TEN

“I HAD SO MUCH FUN TODAY,” ETHAN SAID AS HE SWEPT the kitchen floor. “Mark and I mucked the stalls, and then he let me help him fix the henhouse.”

“You’re a gut helper.” Priscilla looked over her shoulder at him as she stacked clean dishes in a cabinet.

“That’s nice,” Mamm said as she wiped off the table. “You like Mark, don’t you?”

“Oh ya.” Ethan bent and swept the crumbs into the dustpan. “He’s really nice to me.”

Priscilla bit back the bitter taste of guilt as she remembered how she’d avoided Mark earlier in the week. It had been two days since she’d rejected his invitation to eat lunch with him. He’d seemed to still want to talk to her when he approached her in the kitchen on Tuesday and then again out on the porch on Wednesday. But she’d dismissed him both times.

Why did he continue to try to win her over with friendship? Most men would have given up by now. What did he hope to accomplish by befriending her? She wasn’t worthy of his constant attempts, but he didn’t seem to be planning on giving up anytime soon.

“There! All done.” Ethan dumped the crumbs into the trash can and then set the dustpan and broom in the utility room.

“Are you ready for your bath?” Mamm asked.

“Ya.” Ethan started toward the stairs.

“I’ll get him ready if you want to finish the kitchen,” Mamm said, offering her help.

“Ya, that would be fine. Danki.”

Priscilla finished stowing the utensils and wiping down the counters.

Once the kitchen was clean, she went into the family room. Her father was sitting in his favorite chair reading The Budget. She wiped her palms down her apron as her stomach seemed to flip.

How she longed for her father’s approval, for his love. She still felt like a stranger in the home where she’d been born.

Her thoughts turned to the small swing set Dat and Mark set up for Ethan last week. She’d watched Ethan play on the swings and slide more than once since then, and the smile on his face had made her happy. It was clear Dat loved his grandson, which was a step in the right direction. Perhaps she could use the swing set as a bridge to a truce.

Taking a deep breath, she squared her shoulders. “Dat.” Her voice trembled as she took a step toward him.

He peered at her over his reading glasses, his lips making a flat line.

She stared at him, her words caught in her throat and her thoughts a jumbled mess.

When he looked back down at the newspaper, her shoulders tightened with anger.

“I want to thank you for building the swing set for Ethan,” she began. “He really enjoys it.”

Dat mumbled something that sounded like “gut” while keeping his eyes on his newspaper.

“Dat, look at me,” she pleaded. She nearly faltered at the thread of desperation in her voice.

He kept his focus on the newspaper as if she were invisible.

“Don’t ignore me,” she insisted. “I’m your dochder.”

His eyes snapped to hers, and his face clouded with a scowl. “You stopped being mei dochder the day you left this community.”

His words speared her, like a knife piercing her heart.

He returned to reading as if he hadn’t just inflicted pain.

“Did you ever consider that you could be the reason I left?” she snapped. Swallowing back a burning knot of sobs, she fled up the stairs. When she reached her bedroom, she stepped inside, closed the door, and wilted against it as tears streamed from her eyes.

“There’s a voice mail message for you.”

Priscilla looked up from her sewing machine the following morning. She faced her mother in the doorway as dread washed over her, locking her muscles. Had Trent found them?

“Why are you looking at me like that? You should go listen to it.” Mamm nodded toward the hallway. “You’re going to be excited.”

“Who is it?” Priscilla held her breath.

“Laura.”

“What did she say?”

“Just go listen to it.” Mamm grinned and then disappeared from the doorway.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Priscilla finished the stitches on the quilt she’d been repairing and then headed outside.

She breathed in the humid air as she descended the back porch steps and trekked toward her father’s office in the largest barn. She looked over at the pasture and spotted Mark leaning forward on the split-rail fence as he stood beside Ethan and gestured toward where her father was training a horse. Mark smiled as he said something to Ethan, who nodded in response, his face serious as if he were concentrating on what Mark told him.

Ethan looked over his shoulder at Priscilla, and his face broke into a smile as he waved. “Hi, Mamm!”

“Hi, Ethan!” Priscilla waved in response.

Ethan stood up straighter and pointed to Mark. “Mark is teaching me about horse training!”

Mark glanced at her, smiled, and shrugged. “Your dat is really the expert. I’m still a student.”

“That’s nice. Danki, Mark.” She smiled.

Something in Mark’s smile changed, and it seemed more genuine and tender. She took in his attractive face, tall stature, and broad shoulders, and heat infused her cheeks. He truly was a striking man, and she appreciated his kindness and patience toward her son. If only her life were different, maybe she could consider him a trusted friend. But how could she trust another man? She couldn’t take that risk with Ethan or with her heart.

Mark nodded before he and Ethan turned back to the pasture, and she hurried into the barn, its aromas greeting her as she walked to the office. She picked up the phone’s receiver, dialed the voice mail number, entered the code, and retrieved Laura’s message.

“Hi.” Laura’s voice sounded through the receiver. “This is Laura Lambert. I’m calling for Priscilla. Priscilla, I want to invite you and Ethan to join my family and me for supper tomorrow night. It will be a lot of fun, and we’d love for you to come. We’d like to eat around five thirty. I hope to see you both there. Let me know if that works. Danki!” She left her phone number, and then the line went dead.

Priscilla sank onto a stool as she considered her response. While she’d love to join Laura and her family for supper, she also didn’t want to be subjected to eating at a separate table. Laura hadn’t isolated her at the quilting bee, but a family dinner would be different. How embarrassing would it be to go to supper at a friend’s house and be ostracized because she was still shunned? No, now wasn’t the time to socialize with friends. As much as she wanted to spend time with Laura, she’d have to wait.

She dialed the number and, feeling like a coward, hoped to get voice mail so she wouldn’t have to hear the disappointment in her friend’s voice when she turned down her invitation.

After a couple of rings, Allen’s voice came through the phone. “You’ve reached the Bird-in-Hand Carriage Shop. We sell, restore, and repair buggies. The shop is open Monday through Friday, eight to five, and Saturdays, eight to noon. Please leave a message, and I will call you back as soon as I can. Thank you.”

After the beep Priscilla began to speak. “Hi, this message is for Laura. This is Priscilla. Thank you so much for your invitation, but we’re not going to make it for supper tomorrow night.” She picked up a pencil and absently drew circles on a notepad. “I’m backed up with sewing projects, and I need to get them completed so the customers can have them. Danki for inviting me, but maybe Ethan and I can come another time. Talk to you soon. Bye!”

When she walked by the pasture, Ethan and Mark waved again. She entered the house, climbed the stairs, and took her place at the sewing machine.

She was finishing up the quilt repair when Mamm came and sat on the chair beside her table.

“Did you call Laura back?” Mamm asked.

“Ya.” Priscilla turned toward her. “I turned her down and said maybe some other time.”

“Why?” Mamm’s eyes searched hers for an explanation.

“I don’t want to go to Laura’s haus and feel like an outsider.” She shrugged and looked down at the quilt.

“An outsider? What do you mean?”

“I don’t want to go to supper with her entire family and have to eat at a separate table. I know that’s the rule, but it’s humiliating for me. It’s bad enough Ethan and I can’t stay for lunch after the services. Being singled out there would be even worse.” Priscilla turned and began sewing again.

“Wait.” Mamm placed her hand on Priscilla’s shoulder, prompting her to stop working and turn toward her. “Laura wouldn’t invite you over just to exclude you. You should go. You need to get out of this haus and be with your freinden.”

“No, not until the shunning is over.”

“But Priscilla, you need to—”

“Please, Mamm.” Priscilla held up her hand to stop her from speaking. “I’m fine.” She gestured toward the pile of sewing projects stacked on her dresser. “I’m busy, and I’m froh. I’ll worry about seeing mei freinden after I’m caught up on my projects and I can sit at the same table to eat with them. Okay?”

Mamm nodded, but she continued to study her.

Priscilla’s stomach tightened as she anticipated a lecture from her mother. She turned her attention back to the quilt and hoped Mamm would leave without instructing her on how to live her life.

“What happened with Trent?”

Priscilla stilled at the question, her eyes trained on the quilt as her stomach soured.

“When I asked you the first night you were back if he’d hurt you, you said you were okay. I told you I’m ready to listen if you want to talk, but you haven’t opened up to me. I’m worried about you. What happened?”

Priscilla’s hand flew to her bicep as she considered her response. “He was loving and attentive when I first met him, but he changed, especially after I had Ethan.”

“How did he change?” Mamm prodded.

Priscilla rubbed the back of her neck as she considered her words. “He had a short temper, and he expected me to work harder and make more money while he stayed home and drank. He couldn’t keep a job, and I had to take care of everything. I grew tired of his moods.”

Mamm clicked her tongue and shook her head. “He should have been taking care of you and Ethan. Was he cruel to Ethan?”

“He never physically hurt him, but he yelled at him.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I’m glad you were strong enough to leave him and come home to us.” Mamm rubbed her back. “Just don’t let Trent’s behavior hold you back from moving on with your life. Don’t let Trent define your relationships with others.”

Priscilla nodded. “Okay.”

Mamm stood. “I’m going to get back to work. Let me know if you need any help.”

“I will.” Priscilla forced a smile as she looked up at her. “Danki, Mamm.”

After her mother left the room, Priscilla turned her attention back to the quilt and tried not to allow her thoughts to linger on Trent.

Mark tried to keep his focus on his work as he hammered a nail into the barn door, but his thoughts kept drifting to how pretty Priscilla looked in the rose-colored dress she was wearing when he saw her walking from the house to the barn. He’d been mesmerized when she smiled at him and waved. Was she going to give their friendship a chance?

“Mark?”

He tented his eyes with his hand and looked up at Edna standing over him.

“Hi, Edna.” He set the hammer on the ground and stood, wiping his hands down his dusty trousers. “Wie geht’s?”

“I need your help.”

“What can I do for you?”

Edna glanced toward the house and then looked up at him. “Laura left Priscilla a message inviting her and Ethan to supper tomorrow, and Priscilla refuses to go. She says she doesn’t want to feel like an outsider with her freinden.”

Disappointment pulled at his lips. His sister’s plan wasn’t going to go as smoothly as he’d anticipated. “How would Laura make her feel like an outsider?”

“She says she doesn’t want to have to sit at a separate table during supper and feel ostracized.”

“Laura would never do that.”

“I know.” Edna folded her hands as if she were praying. “Would you please convince her to go?”

Mark couldn’t stop a smile. “What makes you think I have the power to change her mind?”

“I just have a feeling she might listen to you. Would you please talk to her?”

“Ya.” Mark shrugged. “I’ll give it try.”

“Danki.” Edna patted his arm. “You’re a gut man.”

As Edna walked away, Mark racked his brain for a new approach that would convince Priscilla to go to his sister’s house tomorrow night.

“Did you have a gut day?” Priscilla sat on the edge of Ethan’s bed and tucked the sheet under his arms later that evening.

“Ya.” Ethan nodded. “Mark told me all about training horses, and Daadi says he’s going to teach me how to do it when I’m bigger. Are we going to stay here long enough for Daadi to teach me how to train horses?”

“Ya, I was thinking that we might stay here longer than we planned. Would you like that?” Priscilla pushed a strand of his thick, dark hair off his forehead and kissed it. She hoped her father would keep that promise and maintain a close and healthy relationship with Ethan.

“Yeah, it would be fun to stay longer. I think Dad would love to see the horses, though,” Ethan continued. “Do you think we can invite him to come visit us?” He patted the empty side of the bed beside him. “He could sleep with me if you want.”

Priscilla’s belly churned as a wall of panic at the thought of seeing Trent slid into her. “I guess we’ll see.”

“Please, Mamm?” Ethan whined.

“I’ll have to think about it.” She touched his nose to distract him. “Get some sleep. Don’t forget to say your prayers.”

“Gut nacht, Mamm. Ich liebe dich.”

She rubbed his arm. “You’re doing well with your Dutch.” She stood. “Good night, and I love you too.” She stepped out of his room and closed the door behind her.

Someday she’d explain why she had to take him away from his father. When she did, maybe her son would understand and forgive her.