Abby Finds Her Calling (8 page)

The bell tinkled downstairs. Could Sam be back already? Abby looked over the railing to gauge his mood, and then grinned. “Emma! Gut to see you! How’s your Saturday been?”

Her best friend smiled up at her and waved a plate of something she’d baked. “I tried a new recipe for pumpkin muffins, with blueberries,” Emma said as she hurried up the stairs, “and I thought you’d like one while it’s still warm. James and the folks are settling up with Mose Hartzler, now that he’s cleaned the chimney and repaired some cracks in the mortar. I’ve only got a few minutes.”

It was a rare treat for Emma to get away, so Abby cleared the curtain panels from her extra chair. “We should probably have Mose sweep our chimneys soon. Winter will be here before we know it.”

Emma perched on the edge of the spare chair and unwrapped two large muffins that were still so warm that the berries smeared on her fingers. “Cute curtains, Abby! Who are those for?”

“They’re going in Lois Yutzy’s shop, where the new tables are.”

Emma snickered. “No doubt when Beulah Mae sees them, she’ll think her bakery needs fancied up, too. Can’t have Mrs. Nissley’s Kitchen falling behind Mother Yutzy’s Oven, you know.”

The two of them giggled and bit into their muffins. As she chewed, Emma glanced around at the finished place mats and dresses waiting to be picked up. “Would you have time to make Mamm a new black dress for church, and another one for every day? Dat needs new pants, too,” she added, shaking her head. “I cleared out their oldest stuff—which is why your rag rug bin was so full. They’ll fuss at me, saying new clothes are an extravagance, but with winter coming on, they need warmer things to wear.”

“I’d be tickled to do that. We can pick out the fabric as soon as we finish our snack.” Abby closed her eyes over a big mouthful of sweet, soft muffin, inhaling its cinnamon scent. “Denki for bringing me this nice surprise! I won’t get lunch until Sam comes back.”

Emma nodded, peering down at the main level of the store to see whether anyone else was around. Then she looked at Abby with wide brown eyes. “Has anyone heard from Zanna? You must be getting awfully worried by now if…”

Abby took another bite of her muffin, needing a moment to think. Mamm didn’t want anyone to hear about Zanna’s pregnancy, but the Grabers—and everyone in Cedar Creek—would want to know her sister was safe. “Matter of fact, Zanna showed up this morning,” she replied carefully. “She smelled so bad from hiding in a barn that—”

“A barn? Why on earth—”

“—I told her to clean herself up and get ready to answer a
lot
of questions, once we’re all home for dinner.”

The tinkle of the bell made them glance down to the main level. The Coblentz twins entered, chattering as they always did. Most Saturday afternoons they wandered the aisles fingering the bolts of fabric and the quilted linens Abby had made, and then they sampled
the peanut butter that Sam ground fresh each day before ambling home after their little outing. They always dressed alike, and lately they’d been carrying a cell phone—a sure sign they were pushing their parents to the limit during their rumspringa.

“Afternoon, girls!” Abby called down to them. “What can I help you with?”

Martha and Mary raised their identical freckled faces, waving. “We’ve been coming here nearly every Saturday of our lives, you know!” Martha remarked.

Mary added, “Jah, we probably know what you’ve got better than you do!”

“True enough. Holler if you need me.” Abby caught herself before she blurted out that Zanna was back. Such a shame she couldn’t share this news with two of her sister’s best buddies, the girls Zanna had chosen to be side-sitters at her wedding. Soon, however, Zanna’s return to Cedar Creek would become common knowledge. If they were lucky, tongues wouldn’t wag for long once—

“Hullo? Jah? Well, where have
you
been hiding yourself?” one of the redheads sang out. “You had a greenhouse full of people—”

“Jah, and when James came back without you, we couldn’t help wondering—”

Abby’s mouth went sour as she glanced at Emma. The Coblentz twins stood head to head with their cell phone between them, and they could be talking to only one person.

“A
baby
? Oh, my word—”

“Does James know?”

As Emma stared down at the girls in disbelief, Abby rose from her chair. She peered out the store’s window toward the phone shanty at the road. It was foolish enough that Zanna would call her friends. Surely she’d not use the phone they shared with the Grabers, where Sam or Mamm—or even James—might come upon her at any moment!

But no, some fellow in a dark hat and a blue work shirt sat in the
little white building, with his back to her. Maybe James’s dat had ambled out to make a call while Eunice wasn’t looking.

Did this mean Zanna had a cell phone, then? Such a worldly gadget was strictly forbidden now that she’d joined the church. Was her sister piling one offense on top of another, knowing full well she was defying the
Ordnung
with her brash actions?

“You can’t let him get away with this!” one of the twins exclaimed.

Her sister chimed in with, “What can we do for you, Zanna? No fella has the right to…”

Abby blinked back angry tears. Did Zanna have no sense of what she was starting as she informed her friends about her pregnancy? Abby went to the banister. “Mary and Martha Coblentz!” she called down. “I’ll thank you to keep Zanna’s private business—and your cell phone conversations—to yourselves! We’ve got enough gossip flying around town as it is!”

The redheaded sisters gawked up at her, suddenly aware of how their voices had carried. One twin clicked the phone off as they both started toward the front door. Were the Coblentz girls embarrassed about being overheard? Or did they intend to spread the word about Zanna’s situation and how James had figured in it? Abby felt so betrayed she wanted to shake that sister of hers!

Instead she went to the window again. Should she beg poor Emma to keep this overheard conversation under her kapp? Should she rush home to confront Zanna? Such outrageous behavior could not continue.

The door to the phone shanty opened and the man stepped out. His clothing seemed awfully baggy, even for Merle Graber. And James’s old dat didn’t wear small tan shoes, did he? Abby turned from the window, so mad she was shaking.

Emma’s stricken expression tore at Abby as their eyes met. “What’s this talk about a baby? Why didn’t you tell me—”

“We just found out. And after we break the news to Sam— I’m
sorry, Emma!” Abby turned off the light above her sewing machine. “I’ve got to get home now.”

“But James never let on…” Emma stood up stiffly and headed for the stairs.

Abby caught up to her retreating friend and tucked her hand under Emma’s elbow. “Mamm wants to keep this quiet until we decide what to do. Please don’t tell anyone.”

Emma pulled her arm from Abby’s grasp. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. “And how am I supposed to act like I didn’t hear what Mary and Martha said? Could
you
keep quiet about it, Abby?”

Heartsick, Abby watched her best friend hurry across the blacktop to the Graber home. She turned the sign in the mercantile’s window from
OPEN
to
CLOSED
and locked the door behind her, not knowing when Sam might be back… or whether Mamm had told him of Zanna’s return. Abby walked quickly down Lambright Lane and into her house through the front door. She found her little sister lounging on the sofa in a clean dress, sipping a cup of tea.

“So what’s all this—your calling the Coblentz twins to tell them about the baby? And sneaking out to the phone shanty in clothes from my rag bin, no less!” Abby’s stomach churned, for it wasn’t her way to bring things to a boil. By nature she was a peacemaker, a mender of souls, and confrontation had never sat well with her.

Zanna scooted to the edge of the sofa, eyeing her warily. “You couldn’t think I’d come home and not tell my friends,” she murmured. “I was lonely.”

Abby arched an eyebrow. “And how’d you get to the phone without Barb spotting you? Or the dogs fussing over those strange clothes?”

“I tossed them my graham crackers.”

Oh, but that was the wrong thing to say. Abby crossed her arms so tightly they ached. “You didn’t have to make out like James left you in the lurch. And you could have waited until your own family
had a chance to talk to you. Here I thought I’d make things easier by letting you clean up, and you throw your dirt right back in my face.”

Zanna’s teacup rattled when she put it on the end table. She didn’t say a word.

Abby exhaled slowly. She thought about the pointed questions she’d intended to ask, to get at the truth of this situation, and decided her sister needed to answer them for a larger, more critical audience. “I’ve already told Mamm you’re back, and she’s plenty upset.”

Zanna stood up, her eyes wide. “And why’d you have to—”

“And now it’s time to tell Sam and the rest of them you’re here,” Abby continued, her tone of voice allowing no argument. “You can either come with me and start on your apologies, or you’d better believe they’ll be here in a hummingbird’s heartbeat to hear what you’ve got to say. And then we’re going over to speak with James.”

Abby turned away, heartsick. In all her years as this pretty blonde’s big sister, she’d never figured on dealing with this sort of a mess. A baby changed
everything
, for everyone in the Lambright family. The Ordnung spelled out right and wrong: Zanna hadn’t learned those lessons very well, but she was about to find out—from Sam, and their mother, and even her unborn child—that nobody dodged a basic responsibility to care for others and to be accountable for themselves.

Out the door Abby went, then down the lane toward the rambling white house that had seen three generations of Lambrights through times of trial and triumph.
Never
had any news like this crossed their threshold, however. At least she heard footsteps behind her: Zanna had chosen to face the fire. Abby slowed down, but her sister didn’t catch up.

Then, across the road, the front door opened and Emma Graber came out. She broke into a run, across the blacktop and past the mercantile, passing Abby as though she didn’t even see her. James’s sister wiped her hands on her apron as she stood in front of Zanna. Her wounded expression left no doubt of what was on her mind.
“What’s this about a baby?” she demanded breathlessly. “I heard the Coblentz twins talking in the store when you called them. How long have you known, Zanna?”

Abby closed her eyes. Emma’s heartbreak came out loud and clear, and Zanna needed to hear it.

A sob escaped Emma as she continued. “And all this time you and James have been doing everything together, planning to get hitched, and—”

“You don’t understand,” Zanna murmured.

“—you both seemed so
happy
! Yet James has never let on to us about a baby.”

Emma’s sentence ended in a sob, and then there was a painful pause. Abby waited, wondering what would come next. Would this be the part that finally made Zanna realize how she’d stung everyone who loved her?

“James doesn’t
know
there’s a baby—does he, Zanna?” Emma whimpered and backed toward the road, still wringing her hands. “Don’t you be coming over, hear me? Mamm and Dat are still stirred up about the wedding, and
this
news—well, they can’t handle it right now. James—”

“Don’t you say a word to him!” Zanna cried out.

“—went over past Queen City on a repair call,” Emma continued doggedly. “If you’re not gonna tell him, then
I
will! How can you think I’ll keep such a thing from my brother? From the man who has eyes for nobody but
you
, Zanna Lambright? It’ll be all over Cedar Creek in an hour, you know. Mary and Martha probably told everyone they saw on their way home.”

When Emma finally realized Abby was there, too, she clapped her hand over her mouth. “Sorry,” she rasped. Then she dashed back across the road, the sound of her sobs drifting back to them.

As she focused on Zanna, Abby sighed sadly. “I hope you’re ready to own up to what you know—the straight-on truth. You’re going to hear a lot tougher talk than this before the night’s through.”

“S
o you’re telling me you spent the past couple nights hiding in a barn rather than asking your family for help?” Sam demanded. “And you’re saying James Graber took advantage of your innocence and then acted like he didn’t care about the consequences?” Their brother glared sternly from his end of the long table, where the whole family waited silently for this discussion to end so the meal could begin.

Not that anyone felt like eating. Matt and the three girls focused on their empty plates while Abby sat with her head bowed, holding Mamm’s trembling hand… knowing better than to tell Sam how to handle the situation.

“Suzanna, you told better lies than that when you were five,” Sam blurted out. “And we’ll sit here until we get the truth from you.”

Zanna blanched, paler than milk. “I—I just wish I could’ve talked to Dat, and maybe none of this would’ve happened,” she said, a hitch in her voice. “Mamm never told me how
not
to have babies—”