Abby nodded. “I pray he did as well. We’d better start talking about something else or people will know we were talking about something difficult.”
Emma smiled. “Ja. How is Zeke doing these days?
Oh, you know...he just throws his dirty things on the floor, not in the laundry hamper. He leaves the toothpaste tube open, no matter how many times I remind him to close it!”
Emma laughed outright. Abby was, and always had been, the neatest one of them, unable to abide anything out of place. Every time Emma went to Abby’s, she was surprised at how neat the house was. Nothing was out of place. Even Abby’s quilting room was in perfect order.
“Okay, we’re here. How do I help you down?”
“Take my cane and set it aside, then hold my hand. I’ll slide my bottom to the floor of the buggy and slip down that way—less stress on my knee.”
“Got it.” Abby did as Emma directed, letting go of Emma’s hand only when she was steady on her feet and cane. “Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.” Emma had spotted what looked like Barbara’s buggy along the side of the fence. The horses were busy pulling up grass, chewing it as they rested. Inside the house, she saw Barbara surrounded by three or four of her friends. She took the initiative, smiling and nodding at her sister so Barbara wouldn’t be in her face, begging for attention.
Barbara was shocked when Emma smiled and waved at her, hopeful she would choose to sit nearby so she could learn about what she’d been doing. As she registered Emma’s new weight loss, she struggled to keep a happy smile on her face.
Emma spotted a few open chairs at the opposite end of the long room. Sitting down, she rested her cane against the wall behind her.
The deacon’s wife greeted them and asked Emma how she was doing. “I’m gut, denki. My knee is getting much better, but I’m keeping up with the exercises so I can get more flexibility.”
“You’ve lost so much weight! Do you mind telling me how much?”
“Ja, if you promise not to tell Barbara’s friends.”
“Or Barbara, I take it,” she replied knowingly.
“Ja. I’ve lost about 60 pounds, maybe a little more by now.”
Her eyes rounded. “That much? Oops, Barbara’s walking by.” She lapsed into silence, working on her quilt squares.
As Barbara passed, all she heard was “That much?” She strained her ears, trying to hear more, but as her sisters and their friends grew quiet, she realized they had circled their protection around Emma. Clasping the extra squares of fabric she’d chosen, she returned to her table.
At lunchtime, Emma prepared her small lunch, aware that Barbara was trying to see what she had brought with her. She produced a small bowl of salad, a small sandwich and orange slices.
Barbara sighed. Emma was being so stubborn! Don’t do or say anything. You’re supporting her weight loss now. Reminding herself of this, she smiled happily at Emma. “It looks like your diet is helping you out a lot! That lunch looks wunderbaar.”
Emma was stunned. “Denki. It’s just salad, a sandwich and fruit.”
“I have the family on a new diet, too. Ben asked me if we could do what you’re doing—for our health.”
“Gut! I’m happy for you. You’ll feel much more comfortable.”
“Ja, I hope.” Finishing the stilted conversation, Barbara hurried back to her friends with her own lunch, which consisted of a sandwich made from lean roast beef, mustard and a healthy helping of lettuce and tomatoes. She had caved and included a few oatmeal raisin cookies, along with her apple. But she felt comfortable knowing... Wait. Maybe I can do the same as Emma. If I lose weight, I’ll still be seen as the pretty one. Why didn’t I think of that before?
With that realization and her decision made, Barbara ate nearly all of her sandwich and only two of the three cookies she’d brought. “Martha, I’m going to save my cookie for later on, unless you’d like it. I am full!”
Martha was stunned. Barbara had never been one to leave food on her plate. “Are you well? You never leave food!”
Barbara was miffed, but chose to hide this. “I am well. I just put too many slices of meat in my sandwich, that’s all. And I made a big breakfast for Ben and the kinder.”
“Ach. Well, then, denki.” Martha scooped up the lone cookie in front of Barbara.
Barbara looked at Martha, thinking, You could well afford to gain a few pounds. You’re all bone!
By mid-afternoon, Barbara was in agony. Her stomach was growling, but she wasn’t about to give in. Instead, she ate her apple and filled a glass with water, drinking that to quell the hunger pangs. Shortly after, the frolic ended.
At home, Barbara put her things away and even though it was still early, she started supper.
Ben and the children came stomping back into the house as she was mashing the potatoes. “You’re home! What’s for supper? I’m hungry!”
Barbara sighed, glad she’d started early. “Beef potpie, mashed potatoes, green beans and Brussels sprouts.”
“Okay, what’s for dessert?” Michael was bouncing, eager to sit down.
“Ice cream.”
“I hope it’ll be ready soon!”
“Michael, you put napkins by everyone’s plate. Annie, you put the silverware.”
Barbara had to force herself not to eat everything she wanted to eat. Even though she really wanted a second serving of potpie, she took the casserole dish to the counter and covered it with foil. “For supper tomorrow night.”
As she read after supper, she tried to ignore her empty-feeling middle.
“Barbara, would you like something to eat?”
“Oh, nee. Why?”
“I see you looking at the kitchen. Your stomach is growling. It’s obvious to me that you’re hungry.” Ben was ready to stand.
Barbara considered for a few seconds. “Okay, but just an apple and a glass of milk.”
Ben brought them to her. “Are you trying to lose weight faster?”
“Maybe. Why?”
“That’s the only reason you’d deny yourself something to eat.”
“Ja. I was thinking about what you said last week. We do need to get healthier, and we are the best examples our kinder have.” Barbara took a bite of apple, feeling virtuous about choosing a healthy snack.
“Ja. Is there another reason? Emma was at the frolic, right?”
Barbara coughed, uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. “Ja, she was.”
“We saw her two weeks ago at Meeting. She has lost a significant amount of weight. How do you feel about that?”
“Gut. Really! She’s getting healthy. Ben, I was mupsich about her weight loss. I admit it. She’s already getting healthier. We know my doctor told me I needed to bring my weight down. Seeing Emma looking so much better made me realize the doctor was right. After all, we’re not getting any younger.”
Ben let out a loud laugh. “Wife, we are only in our late 20s! We have a long way to go before we move into the grossdaudi haus!”
Barbara grinned reluctantly. She was just relieved that Ben hadn’t picked up on her real reason for choosing to be so strict about her food intake. She was now in competition with Emma. And, even though she was just starting on her weight loss, she still had less weight to lose than Emma needed to lose. She was determined to win.
“Well, you know what I mean. We’ve talked about more kinder. I gain weight with each pregnancy and, like my doctor says, it’s healthier to weigh less so that when I give birth, I can lose that weight more easily.”
“Speaking of another baby, Jeb is four, going on five. I think it’s high time we add another boppli to the family.”
“When I’ve lost a few pounds? I want to be lighter when I get pregnant.”
“Gut. We’ll plan for that.”
Now, Barbara had a second goal to add to her first. She would use that one in discussing why she was working so hard to lose weight. She hid a small smile with her glass as she drank her milk. Going to bed, she realized the small snack had helped her stomach to stop growling.
***
Emma tapped the table with one finger as she explained what had happened that day at the frolic. “She actually seemed happy at my weight loss. Mam, I was stunned! I couldn’t feel anything negative coming from her, at all.”
“What did she take for her lunch? Something unhealthy?”
“Nee. Roast beef sandwich, oatmeal-raisin cookies and an apple with some coffee. And she left a cookie behind! She gave it to Martha Yoder.”
“She hasn’t done that since she was twelve!”
“Mam, I’m just glad to see she’s taking weight loss seriously. She was visibly gaining weight just after I had my surgery.”
“Ja, I’ve heard that some people use food as a crutch. I hope Barbara isn’t one of those. I’m just grateful.”
***
Emma went back to work after visiting her bariatric surgeon. As she drove, her heart was singing. She had lost a total of ninety pounds! And she felt satisfied after every meal and healthy snack. I’ll tell Jacob we can start revealing our relationship to our friends.
That weekend, the Lapp family got together for dinner. As Barbara and her family came in, she paused for a few seconds when she saw Emma. “Emma! Look at you! Wunderbaar! How much have you lost?”
Emma smiled shyly. “My doctor has asked me not to give exact numbers. But my weight loss is on track.” In truth, Emma just didn’t want to tell Barbara how much weight she had actually lost. She still felt a twinge of uneasiness whenever Barbara tried to talk to her about her weight loss.
Barbara was frustrated. She didn’t know how much weight Emma still had to lose, so she couldn’t gauge how fast she needed to lose her own weight. “Have you noticed anything new about me?”
Emma felt like she was walking into a trap. Feeling tentatively with her mind, she tipped her head to the side. “Hmmm. You do have a glow ab— Are you expecting?”
Barbara was wordless. “Nee...do I look pregnant?”
“Nee. Well, what is it? You do look happy.”
“Your weight loss encouraged Ben and me to start the same. He and I were talking, and he said he felt as if he was getting too big for his clothes.”
“Oh! Well, gut for you! You’ll feel much better and healthier. Let me go see if Mam needs any more help.”
Turning, Emma hurried off, feeling more than a little unsettled. She wasn’t sure what was causing her feelings. Hearing Abby calling her, she decided she would try to puzzle her reaction out later that night. “Ja? What do you need?”
“Help me get the meat out of the oven. The pan is heavy!”
A few minutes later, having placed the heavy roaster on top of the stove, Emma and Abby were quietly working, taking the baked potatoes out of their foil sleeves, stirring butter into the vegetables and tossing the fresh salad.
“Emma, did you see the pound cake? It was in the pantry.” Ann poked her head out of the pantry with a worried look on her face.
“Nee, I didn’t. Where did you have it?”
“Inside the cabinet, behind the doors.”
Barbara heard this exchange and felt guilty. “Mam, I took it. I wanted to substitute it with a different dessert.”
“Daughter, where did you put it? That’s specifically what I chose for our dessert!”
“I’m sorry. I’ll bring it back.” Barbara disappeared outside, going to the front yard. A few minutes later, she came back with the pound cake. “I’ll take that home.”
“Applesauce cake? It’s one of our favorites, but it’s higher in fat than the strawberry shortcake! We are all making progress, Barbara! Please, don’t do this again.”
“I’m sorry.” Barbara felt small as she realized that she was hurting everyone’s efforts to lose their unwanted weight.
Taking her own cake back to the buggy, she knew she would need to go ahead with her original plan to discredit Emma and permanently harm her reputation. That settles it. She’ll have to be accused of harming a child here...now, who could it be?
Hurrying back inside, she promised herself she would continue her planning after the kinder and Ben were out of the house. “Abby? Will you be busy tomorrow, in the morning?”
“Nee, why?”
“I need to finish a quilt order. Would you be able to take care of Jeb until I leave to pick the kinder up at school?”
Abby was surprised. This was the second time in two weeks that Barbara had asked her to care for her nephew. “Ja, sure. Are you behind on your orders?”
“Thank you. Ja, just a bit. We...” She lowered her voice. “We’ve had to go to appointments with the psychologist who’s working with Michael and it’s set me behind some.”
“Okay, just bring him over after you take the kinder to school. I’d be happy to watch him!” Abby wouldn’t have been so eager to take care of Jeb if she had been aware of Barbara’s true plans.
“Denki.” Barbara gave Abby a fast hug.
After Abby, Zeke, Barbara, Ben and all their kinder had left, Emma and Ann finished cleaning up the kitchen.
“Mam? Barbara wanted to know exactly how much weight I’ve lost, and I keep getting this feeling that I shouldn’t say anything about that.” Emma was squeezing her hands together, feeling nervous.
“Ja? Well, remember that missing pound cake?” As Emma nodded, Ann continued. “Well, she had replaced that with her applesauce cake. I get the feeling she was making one last try at slowing down your weight loss.”
Emma groaned, sitting hard in the kitchen chair. “Mam, I don’t know what else I can do! I’m keeping her out of my thoughts and medical care already. I get the feeling she’s thinking of something else.”
Ann nodded reluctantly. “Me, too. She talked a lot about how she, Ben and the kinder are eating healthier now and how excited she is. But I noticed that she only ate about half of what she usually eats. When I asked her about it, she had the excuse of, ‘I ate a big dinner,’ but I don’t think that—wait a minute! That’s what she’s doing!”