Jo Brown - An Amish Reunion

A raindrop struck his face, then another. He glanced up as rain pelted them. Together they rushed into the house. Shelby giggled as she bounced in his arms.

Hannah closed the door behind them. “It looks as if the sky is going to open up. You’re going to get wet.”

If you don’t head out now. He finished the rest of her sentence, which she hadn’t spoken. She couldn’t make it any clearer he was overstaying his welcome.

He’d take the hint, but not until he got the information he needed. “When will you be able to move the bees?”

“It can’t be a rainy day or a warm one. The rain can hurt the bees when I cut the comb out of the old hive, and, if it’s warm, they’ll be flying about looking for nectar. A lot of the bees could be lost that way.” She looked past him to where rain splattered on the window over the sink. “As soon as you have the supers built and the weather cooperates, I’ll move them. Looks like rain tomorrow, so I can do it the day after if everything’s ready.”

“Sounds gut.” He slapped his forehead. “No, day after tomorrow won’t work. You’ve got to take Shelby to Paradise Springs that day.”

“What?”

“On my way here, I stopped at the health clinic and made a doktor’s appointment for Shelby.”

“You did what?” Her brown eyes darkened with strong emotions. “Shelby is my responsibility, not yours.”

“Ja, but, when I told my mamm about finding Shelby, she insisted the kind be seen by the doktorfraa as soon as possible.” He grinned, hoping she’d push aside her anger. “I learned many years ago not to argue with my mamm when she speaks with that tone.”

Hannah’s eyes continued to snap at him, but she took a deep breath and released it as he set the toddler beside the box of toys again. He pulled out the appointment card with the time on it and handed it to her.

In a calmer tone, as she put the card in the pocket of her apron, she said, “I’m sorry. I should have thanked you for making the appointment, Daniel.” Before he could relax, she hurried on, “But from this point forward, making appointments for Shelby has to be my responsibility and mine alone. If the note’s right, she’s my sister. If she’s not, she was left on my porch. But I do appreciate your mamm being concerned about her. Please tell her.”

“I will, and, Hannah, if you’d like, I’ll go with you and Shelby to the appointment.” He glanced at the kind. “I can see she’s not cooperating with you.”

“That’s a gut idea.”

Surprised at her quick acceptance of his help, when she’d resisted at every turn before, he said, “I’ll pick you up about a half hour before the appointment, if that works for you.”

“That should be fine.”

When she didn’t add anything else, he knew he needed to leave. Something he couldn’t name urged him to stay, but he ignored it, unsure what would happen if he lingered an extra minute more.

Ruffling Shelby’s hair, he bid Hannah and her great-grandmother goodbye. He heard the toddler cry out in dismay as he closed the door behind him. The sound chased him across the grass and toward his buggy on the road alongside the creek. As he climbed in, a motion inside the house caught his eye.

A shadow moved in front of the living room window. Was Hannah watching him leave? He was surprised when he realized he hoped she was.

He sighed. Hannah Lambright was as unpredictable as the bees she loved, and he was going have to be extra careful around her.

Extra, extra careful.

Chapter Four

Daniel kneaded his lower back as he got to his feet. He’d already worked a full day and had decided to use a few hours after supper to work on his special project. He stretched out kinks and looked around the living room of the house he was building in the woods on his family’s farm. Nailing floor molding was a time-consuming job, especially when he wasn’t using a nail gun as he did when he worked for Englisch contractors. He could have borrowed an air compressor to power his tools, but he’d decided he wanted to build the house as his ancestors had. Now he was paying for his pride.

Hochmut. One of the most despised words among the Amish, because plain folks found pride contemptible. But he’d had a gut reason for his decision. He intended to use the house as a showcase for his skills when he solicited clients. He needed to stick with the choice he’d made. His family considered him too frivolous already because he took a different girl home from each singing.

Mamm had mentioned more than once—some days—it was time he considered starting a family as his other brothers were doing. She’d been delighted as each of her kinder married. Both of his sisters were wed as well as three of his six brothers, not including Isaiah who was a widower. His oldest brother Joshua remarried last year, surprising Daniel who’d wondered if Joshua would recover from his grief at the death of his first wife.

Leaning one shoulder against the kitchen doorway that needed to be framed, Daniel appraised what else wasn’t done. The rest of the molding, painting, appliances in the kitchen, furniture. A year ago, he’d thought the idea of having a showcase for what he could do was an inspired idea, but now he just wanted to be done. Once he had projects completed for clients, he could use them as examples, and he’d give this house to his twin brother, Micah, when he married.

Micah was in love with Katie Kay Lapp, the bishop’s daughter, but Katie Kay couldn’t know because his twin brother, Micah, hadn’t asked to take her home. Not once. Instead, he’d stood aside month after month, mooning over the vivacious young woman while others courted her. That Katie Kay seemed to have no steady suitor had convinced Micah he had a chance with the woman who was at the center of every gathering.

If Micah did get up his gumption and walked out with Katie Kay other than in his imagination, the house in the woods would be the perfect wedding gift. Maybe it was a gut thing Micah continued to hesitate because the house was taking longer to finish than Daniel had expected.

On other jobs, Daniel was accustomed to working with a crew. He’d had to do the work of different trades as he poured a foundation, raised walls and put on the roof. When he hadn’t known how to run the propane lines to power the refrigerator, the range and the stoves that would heat the cozy house, he’d watched and learned from a plumber at a project where Daniel was doing the roofing. With each unfamiliar task, he was able to correct any mistakes he made on his house, so he wouldn’t have to do the same for his clients.

The door opened with a squeak. Daniel added oiling the hinges to his to-do list as his brother Jeremiah walked in.

Like the rest of the Stoltzfus brothers, Jeremiah was tall and unafraid of work. His hair was reddish-brown and a few freckles remained of the multitude that once covered his face and hands. His hands were often discolored with the stain and lacquer he applied to the furniture pieces he built. He wasn’t shy, but could never be described as outspoken either. He stayed quiet when he didn’t have anything to say.

“You wanted to borrow my miter box,” he said in lieu of a greeting. He held out the tool that would allow Daniel to cut the corners for the supers he planned to make for Hannah tonight.

“Danki.”

Jeremiah squatted to appraise Daniel’s work. “Are you painting the molding white or staining it?”

“I haven’t decided.” He grinned at his older brother. “I know you’d stain it. You hate painted wood.”

“Paint hides the beauty and imperfections in the wood.” Glancing over his shoulder, he said, “I hear you’re involved with Hannah Lambright again.”

“Involved? Not really. I’m helping her take care of a toddler, and she’s helping me move a beehive off the bridge.”