Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.
The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James 5:16
When Grace’s father came home for the midday meal, he mentioned that he’d come across Adam’s tipped over buggy and had helped him get it home.
“Why did you do a silly thing like that, Grace? You’ve disgraced our familye.”
“I'm not certain, but I am going to his place this afternoon and make arrangements to pay for the damages.”
“And you should, too. Looks like it’ll be costly.”
When Grace looked at Marlene on hearing that news, Marlene looked away from her, and kept quiet.
Grace had no money and had no idea how to come up with some to pay for the buggy repairs. All her savings had gone on Jeremy’s funeral and paying out the remainder of the lease on their apartment. She had returned to the community from her life in the Englisch world without a dime. “I don’t have any money though, Dat. I'm going to get a job soon; perhaps he won’t mind waiting for the money.”
“You’ll have to work for him, then. Work around his haus. Make meals, clean, whatever you have to do. I don’t want to be in debt to my neighbors. Have you finished eating?”
Grace nodded.
“Go and see him now. Marlene can help your mudder clean up here.”
Marlene turned around, and said, “Jah, you go now, Grace. I'll help Mamm here.”
Grace fixed a smile on her face. “That's nice of you, Marlene. I’ll go and see him now.” Grace walked out of the house and immediately a wave of nausea hit her. She ran to the garden in just enough time to be sick amongst the bushes. It would take a while for her to adjust to the different food she was eating. She rinsed her mouth out with cold water from the outside tap, splashed some on her face, and then continued to Adam's house. Before she got there, she found Marlene’s black shawl. She picked it up and gave it a good shake before she put it around her shoulders.
When she reached Adam’s house, she heard hammering coming from the barn. She poked her head in. “Hello?”
“I’m over here.”
She walked in further, and saw him at the back of the barn, leaning over, working on the buggy. “Is there much damage?”
He stood up. “Quite a bit.”
“I'm sorry.”
“It's too late now to be sorry,” he said, staring at the buggy.
“I’ll pay for the damage.”
He looked at her and pushed his hat back on his head. “There's no need to do that.”
“I must. I must pay for the damage I caused.”
He kept his eyes fixed on her while he lowered his head. “And you have the money?”
“I don't right now, but Dat suggested I should work for you to pay for it. Unless you’d rather wait for the money? I’m getting a job soon.”
Adam laughed. “And what kind of work would you do for me?”
“Cook, clean, any kind of work around the place.”
Adam licked his lips. “My haus is never as clean as I’d like it to be. It's hard to do everything on my own. I might just take you up on your offer.”
“Great. That’ll make me feel a lot better.” Another wave of nausea came over her. She put one hand to her stomach and covered her mouth with her other hand.
Adam took a step toward her. “What's wrong?”
She shook her head and ran out of the barn. Just as she got outside, she heaved up, and then heaved again.
He hurried over. “I'll get some water.”
She was too sick to respond, and then she was sick again. After the third lot, she felt a little better. She wiped her mouth and stood up straight to see Adam heading back toward her with a glass of water and a concerned look on his face.
“Denke.” She took the water from him and looked down at the ground where she’d just been sick. “This isn't a good start to helping you keep your place clean.”
“Don't worry about that. I’ll cover it with some sawdust now, and fix it later on. Come over and sit down on the porch. Rest for a while.” When she sat down, he sat next to her. “Is there something wrong with you, Grace?”
“I think I’m eating too much since I got here, or maybe it's the different food. I didn't eat very much before I came back here. Now with all this food around, I’m eating a lot more. It takes the body a few weeks to adjust when you start eating totally different food.”
Adam said, “Could you be pregnant?”