A Widow's Hope (30 page)

Water dripped onto the seat and pooled by Seth’s feet. He would have to put a fresh bead of sealant at the top of the windshield to stop the leak. But right now he wanted to pick up his daughter, grab a bite to eat in Julia’s kitchen, and have a few words with Hannah. He was eager to get to the bottom of this. Why did he hear about the ministerial call from his friend? Hannah was supposed to be his friend too. She should have told him about the warning instead of avoiding the subject. He didn’t like secrets, especially not from a woman he had feelings for. She’d already told him about her Scripture reading, so she had no reason to hide the call from the elders.

There was much about Mrs. Brown he didn’t know. And now was the time to find those things out before he fell deeply in love.

Seth stomped his boots on the porch mat, drawing the attention of the Millers inside. The sound of scraping chairs and shouts of glee warmed his heart as he opened the back door. A speeding rocket nearly knocked him off his feet.

“
Daed,
” Phoebe said, hurtling herself into his arms. He swept her up, and she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

“My sweet Phoebe, did I hear you say my name? Did you say
daed?
” he asked softy, cradling her head against his shoulder.

She shook her head no and buried her face in his shirt.

“Well, now, I must be hearing things.” He kissed her silky hair and tried to set her down, but the child clung to him like a thistle burr. Phoebe refused to let go of his neck, and her small body was trembling. He stroked her back and uttered the tender endearments that Constance had used, but it was a long time before Phoebe relaxed against his shoulder.

“Seth?” Julia asked. His sister-in-law opened the screen door and joined them on the porch.

“Hello, Julia. I hope you’re feeling better today. Is Hannah around? I need to speak with her.” He put Phoebe down, but she grabbed his trouser legs with both hands and started to cry. “Phoebe, what is the
matter with you? I’ve been gone only one day. We’ll be going home soon. Why are you crying?” The girl only cried harder.

“Hannah’s out walking, Seth. In the pasture.”

“In the rain?” Seth asked.
Why in the world would she be out in this weather,
he thought, but he placed that last on a long list of more important questions.

“She took an umbrella.” Julia attempted a thin smile. “I’m sure she’ll be back soon, but there’s something I need to discuss with you first.” Julia gently extracted Phoebe from Seth’s pant leg. “Phoebe, you go into the house. I need to talk to your father alone.” Julia used her rare but effective stern voice—the one that seldom failed to get the desired result. Phoebe ran dejectedly inside with a fresh set of sobs.

Seth felt a twinge of unease. “What is it, Julia? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Phoebe. Something happened when she slept over last night. While Leah was fixing the bed they had shared, she noticed the sheets were wet and called me upstairs.”

Seth relaxed against the porch rail and stretched out his legs. For a minute he’d been worried something was seriously wrong. “So she couldn’t get herself untangled from the covers and down to the bathroom in time. It happens, Julia. She’s only five.”

Julia cocked her head to one side as though considering this. “She’s almost six, and we’re not talking about a little bladder leak or about her not sleeping soundly and simply not waking in time. We’re talking about Phoebe wetting the bed just like a toddler without a diaper on. Only she doesn’t wear diapers anymore. We had to change the sheets and scrub the pad and mattress. On the next clear day, we’ll have to take the mattress to the yard to dry in the hot sun.”

Seth blew his breath out in a whistle, feeling ashamed for his little girl without cause and mildly annoyed with Julia. “Isn’t a person allowed one mistake every now and then?” he asked. “I’m sorry for the extra work, but it was a one-time accident. Let’s not blow this out of proportion.” Seth was tired of the bed–wetting discussion
and eager to get his daughter home. And something to eat would do him wonders too.

Julia shifted her weight against the doorframe with a grimace of pain, but when she spoke, her words held only sympathy and compassion. “No, this isn’t the first time. There have been other incidents. I thought it was a temporary phase, but she’s getting worse, not better.”

“She’s not having this problem at home,” Seth said defensively.

“And you would know if she did wet the bed?”

He opened his mouth to argue, to refute her accusation, but closed it like a frog catching a fly. He had been spending so much time away from Phoebe, he easily could have overlooked this. “You’re right, Julia,” He hung his head with a weary sigh. “I haven’t been a good
daed
lately. I’m afraid I’ve left too much up to you and Hannah. Constance wouldn’t be happy with how I’ve neglected our daughter.”

“Oh, pooh. Constance would understand how hard it is to be in several places at once. I’m only bringing this up because I think something is troubling Phoebe. And it goes beyond simply missing her
mamm.
Get to the bottom of this, Seth, and let us know what we can do to help. Hannah’s grown mighty fond of Phoebe during the past week and is making good progress with those flash cards. She’ll be happy to lend a hand with this too, but Phoebe needs her father right now.” Julia leaned over and kissed his cheek.

Seth felt his throat tighten with more emotion than he could handle.
What would I do without my loving family?
“
Danki,
Julia. I’ll get Phoebe and take her home, but I’ll give everything you said serious thought. She’ll have her father back, I promise you. Sorry ’bout the added work she caused.”

Julia punched his arm lightly. “Stop it, Seth Miller. No need to worry about that. Lately I’ve got so many extra hands helping, I’m going to buy myself a box of bonbons and one of those chaise lounges.” Just for a moment, she looked like the old Julia, the one before pain had become an everyday occurrence.

“I hope you do, so I can see just what a bonbon is,” he said, taking hold of her arm. She limped back inside as Seth steadied her.

Hannah still hadn’t returned from her walk, but he would tackle that particular mystery another time. Emma packed his meal to go home, and he accepted the basket thankfully, not wishing to eat alone at the table. He wanted to get his little girl home and discover why she was regressing.

“The pain is worse, isn’t it?” Seth asked as Julia lowered herself into a chair.

“
Jah,
I saw a specialist in Canton a couple of days ago. He ran tests and determined the arthritis is rheumatoid, worse than the ordinary garden variety. He said quite a bit of damage has been done to my joints, but with the new medicine and physical therapy—plus all the doting-on—I’ll be jogging before you know it.” The sparkle in her eyes didn’t mask the lines of anguish in her face.

“If there’s anything I can do to help, Julia, you just let me know. Anything at all.” Seth hated that he and his child were adding to her burdens.

“Don’t you go waiting on me hand and foot too. I’m not a complete invalid yet.” She grinned and looked like the woman who’d married his brother on the hottest day of September he could recall.

Seth leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “And with God’s mercy, you never will be.” Just as he was about to call Phoebe down from Leah’s room, he remembered something. “She spoke. Phoebe said my name—
daed.
”

Julia’s joy matched his own. “She did? Phoebe is talking again?” Julia clapped her hands together.

“I don’t know if it’s exactly talking. She said one word last week and one word now before clamming up. But it’s a start. We know she didn’t lose her voice altogether like I was afraid of.”

That was the first time he’d expressed his fear that Phoebe would remain mute forever.

“It’s a very good start,” Julia agreed. “Wasn’t
daed
her first word as a baby?”

Seth grinned. “
Jah,
Constance was a little disappointed. I heard her saying
mamm, mamm, mamm
all day long till Phoebe learned that word too.” He hollered up the stairs, “Phoebe, time to go home.”

Then he met his sister-in-law’s eye. “Take it easy, Julia. Don’t do too much. Let others help. They want to, and you deserve it. And
danki
for helping with Phoebe.”

“You can thank Hannah. She has spent much more time with her than I have lately.”

Phoebe barreled into his outstretched arms, and Seth lifted her to his shoulder.

He left Simon’s home with one last perusal of the darkened pasture.

Where is Hannah? Why isn’t she back yet?
He wanted to wait but also needed to get Phoebe to bed. She had spent too much time at Julia’s and not enough in her own home.

He was filled with sorrow with the realization he’d been neglecting his little girl. This was his fault. Phoebe had only one parent, and he was falling down on the job. He always had his mind on the price of corn, the condition of his fields, or a green-eyed widow who had crept into his every waking thought.

On the ride home, Phoebe fell asleep beside him with her fist curled next to her mouth. The sound of her soft snore was oddly reassuring.

He would become a better father.

And he would be a better man.

Hannah fully expected the kitchen to be empty when she returned from her rambling. Her sister, however, was sitting at the oak table with a shawl over her nightgown and a cup of tea half gone.

“Julia, go on up to bed. You must be exhausted,” Hannah said, hanging up her soggy
kapp.

“I’m not tired at all. I’ve slept so much in the past few days, I feel like a bear crawling out from winter hibernation. The new pills might be starting to work too. Watch this,” she instructed. She held out her hand and bent each finger in succession from the knuckle. They were only small movements but a big improvement from her near paralysis.

“
Wunderbaar,
” Hannah said. “Before you know it, you’ll be playing the piano.”

Julia arched a brow. “We don’t own a piano, sister, and Simon would never allow such a thing.”

“Then you’ll be back to embroidering.” Hannah peeked in the oven to find her dinner still warm under the foil.

“That ham is probably as tough as shoe heels.”

“No matter. I’m hungry enough to eat shoe heels right about now.” Hannah carried the plate to the table and poured a tall glass of milk. After bowing her head for a silent prayer, she said, “
Danki
for saving my supper. That walk did me a world of good.”

“I thought it might. I go sit by the river whenever I feel out-of-sorts. The sound of water always soothes my spirit.”

Hannah glanced up from her food, surprised that her sister ever felt bad-tempered, even living with chronic pain. Julia seemed to have been born serene.

“I had my own reason to wait for you.” Julia pulled an envelope from the waistband of her skirt. “This came for you today. That brother of ours addressed his letter to you, or I would have opened it by now. Please read it aloud. I’m eager for any news from Lancaster.”

Hannah wiped her mouth and fingers and did as she was asked. “You shouldn’t have waited. Thomas wouldn’t share any secret with me that he didn’t want you to hear.” She took a sip of milk, cleared her throat, and began to read:

My dear sister,

I hope all is well with you and Julia and the entire Miller family. I am looking forward to the harvest so I can come to Ohio for an overdue visit. It’s high time everyone meets Miss Catherine Hostetler, who by Christmastime will be Mrs.Thomas Kline.

Hannah paused to eat a bite of cauliflower while Julia hooted like an owl.

“A wedding!” Julia exclaimed. “A December wedding. Oh, my, I hope I’ll be well enough to travel to Pennsylvania.”

“Of course you will be,” Hannah said. “The therapies and medications will have worked wonders by then.” She took another drink of milk and continued reading:

I owe my good fortune all to you, sister. For without your advice, I would’ve been destined to life alone on the wonderful farm you sold me. I took the apples and everything else in the root cellar to Miss Hostetler for her to put up. She was quite pleased to see me the day I stopped by. She took me on a tour of her vegetable garden and milking parlor and wash house and woodshed, even though those of the Hostetlers look just like everybody else’s.