Tracey J. Lyons - A Love For Lizzie

After finishing his meal, he took his plate over to the makeshift washing area that had been set up outside the kitchen. Leaving his plate there, he caught Lizzie’s attention and waved at her. She gave him a half wave back. He walked around to the front of the Millers’ house. As he made his way up the driveway, he looked off into the fields. He saw a wagon bringing in a load of hay bales. Near the barn, a line of cows with their udders full lumbered toward the milking parlor. All around him the air was filled with the earthy scents of the farm.

Ben met him halfway down the drive. As he came closer, Paul saw that he looked to be a bit concerned. Maybe there was a problem on the Millers’ farm or he’d heard news about Lizzie’s father. Either way he wasn’t going to have to wait long to find out, because his bruder caught him by the arm and pulled him to the edge of the lawn.

“I was just up at our house and Daed is upset with some news he heard from the owner of the general store. Is it true you’ve been looking into renting some shop space?”

A knot formed in the pit of his stomach as he met his brother’s firm gaze. He’d hoped that word of his plans would not be spread around yet. But small towns being what they were, the thought that he’d be the one to deliver the news to his vader the way he saw fit had been ridiculous to begin with. Frowning at his brother, who’d grown so much over the past spring that he now stood eye to eye with him, Paul knew his vader had to be angry about this.

The Burkholders had been living in Miller’s Crossing since their Amish community had been founded back in the 1950s by Lizzie’s great-grandfather, Levi Miller. The group had traveled from Ohio in search of affordable farmland and had come upon this vast area of Chautauqua County. Over time, due to the changing economy, the farms had shrunk and the members of the community had taken to establishing lumberyards and other small but sustainable businesses.

Paul’s father had served at one time as the head of their church. Now he was busy with the family furniture business. Though he knew his father would stay tied to their property, Paul wanted desperately to have his own business in the village. He was in his twenties now and wanted to be making his own way within Miller’s Crossing.

“Paul, is it true?” Ben asked again.

“Yes,” Paul answered as he looked at the deepening crease on his brother’s forehead. Of all his siblings, Ben was the one who worried the most.

Continuing up the hill to the top of the driveway, Paul clasped his hand against his brother’s back. “You let me deal with our daed .”

“He doesn’t want you to leave.”

Paul shook his head. “I’m not leaving the family. I’m only going into town to sell my furniture.”

“Plenty of Englischers stop by our shop,” Ben said.

“They do. But we could be doing better.”

“We are doing okay. There’s always food on the table and warmth in the house.” Ben’s face turned red as he argued his point.

Paul didn’t respond to his bruder , other than mentioning the fact that he wanted his own business. He enjoyed working with wood. Smelling the shavings from the floor in the saw room and working to build fine furniture brought him great joy. More importantly, he liked to work with his hands.

He wasn’t moving out of their farmhouse; he was simply making his own way in the community, like any youngie who was old enough to do so.

“We should be getting home.”

“Ja.” Paul walked over to where his brother had parked the wagon, climbed up and sat alongside him on the bench.

Paul picked up the reins and slapped them against the horse’s backside. The wagon jumped forward as the horse picked up its pace. On the short ride home, Paul thought about what he was going to say to his vader . Paul knew he wasn’t going to be able to change his vader ’s ways, but he also knew deep in his heart that he wouldn’t be changing his mind, either. He nudged the horse to the right, making a wide turn with the wagon onto the dirt road that led to his family’s ninety-acre parcel. Most of the land was covered in trees, which were eventually cut into lumber and used in their furniture business. As he drove past their family’s large white farmhouse, he gave a tug on the leather straps of the reins, signaling for the horse to turn onto a narrow dirt roadway that allowed access to their barn. Up ahead stood the attached structure of the woodworking shop, where he and his bruders worked alongside their vader .

Knowing the path well, the horse came to a stop right in front of the open side door. Paul set the reins on the seat between him and Ben. He could feel his bruder ’s gaze on him. The last thing on this earth that he would ever do would be to hurt his family. He prayed that his vader would see his reasons for wanting to open up his own shop.

He felt Ben’s hand on his arm.

“I’ll see to the horses. You go on inside,” Ben said, still looking worried.

Paul jumped down from the wagon and ducked inside the doorway of the spacious workshop.

“Hallo! Is anybody here?” Paul strode through the large open area, where neat piles of lumber stood stacked shoulder height on top of a row of pallets.

“ Ja. What’s all this shouting?” His vader came out of the workshop, shaking the wood shavings off his leather apron.

Paul looked at the man who, if not for the slight hunch in his back, would be the exact same height as himself. “I’ve got things squared away over at the Miller house,” he said, looking into eyes that were the same shade as his.

They also shared the same square jawline and cleft chin. Besides their age, their one big difference was the gray hair sprinkled throughout his vader ’s beard.

“How is Joseph doing?”

“As far as I know, he’s going to be in the hospital for a few more days while they run some tests.”

His vader didn’t say anything for a few minutes. Paul knew to wait for him to speak.

His vader nodded to the stack of wood slabs to the right of Paul, saying, “Help me bring two more of these inside.”

Hoisting one end of the slab onto his shoulder, vader said, “Seems like there was a lot of excitement at the Miller house today. It will be some time before things return to normal.”

“ Ja , for sure and certain. But Lizzie had a lot of help today. And for many days to come, if her family needs it, no doubt.”

“That’s good.”

Paul took the other end and followed him into the workroom. They set the wood on top of a large counter. On the wall at the back of the area was a large pegboard where all of the tools hung in neat rows. They worked in silence for a bit while they prepared for the project his vader had been working on. Paul knew better than to try to coax any conversation out of the man. So he waited.

When his vader stopped to wipe his forehead with a handkerchief, Paul knew the time had come.

“I’ve a thermos of iced tea over there on the table. Why don’t you pour us some?”

Doing as his vader had asked, Paul came back to hand his father a full cup, saying, “It looks like you’ve got the Smiths’ cabinet order almost finished.”

“ Ja. This was an easy project. They only needed a simple cupboard for their little girl’s bedroom.” His father said, then took a sip from the cup. He took his time drinking the cool liquid.

Paul found he wasn’t all that thirsty.

“I heard from the owner of Becker’s grocery that you’ve been asking around about renting shop space in the village. Did he speak the truth?”