Lavinia leaned forward and put her hand on her dat’s shoulder. “Daed! That’s Abe’s buggy!”
He glanced back as their horse pulled their buggy into the drive of the Lapp house, where church services would take place today. “Ya, it is. So?”
She held her breath as she watched two of the men from church walk over to join Abe. One pulled a wheelchair from the buggy and unfolded it. Then the men reached inside, lifted Abe out, and settled him into the chair. One pushed it up the walk, and when they reached the stairs to the porch, other men joined them and they lifted Abe in the chair up the stairs onto the porch.
Lavinia couldn’t see Abe’s face. She wondered how he felt about having to accept the help of his fellow church members after what he’d said about needing help right now.
By the time her dat had pulled up to the front of the house to let her and her mudder out, Abe had disappeared inside.
Rachel glanced at her as they went up the walk. “You seem surprised Abe is here today.”
Lavinia nodded. “He didn’t sound like he wanted to come when I talked to him a couple days ago. He didn’t want to ask for help.”
It was her mudder’s turn to nod. “Most men find it hard to ask for help.”
They climbed the stairs and went inside the house. Benches had been set up in two sections—one for women, one for men. Lavinia saw that Abe’s wheelchair sat at the back of the men’s section. Chairs had been used to fill out the rest of the space a bench would have taken. The men who’d helped him from the buggy and carried the chair up the stairs sat beside him talking.
Abe glanced up just then, and their gazes locked. He looked pale, but he smiled and nodded at her. Relieved, she smiled and stopped by to say hello to her schweschder Sadie, who was sitting in the back row with her dochder, little Anna Mae.
“You go ahead and sit up front like usual,” Sadie whispered to her. “I have to be back here so I can be close to the bathroom.” Her hand rested on her baby bump.
Lavinia leaned down and kissed Anna Mae’s cheek. She looked just like her mudder with her flyaway blond hair and big blue eyes. Then she turned her attention back to Sadie, who was just glowing in her second pregnancy. “Hope you can come to supper later this week. We don’t see enough of you.”
Sadie nodded. “See you later.”
Lavinia and her mudder proceeded to the front of the women’s section and sat on the bench next to each other.
She glanced back and saw that everyone who walked in stopped to say hello to Abe. It felt gut that they were happy to see him attending church. Peace settled over her as the service began. Lay minister Elmer always had a message that resonated with her, and the singing…well, Lavinia loved singing the old hymns.
Which reminded her that she’d asked Abe if he’d attend the singing the young people enjoyed on church Sundays. She cast a furtive glance in his direction to see how well he was faring and saw him shifting in his chair and rubbing his thigh with his free hand. She frowned and wondered if he’d be able to last the three hours of the service. No one would blame him if he needed to leave early.
Relief swept over her when the service ended and she glanced back and saw Abe had made it through and didn’t look the worse for wear. She rose and made her way to the back of the room to congratulate him, but several people stood talking to him, so she walked to the kitchen to help with serving coffee and the light meal.
The first chance she got, she carried a cup of coffee and a plate with a slice of bread covered with church spread out to Abe. He’d always loved the sweet mixture of peanut butter and marshmallow creme on a slice of bread.
“Danki,” he said as she put the coffee cup and the plate down on the bench beside him.
“I wasn’t schur you’d come today.”
He looked over to where his mudder stood talking with his dat. “Mamm had a lot to do with it,” he said quietly, keeping an eye on her. “She said I could sit here as well as I could sit at home and maybe I’d hear something I should.”
“And did you?”
“Nothing quite as gut as what the bishop said when he visited me in the hospital.”
“Oh? And what was that?”
“He said maybe I should think of myself more as Joseph than Job.”
She was prevented from saying anything when Elmer came up and greeted Abe. She left them to talk and went back to the kitchen. There she picked up a pot and went back out to roam the room, pouring coffee and chatting with friends.
“Lavinia, I’d love some coffee,” Ben, a classmate of hers and Abe’s, said with a warm smile as he held out his cup. “You look well,” he told her as his gaze swept over her.
She blushed. Ben had been a charmer all his life.
“Danki, Ben. You do as well.”
“I was wondering if you’re going to the singing tonight?”
“I am,” she said, and tried not to look in Abe’s direction.
“Then I’ll see you there.”
She nodded and turned when her dat hailed her from his seat a few feet away.
“Any coffee left for your old dat?” he asked, holding his cup out. His blue eyes twinkled. “I see you have another young man’s attention.”
She frowned, not understanding at first. “Ben? I went to schul with him and he constantly teased me, remember?”
“He’s not looking at you like the bu who pulled your pigtails when you were little.”
“Don’t be silly.” But when she glanced back at him, she saw Ben was indeed looking at her the way a man did a woman he was attracted to. She wondered if she had missed that look before today.
Well, it didn’t matter. She was interested in Abe. She looked over at him and saw that he was watching her with a thoughtful look on his face.
She poured more coffee and worked her way over to him. “So, did you think about going to the singing this evening? I could pick you up.”
He stared at her for a long moment, then looked past her. “Sorry, I don’t think so. I’m feeling really tired.”
“Maybe you’ll feel like it after you have a rest.” She gave him an encouraging smile.
“I don’t think so. Maybe next time.”
Disappointed, she nodded. “Just give me a call if you change your mind.”
He looked past her. “Have you seen my dat? I want to go home now.”
“I’ll find him. Take care.”
She hurried away, feeling let down and chiding herself for it. It couldn’t have been easy for Abe to come to church today when he hadn’t been out of the hospital long. It was important for her to remember that she needed to be grateful he was looking better each day, that he had come through so much.
“There you are!” she said when she spotted Waneta and Faron at the back of the room. “Abe says he wants to go home now.”
Faron nodded. “Would you mind telling him I’m going to get the buggy? I’ll ask a few friends to help us get him down the stairs and into it.”
“Schur. Oh, and I asked him if he’d like to go to the singing later, and he said he was tired. I’m hoping he’ll change his mind. I can pick him up. I think it’d be gut for him to get out.”
“I’ll work on him,” Waneta said with a conspiratorial wink.
She blushed. “Danki, Waneta.”
Maybe it wasn’t fair to use his mudder like that, but Lavinia told herself she was just thinking of Abe. He had always so enjoyed singing, and she loved hearing his rich baritone singing songs of faith. He needed those more than ever before. When she sang hymns, she always felt the words reverberate through her, making her heart-strong and confident all would be well with her world.
* * *
“You doing allrecht back there?” Waneta called over her shoulder as the familye rode home in their buggy.
“Fine.” He was stretched out in the back seat, worn out with exhaustion after the long church service and talking with so many people. The rolling motion of the buggy was lulling him to sleep.
“Tell me you’re glad you went,” Waneta said.
“Don’t nag the bu,” Faron told her.
“Not nagging. Asking.”
Abe would have made a face, but he didn’t dare. He’d learned years ago that his mudder had eyes in the back of her head.
“Ya.” It wasn’t a lie. He’d been glad he’d gone to the effort of going to the service for a while…he’d gotten a chance to see Lavinia, even if it was only briefly.
Then he frowned, remembering how he’d watched Ben flirting with her. Ben had made plenty of plays for her attention, but she’d never been interested in him. Abe had never figured out why she’d been attracted to him rather than Ben. He thought Ben was better-looking, with dark brown hair and blue eyes and a way of charming the maedels Abe had never had. Ben also had a prosperous farm and no obvious money problems. Why, Abe had heard that Ben had invested a lot of money on more livestock and equipment recently.
Meanwhile, Abe sat in the back seat of the buggy, being carted home by his eldres, aching all over from the enforced hours of sitting and pretending he was fine when he felt distant from all those around him.
He slumped in his seat and felt himself sinking into a depression. It was going to be a long haul back to normal for him. Even after he recovered his physical health, he wasn’t schur he would be able to pull his farm back to prosperity with the milk market the way it was.
If he was a gut man—an unselfish one—he’d tell Lavinia she should take a second look at Ben. Was he gut? Unselfish? They’d been friends for years before they’d realized they were attracted to one another and started dating. If he was really a gut friend, he’d want the best for her.
Right now he wasn’t.
He sighed heavily.
“Abe?”
“I’m fine, Mamm. Just tired.”
“A nap will put you right,” she stated confidently.
Ya, a nap would cure everything, he wanted to say, but that was rude. So he kept his mouth shut and lapsed into a bit of a doze until his dat pulled into their drive. He roused himself and wondered how he was going to get himself out of the buggy without the help of his eldres when Wayne walked up.
“Where’d you come from?” he asked, relieved and struggling to wake up.
“Saw you leave church. Thought you might need some help,” he said as he got the wheelchair out. Together, Wayne and Faron got Abe out of the buggy, into the house, and onto his bed.
“Danki, Wayne. Hope you didn’t leave early just for me.”
Wayne shrugged. “I was ready to leave. Got some chores to attend to at home, and then I’ll be back for the afternoon milking. Need anything else?”
“Nee, danki. See you later.”
Abe managed to get his boots off and lie down before his mudder came in with a glass of iced tea and set it on the bedside table. “Thought you could use a cold drink before you take a nap,” she said as she bustled around, opening the bedroom window and turning on the fan.
“Danki.” Too tired to pick the glass up, he was asleep before she left the room.
He woke to her shaking his good arm. “Abe, you have company.”
“Huh?”
“Says he’s your doctor.”
She helped him get into his chair and his boots. When she came at him with his comb, he held up his good hand. “Mamm, I can do that myself.”
“Fine.” She stood there waiting until he used it and then pushed him into the living room.
“Abe, hope you don’t mind us dropping in,” Dr. Hamilton said as he rose from a chair. “We happened to be out this way, and I thought I’d check on you. I’ve never seen a dairy farm. Wondered if you’d mind showing us around.” He gestured to the little girl who stood beside him. “This is Piper, my youngest.”
“Nice to meet you, Piper.”
She smiled shyly at Abe. “Daddy says you have cows.”
“I sure do. Let’s go see them.” He looked up at the doctor. “Mind giving me a push?”
“No problem. How’s your PT going?”
“Good. Hoping I won’t be in this chair much longer.”
They went out the back door and out to the cow barn.
“Can I touch one?” Piper asked him.
“Sure.” He took her hand and put it on the flank of the nearest cow, and Piper’s eyes grew huge.
“She feels rough and scratchy!” the girl said.
The cow just swished her tail and ignored them.
“Which ones give us choc-lit milk?”
“Chocolate milk?” Abe held back a laugh at the familiar question.
“My daughter thinks some cows have white milk and some have chocolate milk.”
Abe bit back a smile. “I’ve had adults think the same thing.” He turned to Piper. “Cows give us white milk, and chocolate is added later.”
“Oh.” Piper looked disappointed.
Wayne strolled in and looked surprised to see them. Abe introduced him to the doctor and his daughter.
Abe turned to Dr. Hamilton. “Wayne can show Piper how to milk Annie here, if it’s okay with you,” he suggested, gesturing to a cow that hadn’t been hooked up yet. “We do it with machinery these days, but I learned how to milk one by hand when I was about Piper’s age.”
“Can I, Daddy? Please?”
“Sure.”
Wayne helped her wash her hands in a nearby sink, then set a small stool down beside Annie so Piper could sit.
Piper bit her bottom lip, hesitant to touch the cow’s teats, her face reflecting her mixed feelings when she did. But she stuck with it and frowned in concentration as she worked them as Wayne directed. She squealed when a stream of milk spurted into the pail. “Daddy! It’s milk!”
He grinned and took a photo with his phone camera. “Wait until your mom sees this!”
She giggled. “Can I drink it?”
Abe had drunk raw milk as a kind and never had any ill effects, but he knew before he looked at the doctor he wouldn’t approve.
“We pasteurize it for people,” Abe told her. “It’s like we boil it to make it safe, get rid of any germs,” he explained. “But you can give it to Mary, our barn cat. She likes fresh milk.”
“Tell Wayne thank you for showing you how to milk the cow,” her father prompted.
“Thank you, Wayne.” She turned to the cow. “And thank you, Annie.”
She washed her hands again and they headed over to the house, with Piper carefully clutching the handle of the pail. Abe took the pail and told her to run into the house and ask his mother for a bowl for the cat, and she ran to fetch it. When she returned, she carefully poured the milk into the bowl without spilling a drop.
Dr. Hamilton looked around as Piper talked to the cat. “Great place to raise kids.”
Abe nodded. “It is.” He frowned. “Well, used to be. It’s getting harder and harder to make a profit. Milk prices have fallen in the last few years as people drink milk made of rice and almonds and such.”
“Yes, the wife favors almond or rice milk.”
Abe decided it would be rude to say he didn’t feel it was milk if it didn’t come from a cow.
“I would like to take home some of the cheese you make here on the farm. Both of us are usually working when you have the farm stand open.”
“Be happy to give you some.” He shook his head as the doctor reached for his wallet. “Your money’s not good here. My mother will be happy to give you some cheese for all you’ve done for me.”
“Have you considered selling it at the local stores? Maybe on the internet?”
“Considered a lot of things, and then I fell off the roof.”
“Were you trying to be Superman?” Piper piped up. “One day when me and my friends were playing at Jason Felder’s house, he said he was gonna go up on his roof and try to fly like Superman. I told his mom and she sent him to his room.”
Abe bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. “No, I was fixing my roof.” He held up his arm in the cast. “Your dad had to operate on me and fix me.”
“He didn’t fix your legs?”
“They’re almost well.”
She beamed. “My daddy’s a smart doctor.”
“He is.”
They went into the house and found his eldres in the kitchen.
“Can I get you some coffee or something cold to drink?” Waneta asked the doctor.
“No, thanks.”
“He’d like to take some of our cheese home,” Abe told her.
“Why, I should have thought of that!” Waneta said. “Haven’t had time to have the farm stand up since Abe’s accident, but I intend to start up again this week.”
She bustled about getting several blocks of cheese from the refrigerator and putting it in a woven basket along with a loaf of her bread.
She handed the basket to Piper with a big smile. “You come again soon, both of you. And maybe you can bring your mother next time.”
Abe’s dat stood and held out his hand to shake the doctor’s. “You stop by anytime,” he told him. “We’re just so grateful for what you and everyone at the hospital did for our son.”
“It was our pleasure.” He turned to Abe. “I hope the next time I see you that you’ll be on your feet.”
“Me too. My therapist plans for me to be out of the wheelchair soon. I can’t wait.”
His dat walked their guests to the door.
“Want something to drink?” his mudder asked Abe.
“Yeah, danki. I fell asleep before I could drink the glass of tea you put on my bedside table.”
“I’ll fix you a fresh glass.”
She filled a glass with ice and tea and set it before him, then added a plate of cookies before she sat at the table. “What’s that look about?”
“Look?”
“You’re looking sad. Something the doctor said upset you? You know you’ll be on your feet soon.”
“I know. Just doesn’t feel fast enough.”
His dat came in then and asked what was for supper, so he didn’t have to tell his mudder the thing that the doctor had said that had made his mood turn blue. He’d agreed with the doctor that the farm was a great place to raise kinner. It had been for generations. But Abe didn’t know if he could hold on to it long enough to raise the next generation.