Ada opened the oven and removed a pie. Haunting questions kept looping through her mind, but she had no answers. Not yet.
She set the pie on a cooling plate and turned off the gas stove. Her baking was done for today, and, like always, every bit of space on her kitchen table, chairs, and countertops was covered in baked goods. The bakery’s courier would come by soon, but Ada had too much to get done to wait. She scribbled a note and taped it to her front door, telling the courier to let herself in. They’d handled it this way a few times over the years.
With Mondays orders filled, she changed into a fresh dress and apron and headed out the door. It was three thirty by the time she had her horse hitched and was on her way. But she didn’t want to hire a driver. She needed time to think, and for her the gentle speed and rhythmic sounds of a horse-drawn carriage always helped.
She’d let Mahlon make decisions for her for so long that her desire to put a stop to it had her thoughts running in circles. If she could just understand herself and why she’d made the kinds of decisions she had in the past, maybe she could find a few answers for her future. Baffled or not, she had to keep moving toward helping Cara. And she knew if she wanted to ease Cara’s pain and make a difference for her and Lori, it’d begin with the church leaders and Cara’s uncles. So when she left Cara yesterday, she’d gone to see the bishop. She’d talked to him about finding a place of her own and having Cara move in with her. He listened patiently, but then he told her that her plan wasn’t a good idea, which meant no.
It would be impossible for Ada to become a church member of the Hope Crossing district without being a member in good standing in the Dry Lake district, so she couldn’t ignore his stance. After talking with him for nearly an hour, explaining that people’s reactions to Cara were based more on rumors than facts, she showed him the documents Cara had loaned her. He said little, but he decided to have a districtwide meeting tonight. In a little over four hours, everyone would gather at Levi Riehl’s farm.
But Cara was only one issue weighing on her.
Ada gently pulled on the reins, bringing the rig to a stop as she stared at a fork in the road. To her left the road headed straight out of Dry Lake. By steering right, she could stop by Israel Kauffman’s before heading to Hope Crossing.
She couldn’t keep living based on what Mahlon thought he wanted from her, but if she wasn’t that woman, who was she?
The Realtor would meet her at the rental place in an hour and a half And here she sat, feeling almost as confused as the day her husband was killed. Israel’s wife died that day too. Did he ever have times of feeling as lost now as he did then?
He probably didn’t. Grown children and even a few grandchildren surrounded him on all sides. He’d freely admit he had strong support that kept a smile on his face most days. His middle daughter, Lena, was his biggest help, not just because she handled the chores and was so good to her younger siblings, but because she radiated happiness and humor all the time.
Lena and Deborah were cousins, and aside from Amish traditions they’d been raised very differently, but both took pleasure in trying to bring joy to others. Deborah’s sense of humor was subtle compared to Lena’s more boisterous approach where she tried to make people roar with laughter. Ada remembered one night at her home when Deborah, Mahlon, and Lena were playing board games. As out of character as it was for Mahlon, Lena’s wit kept him chuckling for the entire evening.
Worry for Mahlon nagged her. He continued to search, for… something. Peace? Stability? Something that would stop him from wavering like wheat in a field. Whatever it was, Ada had begun a search of her own.
She’d never considered herself a strong woman, one who knew what she wanted and went after it. Whatever her husband had wanted, that’s what she wanted—even down to the flavor of ice cream she chose at the local creamery. After he died, her personality type had made it easy for Mahlon to lead her in whatever direction he wanted.
What had made her be someone who never trusted her own thoughts or desires or dreams? Why had she feared being wrong so much that she let others be wrong for her?
She didn’t know, but she had a fresh chance to follow her heart, especially where Cara was concerned. It was time to trust her gut and find a way to follow her heart.
If she went to every Amish home in Dry Lake and asked their opinion of what she should do next, some would think one way and some the other.
But what did she think?
Finally ready to trust her own desires, she slapped the reins against the horse’s back.
It was time to talk to Israel. As a former homebuilder, he knew housing structure and probably some of what it’d take to expand her business. He had a way of giving sound advice when asked without trying to sway the person one way or the other. That was Israel—state the facts and let the person decide.
When she pulled onto his driveway, she saw him and several of his children sitting on the porch, casually visiting on this warm Monday before suppertime. She knew his family tended to have an early meal and then he’d return to his work of building furniture.
He rose from his chair and walked to her, studying her face intently.
Ada.” He nodded. “This is a first.”
“You may wish for it to be the last too.”
He cocked an eyebrow, looking rather amused. “Doubtful. What’s up?”
“I know this is awfully bold of me, but I got some things on my mind, and I need a man’s… No, I need your opinion.”
Of course. I thought maybe you’d come by to make sure I’d heard about tonight’s meeting. Care to come inside?”
She shook her head. “I’m going to Hope Crossing to look at a place. I was wondering if you might go with me.”
“You’re thinking of moving to Hope Crossing? That’s quite a piece from here.”
“About an hour by carriage.”
“You want to find a home that far away?”
“I’m aiming to do what I should have done ten or more years ago—find a place where I can expand my baking business. Better to get started at forty-three than not at all.”
He smiled and took a step away from the buggy. “Lena, I’m going with Ada. I’ll be back in about three hours.”
“Supper will be ready in twenty minutes.” Lena stood. “Do you and Ada want to eat with us first?”
Ada fidgeted with the reins. “The Realtor is meeting me there in about ninety minutes.”
He looked back toward his house. “We need to go on, Lena.”
“Can I fix you some sandwiches to take with you?”
He looked up at Ada. “Are you the least bit hungry?”
Although she’d spent her day baking, she’d eaten almost nothing. As she began to make her own decisions, she already felt stronger. “Ya, I think I am.”
“Good. Wait right here.” Ada stayed in the buggy while Israel went inside. It wasn’t but a few minutes before he came back out with a basket in one hand and a toolbox in the other. As he set the items inside the wagon and climbed in, she noticed he’d changed from his more casual clothes into pressed ones.
Tempted to pass him the reins, she clutched them tighter. She needed to steer her own buggy, even if she made mistakes and didn’t handle it as smoothly as the person next to her would. Then again, maybe she’d handle it better. When she thought of all Cara had gone through—fighting to hold on to Lori and not caring if people misjudged her and yet seemingly remaining tender-hearted in so many ways—it did something inside Ada.
Israel propped his arm on the back of the bench seat. “So Mahlon’s up for moving to Hope Crossing?”
Ada tapped the reins against the horse’s back, trying to gain some speed for the upcoming hill. “I didn’t ask him. I’m doing this on my own. And even though I’m not sure what this is, I want Cara Moore, Malinda Riehl’s daughter, to be a part of it. When I have a set plan, I’ll talk to the bishop again about allowing Cara to live with me.”
As he asked a few questions about Cara and she answered, he pulled a couple of sandwiches out of the basket and passed one to her. The conversation flowed easily although Israel acted a bit nervous. He’d never seemed that way before. Maybe she should have let him guide the rig.
Once they were in Hope Crossing, Israel read the directions to her until they stopped in front of the saddest-looking house she’d ever seen. It sat on a large corner lot, with roads and sidewalks on two sides and a cornfield on another side. She couldn’t see what was behind the home. It was huge; she’d give it that much. Two stories of unpainted clapboard with crooked black shutters and one half-fallen column holding up a wraparound porch.
“You say that girl paints?”
Ada nodded. “With a brush and roller, not a magic wand.” They stepped out of the rig. Israel grabbed his toolbox, and they headed for the front porch. It only took her a moment to find the hidden key the Realtor had told her about. “The windows and doors have been redone recently, don’t you think?”
Israel nodded. “Ya, I do.”
When she pushed the door open, she saw newspapers and boxes scattered everywhere. A ladder stood near a half-painted wall. “Somebody began renovating the place.”
“Ya. And left it worse off for it, I think.”
They slowly climbed the wooden stairs, which had a swatch of old carpet running down the center. At the top of the landing, they found four bedrooms and two baths—all with the most hideous wallpaper she’d ever seen.
Ada ran her fingers along a broken strip of wainscot. “Look, somebody tried painting over the wallpaper.”
“I can’t say as I blame them.”
Ada laughed. “The Realtor said it was bad, but I hadn’t expected this.”
Israel got out a flashlight and some odd-looking tools before he stepped inside one of the bathrooms. “The tub is filled with junk.” He went to the faucet. “And there’s no running water.”
After he’d poked around under the sink of each bathroom, he grabbed his toolbox, and they walked downstairs. When she opened the swinging wooden door to the kitchen, chills ran over her skin. “I…I had a dream about this kitchen years ago.” She looked inside the sink and saw the pipes were missing.
“You sure it wasn’t a nightmare?”
Ada opened a door to discover a huge walk-in pantry. “That’s bigger than my whole kitchen.”
“Ada.” He pointed to the glass on the back door.
She walked over to him and stared at what appeared to be a trash pit. “The barn at the far end of the yard and the pasture behind it come with the house.”
“I’d bet this place belonged to an Amish family at one point.”
“That’s what the Realtor said. But that was a long time ago.” She moved to the center of the kitchen, feeling hope run through her in spite of the reality surrounding her.
Israel opened the back door. “I want to take a look under the house. I’ll be back in a few.”
As she ambled through the house, a sense of expectancy grew, defying all logical reasoning. Israel came back inside. “It’s in bad shape as far as how it looks, but it’s structurally sound.
“I want to do this.”
“It’s a lot to take on. You’ll need plumbers first. I got an Englischer neighbor who does plumbing.”
“The Realtor said the owners will pay to get the plumbing working. And she said they are willing to subtract from the rent all the cost of supplies and most of the cost of work done. All we have to do is submit the receipts and let them verify every so often that the work is being done. And we have the opportunity to buy the house at a set cost, regardless of the amount of fix-ups we do.”
He set the toolbox on the deeply scratched wooden floor. “Whether you know it or not, I’ve seen you make success out of more difficult situations than this, Ada Stoltzfus.”
“Me?” She watched to see if he was trying to be funny, but he looked serious. “You really think so?”
“I know so. You work in a closet of a kitchen with an apartment-sized stove and sink, and yet you’ve supplied desserts to that Shippensburg bakery for a decade. Just imagine what you could do with a kitchen this big and a full-size stove and double sink.”
“Hello? Ada, are you in here?” the Realtor sang out.
“In the kitchen.” She stepped closer to Israel. “You can’t believe how much I want to do this for both me and Cara. But even if I sign a contract, I can’t begin to make the kind of difference I want to for her without getting her uncles to see her another way.”
“And since she’s the reason Ephraim is shunned, I’m sure she can’t move in with you without the bishop’s approval. We’d better get you home so you’re not late for tonight’s meeting.”
“I’d like to put a deposit down first.”
He looked fully entertained by her as he gave a nod. “Then do it.”
Inside Levi Riehl’s home, Ada’s palms sweated as she set up another folding chair. The warmth of the early-June air had nothing to do with the perspiration trickling down her back or the palpitations of her heart. Through the open windows and doors, she could hear carriages as they arrived and people chatting with one another.
A quick glance out the window let her know that most people were leaving their horses hitched to their buggies, which meant no one expected to be here long. When she’d arrived, her horse had seemed as worn out as she was, so she’d put him in the Riehl pasture.
She’d stopped by her house on the way here, thinking she might catch Mahlon and tell him of her plans, but he wasn’t there. Despite feeling antsy and exhausted, she kept praying. She needed tonight to end with Cara’s uncles—Levi, David, and Leroy Riehl—seeing the situation as she did. Levi seemed uneasy as he moved to the far side of the room and set up the last chair. He glanced at her several times as if he wanted to ask her something, but instead he just straightened the rows of chairs.
The bishop intended to separate rumors from truth tonight, and then he’d make a decision. But he told her that whatever he decided, it had to settle the issue. No more appeals. No more trying to change his mind. Ada agreed. And now she was miserably nervous.
Levi strolled over to her, looking as uncomfortable as he might with a stranger. “How’s Cara?”
“I gave her the box you and Emma brought by. Mostly she’s shaken, angry, and hurt.”
He nodded. “Emma is pretty shaken too. Having to face Cara was heartbreaking for her.”
“I think—”
“Mamm,” Mahlon interrupted, hurrying toward her through the growing crowd. “What are you doing?” he whispered.
He held up the papers she’d signed on the house in Hope Crossing. “I found these on the kitchen table.”
“Can we talk about this later?”
“Are you picking out a house for us?” His tone was stern, but his words were barely audible.
“No, of course not. You know I wouldn’t do that.”
She saw in his eyes some undefined emotion that looked a bit like… hope.
“Then what are you doing?”
“You and Deborah should go on with your own plans. That’s what I need to do. I’m going to move to a place where I can sell baked goods to local restaurants and maybe to another bakery or two.”
While Mahlon stared at her, David and Leroy two more of Cara’s uncles, strolled through the door, chatting with Rueben Lantz. She’d hoped Rueben, Malinda’s former fiancé, wouldn’t be here for this. It’d be so much harder for her to say what she needed to with him in the room. She wasn’t interested in stirring up conflict, but if that’s what had to happen… she prayed for courage.
“Why would you do this without talking to me?”
“I intended to tell you, but things are happening fast. Look, all it means is that you and Deborah make plans that don’t include me living with you. Do you really mind?”
Mahlon studied her, looking unsure and pleased and terrified all at once. She’d seen these emotions in her only child many times over the years but never mingled into one confusing array.
“I guess I didn’t realize you had that much independence in you… not to be disrespectful or anything. You really think you can make a go of this?”
“I do. It’s what I wanted years ago, but you wanted to stay in Dry Lake. You’re a man now, about to take on a wife, and I’d like to do this with your blessing.”
She nodded.
He looked past her, and she turned to see Deborah standing across the room. “I only wish you’d told me how important this was to you years ago, Mamm. If you’d done it then, things could be different.”
“What things?”
He lowered his eyes, staring at the floor. “It doesn’t matter.”
But she had a feeling it mattered a lot. “Mahlon?”
Looking to Deborah again, he shook his head. “How can I be so in love and at the same time so restless for what might be or could have been?”
“Ada.” David spoke from several feet away, interrupting her and Mahlon. “You came without your famous coconut pie.” He shook the bishop’s hand while he teased her.
His broad grin and easy ways didn’t indicate the temper that tried to get the best of him at times. Leroy stood near him and gave Ada a nod. He was the quietest of the Riehls and probably the one who’d grieved the most when Malinda took off.
“What I’ve come for is a bit more serious than that.”
A few nearby conversations stopped.
“Is this about Cara?” David asked.
Ada nodded, and Mahlon touched her arm, letting her know he was going to where Deborah stood.
Three of the men’s wives—Anne, Susie, and Rueben’s wife, Leah—entererd, talking comfortably and keeping Ada from needing to say anything else right now. She moved to a chair and reached into the hidden pocket of her apron, assuring herself that the documents were still there. She wanted to get them back to Cara tonight.
Mahlon’s eyes focused on her, as if he was trying to figure something out.
His reaction to her news confused her. Then again, his responses to daily events were often difficult to understand, and she hoped Deborah was better at figuring him out than she’d ever been.
As more people entered, Levi clapped his hands once. “Okay, whoever would like a drink of water or lemonade, help yourself and take a seat. It’ll make it easier for those coming in behind you.”
The volume of friendly banter decreased as people made their way to a chair. Most perceived Cara as a troublemaker who needed to be avoided. Rumors about her unacceptable behavior were fresh in their thoughts. Few knew why Ephraim had shared his home with Cara. They didn’t know much about her, except that she was Malinda’s daughter and was a homeless thief with a daughter and no husband. Oh, and that she caused Ephraim to be shunned. But none of that really told them who Cara was. If Ada could convince them to give her a chance, maybe healing could begin for all of them. The Howards would probably put in a good word for Cara, but Englischers were never a part of Amish meetings—not this kind.
Emma hurried inside, wiping her wet hands against her apron. “Levi, those grandbabes of ours had the hose out, watering each other to see if they could make themselves grow.” She wiped her brow. “I passed them to their mothers.”
Everyone chuckled as Emma took a seat.
Ada said a silent prayer that the Riehls would set aside every obstacle that separated them from Cara.
The bishop moved to the front of the room. “Rueben and I found Cara a place in Carlisle. Thanks to the donations of everyone here, we paid the rent for three months. Cara chose to turn it down.”
Murmurs floated throughout the room.
“What happens to the money?” one man asked.
“We made sure beforehand that we could get the money back, so no problem there. More important is why Cara turned it down. Ada said that Cara feels we were trying to pay her to leave. At first that sounded ridiculous, but after thinking about it, I realized there’s some truth in that. It’s possible we’ve reacted to Cara out of misunderstandings and unfair judgment. And a lot of that is because of rumors and who her mother was.”
Levi stood. “Ephraim’s had the most contact with her. Maybe he should be here.”
The bishop took a seat. “What he did crossed the line, and he’ll remain under the ban. Ada, will you tell everyone a little about Cara and what brought her to Dry Lake?”
Ada stood. Her voice shook as she explained how Cara grew up, why she came to their town, and her plans to leave. “She has no family outside of Dry Lake. Do we not bear some of the responsibility for what’s happened to her? With only a few scattered memories from her childhood, she found her way back here. Will we let her slip through our hands a second time?”
The bishop stood. “In order to separate rumor from fact, I’d like to hear from those of you who’ve talked to Cara or seen her do anything firsthand. That means we set aside what you heard Abner say he saw.”
Various people took turns sharing information about Cara. They told of her using drugs, smoking with Amish teens, and letting cows and horses out of pastures. The bishop took the time to look for an eyewitness for each rumor, and everyone soon discovered that no one had actually seen Cara doing any of those things.
When Anna Mary entered the room and took a seat at the back, Ada feared the damage she could do.
“Deborah had a dress go missing,” one young man said. “I know ‘cause she asked if I took it.”
“I sure did,” Deborah said. “If you’d taken it, I wanted to see you wear it.”
Ada chuckled along with everyone else. If anyone knew how to bring humor and peace into a room, her future daughter-in-law did.
Deborah folded her arms. “Whoever took it left money for it the next night.”
Ada figured Deborah knew at this point that Cara had taken her dress, but true to her nature, she wasn’t going to make matters worse by adding that kind of information to the meeting.
Levi explained the conversation he’d had with Cara the night before. Then he added, “She didn’t seem at all like the rumors have said. I’d like to help her, but I won’t go against the bishop’s wishes.”
A man stood. “We offered her help, and she turned us down.”
When he sat, a woman spoke up. “I wasn’t living in Dry Lake when her mother was here, but I saw Cara at the auction. I don’t like the way she dresses, and it’s easy to believe the rumors about her. We can’t afford to welcome someone like her.”
Trying not to look as angry as she felt, Ada measured her words and tone carefully. “Have you once looked her in the eye and talked with her? I have. She’s not to be feared. We might even learn a few things from her.”
“Ephraim looked in her eyes,” a man from the back of the room said, “and now he’s shunned.”
The group started murmuring, and Ada knew she was losing.
“I’ve wondered if maybe it was God’s will that she didn’t make it here as a child,” David Riehl said over the crowd.
“David.” Emma gasped. “She’s your niece, and the mix-up that left her alone wasn’t her fault. It was mine and Levi’s and even yours. All of us talked about what to do, and we made careless mistakes and didn’t try to find out what was going on.”
“That’s because she’s Malinda’s daughter,” another man said, “and everyone in this room over the age of forty knows what that means.”
The room vibrated with disagreements, and Ada feared the night would end without anything being settled. Cara would leave Dry Lake, and it’d be over.
Anna Mary stood, and silence soon fell. “I have more reasons to distrust her than any of you. And she’s caused me to ask myself a thousand questions. But I have only one question for all of you.” She cleared her throat. “Will Ephraim be the only man to stand up for her?”
Ada watched people’s faces, witnessing many attitudes begin to change. Rueben’s face went ashen as he watched his daughter.
Shaking and teary-eyed, Anna Mary took a seat.
Ada gave a nod. “Thank you, Anna Mary. Last night Levi and Emma brought a box for Cara. It was one her father mailed to her here for her eighteenth birthday.”
Rueben started coughing as if he’d choked. “But…I…I thought you’d tossed it without looking at what was inside.”
“We didn’t open it, but we saw no reason to throw it out,” Levi said. “Ada, what was in it?”
“Letters, journals, Malinda’s Bible, and documents—her marriage license, Cara’s birth certifi—”
“Wait.” Rueben stood, interrupting her. He fidgeted with the hat in his hand. Leah, his wife, tugged on his arm, gesturing for him to sit down. He shook his head. “Before this goes on, I need to speak with Malinda’s family and the bishop… alone.”
The bishop cleared his throat. “I think Rueben’s right. We’ve cleared up all we can as a large group. Thank you for coming. May we all be reminded that rumors cause trouble and are usually based on lies. Along with Malinda’s brothers and their wives, I’d like Rueben, Leah, and Ada to stay, please.”
Within minutes everyone had left the room except the folks the bishop had named.
The bishop took a seat at the kitchen table. The rest of them followed suit.
He drew a deep breath and bowed his head in silent prayer. He opened his eyes. “Before I begin, is there something you wanted to say Rueben?”
He stared at the table. Children’s voices from outside filled the room, but not one adult uttered a word.
Rueben wiped his brow several times and finally spoke. “Malinda’s leaving didn’t go exactly as the rumors have it.”
“Just how did it go?” Levi’s voice had an edge to it.
Rueben struggled to speak. “Your sister didn’t break up with me. And she wasn’t pregnant when she left here.”
Levi jumped up. “What? You told us she’d been seeing Trevor while the two of you were engaged and that she ran off with him after breaking up with you.”
Breathing deep, Rueben stared at the floor. “I never actually said that. You just believed it.”
Emma looked at Ruebens wife. “Did you know this?”
The stricken look on Leah’s face said that she did, although all she managed was a shrug and half nod.
David glared at Rueben. “You make this make sense—now.” He shoved his index finger against the kitchen table with each word.
“Well… I was working about an hour from here. That’s where I met Leah. I’d been there most of that summer. When I didn’t return home for a few weekends, Malinda hired Trevor to bring her to me. She… saw me kissing Leah. We argued, and she left with Trevor. She begged me not to say anything.”
“How convenient for you.” David smacked the table.
“It sounds like she wanted to leave with some shred of pride intact,” Leroy said.
Emma scrunched a fistful of her apron and then released it, over and over again. “She was nineteen with a thousand broken dreams. She always felt abandoned by her Daed because he gave her to Levina to raise. She must have been devastated to be rejected by another man.”
David shrugged. “I still say that Daed did his best when Mamm died giving birth to her. He couldn’t take care of a newborn and the rest of us while holding a job.”
The pain in Levi’s eyes went deep as he put his head in his hands. “We shouldn’t have left her in our Grossmammi Levina’s care all those years. But our house never seemed like a good place for a girl to grow up—all boys and no mother?”
“Malinda made her own choices,” David said.
Several started talking loudly at the same time.
The bishop raised his hands, silencing everyone. “Let’s not forget that Malinda joined the faith, and then she ran off. She broke her vows, regardless of the reason. Still, it sounds as if shock and hurt were the reasons for her decisions, not rebellion.”
Levi stood and began pacing. “For nearly thirty years we’ve believed she lost faith, that she ran around like a tramp. I questioned you, Rueben, because I’d never seen any signs of her being wild, even during her rumschpringe. And you led me to believe we simply never knew her.”
“You decided that on your own. You told me she called not long after leaving and said that she was too ashamed to come home but that Trevor wanted to marry her. According to you, the next and last time you heard from her, she’d written to say she had a little girl.”
Levi pointed at him. “Bywords or silence, sounds to me like you’ve been lying to us for years.”
“I wasn’t trying to lie.”
“You weren’t trying to tell the truth either,” Leroy said.
Rueben gestured with his hands. “Look, I met Leah that summer, and we… we fell for each other. We were going to tell her, but she found out first. Those of you who knew Malinda know how high-strung she was.”
“High-strung?” one of her aunts rang out. “I remember Malinda getting permission for one of her Daed’s hired helpers to drive her to Ohio to see you. The wedding was only three weeks away. Trevor was the driver, and he brought her to you, didn’t he?”
Rueben nodded.
Emma sobbed. “She never returned home after that trip. We assumed she’d planned to run off with Trevor and used visiting you as the excuse to get away. And you helped us believe that. You know you did.”
“You were mean not to tell her how you felt before you kissed someone else.” Leroy shot an accusing look at Rueben. “You and Leah didn’t get married for a year after that. Was that just to make yourself look good? Now that we see who you are, we all know the answer to that. And don’t you tell us our sister was high-strung after nearly three decades of letting us think she left here pregnant.”
“She didn’t have to leave the way she did,” Rueben said. “And she didn’t have to stay gone or marry Trevor. Even when she came back years later, looking for a safe place for Cara, I tried to get her to tell everyone what happened. I wanted to clear it up.”
“You talked to her by yourself when she came back to Dry Lake with Cara? Without me or anyone?” Leah’s tone said it all. She didn’t trust her husband’s heart when it came to Malinda. Ada wondered if Rueben had really been in love with Leah, or if once Malinda discovered him and Leah kissing and left, he felt compelled to marry her. Maybe waiting the year to get married had been more of a grieving time for Rueben than anything else.
Rueben didn’t answer his wife, but Ada figured he would… for a long time to come.
“When Malinda returned with Cara, she didn’t want it set straight. She said it wouldn’t change that her father and brothers didn’t want her returning to Dry Lake and that anything I said would only cause trouble for me and Leah.”
Levi turned to his wife. “She thought we didn’t want her even if we knew the truth?”
David slammed his hand down on the table. “We can’t believe what Rueben is saying about Malinda not wanting to set things straight. He talked to her privately, and we’ll never know what was or wasn’t said, will we?”
Leah stood and folded her arms, her face taut with embarrassment and guilt. “When she came to Dry Lake with Cara, you had just as much opportunity to go talk to her as Rueben did. But you chose not to. All of you. So don’t lay this mess fully on him.”
Ada pulled the documents from the hidden pocket of her dress. “Finding all the right people to blame will not solve even one of the problems facing Cara.” She unfolded the papers. “Trevor and Malinda married several months after they left here. Cara was born fifteen months later. If it’s true that Malinda always felt rejected and you wish you could change that, I’m asking you to start with her grown daughter. And don’t hold what Ephraim’s done against him.”
The bishop looked over the documents again, as if verifying what he’d read earlier. “The ban will not be lifted from Ephraim. We cannot ignore a single man allowing a woman to stay in his home overnight. But we need to do what we can to set things right with Cara, try to heal some of the hurt we’ve caused.”
Ada interlaced her fingers. “I don’t think trying to speak to her face to face is the answer right now. She’s not one to trust people’s motives. She’ll want to know why you’re coming to see her now and not a few days ago. When she figures out that we’ve met to decide what to do and she was the topic of a district meeting, we’ll never get past her defenses.”
“Sounds like she’s as stubborn as her mother,” Leroy said.
The brothers chuckled, breaking some of the tension in the room.
“Ada, you know her better than anyone here,” Emma said. “If she won’t trust us and doesn’t want to speak with us, how do we break through that?”
“Letters, for now. But more than anything, I’d like permission for her to move in with me. I’ve found a place in Hope Crossing.”
Questions came from several of them all at once.
The bishop held up his hand. “You have my approval, Ada.”
