WORD CIRCULATED RAPIDLY through the community grapevine that Dan Miller was in the hospital. It was common of Amish communities to not have traditional insurance but rather to have a fund, managed by the bishop, that would help pay hospital bills and the like. Besides the community fund, many of the women would help out if there was work to be done around the house, and the Miller family was no exception to these versatile aids in funding and support.
In fact, John was awakened the morning following his daed’s admission to the hospital by the smell of fresh coffee and frying bacon. He rubbed his eyes and glanced at the clock on the dresser by his bed and saw that it was barely after 5:00 a.m. He dressed quickly, wondering who he’d greet downstairs as his phantom cook. He went down, then stopped motionless when he saw Tabitha at the stove, his mamm’s ample apron wrapped twice about her slim waist.
“Tabitha? What . . .”
“It was either me or Barbara Esch. I practically had to beat her off with a stick,” she said briskly. “But when she saw I had the biscuits set, she gave up and went home.”
“Really?” he asked, a smile coming to his lips.
“Ya, really.”
He watched her move easily between the stove and the table and was glad for once of Matt’s late sleeping habits so that he could have a bit of time alone with Tabitha, though he knew it was wrong to want the stolen moments with Rob’s beloved.
“So, I guess you won’t be leaving for a time,” Tabitha asked softly, clearly uncomfortable in bringing up the obvious point.
“Nee—not until Daed is well, and that could take weeks.” He went on, wanting to say the right thing. “Perhaps Rob will be back by then.”
“Ya, I’m sure he’d be a great comfort to you now,” she murmured, setting a glass jar of bright orange marmalade on the table.
John watched the movements of her slender hands, confused by her response. But what about you? Won’t Rob be a comfort to you? Coming back. . . courting you. . . marrying you.
“I think everything’s ready. Do you want to get Matt? I heard that Esther stayed with your mamm at the hospital.”
John shook his head. “Matt sleeps in and works late. Sei se gut, kumme and sit down yourself.”
He indicated a place at the table, and she slipped off the apron and then sat down on the bench. He sat beside her, deciding to allow himself this slight luxury, but he soon realized that it was a mistake when he caught the sweet fragrance of her soaping and found himself unable to concentrate on his food after their moments of silent grace.
Yet, as they quietly ate and talked, he couldn’t help thinking that it should always be like this. Like this. . . together. . . forever.
Tabitha couldn’t help thinking that it should always be like this. The two of us together, eating, talking, living life with whatever blessings or sorrows Derr Herr sees fit to give us.
But she knew that it was enough to be content with the moment, even as she thought prayerfully of John’s daed.
“Everything is delicious,” John praised, and she tried to hide the blush she felt staining her cheeks by getting up to fetch the cinnamon sugar for the toast.
She knew that Gott had given her the idea of revealing her love for John through cooking delicacies for him while his mamm and Esther were away. It seemed so simple—the proverbial saying that “the way to a man’s heart was through his stomach”—but she knew it was more than simply a passing thought. Derr Herr had given her the idea, and she would follow through, letting her heart speak through her cooking and baking. Of course, John might never know, but she had faith enough to try.
“I’d like to make you—and Matt—lunch on a regular basis, if you’d allow it,” she said after taking a sip of peppermint tea. She knew that John had only to spread the word that lunches were covered, and the community would arrange for food at other times.
But then she noticed that John seemed to hesitate over her offer, his dark blue eyes lowered to his plate and his firm jaw set. She waited, her breath held, until he looked up at her and finally nodded.
“Ya, danki, Tabitha. I will tell Matt to let the other womenfolk know.”
She couldn’t suppress the smile of joy that came to her lips. “Nee, thank you, John. I want to be able to help during this stressful time, and I—”
“Now, what’s all this?”
Tabitha looked up as Matt entered the kitchen with a cheerful laugh. She smiled in return though she was disappointed that this stolen time with John had come to an end. She started to rise to fill his plate, but John caught her hand briefly, then let go. “Let Matt get his own food. You cooked—that’s more than enough.”
“Ach,” Matt joked. “I can see that you will one day be a gift to your no doubt sweet future wife, big bruder. . . whoever she may be.”
Tabitha wondered briefly at Matt’s words, then realized that, as one of the youth, Matt must believe that John and she were courting, even though John had elected to move away. She shook her head a bit, confused by all of the social logistics, then remembered that she had never made the call to Rob to tell him about her and John’s fake courting. But still, she recalled, John was supposed to have written to his best friend, so hopefully, all would be well except for the fact that she’d have to tell Rob that she no longer wished to court. If Gott willed that she could not have John in her life, then perhaps she would be content as a woman like Aenti Elizabeth, because she couldn’t imagine ever loving another man so long as John walked the earth. Yet her life belonged to Derr Herr.
She rubbed at her temple, and John brushed her sleeve with his fingertips. “Are you all right, Tabitha?”
“Ya, of course . . . I was thinking—I must get home for Aenti Elizabeth, but I will be back with lunch today. I’m making a rhubarb pie.”
“We’ll be here,” Matt said, licking his lips. “And I love rhubarb pie.”
“And what about John?” Tabitha couldn’t help but ask.
Matt smiled. “Ach, he—”
“He loves rhubarb pie,” John said, cutting Matthew off neatly.
Tabitha nodded, avoiding the knowing dark blue eyes bent upon her. “Gut,” she whispered, then left the warm kitchen for the early morning chill outside.