JOANNA HAD TO force herself not to run back to the shop. Noah’s action in kissing her hand had been completely unexpected. She hadn’t done anything to give him the impression... No, she couldn’t have. Just because he’d been a friend when she needed one, that didn’t mean that she expected or wanted anything else.
“Where have you been?” Aunt Jessie’s tart voice greeted her as she came into the shop. “Chief Jamison wants to see you, not me.”
“Now, Ms. Jessie, I didn’t say that.” He followed her aunt, looking a little harassed, as people usually did who’d gotten the rough side of her aunt’s tongue. “I’d like to talk to you later about the break-in, but right now I need Joanna’s help.” He glanced meaningfully at the few customers in the shop, all of whom were watching him.
“Why don’t we go into the back room to talk?” she suggested, and hurried him out of their sight.
“Whew.” He closed the door behind them. “Can’t say I enjoy having all those women listening so closely to every word.”
“I’m sorry if Aunt Jessie was a little...abrupt. She’s been upset.”
“It’s okay. Anyone would be. The impact of being robbed hits people the same no matter how much was taken. Anyway, that’s not what I came about. You remember what I said about getting a lot of crazy calls about the picture in the newspaper?”
She nodded.
“Turns out the Philadelphia paper ran it, and there was a tip that came out that might be serious. Not much, mind you, but a name anyway. Meredith Bristow. Ever heard of her?”
“I don’t think so.” The name didn’t mean anything to her, except that it was obviously Englisch. “Was there anything else?”
“The thing is, we don’t have anything but the name. The hospital staff tried mentioning the name to her, but she didn’t respond. Mary Ellen suggested that if you asked her about the name, she might respond, seeing that you’re the only one to get anything out of her.”
Joanna pushed away the thought that at the moment she’d like to be left alone. “Yah, of course. Do you want me to come now?”
“No time like the present.” He was already opening the door, so Joanna followed him back into the shop. He went outside rather hurriedly, and she explained the situation to her aunt.
“I guess you have to do it.” Her response sounded like grumbling, but Joanna could see past it to the worry that lurked behind the words. Unfortunately, it seemed whatever Joanna did would cause problems for someone.
“He wants me to come now. Will you be all right?”
“Yah. Go.” She turned away.
Joanna looked at her helplessly for a moment. Then, with a brief touch of her arm, she hurried out to the waiting car.
They were halfway up the hill to the hospital before she’d managed to focus on what was ahead of her. “So that’s all you want from me? Just to see if she’ll respond to the name?”
He gave a short nod. “That’s all we have now. I put someone onto checking out the name in Philadelphia and the surrounding area, so we might know more soon.”
“I hope it works out.” She hesitated. “I guess if it does, you won’t need the results of the DNA test, because she’ll be telling us who she is. Did you hear anything yet?”
“Not this soon. Maybe in a few days, since the laboratory is rushing it. Yeah, I’d like to have this cleared up by then.”
Joanna nodded, but she didn’t know what to wish for. If only it could be cleared up without involving Mamm and Daad...
By the time they neared the patient’s room, Joanna found she was repeating the name over again in her mind. But Meredith Bristow didn’t mean anything to her.
Mary Ellen was waiting at the door. “So, Chief, I see you took my advice. Joanna’s the only person our patient has responded to.”
“Would you have expected more from her by now?” Joanna paused by the door.
Mary Ellen shrugged. “Seems as if her coma is lighter every day. So much so that we wouldn’t be surprised if she’d started talking anytime today.”
“Let’s hope this makes it happen.” Jamison ushered them inside. “Here we are, Joanna. It’s all up to you.”
Again, Joanna hesitated, not liking the burden they seemed to be putting on her. She turned to Mary Ellen again. “Is it bad that she hasn’t wakened by now?”
“I wouldn’t say bad.” Mary Ellen sounded as if she was being deliberately cautious. “Sometimes people wake up after quite a long time. But yes, it would be more encouraging if she’d done it by now.”
“Just give it a try.” Jamison, apparently tired of the delay, took Joanna’s arm and led her to the chair next to the bed. “Remember, Meredith Bristow.”
Pulling her arm away, Joanna sat down. If he thought she was annoyed, well, she was. It wasn’t fair to put all the responsibility on her.
Then she looked at the woman’s face, and the irritation slipped away. She did look much more normal today. She seemed to be in such a light sleep that Joanna would expect her to open her eyes at the slightest touch.
Joanna touched the slack hand lightly and then covered it with hers. “I told you I’d come back to see you again. You look much better today.”
Chief Jamison moved restlessly, clearly wanting a more direct approach. But when the patient had responded before, it had been to an ordinary conversational tone.
“I hoped maybe you could talk to me today. Or open your eyes. It’s such a beautiful fall day here in River Haven. I’m sure you’d love to see it.”
The hand under hers twitched—she was sure of it. She glanced at Mary Ellen, who stood at the foot of the bed, watching them intently and saw that she understood. Jamison moved again, looking as if he’d speak, but the frowning look he received from Mary Ellen seemed to silence him.
Joanna focused on the still face. “Do you remember me? I was here to see you yesterday.” To her amazement, the woman’s face was no longer still. She frowned, forehead crinkling, almost as if she tried to remember.
“That’s right. We talked yesterday. You had an accident, and I found you on my stairs. My name is Joanna Kohler.”
Her eyelids fluttered slightly. Joanna held her breath. Surely, the frown meant that the woman could hear her.
“Are you Meredith? Meredith Bristow?”
The eyelids fluttered again, faster. Then the woman’s eyes opened. She moved her head slightly, and her frown deepened. Joanna felt as if no one breathed, waiting.
The woman focused on Joanna’s face, looking at her with golden-brown eyes that grew more focused by the moment. Her lips moved. “Joanna.”
Joanna’s heart leaped. “Joanna, that’s right. I’m Joanna. Are you Meredith?”
“Meredith,” she repeated slowly. Her gaze drifted away, seeming to lose focus.
Joanna tightened her grasp, feeling as if she had to keep the woman anchored in the present. “Talk to me. Please,” she said softly.
“Joanna. Meredith.” It was the softest of murmurs. And then her eyes closed, and she slid away into sleep.
NOAH HAD SEEN Joanna go off with Chief Jamison earlier, and since then he’d been divided between watching for her to come back and wondering what had gone wrong now. Not that it necessarily had to be something bad, but the way things had been going for Joanna recently, it probably was.
She had confided in him, and she’d trusted him with her secret. He’d wanted to do anything he could to help her. And instead, he’d taken a liberty that any unmarried Amish woman would resent if not from someone she was courting.
Why had he kissed her hand that way? He could only tell himself that it had seemed the most natural thing in the world. They had been so close in that moment.
He had tried to express his regret, and she had taken it lightly. Maybe...maybe she was telling herself that their relationship was serious. Maybe she was expecting a proposal.
And that was impossible. He’d told Joanna a little about the pains of growing up with an alcoholic and abusive father, but he hadn’t told her the fear. He hadn’t told that to anyone—the fear that deep inside, he was like his father.
He looked out the window again, hoping to see the car bringing her back, but he might as well not bother. She’d probably never trust him again, let alone confide in him.
There was a step behind him. “Not so busy now, yah?”
Managing a smile for his younger brother wasn’t hard. “No, not busy.” And it probably wouldn’t get any busier.
“You think I could go out for a couple of minutes?” Caleb’s blue eyes looked innocent enough, but Noah suspected he had his fingers crossed behind his back.
“Let me guess. You want to go down to the gas station and get a soda out of the machine. And see who else is hanging around.”
Caleb grinned and nodded. “I’d come right back.”
“Half an hour, right? Not a minute more.”
“Right. Denke, Noah.” He was halfway to the door when he turned back toward Noah. “Are you... Are you really worried about the business?”
The question, coming haltingly from the little brother he’d always tried to protect, caught him by surprise. It took a moment to arrange his face in the properly cheerful expression. “Not really, no. People will come back, once they’ve tried the new place. Most of them anyway.” He hoped.
“Gut.” Caleb’s smile flashed. “Because I want to be in business, too.” He sobered. “Aaron keeps saying I belong on the farm, but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Joshua’s the one who’s got farming in his blood, not me.”
Anyone could see that, except Aaron, it seemed. He imagined an unpleasant talk with Aaron would be coming up—at least assuming the store didn’t go under.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said. “Things will work out.”
Reassured, Caleb plunged out the door. He stopped for a moment, looking around probably in search of someone he knew, and then sauntered down the street.
It seemed young Caleb had been thinking of the future. Well, Noah would have to make sure he had his chance. That was why he and Aaron had been working so hard, after all—to give the younger ones a good start and Mamm the security she’d never known.
While Noah was still looking at the street through the front window, he saw the chief’s car pull up. Joanna got out, saying something to the chief, and then disappeared into the quilt shop.
That was a relief. He could imagine her father’s reaction if he saw his daughter riding through town in the police car. That would not be the bishop’s image of his family.
It seemed he was still thinking negatively of Joanna’s father. He’d left Joanna with the impression that those feelings had been outgrown, but maybe that wasn’t so.
Noah was busying himself by cleaning an already spotless show cabinet when Joanna came through the door, setting the bell ringing.
She smiled up at it, and then turned the smile on Noah, making him feel as if she’d reached out and squeezed his heart.
Tossing his paper towel in the wastebasket behind the counter, he took a step toward her.
“I didn’t expect to see you this afternoon. It looked as if you were tied up with Jamison.” He was sorry the moment the words were out. They made it sound as if he expected her to tell him what was going on.
Her face actually lit as she looked at him. “It’s gut news. At least, I think it is. The chief had a tip that she might be a woman named Meredith Bristow, from Philadelphia. He wanted me to talk to her again, and she actually woke up, at least for a few minutes,” she added cautiously. “She seemed to respond to the name, but then she drifted out again. But it’s a wonderful gut sign, ain’t so? And the chief will try to get someone who knows Meredith Bristow to identify her.”
“That is gut news. I’m happy for her and for you. They won’t need the DNA, and you can leave it all behind you.”
Joanna nodded, but her expression puzzled him. Was that regret in her eyes? He was tempted to ask but pushed the idea away. Best to leave well enough alone. Probably the woman’s family would whisk her away to a Philadelphia hospital, and Joanna could go back to normal.
Joanna shook her head as if shaking off her worries. “What am I thinking? I am here to get the dead bolts that the chief said I should put on my doors.”
“Dead bolts are the thing to do, but I remember saying that I’d be happy to take care of it.” He kept his tone teasing, but was this a polite way of saying she could take care of her doors by herself?
But her smile reassured him. “I’m wonderful glad to have you install them, but I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t pay for them. Retail price, too.”
“I’m not charging you retail price, so don’t you even think it. My friends get a discount. You know that.”
“You’ll never get rich that way,” she warned, smiling.
“It’s gut I don’t want to be rich, then.” He brushed aside his worries about the shop so he could keep the conversation light. It seemed clear that Joanna wanted to pretend those moments when he’d kissed her hand hadn’t happened, and that was fine with him. “I’ll stop over after we close with my tools and the locks. If that’s okay with you, that is.”
“Yah, sure. But what is the price?” With a show of determination, she reached for her bag.
“I’ll have to look up what I paid for it. You can pay me when the job is done.”
Before she could continue the argument, Caleb came in, looking uncommonly pleased with himself, and he was saved from more discussion of something he was determined to do.
BY CLOSING TIME, Joanna was ready for a long nap, and a glance at her aunt showed her someone who needed it even more. Jessie’s face was drawn and her usually brisk movements slowed almost to a stop. Joanna’s heart clenched. Most of that was caused, she knew, not by too much work and too little sleep, but by the sheer emotional stress of the past two days.
“I can finish up here,” she said impulsively. “Why don’t you lie down for a bit?”
“I’m not dead yet.” Jessie glared, but then she seemed to try to relax her face. “At least we had plenty of sales today, even if some folks were just nosy.”
“I think most of them were trying to help. Once folks know you’ve had trouble, they rally around.”
She couldn’t help but think that the hardware store had been empty of customers when she’d been there. And she hadn’t seen anyone go in for the rest of the day. He’d been broken into, as well. She’d think his customers would be curious.
Maybe it had to do with the fact that most of her customers were female. Amish women were the primary source of information gathering for the Amish grapevine, after all.
A thump from the rear of the building had them both looking up. “Sounds like Noah is here to do the locks,” her aunt said. “You’d best go through and see if he needs anything. I’ll take care of finishing the receipts.”
The mildness of her tone when she spoke of Noah was a change. Maybe, in view of everything else that had happened, Joanna’s friendship with Noah Troyer didn’t seem such a problem, after all.
It’s not as if there’s anything between us, Joanna reminded herself. A man and a woman can be friends, can’t they?
“Denke, Aunt Jessie. I guess we’d best make sure the doors are secure.” She escaped before Jessie could decide to object.
By the time Joanna got to the back door, Noah had already removed the boards that secured the door and was looking at the doorknob.
“This doesn’t seem damaged,” he said, moving over to make room for her beside him. “I think you’ll still be able to use the lock in the knob if you want. We’ll add the dead bolt, and you can lock it that way at night.”
Her shoulder pushed his arm as she leaned closer to see. “You’re not thinking of putting a chain on?”
“The dead bolt is more secure.” He glanced at her. “You’re not changing your mind, are you?”
She shook her head, trying to tell herself that she wasn’t affected in the least by being so close to him. “I trust your judgment on it. Caleb not here to help you?”
“I set him to work mopping the floor. He had enough of an outing today already.”
“He was looking awfully pleased with himself when he came back. Whatever you sent him to do, it must have been pleasant.”
He chuckled, and she liked the sound. He’d been too solemn lately, between the break-in and his troubles with the business.
“Caleb’s lucky he wasn’t supposed to be doing any work for me. If he had been, he couldn’t have been chatting with a girl down at the soda machine.”
“So that’s the attraction. I wondered why he was so devoted to helping lately.”
Noah gestured for her to hold the door steady. “It’s not just being in town. I don’t think so anyway. The boy really does have a mind to be in business, but Aaron thinks he should be helping on the farm.”
She could see that it worried him. He’d taken on responsibility for the whole family, she knew, and it must be difficult with the three younger ones and his mother to support. Wishing she had some wisdom to offer, she found some words drifting into her mind.
“My daad always says it’s no good setting a boy’s hand to the wrong plow. If Caleb isn’t a born farmer, Aaron’s bound to be disappointed.”
Noah stopped what he was doing for a moment to look at her, smiling just a little. “The bishop has it right, as always, I guess.”
“Are you being sarcastic?” she asked, remembering the feelings he’d revealed to her only last night.
He shook his head, his eyes crinkling. “No, I’m really not. I hope maybe I’ve outgrown some of the resentment I used to carry.”
“I’m glad,” she said simply, letting her hand rest on his arm for a brief touch before drawing it back.
Noah moved away slightly. “It’s not going to be much use for Caleb to learn the business if the hardware store fails.”
“It can’t. Really. I’m sure your customers will come back after the novelty wears off. And anyway, you still have your Amish customers, don’t you?”
Now he lifted his eyebrows. “Do I? I haven’t seen much of them in the past week, either.”
For a moment Joanna was too shocked to speak. “Seriously? I just don’t understand that. My Amish customers might go off to a bigger fabric store for dress material. I do myself, since I mostly carry quilting fabrics, but they still come to me otherwise.” Her temper was rising as she spoke. “The Leit should support each other.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t go around telling them so,” he suggested, his lips quirking. “They might not like it.”
“I don’t care about that a bit. I’m ashamed of them.”
His face seemed to close up. “There’s a difference between supporting the bishop’s daughter and the son of the community’s drunkard. Face it, Joanna. You had the answer about Floyd, but you can’t do anything about this.”
“We have to,” she said, moved by his pain. “Please, Noah. Let me help.” She put her hand on his, and this time she didn’t immediately pull it away. And he didn’t move.
They were so close she could hear his breath, so close she could see the tiny networks of lines around his eyes. Something seemed to tremble in the air between them. His eyes darkened, and the slightest movement would have made their lips touch.
Then Aunt Jessie called to her from upstairs, and the spell was broken. Noah began putting his tools in the toolbox.
“I’d best get on to doing the front door.” He turned away, carefully not meeting her eyes.
It didn’t matter whether he looked at her or not. The attraction was there...real and very intense. And this time they both knew it.