The following Monday, Beth Ann dried the last bowl and put it in the cupboard, closing the door. She reached for the dishrag to wipe down the top of the stove. Making chili tonight for the children had been an inspired idea. The recipe Abby had shared with her had been simple and straightforward. The results had been a success, and the kitchen smelled of onions and chili powder. Though she’d eaten her fill, the scent was tantalizing.
“You missed it!” she heard Dougie say from the living room. “She cooked us a delicious meal.”
“Is that so?” Robert asked as she walked in.
She wasn’t sure if she would have recognized him if not for his voice. He wore earmuffs under his black hat, and a striped red-and-blue scarf wrapped around the neck of his sedate coat and reached halfway up his face.
She hadn’t expected him to stop by tonight, though she had hoped to talk to him soon and get his advice. Earlier in the day, while she’d been at the community center to pick up lunch for the volunteers at the project house, she’d received a call from her aunt’s attorney. The money would soon be released, and she needed to decide where she wanted it deposited. She’d agreed to contact the lawyer tomorrow or the next day with her answer.
But she had no idea what it would be.
As she’d hung up, she’d noticed several people looking at her. Had she talked too loudly? Other than Robert, she hadn’t told anyone about the inheritance. She’d grabbed the box with the meals and headed to the project house. There, she hadn’t had a chance during work to tell Robert about the call, and she didn’t want to talk about it in front of the children now.
Hooking a finger in the top of his scarf, Robert drew it down enough to ask, “How about a driving lesson?”
“Now? It’s eight o’clock, and if the puff of air that came in with you is any sign, it’s cold outside.”
“It’s not bad if you’re bundled up, and Gladys said she’d be glad to babysit.” He didn’t add more before a knock came at the door.
“You asked her before you asked me?”
“Let’s not leave the mayor out in the cold.” He opened the door and smiled when Gladys scurried in, as bundled up as he was.
The mayor smiled. “I hope you two plan on doing something indoors. It’s far too cold for December!”
“I was going to give Beth Ann a driving lesson,” he said. “There’s a battery-operated heater in the buggy. We should be okay.”
Both of them as well as the children focused on Beth Ann. Though she didn’t want to brave the cold, the idea of being alone with Robert—with no children as chaperones—was at the top of her list.
“I guess a few minutes won’t hurt,” she said, but couldn’t keep from smiling.
Dougie made a disgusted sound; Robert grinned. He wanted to spend time alone with her, too. If he was willing to challenge the cold, she was as well.
Getting her coat and her bonnet and two scarves and another of the mayor’s, she pulled those on before she took her gloves out of her pockets. She told the children to behave for Gladys and reminded them there were cookies for a treat.
The cold swept her breath away as Beth Ann stepped onto the landing. Hurrying down the steps in Robert’s wake, she climbed into the buggy without greeting Clipper, who was stamping his feet to stay warm.
“We shouldn’t keep him out long,” she said when Robert was sitting beside her. “He doesn’t have a heat box.”
“I figured a couple of times around the green would be sufficient tonight.” He smiled in the dim light hanging above the dashboard. “There’s not a lot of traffic, so it’s a gut time for you to practice.” He handed her the reins. “Do you remember how to hold these?”
Concentrating on arranging the reins through her fingers, which were clumsy in the thick gloves, she stiffened for a moment when he shifted closer to her and his arms encircled her. He put his hands on the reins next to hers. Surrounded by his strength, she had to fight her own yearning to lean back on his broad chest.
“All right,” he said, his breath sifting through his scarf and hers, “give him the command to start.”
She struggled to focus on her task when every motion of the buggy down the steep road bounced her against him. Listening to his instructions, she steered the buggy around the corner and toward the store.
“Look at that!” she exclaimed, pointing with her elbow to a for-sale sign tacked to the general store’s porch. “Mrs. Weiskopf is serious about leaving town. I wonder what it would be like to run a store where everyone in town comes in and shops. Wouldn’t it be fun to be able to help people like that?”
“I’d rather spend time creating something beautiful, whether it’s a bookcase or a table.”
She gazed at the store. “I think I’d love having a place like that. Working regular hours and being able to help people instead of being called out to deliver babies. I—”
“Beth Ann, pay attention to the road,” Robert ordered as the high beams from an approaching truck flashed in the rearview mirrors.
She maneuvered the buggy closer to the curb, and the truck zoomed around them, going too fast for the village streets.
As they turned to go along the other side of the green, Robert moved away from her and let her take control of the buggy. She missed the warmth of him, but she had to think about steering the buggy and keeping Clipper at a steady pace.
“Robert, I wanted to talk to you about something important,” she said when the buggy began to slow as it went up the hill.
“More important than driving the buggy?”
“I can drive and talk at the same time. I think.”
“You won’t know unless you try.”
After outlining what the attorney had told her, she asked, “What do you think I should do with the money?”
“Your aenti wanted you to spend it on something to make you happy.”
“I’m happy now.” She was happy being with Robert and the children in Evergreen Corners. The future was still a puzzle she hadn’t solved, but she was happy.
“Now?” he asked, his voice dropping into a husky rasp.
The sound sent shivers along her that had nothing to do with the cold. “Yes,” she whispered.
He drew the reins out of her hands and steered the buggy toward the curb, bringing the horse to a halt. “I am, too, Beth Ann.”
“Thank you for all you’re doing for me and the children.”
“I wish it could be more.”
“You’ve done more than I had any right to expect when I dragged you into this situation.” She leaned in to kiss his cheek.
His hands reached out to grasp her elbows, stopping her. Embarrassment seared her, but vanished as his fingers slipped up to her shoulders as his arms enveloped her. He pulled her to him, and her lips were met by his. The warmth she had seen earlier in his eyes caressed her mouth. Giving herself to the perfection of his embrace, she curved her arms up his back.
When he drew his mouth from hers, he whispered, “Open your eyes.”
She ignored his words, wanting to linger in this wondrous dream of being in his arms with his mouth against hers.
“Beth Ann, please,” he murmured.
She looked up at him as she ran a bold fingertip along his firm jaw. Turning his head, he teased her gloved fingers with a light kiss. He murmured her name as he bent to capture her lips again.
Clipper stamped his feet, rocking the buggy.
Robert released her. “I think he’s ready to get back to his warm stall.” He reached for the reins, but paused and kissed her again.
As he drove them toward the apartment, she shifted on the seat so she could lean her head on his shoulder. Once she left the buggy, reality would hit and she’d have to face the truth about how impossible it was for them to share more than these few stolen kisses. Nothing had changed. He was Amish. She wasn’t.
What if you were? The question bounced through her head, followed by more. If she were Amish, could she be licensed as a foster parent and keep the Henderson kids under her roof? She didn’t know any Amish people who fostered children. Some took in family members or neighbors’ children for days or even years, but being licensed by the state might not be allowed.
She didn’t want to choose between Robert and the children. She wanted all of them in her life, but the truth was, within weeks, each one of them could be gone.
Beth Ann stiffened when she heard someone shout Robert’s name. He turned the buggy toward the curb again, and she realized they were in front of the community center.
Michael Miller ran up to the door. “Robert, I’ve been looking for you. Oh, Beth Ann!”
“I’ve been teaching her to drive the buggy,” Robert said as if it were the most unexpected thing in the world.
“I need to speak with you.” His face was taut as he looked from Robert to her. “Both of you.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Can we talk inside?” Michael wrapped his arms around himself and stamped his feet as Clipper had.
Beth Ann almost shouted to Robert to whip up the horse and get them away from whatever bad news Michael had, but she said, “All right.”
Pausing to throw a blanket over Clipper, smoothing it across the horse’s back, Robert followed Michael and Beth Ann into the community center. Why had Michael intruded? Robert had something to tell her, too, something that might ruin everything he’d hoped for. No, it would ruin everything, which was why he’d kissed her while he could. He wouldn’t have the chance again after she learned he’d been offered a job at the hardware store in Rutland. The pay was excellent, and the hours gut, leaving him time to spend on his woodworking. It was everything he’d prayed for.
Except it was too far away from her and the kinder. Worse, once the kids were placed elsewhere, she’d be alone in Evergreen Corners and she might decide to leave. With the money from her aenti’s bequest, she could go anywhere.
Now wasn’t the time to tell her, not when Michael could hear at the same time. A part of him was relieved, but he must tell her soon.
When Michael led them to the hall between the community center and the chapel, the cold hallway was lit only by exit signs. He flipped a switch, and a single lamp came on about halfway along it. Set on a table holding hymn books, the lamp offered enough light so Robert could see the strain on his friend’s face.
“What’s up?” He was pleased he was able to put a positive spin on the question. Maybe if he stayed optimistic, the discussion would end up okay. He was fooling himself. A single glance at the tension tightening his friend’s mouth was warning enough that something was wrong. Very wrong.
Michael glanced around again, as if he expected eavesdroppers loitering in the shadows, before he asked, his breath hanging in the air, “Will you understand if we speak in Deitsch, Beth Ann?”
“I know enough to get along in most conversations. If I can’t get what you’re saying, I’ll ask.”
With a nod, he switched to the language the Amish used among themselves. “Gut. I’d rather not have to worry about any Englisch folks hearing us.” Looking at Robert, he said, “Kevin’s mentioned to me today that Douglas has new toys Kevin thinks are ‘cool.’ His word, not mine.”
“New toys?” repeated Beth Ann. As Michael began to explain, she waved his words aside. “I got what you said, but the kinder don’t have any new toys.”
“Kevin said Douglas was showing off a handheld computer game. Douglas hid it in his backpack when Cora came to check on their desk work.”
She glanced at Robert. “Did you buy the kinder presents for Christmas?”
“I did,” he replied, “but not a handheld computer game.”
“So where did Douglas get it?” asked Michael, bringing Robert’s attention to him.
“I don’t know.” He looked at Beth Ann.
She shook her head. “I don’t know, either.”
Michael drew in a deep breath. “I don’t want to accuse the boy, but I keep thinking about the thefts at the work sites.”
Robert nodded. “Those have been going on for months, ain’t so?”
“We had a few in the fall, and they stopped.” Michael met his gaze steadily. “They started again a couple weeks of ago, which is why we began locking the tools away.”
Beth Ann’s brows lowered. “Who has a key?”
“Each of our team leaders does,” Robert said. “Four of us. Michael, Jose Lopez, Vernon Umble and me. Except for me, the others have been working on and off for more than a year.”
“Is the key on your key ring?”
Dismay dropped through him like a rock over a cliff. “Ja.” He told Michael about losing his keys while shoveling snow. “They were out of my possession for no more than an hour or two.”
Michael waved aside his words. “That was only a few days ago. These robberies have been going on for at least two weeks, and...”
“Dougie had the game today,” Beth Ann said. “I hope the two aren’t connected, Michael, but I’ll talk to Dougie when we get home.”
“We will,” added Robert. “It’s time to get answers about a lot of things.”
Though Beth Ann hoped the conversation with Dougie would go well, it turned sour from the moment the younger children were put to bed and she and Robert asked Dougie to join them in the kitchen. Dougie slouched in his chair and wouldn’t look in their direction as Robert outlined what they’d been told.
“Kevin has a big mouth for such a little kid.” Dougie clamped his arms to his chest and glowered. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”
“No?” asked Robert. “What reason would Kevin have to lie about you showing off a fancy new computer toy?”
“I dunno.”
“Where’s the toy?” Beth Ann asked.
“I don’t have it.”
“Do you know where it is?” Robert’s tone harshened. “Playing word games might be fun on that computer, Dougie, but it’s not going to work with us.”
“I told you. I don’t have it, and I don’t know where it is.”
“Where was it when you last saw it?”
The boy shrugged.
Beth Ann put a hand on Robert’s arm. His tension was palpable through his sleeve. “Robert...”
He ignored her as he locked eyes with the boy. “Are you going to add lying to your sin of stealing?”
“I didn’t steal anything.” The boy jumped up and stood on tiptoe in an effort to put his face close to Robert’s. “Don’t call me a thief!”
“I won’t call you a thief if you confess how you got the money for that toy!”
“None of your business!”
Robert clenched his fingers into fists and took a single step toward the boy.
Beth Ann had heard and seen enough. “Stop this, both of you! Dougie, we’ll talk in the morning. Go to bed.”
“It’s too early—”
“Go to bed. If you can’t sleep, take the time to think about what you’ve done and said and ask God’s forgiveness.”
“What about him?” He hooked a thumb at Robert, who had moved away to lean one hand on the counter.
“I’m going to give him the same advice.”
When Dougie opened his mouth to retort, she scowled and pointed to the living room. The boy swaggered out of the kitchen as if he’d won the argument.
She ignored his attitude and looked at Robert as she closed the door to the other room. He appeared more distressed than he’d been when Michael sought them out at the community center.
“Give him time, Robert,” she said.
“To do what? Create more trouble?” He winced and lowered his eyes.
She wasn’t sure what in his few words had sent pain through him. “Yelling at him won’t make him honest. He’s as stubborn as you are.”
“So how do you suggest we convince him to be honest with us?”
“Dougie has to be willing to trust us.”
“That’s not an answer. That’s...” Again he grimaced.
“What is it?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Nothing. Tired of quarreling.” Pushing away from the counter, he said, “I need to go.”
“Robert—”
“Gut nacht,” he said before he walked out, slamming the kitchen door behind him.
She stared at the vibrating door, shocked at what she’d witnessed. She’d never heard Robert use a low, menacing voice as he had when speaking to Dougie. It had unsettled him, too, because he’d stopped himself twice from saying more or grabbing the boy. Had he intended to shake some sense into Dougie?
She couldn’t guess. She knew only one thing with all her heart. Robert had said good-night as he stormed out of the kitchen, but deep inside her it felt like goodbye.