Tracey J. Lyons - A Love For Lizzie

One of the women had gone to signal to the men that it was mealtime. She heard the clanking of the bell that hung outside the front door. In some homes a bell like this would be used to signal an emergency. Her father had installed a phone shanty on their property a few years ago. It was only used for business or for emergencies. Today she’d been beyond thankful for the convenience. Though it had seemed like an hour to her, the ambulance had arrived within minutes of her 911 call.

She knew in some Amish communities, the Ordnung forbade the use of any kind of phones, in which case a person had to travel to the nearest business to use one or depend on their Englisch neighbors to let them borrow theirs. Lizzie had even heard of some of the younger folks being allowed the use of cell phones. She shook her head at that thought. She couldn’t imagine needing one of those.

Here in Miller’s Crossing, New York, there were several Amish communities. The one where her family lived was allowed to have curtains on their windows and linoleum flooring in the houses. Lizzie felt pleased to have some of the more modern amenities. This brought her sister, Mary, to mind. As soon as the meal was over, she would get a message to her about their vader . Her sister had married Aaron Yoder last year and moved over an hour away. Mary and Aaron’s church Ordnung didn’t allow for such niceties in the homes. It had been a week or so since Mary’s last letter. Lizzie knew her schweschder had had some trouble adjusting to her new life, but she loved her husband, so she was willing to try. The family was planning to be together the first Tuesday in October for their cousin Rachel’s wedding.

Thoughts of Mary’s new life and their cousin’s wedding gave Lizzie pause. With her vader ’s heart condition, she had no idea what tomorrow would hold, let alone if they could actually attend the wedding. As she spooned potato salad onto the plates, she thought about how all around her, family and friends were starting new lives, growing their own families. And here she was, still on the farm with her mamm and vader like a bobbli . Yes, she loved her life here, even if at times things did seem complicated. Even before his sudden illness, her vader had needed help on the farm. If she were to take a husband, things could be different.

As she so often found herself doing in times of stress, Lizzie ran her hand along the scar on her face. What man would want someone so disfigured? Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Paul acting kind with his mamm . Lizzie couldn’t help but think of all the years of kindness he’d shown her. He was a good friend and neighbor. A fine man. Paul would make an excellent husband for one lucky woman.

But that woman would not be her.

* * *

Paul had spotted his mamm at the stove in the Millers’ kitchen, getting ready to drain a large pot of green beans into a colander in the sink, and hurried over to take the heavy pot from her.

“Here, Mamm . Let me do this for you.”

“ Ja , my strong son to the rescue,” she said, stepping aside to let him dump the pot. The hot steam wafted up between them as the string beans and water fell into the metal colander. Gently nudging him aside, she took the colander from him and shook the vegetables from side to side, helping the water drain out.

“I see you brought Lizzie home from the hospital. She looks tired and worried,” his mother said in a soft voice.

“The doctors haven’t told them much about her vader ’s heart condition. From the sounds of it, he’ll be in the hospital a few more days while they run some tests.”

“ Danke Gott you were there when it happened.”

Leaning his hip against the counter, Paul wondered about the cause of Mr. Miller’s heart attack. Then again, from what he’d heard, these health conditions generally did not manifest overnight. Still, he imagined the stress of trying to run this farm single-handedly hadn’t helped. There had been rumors floating about in the community for a long time that the man had been working long hours, burning the candle at both ends, with not much help. Keeping that sort of pace for too long couldn’t be good. Even though he generally worked long hours, Paul always left time in his week for time off to pray and reflect. As he recalled, Joseph Miller had been absent from the past few church meetings. A habit that was highly frowned upon by the church leaders.

“I’m not sure I did anything that mattered other than check to see if he was breathing.”

His mamm patted him on the arm, saying, “You were there for Lizzie. And you made sure she got to and from the hospital. That’s what’s important, sohn . That’s what she’ll remember.”

“I’m her friend—of course I was there for her.”

He stopped thinking about Lizzie for a moment and then wondered what his mamm would do when she found out what his plans for the future were. Though he knew she wanted the best for him, he also didn’t want to be the cause of conflict in the family.

“Paul...”

The sound of her quiet voice brought him out of his reverie. From the soft look on her face, he knew exactly what she was going to say about the relationship between him and Lizzie.

Paul cut her off with, “Please don’t go there. To me, she’s always been and will always be David’s sister. Nothing more.”

She gave him a thoughtful look, her brown eyes warm with love and bracketed with fine lines. She patted him on the arm, then said, “If that’s how you want to see it. One more thing to consider, my sohn , that tragic day happened a long time ago. I know sometimes it’s hard to understand Gott ’s ways. But you and Lizzie, you need to make peace and put the past where it belongs. Your future could be bright.”

“I’m friends with her. Nothing more,” he insisted.

As she turned away from him to put the string beans in a large bowl, he heard her mumble, “For now.”

Taking the bowl from his mudder , he dropped a kiss on her cheek and then headed out to the backyard. He walked over to the food table and handed the bowl to Lizzie. She barely gave him any attention as she took the beans from him.

“I’ll take that bowl off your hands,” she said.

He tipped his hat to her and went to find a seat at the makeshift table.

While he dug into the midday meal, he became aware of Lizzy’s gaze on him. He wondered what she was thinking. No doubt she was still feeling overwhelmed at finding herself in charge of the household for the moment. He gave her a smile, knowing that even if she didn’t think so, she was more than capable of handling the situation.

He shuffled down a few spaces on the bench as his bruder Abram plunked his plate down and swung a leg over to sit beside him. Paul watched in awe as he emptied the plate of the large portion of potato salad in three forkfuls.

“You need to slow down, Abram, or one of these days you’ll end up choking.”

His brother smiled at him and shook his head, saying, “ Mamm ’s salad is still the best in these parts.”

Paul nodded as he picked up the sandwich he’d added to his plate. Taking a generous bite, he realized he was hungry, too. He also realized he needed to get back home to do the chores there and help finish up the cabinet job he had been helping his vader with. Swallowing, he knew he had to talk to his vader soon. The man who owned the building Paul was interested in renting wanted to know how soon he could begin leasing it.

It was a good price and he didn’t want to lose the opportunity to set up his own store there. It was a great location, only half a block up from the main intersection in the village. Paul knew the tourists would come into the store. They loved to buy Amish goods. He felt if he listed his furniture at a good but fair price that he would do well.