ROSEMARY WAITED FOR GLENN TO BRING THE BUGGY TO A stop in front of her brother’s house.
“I just want to try one more time to talk Adam into coming.”
She glanced over her shoulder to check on Leah in the infant carrier and Sarah and Marie on either side of the baby. “I’ll be right back.”
Adam met her on the front porch. “Save your breath, Rosemary.” He folded his arms across his chest and scowled. “I’m not going.”
“Adam, are you sure?”
Her brother dropped his hands to his sides. “I don’t want to be around him.” He paused, then refolded his arms. “What about you? I thought you weren’t going to speak to Daed. What happened to that?”
Rosemary sighed. “I know, I know.” She pressed her lips together for a moment. “I’m still angry at him, Adam. But he’s our father, and—and I guess I am also doing this for Mamm.” She pointed a finger at him. “And for our kinner. They have a right to have a relationship with their daadi.”
“My kinner will be just fine without him in their lives. He should’ve thought about everything he could lose when he abandoned his family.”
“What does Hannah think about this?”
“Mei frau will support my decision.” Adam gave a taut jerk of his head.
“What about forgiveness, Adam?”
Adams’s eyes widened. “Have you forgiven him, Rosemary?”
She tucked her chin. “I’m trying.”
“He wasn’t even here for little Leah’s birth.”
Rosemary faced off with her brother. “Okay, Adam. I can see this is going nowhere. I just wanted to try one more time.” She turned her back and headed down the porch steps.
“Rosemary?”
She spun around. “Ya?”
“Tell Mamm I’m sorry.”
Rosemary stared at her brother for a moment. “I will.”
As she headed back to her family, Rosemary’s heart was filled with conflicting emotions. Naaman Lapp was their father, and he’d always been a good one until a year ago. She’d always respected him more than any other man in the world—now she struggled to understand him and hoped she could hold her tongue today.
NAAMAN WALKED INTO THE KITCHEN WEARING HIS BLACK Sunday vest over a burgundy-colored shirt Levina had never seen before. Levina didn’t think he’d ever looked more handsome, but she could tell by the way the muscle in his jaw was working that he was nervous.
“You look very nice.” She placed a tray of pickles on the table. “The kinner should be here any minute.” She took a deep breath then sighed. “Naaman . . .”
He walked closer, raised a brow.
“Adam won’t be here today.” She bit her bottom lip. “Nor will Hannah and the children.” She held her breath and waited for his response.
Naaman swallowed hard. “I guess it will take time for Adam to forgive me.”
“I think so.” Levina forced a smile, then turned to stir her green beans on the stove.
“What about you, Levina? Have you forgiven me?”
She turned to face him, and for a brief instant she almost went to him. His forlorn expression begged for a hug. “Ya, Naaman. I forgave you a long time ago.”
“Because our faith requires it?” He hung his head slightly for a moment, then fearfully looked up at her.
Levina thought about easing his suffering, but she didn’t want to lie. “Ya,” she said softly. She took a deep breath, then went back to setting the table. A few moments later she heard the clippity-clop of hooves coming up the driveway.
Naaman walked to the window. “It looks like Freda and Jake.” He paused, leaning his face closer to the glass. “And I think that’s Tillie and Rufus behind them.”
“You will be surprised when you see Tillie. Since she’s been married, she’s lost a lot of weight.” Levina put a pitcher of iced tea in the middle of the table, then she brushed back a loose strand of hair that had fallen forward. “Tillie always loved to garden, and now that she has her own garden to tend to, along with her own house to take care of, she has trimmed up.”
“I always thought she was perfect the way she was.” Naaman turned briefly toward Levina and smiled.
“Tillie has always been a beautiful girl, but that extra weight she was carrying wasn’t good for her. She’ll have an easier pregnancy when the time comes, and that has nothing to do with vanity or pride.”
Their youngest daughter had been the only one of their children to struggle with extra pounds, and Levina could tell that Tillie felt better about herself since she’d lost some weight. She walked toward the door when she heard footsteps on the porch. Naaman was quickly at her side, and her husband took a deep breath before he pulled the door open.
“Hello, Daed.” Freda leaned forward and gave her father a hug.
Levina breathed a sigh of relief. To her surprise, Naaman eased away from Freda and embraced Jake in a hug as well.
Tillie came bouncing in behind her sister and brother-in-law and practically jumped into Naaman’s arms. “Daed!” Her eyes filled with tears. “I missed you.” She squeezed Naaman even tighter around the neck.
For Tillie, forgiveness had always come easily.
“You’re squeezing him to death.” Tillie’s husband, Rufus, tapped his wife on the shoulder, and Tillie let go of her father so Rufus could shake his hand—but Naaman also pulled Rufus into a hug.
Levina tried to rest easier, knowing that two of her five children were accepting of and grateful for their father’s return. She could see through the opened screen door that Rosemary was coming across the yard toting baby Leah. Glenn trailed behind her with their eight-year-old twins, Sarah and Marie.
“Hello, Daed.” Rosemary’s smile was bleak and tight-lipped. Her arms were full, carrying Leah and the diaper bag, and Levina instantly wondered if she had planned it that way. Her husband’s hands were free.
“So this is little Leah.” Naaman leaned down and eyed his newest granddaughter. “Four months old, no?”
Rosemary cut her eyes toward Levina, then looked back at Naaman. “Ya.” She moved away from her father, even though he was still leaning down and looking at Leah, and kissed Levina on the cheek. “Where’s Jonathan?”
“He’s not here yet.” Levina nudged Rosemary toward the den, out of earshot of the others. “Did you stop by Adam’s?”
“Ya.” Rosemary sighed. “He’s not coming, Mamm. He said he’s sorry.”
Levina let out a heavy sigh as she searched Rosemary’s eyes. Rosemary had just turned thirty last month, and she and her husband recently celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary. Levina loved her children equally, but she was closest to Rosemary. She would continue to pray that Rosemary would soften where her father was concerned.
“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” Levina smiled as she reached for Leah. “Let me hold that precious bundle.”
“She spit up on the way here.” Rosemary handed the baby to her mother. “I reckon because Glenn was driving so fast.” She rolled her eyes but smiled.
“Well, she won’t spit up on her mammi, will you, Leah?” Levina touched the tip of her finger to Leah’s nose, then realized how quiet it was in the other room. She carried Leah back into the kitchen and took a peek out the window. “The meal is ready, if you want to sit down at the table. I see Jonathan and Becky pulling into the driveway.”
Levina watched Naaman walk to the door, still limping. She knew that Jonathan was glad his father had returned, and she expected a warm reunion between the two, but as he embraced his father in a hug, she let out another sigh of relief. Becky and their three young children all greeted Naaman with a hug as well.
“Rosemary, there’s a fold-up table in the den for your girls and Jonathan’s three.” Levina pointed toward the other room as everyone began to take their seats at her table in the kitchen, which would hold all ten adults. “And the playpen is folded against the wall in there, if you want to lay Leah in it while you eat.”
Naaman took a seat at the head of the table, and Levina recalled the many meals she’d shared with her children while he was away. Yet he just took his seat as if not a day had passed . . . She closed her eyes for a moment. Please, Lord. I don’t want to hold a grudge.
Levina was the last to sit, and everyone bowed their heads in prayer.
She opened her eyes and saw Jonathan scooping mashed potatoes on his plate. She narrowed her eyes in his direction.
“What?” His brows lifted beneath his sun-streaked bangs. “I said my blessings fast.” He grinned. “I’m starving, Mamm.”
As they all filled their plates, light conversation ensued. Jonathan talked about how much he enjoyed his new responsibilities at the furniture store where he’d worked for nearly six months. Naaman couldn’t comment, since he didn’t know what Jonathan had done before his promotion. Freda reported that her friend Rebecca, who was new to the area, was finally out of the hospital after surgery to remove a tumor in her stomach. Everyone at the table offered thanks and praise about the news. Naaman nodded, although he’d never met Freda’s friend.
Tillie patiently waited to talk about her job at Yoder’s Pantry, where she’d worked part-time for the past few months. Levina was glad to see Tillie directing her comments to Naaman.
“Daed, you and Mamm will have to come eat lunch together there. Mamm comes sometimes. They have the best pretzels in the world! And my friend Abby goes there a lot, too, for lunch. Remember Abby Kauffman, Daed? She married Joseph Lambert, right after he came home and was baptized.”
Tillie’s round little cheeks lifted above dimples that Levina was sure God made special just for Tillie. Her smile had always been contagious, and when she started talking, her hands became animated and her bubbly zest for life could lift anyone’s spirits.
“Mamm and I helped teach Abby to cook. Abby’s mamm passed a long time ago, so she’d never really learned how.”
Levina was glad to see Naaman smiling.
“Anyway, I also love to talk to all the Englisch people when they come in.” Tillie giggled. “They ask so many questions about our way of life, and I like telling them about our faith.” She sat up taller. “Mamm, guess who came in yesterday?”
Levina swallowed a bite of beans. “Who?”
Tillie brought both hands to her chest and took a deep breath. “Bishop Ebersol.” She paused, pressing her lips together. “And guess what he said?”
“Just tell us, Tillie.” Jonathan chuckled, shaking his head. “I reckon everything is such a big deal to you.”
“He said that my bread pudding was the best he’d ever eaten. What about that?” A smile filled Tillie’s face. Then she almost bounced in her seat. “And Mr. Princeton came into Yoder’s last week too!”
Naaman cleared his throat. “And who is Mr. Princeton?”
“He’s the Englisch man who owns the Pantry along with Martha and John Yoder. That’s why we can have electricity, since an Englisch person is part owner.” Tillie reached across her husband for the salt.
Levina stifled a grin. Tillie’s husband, Rufus, was the quietest fellow she’d ever met. But his eyes lit up every time Tillie spoke.
Tillie went on for at least another ten minutes, filling her father in about every new family who had moved in, those who had left, and who was courting whom. With sadness in her eyes, she told him about the old widow who lived around the corner. “Sarah Dienner passed, too, Daed. Went in her sleep, they say. Her son is comin’ to put the place up for sale, and—”
“Why don’t you let Daed talk?” Rosemary interrupted. “I’m sure we’d all like to hear what he did in Ohio.”
Levina drew in a deep breath as she watched Rosemary fold her arms across her chest.
“Well, Daed?” Rosemary arched her brows. “Tell us. Tell us all about Middlefield.”
“Rosemary . . .” Levina said in a warning tone. No matter what, Naaman was still Rosemary’s father.
“What, Mamm?” Rosemary shrugged. “So, Daed . . . tell us. What was so wonderful about Middlefield, Ohio, that it would cause you to abandon your family for almost a year?”