Simple Secrets (The Harmony Series 1) (37 page)

A sudden shout drew our attention away from the fantastic food brought forth from the good folks of Harmony for the community picnic. My idea for a simple get-together to thank those who’d worked on my uncle’s house had turned into a huge event. No one even remembered the original reason for the gathering. Everyone was having a wonderful time sharing a mild spring night with their family, friends, and neighbors.

Another boisterous bellow rang out. The women gathered at the table laughed at the antics of the men who’d put together a baseball game with odd rules and even stranger equipment. Sam had hit a softball past a package of unopened bread that lay on the ground. Abel and Gabe insisted that John had moved the bread when they weren’t looking and discounted John’s assertion that this signified a home run. However, the argument became moot when Buddy picked up the package in his mouth and began running around their designated playing field. Watching Abel and Gabe run after him while Sam, John, Drew Crandall, and his father yelled enthusiastic comments at the playful dog brought gales of laughter from the rest of us. The men’s careful inclusion of Drew, the young man with Down syndrome, into their exploits was touching. He was having as much fun as the rest of them, laughing at Buddy’s attempt at disrupting the game. Finally, Sam, who pretended not to be interested in the bread at all, sucked Buddy into his clutches and grabbed the shredded loaf from his mouth. The men were now in a game of keep-away with one another.

“Can’t tell the difference between those men and little bitty boys,” Sweetie said around a mouthful of potato salad.

“That’s for certain.” Emily was able to smile tonight after a couple of days of emotional upheaval. Levi’s admission that he’d killed Jacob Glick because of his love for her had shaken her deeply. She finally told Abel about the rape. As I’d suspected, he wasn’t really surprised. His knowledge of Glick, as limited as it was, and his wife’s reaction to the mere mention of the man’s name, had caused Abel to suspect the truth years ago. References to Glick had occurred a few times in the past because of Abel’s interest in the memoirs and diaries left behind by early Harmony residents. Each time, Emily’s reaction had been similar to the one I’d witnessed Saturday at the café. It didn’t take a detective to realize something was wrong. Not feeling he should confront Emily before she was ready, Abel had spent a long time praying for his wife. His prayers, along with his undying love and support gave her the strength to finally bring her shameful secret out into the open. When seen in the light of God’s love, the darkness vanished, as did the humiliation and guilt. This revelation allowed her to accept God’s redemptive power to heal her pain.

She’d finally removed that sad painting off the wall in her dining room and replaced it with one of Hannah’s delightful landscapes. In fact, she and Abel had destroyed the self-portrait together and thrown the remnants on the fire. Now that it was finally vanquished, along with the fear of losing her family, she’d even promised to pick up a paintbrush again. Hannah was understandably delighted, as was Emily’s devoted husband.

In an odd twist of fate, although Levi Hoffman may have wanted to protect Emily when they were younger and failed, in admitting his part in Glick’s murder, he’d actually helped to set her free. I could only hope he’d find some comfort in that knowledge.

“Well, I can hardly believe what’s happened,” Ruth said. “Seeing Gabriel and John out there having fun with the other men—why it’s nothing short of a miracle.”

“Here’s another miracle,” Emily said with a smile. “Sunday morning we had some very special visitors.”

Ida, who sat beside me, reached over and hugged my arm. “That is correct. Gabriel, Sarah, and I came to church together.”

“That’s wonderful,” I said, kissing her on the cheek. “Just a visit or...”

“Not sure,” Ida said. “I do not want to push Gabriel. I think it could be a mistake. I just told him I would be going every Sunday I could and would love it if we could ride together. We will have to wait and see what happens.”

“Did the investigators fill that hole back up after they dug Glick out of the clearing?” Ruth asked.

I shuddered. “No. Something to do with possibly needing more evidence. They’ve got crime scene tape all around it. I don’t think they’ll keep it like that for long. Not with Levi’s confession. I’m just staying away. It gives me the creeps.”

“’Twas a might more creepy when Jacob was actually there,” Sweetie said. “You should rest better now that that mean old thing is gone.”

I sighed and speared a piece of watermelon with my fork. “I guess I do. Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about any of this. It’s just too fresh, I guess.”

“Ruth told me you stopped by her shop to get some flowers for Ben’s grave,” Joyce said. “How did the visit with your uncle go?”

“It was good. I’m glad I went.” I smiled at Ruth. “And thank you so much for the lovely flowers. They look so pretty next to his headstone.”

I looked around at the people sitting at the large picnic table. “I haven’t had the chance to ask anyone before this, but who picked the inscription?”

“Why, Ben did, child,” Joyce said. “Who did you think chose it?”

I was pretty sure I knew the answer to my question before she said it, but I had to ask. After I’d found Benjamin’s headstone and read the inscription, I could only stand in front of it and weep. Under his name and the dates of his birth and death, these words had been inscribed:
’TIS GRACE THAT BROUGHT MR SAFE THUS FAR, AND GRACE WILL LEAD ME HOME.
I couldn’t miss the capitalization of the second
grace.
Unless the engraver had made a mistake, my uncle had sent me a final message. He’d trusted me to find a way to lay his pain to rest. Being able to complete the task he’d left for me brought me great peace.

“So did you get ... what do they call it ... closure?” Emily asked.

I smiled. “You know, I think I did. I sat down and had a nice long conversation with my uncle. Told him everything that had happened since I came to Harmony. He may not have heard me, but it made me feel better.”

“He certainly left a lot behind for you to deal with,” Ruth said.

“I know. But now I understand it, and I’m at peace with it.”

“I’m sure your father was happy to know you’d put flowers on his brother’s final resting place,” Emily said.

“Yes—yes he was.”

The call I’d made to my dad had really thrown me for a loop. Telling him what Benjamin had tried to do for him was harder than I’d anticipated. I was glad to be free from our awful family secret, but I hadn’t fully anticipated how deep the emotional impact would be for my father. When I explained that his estrangement from his brother hadn’t been because Benjamin had rejected him but because he’d been trying to protect him, Dad broke down. Then I cleared up another mystery thanks to something Sweetie told me while we were planning the picnic. A few weeks before Benjamin died, she’d asked for the key to my father’s old bedroom so she could clean it. Benjamin refused. He’d told Sweetie that he missed his brother so much he couldn’t bear to have anything touched or changed. In fact, sometimes he’d pretend Daniel was still living in the house, just on the other side of the closed bedroom door. It shook me deeply to listen to my father cry. Of course, once he got control of his emotions, he went another direction. He chewed me out. Royally.

“Gracie, you should have told me what was going on the first night you got there,” he’d said sternly. “I hate that you went through something like this alone. I would have been there for you. You should have known that.”

After assuring him it would never happen again, and being pretty confident that I would never run up against a situation quite like this one again if I lived three lifetimes, we’d hung up. After putting the phone down, I’d had a good, long sobfest myself. Not sure exactly why, but I think it had something to do with relieving tension—and hearing my father cry. Not something I wanted to experience again for a long, long time.

“All kinds of changes going on in Harmony,” Ida said, pulling me back into the present. “I am getting a telephone!”

“Now that really
is
something,” Joyce said with a smile. “What made you decide to do it?”

The old woman shook her head. “After Gracie’s fire and Levi’s situation, I saw that I could have gotten help for my friends much faster if I had a telephone. I do not intend to let that happen again.”

I smiled at her, feeling a great sense of relief. Now if she ever needed help, she’d be able to call someone.

“You know,” Sweetie said, “all this goodwill has made me do some thinkin’. I—I was ponderin’ the idea of goin’ back to church myself.” She grinned at Emily. “Don’t think it will be your church, though. I don’t cotton to dresses, and those caps you wear would just look silly on my old head.”

Emily laughed good-naturedly. “Actually, you could wear what you want and still be welcome at Bethel. But you should go where you feel most comfortable.”

“I should say you’d be welcome at Bethel!” Abel loudly proclaimed. He and Sam had finished their game and run up to the table. “We can’t tell you how much we appreciate what you did for us.”

I looked over at Sweetie who wrinkled up her face in a frown. “Now Abel, I told you to be quiet about that.”

He shook his head. “Sorry, Sweetie. I think all the blood must have rushed from my head out there with Sam chasing me all over the place. I forgot you didn’t want anyone to know.”

“Know what?” Ruth asked. “You might as well tell us now, Abel. You know we’ll keep needling you until you cough up the truth.”

Abel looked over at Sweetie who glared at him. “Sorry, Ruth. It’s Sweetie’s story to share, and she doesn’t seem open to it.”

Sam raised one eyebrow. “Well, I know what it is, and I’m not afraid of retribution.”

“I told you, boy, I can cut off your food supply if you irritate me,” his aunt said forcefully. She waved her hand at the group gathered around the table. “It ain’t no big thing, but I’d surely appreciate it if it wouldn’t go no further than this group.” She shook her finger at Abel. “And that goes for you especially, Abel Mueller. You’re a pastor. I shouldn’t have to worry about you spreadin’ gossip.”

Abel bowed at the waist and made a motion as if he were doffing his hat. Actually, his large straw hat was sitting on the bench next to his wife. “My humble apologies for divulging your secret.” He straightened up and shook his finger back at her. “But you make it sound like you did something wrong, Sweetie. It’s not like you stole Ruth’s chestnut vase or something.”

Everyone at the table laughed. It was nice to find humor in something that had been so painful only a short time ago. Sweetie guffawed louder than anyone else.

“Well, here’s the story,” she said when the laughter finally died down. “After I moved into the red house, I was workin’ to fix it up. I found an old safe that belonged to that Amil Angstadt character. There was twenty thousand dollars in it. I found out that years ago, a member of Bethel sold some land and donated the proceeds to the church. Seems it never made it to its final destination though.” She shrugged. “So I gave the money to Abel—for fixin’ up damaged houses and such. You know, like what happened to Gracie here.”

Emily reached across the table and took Sweetie’s calloused hand. “You’re a good woman, Sweetie Goodrich. I’m proud to know you.”

Sweetie blinked several times and her eyes got big. “Why ... why, thank you, Emily. Can’t say I heard that too much in my life.”

“I remember that money,” Ida said. “That property belonged to Mason Guttenberg. After he died, his wife decided to go back to Pennsylvania to live with her parents. Viola wanted to do something in Mason’s memory and told folks she was going to sell their land and give part of the proceeds to the church. Funny thing was, we never heard anything else about it. We all wondered what happened to the donation, but then the bishop died, Viola and the kids moved on, and it was forgotten.” She smiled at Sweetie. “God used you to put it where it was supposed to go. Praise the Lord!”

Sweetie turned three shades of red. She probably didn’t hear herself described as a vessel of the Lord very often.

I could only wonder why Angstadt never gave that money to the church. Was that the secret Glick had held over his head, or was it something else? Did the minister plan to do the right thing someday? The fact that none of the money was ever spent made me hope his intentions were honorable. He’d been a harsh and judgmental man, but was he a criminal? Unfortunately, I would never have the answer to that question in this life.

At that moment, Marcus Jensen and Amos Crandall walked up to the table. “Pastor Mueller,” Marcus said with a grin. “I’ve been sent over here to challenge you to a game of horseshoes. I hear you’re pretty good, but I think I’m better. Are you game?”

Abel looked at Emily whose light, lilting laugh made me feel happy inside. “It’s fine. You go on. Have fun.”

“How ’bout you, Sam?” Amos asked.

“Thanks, Amos, but I have something I need to talk to Sam about,” I said. “He’ll sit this one out.”

Marcus smiled and patted Sam on the back. “Sounds important, Sam,” he said in a jovial voice. “I think you’d better tend to it. Catch up to us later if you want to. Abel will probably need the help.”

“Pride goeth before destruction, Pastor Jensen,” Abel said, winking at us. “I think you’re in for a whoopin’, as my mother used to say.”

The two took off toward the area where the horseshoes had been set up. We could hear their good-natured ribbing as they walked away.

Hannah’s friends Leah and Jessica ran up to the table and grabbed her arm. “Let’s watch the men play horseshoes, Hannah,” they said between giggles.

Hannah looked at Emily who nodded her permission. The three girls ran toward the horseshoe area, laughing and teasing each other.

“Come with me, Mr. Goodrich,” I said to Sam. “I think you’re in for a whoopin’, too.”

“Yikes,” he said, grabbing Sweetie’s hand. “Save me from this vicious woman.”

She shook her hand free and laughed at him. “Boy, I think you been in need of straightenin’ out for a long, long time. Gracie’s got my blessin’!”