Abby Finds Her Calling (39 page)

A wry smile warmed Rudy’s face. “Gut!” he said with a chuckle. “You won’t be cuttin’ into
my
livin’ that way, ain’t so? I imagine my cows will be real glad to see me, after dealin’ with the likes of you two and Mervin. But I thank you for keepin’ it all goin’,” he added in a more serious tone.

“What if Gideon started up a big poultry business like he’s been managing for those Mennonites, only in Cedar Creek?” Adah suggested. “We’ve got that patch of land across the road that got cut off when the highway went through—plenty big enough for a building or two. And you could go in with him, Jonny.”

“
Me
, raising chickens?” Jonny screwed up his face. “The only thing worse than dealing with cows and their manure is tending to chickens and theirs.”

“But you’d be right gut at setting up the buildings and adapting the machinery so’s Amish could raise birds… probably on a smaller scale.” Gideon’s face lit up as the idea took root. “Cedar Creek’s no place for a huge facility like I run for the Stauffers over in Bloomingdale, where we feed thousands of birds at once, but… maybe a better idea would be for families to raise cage-free birds and grow their organic feed. Restaurants and specialty markets pay big money for brown eggs and free-range chickens—and nobody around here’s doin’ that,” he added in a rising voice. “It would be a gut way for farmers to diversify without needing a lot of land. I
like
it!”

Rudy sat taller in his recliner, his face brightening. “You boys got any money laid by for start-up? Probably wouldn’t take all that much, because when you set up other fellas for this business, you’d be using their money rather than yours.”

“Or,” Zanna chimed in, grabbing Jonny’s hand again, “Sam’s always wanted to carry fancy stoves like you built for the house, but he’s got no patience or time for putting them together. You could do that.”

“You tinkered with the cheese factory equipment long before you were out of school,” Adah recalled. “Can’t you just see it, Jonny? An enclosed wagon with
ROPP REPAIRS AND APPLIANCES
in big letters on the sides! You’d be driving from place to place instead of being stuck on a farm with livestock.”

“And nobody local does that, either,” Abby remarked. It was hard to keep a huge grin off her face, the way this plan was shaping up. But it had to be Jonny’s decision—his ideas for a business—or it would never work. Jonny wasn’t the type to do what other folks thought he should.

Jonny raked his hand through his blond hair, looking out the window while he tried on these ideas for size. Then he smiled. He kissed his mamm noisily on the cheek before stepping toward his father, his hand extended. “Mighty gut to have you back with us, healthy again, Dat,” he murmured hoarsely. “You’ve given me plenty to think about.”

With some effort, Rudy rose from his chair to pull his son into an awkward hug. Neither man had ever been showy with his affection, but Abby believed that hug made the world spin in a whole new direction.

She held her breath. Jonny was good at going along with a tide of ideas until he got out on the road again. Was he only pretending he might make his living—make his home—in Cedar Creek, with Zanna?

“Don’t you dare leave now,” Maggie piped up. “We were ready to cut into that gingerbread Abby brought. Stay and eat with us.”

But Jonny was having none of it. He swatted Gideon playfully, saying, “Eat my share, will you? We’ll
talk
, brother.” After nodding happily at his sisters and Abby, he hugged his mother. “Hope it all goes well when you get Dat out of here and into that new house, Mamm,” he murmured. “Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas to all!”

Abby nodded, but she was ready to spring to her feet if this handsome young man sashayed out of the room—and out of Zanna’s life again.

But Jonny pivoted to look at her sister, and then grabbed Zanna’s hands. “Are you coming with me, girl?” he pleaded as he gazed into her wide eyes. “I’m thinking you and I, and Junior here, have a lot of plans to make.”

Four months later

J
onny inhaled the fresh April air and grinned up at the rising sun: his wedding day! All his life he’d dreamed of doing something big—something beyond what he thought he’d find in Cedar Creek—and in about an hour, Zanna Lambright, the mother of his three-week-old son, would become his wife. It might not be happening in the order the Ordnung declared proper, but these days his life was running as smoothly as the machinery he tinkered with, every gear and cog meshing as they were meant to.

Because Zanna believed in him, he could do all things in God who strengthened him—just as he’d affirmed while preparing to join the church last week, on Easter Sunday. It had been a day of new beginnings. He felt like a new man, ready to take on the challenges of fatherhood and running his new machinery business. Folks had welcomed him back like the father who’d celebrated the return of his prodigal son… and it felt good to be home.

As Jonny gazed along the road, where the carriages approached in a steady stream, the
clip-clop! clip-clop!
of the horses’ hooves made his heart sing. What kind of craziness was this, that had him babbling nonsense to a newborn and hearing happy secrets in hoofbeats and the songs of birds as they feathered their nests?

A baby changes everything! Who knew a little child would lead you back to the family you once detested
?

But then, Harley Leroy Ropp wasn’t just any baby, was he? While it was true Zanna had chosen the names of a favorite uncle and her dat, she’d confessed to him that a certain motorcycle on a certain summer day had also inspired her choice.

“Gut morning to you! Gut to see you!” Jonny laughed, waving at the Detweilers, the Masts, and the Nissleys as they pulled in to witness his marriage—the black sheep of the Ropps hitching up with the wild-child Lambright who’d abandoned her previous groom at the altar. He and his Zanna had caused plenty of talk, each of them by running away from the faith and family values that had once felt so confining.

Yet now, Zanna’s love—her unfaltering faith in him—had set Jonny free to be a successful man whose future looked as bright as the springtime sky. He’d sold his diamond earring, the van, the limo, and the motorcycle to pay extra for a rush order: a customized, horse-drawn wagon that carried his mechanical tools and supplies, which had been completed ahead of the vehicles other folks had ordered from Graber Custom Carriages. It was just another example of how far forgiveness went here in Cedar Creek: James Graber had every reason to hate Jonny for overturning the plans he’d made with Zanna, yet the carriage maker seemed sincerely happy about the way things had worked out.

James and Emma waved from the end of the lane, where each of them escorted a parent… the same Merle and Eunice who’d made Zanna hesitate to marry into the Graber family. Jonny saw them with new eyes: Merle’s mental abilities were slipping, which drove Eunice to hover and cluck more often—and louder—as she peered through her outdated glasses. What a blessing that his own mamm and dat were healthy and happy in their new home. Some of their Christmas cash from well-wishers had gone toward a new house with a machine shop, which awaited him and Zanna on that parcel
of land across the road from the homeplace… close enough that he could help his folks and Gideon, yet a private place where he and Zanna could make lots of babies. Dat had declared it a wedding present, and an offering of thanks to God for bringing the Ropp boys home again.

“Jonny Ropp! Are you gonna help with these tables?” Matt called from the barn. “Or are you feeling too pretty, all decked out in those fancy new duds?”

Jonny laughed and hurried toward the barn. Abby had made his black broadfall trousers and vest, and a shirt so white it glowed in the morning sun. He felt happy to be wearing Plain clothes again… happier still to be welcomed into this family he’d once humiliated with his careless behavior. Sam Lambright had spared no expense on preparations for this event—yet another miracle, considering this was his little sister’s
second
wedding in six months.

“This time it will work,” Sam had assured him not long ago. “Unless something—or somebody—makes Zanna’s eyes twinkle, she won’t stay with them long. And you, Ropp, have made the stars come out to play. I guess you’re stuck with her, ain’t so?”

Stuck
on
her was more like it. Jonny couldn’t imagine loving anyone the way he’d come to treasure Zanna Lambright. While he’d always enjoyed her sense of humor and her refusal to submit to Leroy and Sam’s rules, it was her faith—and her unwavering commitment to being a good mother—that had made him realize he had some growing up to do. She had a sense of purpose about her that had taken him by surprise… had made him
want
to join the church and give up his English ways, to become the husband and father she deserved to have by her side.

Had he seen that coming? Never in a million years!

“Jonny Ropp! We need a word with you—if you can pull yourself out of daydreaming about that bride of yours.” Abe Nissley waved him over to where the bishop stood with Paul Bontrager, discussing the service.

Jonny excused himself from setting up tables to join the preachers. Women were entering the Lambright kitchen, and the aroma of baked chicken and creamed celery floated out to tantalize him. The celery had been an additional expense because it was too early for fresh garden vegetables, but Zanna’s mamm had insisted on observing the tradition for their wedding feast. In so many ways the Lambright family—the entire community—had made allowances for this out-of-season wedding.

“Because everything’s in its proper season now. The bride and groom are right for each other this time,” Treva Lambright had insisted. Everyone wanted him and Zanna and little Harley to have the best possible start as a family.

Vernon Gingerich looked him in the eye, smiling yet solemn. “Are you ready—for this day, and for all you’re about to take on, Jonny?”

“Jah,” he replied in a husky whisper.

“I’m teasing, mostly, but what’ll you do if Zanna doesn’t show?”

“She’ll be here.”

Paul smiled, glancing toward the house. “Bet the women are flocking around that new son of yours. Mother and child are doing well, I hope?”

Jonny nodded, grinning as he did at every mention of Harley. “First thing out of Mamm’s mouth was about how he’s the spitting image of his dat at that age. I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or a threat, but it’s my story and I’m sticking to it!”

Abe and the other two laughed, but Bishop Gingerich continued to gaze purposefully at him. “If you have doubts about that baby’s paternity, now’s the time to lock them away forever, son. There was talk about Zanna’s—”

“There was talk about a lot of things,” Jonny cut in firmly. “Harley’s my son, same as Zanna’s my woman. You’ll never convince me different, so don’t even try.”

The door opened and Abby stepped outside, cradling his son in
her arms. Was it his imagination, or did the sun beam more brightly every time the baby came into view? For sure and for certain the Lord had blessed him—and the whole town—with Abigail Lambright’s steadfast love. He couldn’t begin to repay what he owed her. Jonny grinned at such a thought: not so long ago he had no idea at all about real love, yet this patient maidel had stood by her sister—and him—to allow this present, perfect wedding day to come about.

Vernon’s eyes sparkled when he smiled. “Aunt Abby looks mighty happy right now.”

“Jah,” Jonny replied as he approached her to gaze at his son. “Abby knows a thing or two about what it takes to be happy—and about how to make other folks feel that way, too.”

“‘Charity suffereth long, and is kind,’” Bishop Gingerich recited in his sonorous voice. “‘Charity envieth not…’”

Abby sighed contentedly. Had there ever been a brighter day, or a pair so perfect as Zanna and Jonny? Many a wedding she’d attended, but this one put a special glow in her heart. Sam’s house was filled with the people they loved, some who silently mouthed the familiar passage as they gazed at Zanna and Jonny.

“‘… rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.’”

The bishop’s wedding sermon had never seemed more appropriate, and the couple in front of him bore out every detail of that favorite chapter of Corinthians—and would face its challenges in the years ahead. What a wonder it was that many of these folks had expressed their indignation when Zanna had confessed her pregnancy six months ago, but now believed things were working out for the very best, just the way they were meant to be.

Beside her, Adah nuzzled little Harley’s nose as Mamm smiled at him from her other side. Had two grandmothers ever been more
delighted by a baby? Mamm had come out of her grief to greet this new life—this new spring—with energy she hadn’t shown in years, while Adah had become one of Cedar Creek’s most cheerful women. With her husband fully recovered and her two sons home again, Adah bloomed with a renewed love as sturdy and bright as the rugs Zanna had made her.

And Zanna, the headstrong blonde who’d run away from her first wedding, sat attentively up front, drinking in every word of Vernon’s sermon and wisdom. She’d chosen a deep shade of periwinkle for today’s dress, and Abby had been so happy to make it for her—along with several sets of clothes for Harley, and the vest and trousers that made Jonny look so handsome, yet so Plain.