One thing about the Amish folks—they knew how to cook. Andrea snacked on the last of the cold turkey left over from the day before. Thanksgiving had come and gone without much ado. Charlotte’s core group of friends had chosen to celebrate quietly since two of the matriarchs had serious health issues. But her friend Hannah had brought leftovers late yesterday afternoon. Lack of holiday flair might have been a disappointment to some, but Andrea couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a true Thanksgiving dinner, complete with turkey, cornbread dressing, and cranberry sauce. Sitting around in sweatpants with her daughter and sister, quietly enjoying the meal in front of a roaring fire, had been heavenly.
She put another log on the fire. It had warmed up to almost fifty, but there was a nip in the air, and something about having a fire made things feel even more homey.
Her phone dinged with Black Friday e-mail sales, and as she finished making two pairs of earrings, she fantasized about what it might be like to sell her jewelry someday.
Charlotte had chosen to go to work on a day that was a holiday for most people, but she’d said that the newspaper had to go to print, holiday or not.
Andrea glanced around the living room. A bit of a mess. Bella’s few toys were in the middle of the floor, Andrea’s lunch dishes were on the coffee table, and a soiled diaper that needed to be thrown away lay on the floor. Up to now she hadn’t felt the need to contribute much. A free place to stay and meals from a sister who owed her something.
But Charlotte had surprised her. Almost everyone in Andrea’s life had let her down in one way or another, but Charlotte was housing her and Bella and feeding them. For free.
Charlotte wouldn’t be home from work for a couple of hours. A speckled flurry of dust motes floated atop the sun rays that lit the room. Bella was napping since she’d gotten up super early this morning, so Andrea picked up her lunch dishes and carried them to the kitchen, along with the dirty diaper, which she pitched into the trash can. She found a sweeper in the mudroom, along with some other cleaning supplies.
After an hour of sprucing up the place, she wiped her hands on her jeans and inspected her work, proud of the effort. A search in the kitchen led to finding a pound of hamburger meat, some noodles, and a can of cream of mushroom soup. Andrea wasn’t much of a cook, but a combo of those three ingredients could make dinner.
She cooked the noodles in a pot on the stove, seared the hamburger meat, then combined both with the soup and set the burner to Warm. Maybe someday she’d make money selling her jewelry and she could buy her sister a stove that actually had an oven. As she inspected her efforts, she heard a car coming up the driveway, and when she peered out the kitchen window, she recognized the vehicle right away. Her heart thumped as she crossed into the living room to the front door.
“Hey,” she said through the screen. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Blake was dressed in a nice pair of khaki slacks and a long sleeve white shirt. “I’ve missed you.” He smiled. “And Bella.”
Andrea suspected he might have missed Bella more than her, but she’d missed him too. She pushed the screen door open and stepped aside so he could come in.
“It smells like lemon in here.” Blake glanced around the modest living room.
“I’ve been cleaning”—she folded her arms across her chest—“and cooking.” She nodded toward the kitchen.
Blake gasped as he brought a hand to his broad chest. “Be still my heart. Andrea cooks?”
She chuckled. “I didn’t say it was chef worthy, but it’s a meal.”
“Where’s Bella?”
“Sleeping on Charlotte’s bed.” Andrea eyed him up and down. “You’ve lost weight.”
“No job equates to no money, and the food stamps were in your name.” Blake shrugged. “But I get by.”
Andrea bit her bottom lip and glanced in the direction of the kitchen. “Do you want something to eat?”
“Nah. I just came to check on you and Bella. Things ended kinda . . . badly between us.”
Andrea’s heart leapt a little. “Yeah, I wish they hadn’t gone that way.”
Blake grinned, raising an eyebrow. “You did sort of steal my car.”
“Borrowed.”
“Hey, can I go take a peek at Bella?”
“Yeah, but try not to wake her.” She pointed to the closed door that led to her sister’s bedroom.
“Thanks.” Blake eased the door open and closed it gently behind him.
Andrea sat on the couch. Would she and Blake try to work things out? Part of her wanted to, but as she considered the changes she’d made in her life, she thought better of it. For the first time ever, she felt like she had a family, even if it was a sister she was still getting to know.
After a few minutes, she was hoping Blake hadn’t awoken Bella, who napped better at Charlotte’s house. She glanced at the time on her phone. Charlotte would be home in about thirty minutes, and Andrea wasn’t sure how her sister would feel about Blake being here.
The door to the bedroom opened slowly.
“Still sound asleep?” Andrea smiled, wishing she’d done more with her hair today. Like washed it.
“Yeah. I was just watching her sleep.” He sighed. “I really do miss you two.”
Andrea was tempted to ask him to stay for a little while, maybe even stay for dinner, but Charlotte was usually tired when she got home from work, and Andrea didn’t want to mess up the surprise dinner and clean house by adding Blake to the mix. She stood.
“Thanks for stopping by, but we’re really okay.” She tucked her hair behind her ears, then hung her thumbs in the back pockets of her jeans.
“I was in the neighborhood,” he said with a shrug. “Text if you wanna do something sometime.”
Andrea nodded. “Will do.” Maybe.
Charlotte heaved her purse up on her shoulder with two plastic bags of groceries hanging from her wrists. Not much, but it would get them by for a few days until she had time to do normal grocery shopping.
She opened the screen, then the wooden door. Her purse and both bags of groceries slid down to the floor as she breathed in the smell of food. Her gaze darted around her clean living room, then landed on Bella, who appeared to have on clean clothes and a precious little pink bow holding her hair on her head, and a lavender candle flickered on the fireplace mantel. Andrea was sitting by Bella on the floor, grinning.
“Excuse me, ma’am . . . do I have the right house?” Charlotte smiled as she reloaded the two bags of groceries on her arm before tossing her purse on the couch.
Andrea stood and took a bow. “Good evening. Dinner is served.”
Charlotte allowed a warm glow to suffuse her senses for a few seconds. There’d been so much unsettling news lately, and her appreciation for her sister’s efforts ran deep. Without giving it much thought, she walked to Andrea and pulled her into a one-armed hug as the groceries weighed down her other arm. She kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing fancy.”
Charlotte bent at the waist and cupped Bella’s chin. “And look how pretty you look, baby girl.” Then she straightened and turned to Andrea again. “I bet whatever you made is great.” She sniffed the air. “Goodness me, I might be in heaven because I think I smell cleaning solution too.” She winked at Andrea before she walked to the kitchen and set the bags on the table, which was already set.
Andrea came into the kitchen carrying Bella. “I wanted to do something nice for you. I mean, you . . .” She shrugged. “You’ve done a lot for me and Bella.”
Charlotte lifted the lid from the pot and inhaled. She’d have forced herself to eat what Andrea cooked, even if it was awful, but it smelled wonderful. After she put the lid on the pot, she kissed Bella’s cheek, patted Andrea’s arm, and started out of the kitchen.
“I need a quick shower before I eat. The regular reporter at the newspaper didn’t go in.” She scowled. “Guess he missed the memo that said today was a mandatory workday.” She shook her head. “Anyway, they asked me to report on an accident. I had to slide on my rear down an embankment to see what was going on, and then a Life Flight helicopter landed and blew dirt all over me. But you and Bella start without me.”
“I’ll feed Bella and wait for you.”
Charlotte was tired, filthy, worried about Lena, and confused about Daniel. But for tonight, she was going to bask in things to be grateful for. Andrea was coming around, and Charlotte was getting to know her sister and her adorable niece. Ethan’s small house had become a home for Charlotte’s family. I wish you could be here, Ethan.
After she’d showered and washed her hair, she threw on a pair of sweatpants and a baggy T-shirt, then wanted to check to see when she’d last written Ethan a letter. It was something her therapist had suggested Charlotte do while she was still living in Houston, but she’d been rather lax about it since she’d moved to Lancaster County. It would be nice to jot down her feelings in the form of a letter to Ethan after dinner, especially since things were going so well with Andrea.
Charlotte opened her bedside drawer and pulled out her journal. She set it on the bed as a reminder for later, but as she started to close the drawer, her heart skipped a beat. She’d cashed her paycheck the day before yesterday and put the envelope inside the drawer, something she’d done for the past month. She was running on cash until all of her outstanding checks cleared, hoping to find out why she was 180 dollars off in her checking account. I’m sure I put it in there.
She shuffled through bills, pens, a bottle of lotion, and other odds and ends, until everything was on her bed and the drawer was empty. And no envelope with cash. No wonder Andrea went to all this trouble.
Charlotte left her bedroom and crossed through the living room like a speed walker nearing the finish line. “Where’s my money, Andrea?” She spoke slow and soft but deliberate since Bella got upset if anyone raised their voice.
“What?” Andrea narrowed her eyebrows. Bella was sitting in a booster chair, courtesy of Dianda from work, nibbling on noodles. “What money?”
Charlotte took a deep breath and released it slowly. She had a little money in her savings account, but that was for emergencies. And it was beside the point. “I can’t have you living here if you are going to steal from me. Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
“What are you talking about?” Andrea took a step toward Charlotte as she pulled a chain that was tucked into her shirt out for Charlotte to see. “I only borrowed this, your cross. I’m sorry! I didn’t know it was worth money. I just—I’m sorry.” She reached around to unfasten the clasp. “It was on your nightstand, and I just put it on. I was going to give it back.”
Her eyes started to water as her voice got louder. Once it was off, she held it out to Charlotte. “I thought if I wore it just for a day that I might feel something from God.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened. “You can have the necklace. It’s the money from my paycheck I’m talking about. It’s gone. All of it!” Now, it was Charlotte whose voice was rising.
Andrea took a step backward, enough that her arm touched the hot pot on the stove. Her sister cursed as she grabbed her arm below her elbow, then she cursed again, louder. “I didn’t steal your money!” She threw the cross onto the ground. “I borrowed your necklace, and I wasn’t going to keep it. But I didn’t take any money!”
Charlotte stared at Jesus’ likeness staring up at her, and she could almost hear Him whispering, Love is patient, love is kind . . .
Bella started to wail, the same way she’d done when she’d first arrived with Andrea weeks ago.
Charlotte took another breath. “Okay, Andrea, just calm down.”
Tears poured down her sister’s cheeks. “You know, Sis, you’re just like everyone else. I thought you were different, but you’re not. Once bad, always bad. And I’m bad!”
Charlotte glanced back and forth between Andrea and Bella, trying to decide who to attend to first, but Andrea started crying hard, threw her hands up in the air, and caught the handle of the pot, sending dinner splattering all over the wooden floors. Bella’s wailing was earsplitting, but it was Andrea Charlotte took a step toward.
“Get away from me!” Andrea pointed at Charlotte. “I knew this was a bad idea. Rotten parents, rotten foster parents, and rotten sister. I’m rotten too.”
Charlotte’s jaw stayed dropped for a few seconds. “I thought you had a great childhood.” She edged closer to Bella to pick her up but kept her gaze on Andrea since her sister seemed almost hysterical.
“Don’t touch her. She’s my baby, and you can’t have her. This entire little ploy was probably just so you can take Bella away from me. No one is going to take her from me, not even you!” Andrea jerked Bella out of the booster seat, still screaming, her tiny face beet red as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Don’t worry. We’re leaving.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Charlotte was on Andrea’s heels as Bella reached for Charlotte over Andrea’s shoulders. “It’s almost dark. We’ll figure everything out. Maybe I misplaced the money. I’m sorry. Just stay.”
Charlotte chased Andrea down the steps and reached for her sister’s shirt. “Andrea, stop!”
She kept going, breaking into a slow jog, Bella bouncing on her hip and crying.
“I’m not going to chase you!” Charlotte slammed her hands to her hips.
But that’s exactly what Charlotte did. She took off running after them. Andrea was acting like a child, but it was the child on her sister’s hip that worried Charlotte the most. “At least leave Bella with me!”
Andrea stopped dead in her tracks and spun around as Bella twisted and cried, trying to wiggle out of her mother’s arms. “You. Will. Never. Have. My. Daughter. Do you understand me?”
Charlotte was familiar was hate and the expressions that went along with it, and every bit of that emotion was now leveled at her. So much so that Charlotte started to cry. “If you need some time to yourself, okay, but please leave Bella here.”
“You are never going to see us again. Ever! And if you try to follow me, I swear I’ll call the police.” She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and held it above her head. “I’ll call 911 right now and say you’re trying to hurt Bella.”
Charlotte put both hands to her chest as tears slipped down her cheeks. “Andrea, are you crazy? I would never hurt Bella. I love Bella.”
Andrea pressed her lips together into a smile that looked anything but happy. “Of course you do. Because everyone loves Bella. Everyone always loves Bella.” Then she turned around, Bella screaming, still holding her phone in the air. “Do. Not. Follow. Me!”
Daniel lay on his bed. It wasn’t even dark yet, but his body seemed to give out before his mind did lately. He stayed busy during the days, which kept his mind occupied, but in the evenings his parents consumed his thoughts. He’d had time to think about Charlotte’s opinions. It still seemed wrong to intentionally kill a person, especially a beloved family member, but watching his father deteriorate physically and mentally was causing him to rethink things. Were they interfering with God’s plans by allowing machines to keep his mother alive? If that was the case, then weren’t they interfering with the Lord’s plan every time someone took medication to rid him of a disease? And that thought brought him full circle to Lena. Annie had already told Daniel that Lena’s prognosis was grim.
Closing his eyes, Daniel pleaded with the Lord to ease so much of the suffering going on around them, but his cell phone buzzed on the nightstand. Charlotte.
“Is it too late for you to come over?” She was crying, and Daniel bolted straight up in bed.
“Nee. I can come right now. What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” His heart thumped in his chest.
“I’m not physically hurt, but I feel like my insides are torn to threads—about Lena, and now, Andrea got mad and ran out of the house with Bella. They have no car or place to stay, as far as I know.”
Daniel could barely understand her, she was crying so hard.
“Or I can come there, which would be faster.”
“Nee, nee. It won’t take me long to hook up the buggy. I’ll leave right away.” It didn’t sound like Charlotte needed to be driving anywhere.
He dressed quickly, then scurried down the hallway in his socks before bolting down the stairs two at a time. He peeked into the former mudroom, now Aunt Faye’s cemetery room. She was humming quietly as she stared at family pictures she’d hung on the wall. A plate of something unidentifiable sat on the hutch, something pickled, but Daniel didn’t think it was oysters. He’d learned over the weeks that his aunt would pickle just about anything. Most recently, she’d pickled lemons and carrots. Surprisingly, the carrots were pretty good.
“I’m going to Charlotte’s house for a while.”
Aunt Faye eased her head around to face him, her eyes wet with moisture, her cheeks flushed. She nodded, then returned her attention to the photos, many of them relatives dressed in Amish clothes.
How did she get the pictures since it wasn’t their way to pose for photos? It was an odd room, but it seemed of great importance to her. Daniel remembered a similar room his aunt had at her own home, with a comparable display of photos and memorabilia from those who had gone before her.
Daniel was eager to get to Charlotte’s, but he couldn’t leave his aunt like this. “Are you okay, Aenti Faye?”
The older woman nodded toward her wall of photos, before she looked back at him. “My mind is a blur sometimes, and with age comes forgetfulness.” She focused on the wall again. “I make sure to have a picture of everyone I love. Even loved ones who are still in the Old Order have let me photograph them.”
A lot of the pictures were the old-timey Polaroid kind. His stomach roiled. “Are you going to be okay if I go to Charlotte’s house?” And where is Annie? Daniel had passed by his sister’s room. The door had been open, and all was dark. But it was still early.
Aunt Faye smiled a little. “Yes, dear. I’ll be fine.”
Daniel took a step to leave but stopped when his aunt picked up a picture and stared at it. Even in the distance Daniel recognized the photo of his mother, smiling, standing by her garden in a dark blue dress and black apron. Her signature smile crooked up on one side as she held a shovel out.
Aunt Faye brought the photo to her chest. She was already preparing to let go of her niece, to add another photo in her cemetery room. Daniel’s heart was heavy, the burdens of life pressing down on him, as he forced himself to think about life without his mother. It was almost unbearable.
Once again, he thought about Charlotte’s and his differing opinions when it came to machinery to keep a person alive. But the sound of Charlotte crying resurfaced in his mind, and he picked up the pace.