”
She wasn’t exactly disobeying Daed if Mammi asked her to go, right? Well, actually, Mammi asked her to drive her there. So maybe she would be. She needed to do the right thing and obey Daed.
She sighed. “Or just Grandma.”
The vet chuckled. “I’ll be glad to take both of you, Miss Gracie. Just give me a moment to check over the horse.”
“I’ll go tell Grandma.” Grace hurried toward the haus. She found Mammi fixing a cup of coffee. “Mammi, Daadi Cliff took the buggy, but the vet is here, and he’ll be glad to take you to the visitation.”
Mammi raised a brow. “And you?”
“That’s up to you. Daed told me to stay home,” Grace reminded her. And as tempted as she was to peek at Zeke, she would do the right thing. And somehow just saying what Daed wanted out loud made her feel more courageous.
“You’re a good girl, Grace Lynn. However, I’d prefer you go, especially with all the rumors floating around about you.”
“Rumors? Plural?”
Mammi nodded. “You need to be seen and let them know it’s pure foolishness.”
Grace knew about the pregnancy rumor, which Mamm said she’d end, but…“What are they saying, Mammi?” Her stomach churned.
“That your groom took an opportunity to jilt you. That and you were cheating on him. No idea who you were cheating with. I think the person who started that rumor has knots for brains.”
Grace wrinkled her nose. The only person she’d been seen with was Zeke…And that hadn’t started until after her groom jilted her.
“How would my showing up disprove rumors? They’ll just whisper behind their cupped hands and stare at me.”
Mammi frowned at her. “No matter. You and I both know the rumors are untrue. In fact, the bishop told me yesterday evening right before your daadi brought me over here that Timothy went to Toby’s visitation, and his parents said the families want the wedding to happen next Thursday, and the bishop agreed! Isn’t that wonderful? We could share that news!”
Grace just stared. Wonderful wasn’t how she’d describe it. Instead, it felt like a noose tightening around her neck. But…that was a plural families and her parents had said nothing of the kind to her and, as far as she knew, hadn’t had a chance to talk to the bishop.
But…she’d promised Mamm.
And no one said no to the bishop.
Her inner resolve crumpled in the face of the ultimate authority she was supposed to obey.
* * *
Furniture making was not something Zeke wanted to do for a living. Not at all. In fact, it was slow, painstaking work, mainly because he didn’t know what he was doing and had to keep going over to study the chairs so he could decide what the next step would be, making notes of measurements and talking it over with Henry for his opinion.
And joking with his best friend seemed inappropriate with the visitation happening at the haus, so they’d all fallen into silence. A dark, brooding silence.
One made darker by Vernon’s increasingly bad temper. He didn’t take instructions from Henry well, either. Probably because Henry was asking Zeke for advice. Talk about the blind leading the blind. Hopefully they wouldn’t put Luke out of business.
Henry murmured something about wrong measurements to Vernon—who’d written down the length and width needed.
Vernon said something that sounded like a curse.
Zeke’s head whipped up.
Vernon glared, grabbed the board from the worktable so fast he almost smacked Henry in the face. He swung it around and stomped across the room. He threw the board down, then froze, staring at an almost-finished casket waiting at the side of the room. “There…there’s something in there.”
“I shut the lid to keep sawdust off the not-quite-finished upholstery.” Zeke might not know what he was doing, but he didn’t want to sabotage Luke’s business. Zeke frowned at Vernon, but in the following quiet, there were definite scratching sounds coming from the casket.
He wouldn’t put it past Kiah to play a practical joke, but a glance at his friend revealed wide eyes and mouth gaped.
“Probably a mouse.” Henry turned his back and returned to work, remeasuring what Vernon should’ve measured twice. “Open the lid and let it out.”
Vernon reached out a shaking hand and flung the lid open.
With an angry “yeow” and a hiss, a black cat flew from the casket.
Vernon screamed.
A moment later the shop door was flung open, and two women stared in.
Zeke knew that one face. Gracie. The other looked familiar, but before he could figure out why Vernon barreled toward them. “I’m done! This is pure stupidity, making us do a job none of us know anything about.”
Gracie and the other woman stepped out of his way.
“I’d rather look for stupid lost cows,” Vernon shouted as he went past.
“The door to the haus is open,” the second woman said quietly.
“What just happened?” Gracie asked, drawing Zeke’s attention away from Vernon.
Kiah gawked.
“Everyone at the visitation heard that,” the other woman said. Zeke studied her. Either Hallie or Elsie. He wasn’t sure which.
Gracie came into the room. “Well?”
“Oh, um…” Zeke blinked. “There was a cat in a casket. I didn’t realize it was there and shut the lid to keep it clean inside. It wasn’t too happy when Vernon let it out. I didn’t mean for it to interrupt the visitation.” Yet another thing he’d done wrong. If anyone reported to his daed, he’d have a whole slew of mistakes to throw in Zeke’s face.
And so much for positive thinking. He sighed.
“These are a couple other guys from Shipshewana. Kiah and Henry.” Zeke motioned to the men with him. He glanced from Gracie to her friend. “The one who left is Vernon. Kiah and Henry, this is Gracie and her friend…”
“Hallie,” Gracie supplied. “Nice to meet you both.”
“Hi,” Henry said.
Hallie gave a half wave.
“So you must be a Christmas baby,” Kiah said with a flirty smile, “with a name like Holly.” He walked nearer and stuck his hand out.
“Hallie, not Holly, and no. Easter.” Her eyes were still red rimmed. And oh, it was her boyfriend’s body inside the haus.
Gracie shook Kiah’s hand. Hallie ignored it.
Kiah raised a brow and glanced at Zeke. He’d try to explain her relationship to the deceased later.
“We were outside talking when we heard the scream.” Gracie’s voice was tight. She looked at him. “The bishop said Timothy and I are getting married Thursday.”
Zeke frowned. But neither Timothy nor Gracie wanted it.
Of course, neither one knew the other felt the same. Well, not exactly. They needed to talk without Timothy insulting her and Grace losing her temper.
“My brother is in a coma and may not live, and both of Timothy’s sidesitters are dead, and…and…”
Someone needed to speak up before it was too late.
Zeke swallowed. “Gracie, it’s time for you to talk to people. Has it occurred to you that Gott has given you a chance to have something more, something better, if you have the guts to take it?”
“Something?” Her gaze latched on his. “Or someone?”