A Sister's Hope (4 page)

“How about sausage and black olives? Does that sound
gut
to you?”

“It sounds real good.”

“Should we get a pitcher of root beer to go with it?”

“That’s fine with me.”

When the waitress returned to the table, Luke placed their order. After the waitress walked away, he leaned across the table to say something but was interrupted when Toby King and Sadie Esh entered the restaurant and sauntered up.

“I didn’t expect to see you two here today—especially sittin’ at the same table.” Toby thumped Luke on the shoulder. “Are you and Martha courting?”

Luke’s face turned bright red. Martha figured hers had, too, for her cheeks felt as hot as fire. “Luke and I are just sharing a pizza together,” she was quick to say. No point in giving Toby something to gossip about.

Toby gave Luke’s shoulder another good whack; then he pulled out the chair next to him and sat down. “Mind if Sadie and I join you?”

“Looks like you already have,” Luke mumbled.

Toby looked at Sadie, who stood beside Martha’s chair with a bewildered expression. “Aren’t you gonna sit and join us?”

Sadie shuffled her feet and glanced at an empty table across the room. “I. . .uh. . .sort of figured—”

“Aw, I’m sure Luke and Martha don’t mind if we join ’em. Besides, we’ll be alone plenty after we’re married.” Toby gave Sadie a quick wink. “Have a seat.”

Sadie hesitated but finally sat down.

Martha reached over and touched Sadie’s arm. “November will be here in a few more weeks. It won’t be long until you and Toby are married. How are your wedding plans coming along?”

Sadie’s face relaxed. “Pretty well. My
mamm
and I have begun cleaning the house for the wedding meal, and—”

“If everyone who got an invitation shows up, we might have over three hundred guests,” Toby interrupted. “Since my daed’s the bishop in our church district, I figure we’ll have a real good turnout.”

Luke cast Toby a disapproving look, and Martha grimaced. She didn’t think Toby should be bragging about how many guests might be at his wedding. Truthfully, she’d never understood what Sadie saw in Toby, but then she guessed love was blind when it came to certain things.
Look at me,
she thought ruefully.
I’ve allowed myself to foolishly fall for Luke.
Martha refused to let herself believe Dad might be right about Luke. If only she could prove Luke’s innocence.
Maybe I can. If I keep notes and study that list of suspects I made the other night, I might discover who the attacker is and clear Luke’s name.

Toby nudged Luke. “Do you still have that truck you keep hidden in the woods? I think everyone but your folks knows about it.”

Luke’s mouth dropped open. “Well, I—”

“You oughta sell that truck, find yourself a nice young woman to marry, and join the church.” Toby grinned over at Sadie. “It took me awhile to realize I wanted to get married, but once I made up my mind, there was no stopping me from proposing.”

Sadie’s eyebrows furrowed. “Excuse me? If you’ll recall, I was the one who asked if you’d be willing to marry me.”

Toby gave her a sheepish grin; then he elbowed Luke again. “So what do you say? Are you gonna sell that truck and settle down to marriage soon?”

“I’ll sell it when I’m good and ready.” Luke’s dark eyes flashed angrily. “It’s not your place to be telling me what to do!”

Martha swallowed hard and reached for her glass of water. She took a quick drink and stood.

“Where are you going?” Toby asked.

“To the ladies’ room.”

“I’ll go with you.” Sadie rose from her chair and glanced down at Toby. “When the waitress comes, would you please order a medium-sized pizza with Canadian bacon and mushrooms?”

He squinted. “I thought you only liked pepperoni and cheese.”

She shook her head. “It’s
you
who likes pepperoni. I prefer Canadian bacon with mushrooms.”

He lifted his shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. “Jah, okay.”

Martha scurried off toward the restroom with Sadie beside her. Once they were inside, she turned to Sadie and said, “I just can’t figure out what the problem is between Toby and Luke.”

“I don’t know. Toby and Luke used to be such good friends. I first noticed some problems between them when Luke was dating Ruth.” Sadie groaned. “It made me wonder if Toby might be jealous.”

Martha squinted. “Why would Toby have been jealous of Luke dating my sister?”

“For a while, I thought maybe Toby might be interested in Ruth, but when I asked him about it, he said he had no designs on Ruth. When she broke up with Luke and started dating Martin Gingerich, Toby said he was glad—that he thought Martin was a better choice for Ruth and he hoped they’d be real happy.” Sadie frowned. “Ruth was happy, but for such a short time—until Martin’s life was taken by whoever rammed their buggy last winter.”

Martha nodded as the memory of that fateful night invaded her mind. She and her family had been waiting for Ruth and Martin to show up for Christmas Eve supper, but they never came. Dad and Cleon had gone out looking for Martin’s buggy and discovered they’d been in a horrible accident. At the hospital, they’d been told that Martin was dead and Ruth needed a hysterectomy. Ruth had been devastated when she’d learned that she’d not only lost her husband of two months but would never be able to have any children of her own, either.

“I’m glad Ruth’s found love again,” Sadie said. “She deserves to be happy. I know she’ll make a fine
fraa
for Abe and be a good mudder to his kinner.”

Martha nodded. “All of Abe’s children, especially Esta, have taken a liking to Ruth.”

“So, are you and Luke courting?” Sadie whispered.

“Of course not. I told you at the table that Luke and I are just
sharing a pizza.” Martha slid over in front of the mirror to be sure her
kapp
was on straight.

“I can tell you like him. It’s written all over your face.” Sadie stood beside Martha. “I think Luke likes you, too.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I never saw Luke look at Ruth the way he looked at you out there.”

Martha felt the heat of a blush sweep across her face, and she covered her cheeks with her hands. “Even if I do feel something for Luke, and even if he returns those feelings, there’s no hope of us ever being together.”

“Why not?”

“Unless someone can prove that Luke’s not responsible for the attacks against our family, Dad would never give his blessing for Luke to court me.”

Sadie’s eyes widened. “You don’t really think Luke had anything to do with those horrible things, do you?”

“Not me. But my daed suspects Luke.”

“He has no proof, right?”

Martha shook her head. “There’s no proof of Luke’s innocence, either.”

“What are you going to do?”

Martha shrugged. She wasn’t about to tell Sadie that she planned to do some investigating on her own. Sadie might tell Toby. Knowing Toby, he’d probably blab it to his dad or someone else. For now, Martha would tell no one what she planned to do.

Luke leaned his elbows on the table and stared at Toby. “Are you trying to make me look bad in front of Martha?”

Toby’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I think you know what I mean. You brought up my truck, made it sound like I wasn’t a good person because I hadn’t joined the church, and suggested I marry Martha.”

“Huh?” Toby’s eyebrows shot up. “I never said that.”

“Jah, well, you said I should find a good woman to marry, and you looked right at Martha when you said it.” Luke grunted. “What were you trying to do, give her some hope of something that’s never going to happen?”

“Does that mean you don’t like her?”

“Jah, I like her; Martha’s very nice. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to marry her.”

Toby ran his index finger around the middle of his glass. “If you started courtin’ Martha, you might fall in love and decide to get married, jah?”

Luke shrugged.

“Is there something holding you back?”

“Of course there’s something. Martha’s daed, that’s what’s holding me back!”

Toby gave him a knowing look. “That’s right. You’re not one of Roman Hostettler’s favorite people these days, are you?”

Luke shook his head. “Unless I can prove I’m not responsible for the attacks that have been made on Roman’s family, I’ll probably never be accepted by him.”

“How you gonna prove that?”

“I don’t know.”

“If you ask me, the best thing you can do is sell that truck and—”

Luke held up his hand. “Enough about my truck. Like I said before, I’ll sell it when I’m ready.”

Toby wrinkled his nose. “You always did like to have the last word, didn’t you?”

Luke opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it again. What was the point of discussing something with someone who obviously wanted to goad him into an argument? For some time, Toby seemed to need to make Luke look bad. Ever since they were twelve years old and Luke had been declared the winner of a game of horseshoes Toby thought he should have won, there’d been a competitive spirit between them. Could Toby still be holding a grudge because Luke had always been able to do things better than him?

Luke balled his napkin into the palm of his hand.
Can I help it if
I’m better at playing ball, buggy racing, and fishing than Toby? He ought to grow up.

Martha and Sadie returned to the table just then, and Luke pushed his thoughts aside. He didn’t want his lunch with Martha to be ruined, so he would do whatever was needed in order to keep the peace with Toby.

Luke was glad when their pizzas finally came. Now he could concentrate on eating.

By the time they’d finished their pizza and Sadie and Toby had left the restaurant, Martha’s nerves were taut. Not only had she and Luke not been able to visit during their meal, but there’d been such tension between Luke and Toby that it had been hard to think of anything to talk about. She hadn’t enjoyed her pizza that much, either.

“What was the problem between you and Toby?” Martha asked Luke as they walked out the door and approached her buggy.

Luke leaned against the driver’s side of the buggy and folded his arms. “I think Toby is
falsch
.”

“Resentful? Why do you think that?”

“Ever since we were kinner, I’ve been able to do things better than him.”

She pursed her lips. “Lots of people can do things better than me, and I don’t feel falsch toward them.”

“Jah, well, Toby’s the bishop’s son. I think he feels he has to live up to his daed’s expectations to be perfect.”

“That’s
narrisch
. I doubt anyone expects Toby to be perfect just because his daed’s the head minister in our church.”

“It might seem crazy, but if Toby thinks he’s expected to be perfect and knows he’s not. . .” Luke reached under his straw hat and scratched his head. “And if he’s struggling with issues concerning me. . .”

“Then he needs to get over it,” Martha interrupted. “He needs to be the best person he can, not compare himself to you or anyone else.”

“That’s what I think, too.” Luke moved away from the buggy and
reached out to stroke Martha’s horse behind its ear. “I’ve been thinking about the attacks at your place. I wonder if someone might be trying to make me look guilty in order to get even with me for something.”

“Like who?”

He turned his hands palm up. “I don’t know, but I’m aiming to find out.”

“How?”

Luke shrugged. “Haven’t figured it out yet.”

Martha drew in a deep breath and decided to say what was on her mind. “Would it be all right if I asked you a personal question, Luke?”

“Ask away.”

“Would you mind telling me where you were around three o’clock on Thursday morning?”

“In bed, of course. Where else would I be in the middle of the night?”

She swiped her tongue over her lower lip as she struggled for the right words. Should she tell Luke that she’d seen a man dressed in Amish clothes running across the field?

Luke took a step closer to Martha. “Why did you ask where I was early Thursday morning? You don’t think I had anything to do with you getting doused with that bucket of paint, I hope.”

She swallowed hard. “When I left the barn, I shined my flashlight on the field behind our house, and I saw a man who looked like he was wearing Amish clothes running through the field.”