Paradise, Pennsylvania
Michelle had just finished the morning shift and was preparing the tables for the lunch crowd, when a man with dark, curly hair entered the restaurant. At first glance she thought Jerry had come back, but a second look told her otherwise. This man was older and had the beginnings of a beard.
Michelle blew out a quick breath. What a relief! I’m not ready for another encounter with my ex-boyfriend today, or any day for that matter. I don’t even like calling him my ex-boyfriend. I certainly wasn’t his girlfriend.
Saturday, when she’d gone to the Kings’ to see Ezekiel, Michelle had been disappointed because they were busy at the greenhouse and he couldn’t talk to her for more than a few minutes. She’d managed to tell Ezekiel briefly about her encounter with Jerry, and he had been sympathetic. Michelle wished she could have gone into more detail about what had transpired. Hopefully, Ezekiel would have been pleased with how she’d handled the situation.
After Michelle left the greenhouse, she’d stopped by one of the restaurants in Strasburg and eaten lunch. Other people had been eating by themselves that day, but it was hard not to feel sorry for herself as she sat there all alone.
Sometimes Michelle truly felt as if she were alone. After all, she had no family anymore, and her only real friend was Ezekiel. At times, she wasn’t even sure about him. Lately, they seemed to be drifting apart. Was it because he was so busy, or had Ezekiel lost interest in her?
After lunch, Michelle had gone back to the Lapps’ and discovered Lenore was there. That’s when Michelle realized she’d forgotten that she, Sara, and Lenore were supposed to make greeting cards together.
I sure messed that up, Michelle berated herself. By the time she’d arrived, they were almost done. So instead of joining them, Michelle had gone to her room, saying she had a headache, which wasn’t a lie.
Yesterday hadn’t gone much better. The class she and Ezekiel had taken before Sunday service started seemed even more difficult to understand this time. After church, Ezekiel had said he wanted to take Michelle for a buggy ride, but he couldn’t because he and his family had been invited to his aunt’s home for supper and to play board games that could last well into the evening. Ezekiel had invited Michelle to go along, but she’d declined, sure that her presence would not be appreciated, since she was not a family member. “And I probably never will be,” Michelle muttered under her breath.
“What was that? Were you speaking to me?”
Michelle’s face heated when she turned and saw Linda, one of the other waitresses, standing behind her. “Sorry about that. I was talking to myself.”
Linda snickered. “No problem. I do it sometimes too.” She gestured to the front door, as several people entered the restaurant. “Looks like we might have another good crowd here today.” Leaning close to Michelle’s ear, she whispered, “More tips for us, right?”
Smiling, Michelle nodded. More tips were exactly what she needed. With any luck, by the end of this week, she’d have enough money to pay the Lapps the remainder of what she still owed.
Paradise, Pennsylvania
After Sara got off work Monday afternoon, she headed for the general store owned by her uncle Ivan. Since Andy and Karen had closed the flower shop a bit earlier today because of dental appointments, Sara had plenty of time to stop by Ivan’s place of business. Afterward, she should still make it to Ronks in plenty of time to pick up Michelle when she got off work. Sara hoped Uncle Ivan wouldn’t be too busy to talk to her, because she needed some answers.
A heavy rain had begun to fall, so after Sara pulled into the parking lot, she grabbed her umbrella. Hurrying toward the store, Sara tilted the umbrella back to glance at the sky. The ceiling of clouds had lowered, and ice pellets, mixed in with drops of rain, hit her face. She nervously bit her lip, watching the sleet melt as it made contact with the steps leading to the door. I hope this doesn’t turn icy before I leave. Slippery roads make me anxious.
When Sara entered the store, she saw only a few customers browsing around, but there was no sign of Uncle Ivan. Stepping up to the counter, where her aunt Yvonne sat, she said hello and then asked if Ivan was in the store.
“It’s good to see you, Sara.” Aunt Yvonne motioned to the back of the building. “My husband’s in the storage room, opening several boxes of books that came in recently.”
“Would it be okay if I went there? I need to ask him something.”
Her aunt smiled. “Certainly. I’m sure he won’t mind at all.”
Sara hurried in the direction her aunt had pointed. It didn’t take long to find the storage room, since the door was partially open. She spotted Uncle Ivan kneeling on the floor beside one of the many cardboard boxes.
“Hi, Uncle Ivan.” Sara spoke quietly, so as not to startle him. “Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you have a few minutes to talk.”
“Course I do.” He rose to his feet, gave her a hug, then gestured to the folding chairs on the opposite side of the room. “Let’s take a seat so we can be more comfortable.”
After they both sat down, he turned to her and smiled. “It’s good to see you, Sara. I believe this is the first time you’ve been in our general store.”
“Actually, I was here a few weeks ago when Grandma and I were out shopping one day. I think you were running errands at the time.”
“I see.” Ivan motioned toward the back door. “How’s the weather out there? I’ve been back here quite a while and haven’t had a chance to look outside.”
“It started raining a few minutes ago, but there’s sleet mixed in.”
“Well, be careful when you go back out on the roads. You never know what the unpredictable weather’s gonna do. You don’t want to be caught on glazed-over roads.” He reached around and rubbed a spot on his back. “I’m curious—what brings you to our store this afternoon?”
“I wanted to talk to you about my mother.” Sara crossed her ankles, then uncrossed them. She hoped her uncle wouldn’t suspect she was nervous about bringing up this conversation.
“What about Rhoda?”
“Well, last Saturday Lenore and I were together, making some greeting cards. During the course of our conversation, we talked about my mom.”
He sat quietly, as though waiting for her to continue.
“Lenore mentioned she’d overheard you talking to your wife once about how Mama had run around with some English kids, and one fellow in particular. So, I thought maybe …”
Uncle Ivan held up his hand. “First of all, my daughter should not have been listening in on our conversation.”
I should have worded it differently. Sara chose her next sentence carefully, in defense of Lenore. “I don’t believe she was intentionally eavesdropping. Lenore happened to overhear what you said.”
“Be that as it may, the conversation was between me and Yvonne, and she certainly had no right to repeat what she’d heard.”
“While that might be true, what’s been said has been said.” Sara leaned forward in her chair. “Is it true that my mom ran around with some English fellow?”
Ivan nodded. “Rhoda had several English friends.”
“Could the man you mentioned to your wife be my biological father?”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Anything’s possible, but I only saw Rhoda with him a couple of times. And she never admitted to me that they were seeing each other socially or had developed a serious relationship.” Ivan’s forehead wrinkled. “Of course, during my sister’s running-around time, she didn’t share much of anything of importance with me.”
“Do you know the man’s name, or where he was from?”
Her uncle shook his head, then paused and gave his earlobe a tug. “Now that I think more about it, I did hear her call him Ricky one of the times I saw them together. Yeah, I think that was his name, but I have no idea where he was from.”
“What was his last name?”
“I don’t know; Rhoda never said.”
Sara released an exasperated breath. At this rate she would never find out who her father was. Should she give up her search or keep asking around?
She jumped when Ivan spoke again. “I’m glad you stopped by, Sara, but it’s getting late. Under normal circumstances, I’d invite you to stay and join us for supper later on, but I’d feel better if you were on your way home.”
Sara glanced at her wristwatch. “I guess you are right. Michelle gets off work soon, and I need to pick her up. Then we’ll head straight home. I’m sure Grandma will have supper started by then.” Her fingers curled into the palms of her hands as she walked with her uncle to the door. Surely someone has to know who Mama became serious about. And if a man named Ricky was the one, then there has to be a way to find out his last name and where he’s from. The question is, Who else can I ask?
Strasburg
As pellets of ice bounced off the windshield, Sara drove slower.
“How was work today?” Michelle asked.
“It went okay. My employers closed the store early today, so before I came to get you I dropped by my uncle Ivan’s store in Paradise.”
“I’ve only been there once. Did you get some shopping done?”
“No, I didn’t go there to shop.” Sara kept her gaze on the road ahead, as the nasty weather had worsened.
“Why did you go there then?”
“To ask Uncle Ivan if he knew anything about a certain man my mother was seen with during her running-around days. I’m still hoping to find out who my biological father is.” Sara gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I get so frustrated when I ask people about it and no one seems to know anything.”
“Maybe you’re not supposed to find out.” Michelle sighed. “If I had a choice of having a father or not, I sure would have been better off not knowing mine. Of course,” she admitted, “I’m saying that in hindsight now.”
Sara’s eyes opened wide. Gripping the steering wheel, she yelled: “Hold on!” The wet roads had caused the car to slide when Sara hit the brakes. The next thing she knew, they’d ended up in a low-lying ditch.
“Sara, are you okay?” Michelle held onto the grab handle above the passenger door.
“Yeah. How about you?” Sara’s fingers hurt when she tried to open them after clamping onto the steering wheel so tightly.
“I’m not hurt. Just shook up a bit.”
Sara turned her head and looked out the back window. “I hope I didn’t hit that cat.”
“What cat?” Michelle also turned to look. “I don’t see anything.”
“A gray cat darted out in front of us. I’m surprised you didn’t see it.” Sara’s hands shook. “The last thing I need is to kill another animal.” She clamped her hand over her mouth. “Michelle, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that.” Weeks had gone by since Rascal’s death, and Sara’s comment had even startled her. She did not want to stir up any emotions from that day. Especially when things were going better between her and Michelle.
“It’s okay. Guess we better see if any damage was done to your car.”
“I agree.” Sara realized she had to deal with the situation at hand, but she felt grateful Michelle wasn’t offended by her previous comment.
They got out of the car and went around to look at the front, and then the back of vehicle. There didn’t appear to be any damage, but Sara’s car was wedged in the ditch, with the back right tire suspended in midair.
Sara groaned. “This is not good.”
“How about you get into the car, and I’ll try to push you out.” Michelle went back to the front seat to retrieve her gloves, then walked to the back of the car again. The ditch had water lying in it, and even though shallow, Sara could see Michelle’s feet had gotten quite wet.
“Okay, I’m going to ease on the gas,” Sara hollered, after sliding into her seat.
“Go ahead. I’m ready.”
Sara watched in the rearview mirror as Michelle put her hands on the right side of the trunk and started pushing. The car didn’t budge.
“Try again.” Michelle motioned.
Sara put her foot on the accelerator, but her vehicle still did not move. “Let’s try to get a rocking motion going,” she shouted through the open window. “That might work.”
“Okay!” Michelle worked with Sara, and they managed to get the car rocking back and forth. Unfortunately, the ditch would not let go of Sara’s vehicle. To make matters worse, each time Sara eased harder on the gas, the left tire sprayed Michelle with mud.
Walking to the driver’s side, Michelle wiped her face. “This isn’t working. We’re really stuck.”
“We’d better lock up the car and walk the rest of the way home,” Sara suggested, looking toward the sound of horse’s hooves clip-clopping on the pavement.
A few minutes later, an Amish buggy, heading in the opposite direction pulled up on the other side of the road. The driver got out and secured his horse to a fence post nearby. When he walked across and joined them, Sara recognized him right away.
“Do you need some help?” When he looked at Sara, his brows rose slightly. “Don’t you work at the flower shop in Strasburg?”
“Why yes. And you’re Herschel Fisher.” Sara looked at Michelle. “Mr. Fisher is a customer at the flower shop.”
“Nice to meet you.” Michelle glanced at her soggy-looking feet, then back at Mr. Fisher. “We’re stuck. We tried rocking the car, hoping to get it out of the ditch, but I don’t have enough strength to even budge the vehicle.”
“Let me help you.” Herschel looked at Sara. “Just ease on the gas when I tell you.” He turned to Michelle. “You’d better stand back out of the way.”
Michelle did as she was told. All it took was Herschel’s strength, and after a few pushes, Sara’s car was out of the ditch.
She sighed with relief. “How can I ever thank you, Mr. Fisher?” Sara noticed his clothes were sprayed with mud too.
“No thanks is needed.”
She got out of the car and handed him and Michelle paper towels.
“Yeah, thanks, Mr. Fisher. Without you, we would still be stuck.” Michelle wiped her face with the towel.
Herschel touched the brim of his hat. “I’m glad I happened along when I did.” He told the girls goodbye and hurried back to his buggy. When he reached it, he turned and shouted, “Be careful driving. The roads might get icy as the temperature starts to dip.”
“We don’t have far to go. Thanks again.” Sara joined Michelle in the car. When she turned the heat up, Michelle tossed her gloves on the floor and held her hands toward the vent. “Boy, I’m glad he came along when he did.”
“Me too.” Sara looked out her side mirror, watching Herschel’s buggy as it got farther away. “The next time that nice man comes into the flower shop, I’m going to pay for whatever he purchases.”
“Good idea.” Michelle bobbed her head. “This incident has made me realize how much I appreciate the Amish people in this community. Most that I know are always willing to help when someone has a need.”
“You’re right,” Sara agreed. “Everyone is like family—willing to be there for each other. I admire that so much.”
Michelle gave Sara’s arm a light tap. “Maybe you should think about giving up your English ways and becoming Amish.”
Sara glanced at Michelle, then focused back on the road. “It’s a nice thought, but I think not.”