CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I left the Sunbeam Café not long after that. Lois agreed to pick me up at my home at eight the next morning. She wasn’t able to leave the café that day because she was Darcy’s only help. Darcy’s part-time employee would be there the next day, so Lois promised she could slip away.
As I was leaving, Englisch tourists were arriving at the café, and business picked up considerably. I wove around them and ran into a man on the sidewalk.
“Take care there!” a man said, holding me lightly by the arm so that I wouldn’t fall over. I’d scarcely left the café and already I was bumping into people.
“I am so sorry,” I said in a rush. “I should have looked before I came through the door. Are you all right?”
The man dipped and scooped his black felt hat off the sidewalk. “I’m as right as rain, Millie Lapp.”
I jerked back. “Have we met?”
He smoothed his white beard and his blue eyes sparkled behind wire-rimmed glasses. He had long tapered fingers and a ready smile. “I should think so.”
I gasped. “Uriah Schrock! I—I—”
“I haven’t seen you in forty years, not since you threw me over for Kip Fisher. It’s all well and gut. I didn’t stand a chance against him. Everyone loved Kip.”
It was true that everyone loved Kip, but it wasn’t true that I had thrown Uriah over for him. Uriah and I had been friends in school, nothing more than that. We had gone to the same one-room schoolhouse. At that time there hadn’t been many students in the school, so my district combined with several others in order to keep the doors open. Uriah had been from another district. I had thought when we were young that he was sweet on me, but it never entered my mind to look beyond my district for a husband, and it was love at first sight for Kip and me.
These days, Uriah had a beard, a long white beard that was neatly trimmed. So he was married. I was happy to see it. Uriah had been the class clown in our old school, and there were many times when our teacher would tell him that he would never marry because no woman would have the patience for him. I was relieved to see that wasn’t the case.
“And how is your wife?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Gone. I lost my wife about three years ago. She was an amazing woman and gave me five wonderful children. Now I have so many grandchildren and even great grandchildren, I can’t keep up with them all. Most of them live in Shipshewana, Indiana. That’s where my dear wife was from. I went out there for work as a young man and never came back until now. I need to take care of some old affairs here to do with my family in Harvest, and then I will be on my way back to Indiana.
“How many children do you have?” he inquired.
I felt a slight blush color my cheeks. “None. Kip and I were never blessed with children.”
He frowned. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t be talking to you in such a familiar way. We haven’t seen each other in years.”
I smiled. “It is quite all right. We are old friends and have been blessed to live long lives; we don’t have to skirt around topics. Who has the time for that?”
He laughed. “Something that I like best about you is the way you say just what you think. That’s refreshing in an Amish woman.”
“ ‘When you speak, always remember that Gott is one of your listeners,’ ” I quoted.
“Still muttering the old proverbs as well, I see.”
“They do have a lot of wisdom.”
He nodded. “They do indeed.”
For some reason, I found myself blushing, and I looked down at the tote bag in my hands as if I’d just remembered I needed something out of it. When I looked up again, I saw Lois watching through the front window. She flashed me a thumbs-up. It seemed to be her encouraging sign of choice.
In the other window, Bryan was watching Uriah and me. When he caught me looking, he returned his attention to his computer.
“Ya, well, I am happy to see you,” I said. “Will you be in Harvest very long? Are you heading back to Shipshewana soon?”
He shook his head. “In a few months’ time. It depends how long it takes to handle these affairs.” His cheerful face clouded over for just a moment. “I miss my family, of course, but it is nice to be back in Harvest. I like the quieter pace here. And I like that there are more groups of Amish. We aren’t all put in one category. There is far less variety in the community in Indiana.”
“Did a member of your family come with you?”
“Nee. They all have busy lives with businesses, farms, and children.”
“You came this far to live alone with no family?” I asked, surprised. “That’s very brave.”
“No braver than you, Millie Fisher, no braver than you.”
I found myself frowning. I didn’t know how he would know that I was being brave about anything. As he said, we hadn’t seen each other in over forty years.
He cleared his throat. “You might be wondering what I’m doing wandering around the village on a lovely afternoon.”
I hadn’t been wondering that at all, but he went on to say, “Since I’ve been back, I have taken a temporary job as head groundskeeper of the square. I need something to do while I wait for some news.” Again, the clouded expression crossed his face. “It’s my job to make sure that not a single blade of grass is bent in the wrong direction. There are so many functions on the square now that it’s reached the point that someone has to make sure Harvest always looks its best, and since the square is the most important and central part of the village, the village council created this position. Luck—or more likely providence—would have it that I’d just been back in the village for a few hours when I heard about this opportunity. I snapped it up. No Amish man worth his salt wants to stand idly by. I need something to keep my mind and hands busy, especially during a time of waiting.”
“I know that Margot Rawlings always wanted the square to look perfect,” I said. “I’m not surprised that she would like someone to maintain it.”
He nodded. “And I’m happy to do it. It keeps me out of trouble.” The mischievous twinkle he was known for at school was back in his eyes. I could almost hear our old teacher reprimand him for his roguish demeanor. She never could stand for that. Many believed that Uriah Schrock drove the teacher to her very wit’s end.
“I’m not idling away my time as I wait for news.” His face turned red at the possibility that I might believe so.
“I didn’t think that at all,” I said.
His face flushed. “Oh, I know you aren’t quick to judge, Millie. I should have remembered. It’s just with no family nearby anymore, I find myself walking to the square every day to make sure everything is in its place. It passes the time.”
“I’m sure Margot appreciates your dedication, and I have noticed that the shrubs around the white gazebo and the other bushes around the square are much more neatly trimmed than usual.”
“Wunderbar! A true compliment indeed.” He laughed. “And you are right—Margot appreciates people agreeing with her and going along with her schemes. I’m not sure of much else—” He rocked back on his heels. “But I do believe she has been good for the village. Harvest has grown much since I’ve been away, so very much, but it doesn’t have the commercial feel that some of the other Amish communities have. I’m glad that it has—either because of Margot or despite her—maintained its Amish essence.”
I nodded, feeling the same way about the village. “I should leave you to it then,” I said. “If you need to make your rounds of the square, I don’t want to interrupt.”
“You could never be an interruption, Millie. I have always thought that.”
I blinked and gave him a small smile in return. I was unsure what to say. “If you will excuse me,” I murmured and hurried down the sidewalk. Before I got too far, I glanced over my shoulder and found Uriah watching me as I left.
He tipped his black felt hat to me and went on his way.
I tamped down the odd feeling that it stirred deep in my heart.