Chapter Twenty-three
JED’S YOUNGEST SISTER met him in the kitchen that night, sporting a big smile.
“I want you to hear this from me first,” Bettina said, eyes dancing as she told him of her wedding plans come November.
He knew she was hoping for his brotherly blessing. “I’d be happier if you were a little older. What’s the big hurry, sis?”
“Aw, Jed . . .”
“Well now, think about it. You’ve only been goin’ to Singings a year.”
“Levi and I love each other,” she said, wringing her hands. “Why should we wait?”
She was far from ready to be a wife, young as she was. “Have ya thought of talkin’ to Dat and Mamm?”
She ignored his question. “I forgot to tell you—Levi wants you to be one of his side sitters at our wedding.”
“Shouldn’t he be askin’? That’s traditionally the way it’s done.”
“Oh, Jed, I’m just so thrilled! I can hardly think straight.”
Thinking straight should come first. . . .
“Remember, Lord willing, you’ll be married to Levi for a long time—might be sixty years or more,” he offered kindly. “Besides, isn’t Levi the only fella you’ve ever gone with?”
She nodded. “And he’s the one for me, so there’s no point in arguing that.” Bettina sighed. “Ach, you’re too tired to be happy for me, I daresay.”
He was tired. Evidently undaunted, Bettina left the kitchen to go upstairs.
Jed recalled Eva’s interest in Bettina’s possible news, but he pushed the thought away. What did it matter now?
He headed back to his bedroom, adjacent to the front room, and noticed Lily’s book lying on the dresser. There hadn’t been time to give it another look during the trip from Lancaster County, what with all the conversation in the van. Jed had wanted to be considerate of his driver and fellow passengers.
I could mail it to Lily, he thought. If I knew where she was.
He heard voices drifting down the stairs now and assumed Bettina had taken his suggestion to heart, although Jed supposed their parents might have guessed something was up. The way she’s prancing about like a young filly.
Their father might also caution about Bettina’s young age, although Daed had married Mamm the year they each turned eighteen.
Flipping through the book’s pages, Jed zeroed in on a note: Love gladly sacrifices itself for the beloved.
He closed the book, still aware of the muffled conversation. Bettina’s arguing for her own beloved, he thought as he leaned back onto the bed, his hands behind his head.
I have no right to discourage her.
The next morning, Jed rose an hour before the alarm clock went off, anxious to turn up at work before Uncle Ervin arrived. Considering the raucous birds outside his window, he’d needed no further incentive.
O Lord, pave the way for me today with Uncle Ervin, he prayed, on edge about whether his absence might have proved a boon to Perry.
Bettina met him in the kitchen, looking like she hadn’t slept much. “Well, I did your bidding,” she said conspiratorially.
He nodded. “How’d it go?”
“Not the way I expected. And Mamma’s not feelin’ so well this morning because of it.” She groaned and went to the fridge and reached for some orange juice and milk. “I hate causin’ her worry,” she said as she opened the cupboard and brought over two choices of cold cereal.
Jed picked up the cereal box. “This is all I get?” He rose to get a clean bowl from the shelf and returned to help himself to a large amount of Wheaties without saying more. He was dismayed by his sister’s apparent mind-set. It wasn’t his doing she’d gotten herself engaged too young.
“Mamma was cryin’ by the end of our talk,” Bettina volunteered.
He kept his mouth shut, except to eat, believing anything he might say could make things worse.
“So now you’re not talkin’ to me?” Bettina poured orange juice into a tall glass and set it down in front of him.
He thanked her with a nod, but she ignored him and left with a sad face.
A dramatic start to the day, Jed thought.
Ervin Stutzman wasn’t the easiest boss to please, despite the fact that Jed was related to him. He was known to expect perfection, or close to it, and he wanted his employees to work long hours when necessary. Now that he’d had two apprentices for some time, Uncle Ervin’s exceedingly high standards were even higher than before, although here lately he was nearly too frail to bark orders.
These thoughts were running through Jed’s mind as he walked up the familiar lane to the shop and pushed the door open.
Surprisingly, there sat Ervin, smoking his pipe, surrounded by stacked plywood for seats and the main box of the buggy, as well as lumber for the canopy frames. He sputtered when he spotted Jed. “Didn’t expect ya this early.”
“Mornin’, Onkel. Just thought I’d get a head start since I’ve been gone.”
His uncle gave him a nod and returned to puffing away. “Willkumm back.”
Jed proceeded to tell him about Jonas Byler’s carriage shop—the equipment, the setup, and the various techniques he’d learned there. “Found it takes Jonas and his employees about a hundred and fifty hours to make a buggy, same as here.”
Ervin smiled and slowly nodded his head. “It’s never right to cut corners, niemols.”
“Jonas has quite the big operation,” Jed said, catching his uncle up on all that he’d seen and heard.
“And how was your visit with Lovina and Orpha Byler?” Ervin asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.
Jed might have guessed this would be next. “The Byler sisters were pleasant enough,” he replied. But that’s where it stops. His uncle didn’t need to know the rest of the story.
Uncle Ervin got up and leaned heavily on his cane. “They were pleasant, ya say? Just pleasant?”
Jed smiled. “Orpha seems like a real schmaert and helpful young woman, too,” he added.
“Helpful is gut, but ya don’t sound like a would-be beau. She chust ain’t for you?”
Quickly, Jed changed the subject. “I’m wondering if Perry finished makin’ the seat for the surrey he’s been building.”
“Jah, and one of the curtained doors and the hinged door in back, too. Perry’s a fine welder and painter and mechanic, but he needs to work on his upholstering and painting. Ain’t nearly as sarchsam—painstaking—as you in all areas of work.”
Rare affirmation.
Jed set to measuring the vinyl-covered black cloth for the new buggy tops, sides, and back and decided the day was turning out better than it started.