CHAPTER 15

“Just how well do you know Lizzie?” I asked Joe, who stood staring at the door to the shop.

“We’ve known each other most of our lives.” His gaze almost met mine, then he looked away.

“You’d sneak off with her without telling her parents?” I understood why Joe wouldn’t want to lock horns with surly Reuben. But what about dear Rhoda? Did Lizzie care nothing for her mother’s feelings?

“From what I’ve learned looking through the books in the store, Lizzie could be shunned,” I said.

“Nee, neither of us have been baptized.” Aha, in spite of the car, clothes, and haircut, he was Amish.

“Couldn’t you go back to living among the Amish?” I said.

“We’ve made up our minds.” He stood with a hand on hip. “We can always confess and repent and join the church later.” He seemed offhand, bordering on pompous.

“But this is a monumental step. What’s your hurry?”

“We have our reasons, that’s all I can say.”

Lizzie came into the room and a grin flashed across her face. “You’re here already?” She unbundled the locket and fastened it around her neck.

“I thought it best I didn’t come to the front door.” Joe swayed from side to side. “The weather’s turning ugly. We should be on our way.”

The store’s front doorbell jangled, and a man said, “Anyone here?”

Recognizing Pops’s voice, I cringed. Not that I didn’t love him anymore. I did, but I couldn’t bear to hear him lie to me again.

“Want me to go out there?” Lizzie asked me.

“Sure, maybe you can get rid of him.”

But too late; Pops strode to the door leading to the back room. Ginger pranced at his feet. “Hi, girlie-girl.” Pops bent down and scratched her between the ears. It occurred to me how accepting and faithful dogs were; no matter that he’d left her in the car alone; no matter that he’d lied to me.

Rarely was I tongue-tied, but I felt as if I’d swallowed a mouthful of salt.

“I came to give you a ride, Sally,” Pops said. “And you, too, Lizzie.”

“Thank you, but I don’t need one.” She sidled closer to Joe.

“I told your family I’d pick you up, Lizzie, seeing as I’ve got an SUV with four-wheel-drive.”

“Still, I don’t need a ride. Thanks all the same.”

I stepped to her side. “Lizzie, please don’t do anything impetuous that you might regret.”

“This is my only chance.” She looped her arm into Joe’s.

“What’s going on here?” Pops said.

“How is Lizzie any of your business?” I asked, then realized she was his niece. Like a flame igniting, heat traveled up my throat. Pops had yet to ask for my forgiveness for lying—not that a simple “I’m sorry” would begin to erase a lifetime of betrayal.

“I’ve been there,” Pops said.

“Where?” I asked. “Where have you been?”

“In their situation. I can see what’s going on.” He’d never looked so thin and frail. I couldn’t help but worry. He was, after all, my dear father, the man who’d raised me and loved me very much. But it didn’t feel like true love, which required honesty.

Lizzie inched toward the back door. “We’ve got to go.” She reached into her apron, extracted the store’s key ring, and tossed it to me. After years on the car lot, my hand instinctively reached out and nabbed it.

“Hey, you can’t leave like this.” I fingered the keys.

“Yah, I must, right this minute.” She handed me a piece of paper with the name Doreen Martin and a telephone number written on it. “I called Mrs. Martin and told her we were closing early due to the weather. Please lock the front door when you leave.”

“But how will she get her keys back?”

“Please, won’t ya help me with that and call her?”

“No, tell her yourself.”

“I can’t.” When she opened the door, I saw white snowflakes drifting through the air. She and Joe stepped out into the storm.