Amish Sweethearts (5 page)

Mandy elbowed Lila as she went by. “Whatcha lookin’ at?”

“Nothing.” Lila began collecting the plates and then pocketed the ten-dollar bill on the table. Shani and Joel had overtipped when they came in after she first started too. This time she hadn’t deserved a tip at all.

“Well, I’d say he’s worth looking at.” Mandy stared after Zane.

“I knew him when we were kids—that’s all. I’m courting Reuben, remember?”

“Right.” Mandy gave Lila a wry smile and headed on toward her section.

Tears stung Lila’s eyes. Was that what all those years had come to? Zane being classified as someone she “used to know”? And now he was headed to Afghanistan. She brushed at her eyes. How many times had she prayed the U.S. would get out of there before it was his turn to go?

At closing time she called Daniel to ask him for a ride. Snowflakes were starting to fly, and she still felt shaken up by what Adam had disclosed. Reuben had volunteered to get her earlier in the day but it was a long ride in a buggy from his place.

“Sweet dreams,” Mandy said as she left, waving on her way out the door.

A minute later Daniel pulled up and honked. “See you tomorrow,” Lila called out to her supervisor as she hurried out the door and into the falling snow.

Relief flooded over Lila as she hurried around to the passenger door. Jenny wasn’t in the cab with Daniel. As much as she loved her friend, she wanted to talk to her twin in private.

“Denki,” she said. “I really appreciate the ride.”

“No problem,” Daniel answered. “I don’t like it when you walk home.”

She fastened her seat belt. “The Becks came in tonight.”

Daniel grinned. “I knew you couldn’t avoid him entirely.”

“I wasn’t avoiding him.”

Daniel rolled his eyes.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was leaving tomorrow?”

“I didn’t know.” Daniel turned onto the highway. “I figured he’d be staying until after Christmas. Why is he going so soon?”

“Maybe because he’s shipping out to Afghanistan.”

“What?” Daniel swerved over the center line.

She put her hand on the dashboard. “Watch the road.”

Daniel pulled back. Thankfully no one was coming.

“Adam’s the one who told me, and Zane didn’t seem happy
that he did.” That hurt too. Why wouldn’t Zane want all of them to know?

Her brother let out a big sigh and said, “He didn’t say a word about going to Afghanistan. To Simon either.”

“Did he seem the same?” she asked Daniel. “When he was working with you.”

“Kind of,” Daniel answered. “He still seemed pretty intense, but he laughed too.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ve all grown up, right?”

Lila nodded. Despite his bad driving, Daniel had turned into a responsible man. True, he was on his Rumschpringe, but Lila was sure he’d join the church and marry Jenny as soon as he had enough money saved and a plan for the future. The truth was he worked too hard for much running around.

Dat wasn’t happy with Daniel having a truck and a cell phone, and the conflict between them had led Daniel to move out of the house. Lila tried not to feel in the middle, between the two, but she couldn’t help it. She suspected it would soon be even worse with Simon. But then again he’d always been Dat’s favorite, so maybe there wouldn’t be as much tension.

“You should try to talk to Zane,” Daniel said, gripping the wheel. The snow was thicker now.

“When?”

“Tonight.”

“I should just go knock on Joel and Shani’s door at ten thirty and ask them to wake up Zane so I can say hello?”

“Who says he’ll be asleep?”

“He’s probably leaving early in the morning so he can get a full day of driving in.”

Daniel slowed for a buggy. “It’s just really weird that he came all this way and you two haven’t talked.”

“We said hello in the restaurant.”

“That doesn’t count. You were such good friends.” Daniel
steered around the buggy. “By the time he’s home from Afghanistan you and Reuben will be married.”

Lila sank against the back of the seat.

“What’s wrong?” Daniel asked.

“Nothing,” she answered.

Daniel shook his head, as if clearing it. “I know you’ll always care about him. All the time we were growing up, it seemed like the two of you belonged together. But I didn’t really get things back then—”

She interrupted him. “Stop.” Her temples began to throb.

“Maybe Dat was right,” Daniel said, ignoring her, “about no good coming from having Englisch neighbors. Do you remember that? That was when he tried to forbid us from hanging out with Zane. But then he softened . . .”

Lila closed her eyes.

“Sis,” Daniel said. He hadn’t called her that in years. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe it’s better you didn’t have a chance to really see Zane. You’ll marry Reuben soon. Zane will just be a memory. Your childhood friend. Just like he was my childhood friend.”

Even though she knew Daniel was right she hated to hear him say it.

After her mother had died, Lila had felt a horrible loneliness—until Zane moved next door. Her friendship with him had brought a wholeness to her life. But then that disintegrated too.

It wasn’t that she felt overcome by her losses. Many people she knew had lost a parent or had some sort of tragedy. But Lila did feel as if something was missing from her life.

“Do you ever think about our biological father?” she asked her twin.

Daniel made a face and shook his head. “No. Why would I?”

“Because we have his DNA.”

Daniel shrugged. “What does that matter?”

They’d never met their father. They knew nothing about him. Not even his name. It wasn’t that Lila necessarily wanted to find the man or meet him. But she’d like to have the option. Perhaps that would help fill in the gap in her heart.

Daniel turned onto Juneberry Lane and then down the driveway. “Will you come in?” Lila asked.

He shook his head.

“Dat’s asleep.”

Daniel yawned. “I have to be up early.”

She thanked him, jumped down, and closed the door, but instead of going to the house, she turned toward the field. The snow was beginning to stick, making the whole world lighter. She could see all the way to the poplar trees.

What if Zane was waiting for her at their fort? She’d gone down to the creek a couple of months ago when she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Either Trudy and Adam hadn’t found the fort or else they hadn’t claimed it because it was just the way it had been those last nights she’d gone alone after Zane had joined the Army, hoping he would meet her there before he left.

She trudged through the field and at the halfway point turned toward the trees. When she reached the creek bank, she whispered, “Zane?”

No one replied. She said his name again, but louder. It was darker under the trees and the mud hadn’t frozen yet, making the ground slippery. There was no light in the fort. Christmas Eve was fast approaching. It used to be her favorite day of the year. Not anymore.

She watched the snowflakes disappear into the darkness of the creek for a moment and then said his name one more time. Again, no one answered. Feeling foolish she headed back home. By the time she reached the back steps, she was thankful he hadn’t been there. What would she have said if he had been?

Lila was up by five the next morning, trudging through the now-deep snow to feed the chickens and gather the eggs. Dat hadn’t had a chance to shovel the path before milking. Later he would, and plow the lane with his tractor too. He’d bought a used one a couple of years ago. It had metal wheels, like all of the tractors owned by Plain families in Lancaster County, but it had decreased his workload by quite a bit—and provided Simon with the only farm chore he actually enjoyed. As she headed back to the house, she turned toward the lane, wondering when Zane would pass by. Perhaps he had put chains on and was already gone. She hoped he’d drive carefully in the snow. Maybe he’d wait at least until the roads were plowed.

She woke Rose and Trudy and fixed hotcakes for breakfast, her gaze wandering to the window. They all ate after Dat and Simon came in from the milking. Once the dishes were washed Lila told Rose she was going to their grandmother’s quilt shop. “I need to pick up some things to finish gifts,” she said. “I’ll be back after a while.”

Trudy asked to go too. Lila almost said no, but she changed her mind. She hadn’t seen her little sister much in the last few days. Lila told Trudy to dress warmly, while she hitched up the horse to the buggy. By the time they reached the highway, the plow had cleared it.

Trudy chattered away about Adam and then about school. Her teacher wouldn’t be back after Christmas vacation because she was moving to Florida. “Our new teacher is coming from Maryland,” Trudy said.

Lila had lost track of what was going on at school. Dat had been taking Trudy when he went into the lumberyard. Lila and Rose split the other days, but Lila didn’t go into the school much anymore. She supposed she should.

“She’s older.” Trudy snuggled under the wool blanket.

“Oh?”

“Jah, we’ve been told to be extra good. She’s had years of experience teaching and won’t put up with any bad behavior.”

Lila stopped herself from laughing. There was no worry that Trudy would misbehave. That was the main reason Lila didn’t go into the school much anymore. She didn’t have any concerns. If Simon were younger and still in school it would be another story.

She urged the horse on as she half listened. Their grandmother had moved her quilt shop into Strasburg a couple of years ago. Her business had been booming, so much so that their grandfather had shut down his small engine repair shop and did the books and also often manned the counter at the quilt shop so Mammi could concentrate on her handwork, talking with customers, and teaching the classes she offered several times a week. Two women also helped out in the store part time.

Even though she grew up just a few miles away, Lila still found the village of Strasburg enchanting with its brick buildings, hand-hewn log cabins, and centuries of history. Traffic wasn’t bad, probably because of the storm, and Lila found a place to park not far from the quilt shop.

“Can we stop at the creamery?” Trudy asked as she jumped down. “Zane took Adam there a few days ago.”

Lila’s heart contracted at the thought of Zane there. One time when they were all still kids, Shani had piled them all into her van and taken them to Strasburg for ice cream. That particular time the creamery was packed with tourists, so instead of sitting at a table they all strolled down Main Street with their cones.

They had stopped at the cemetery, and Lila and Zane read the inscriptions on the gravestones, finding veterans who fought in the Revolutionary War or Civil War. A small flag marked all of those headstones. It sent a chill up her spine. Later, when
Zane shared his American history book with her, she thought of those people and when they lived, some of them way back when Strasburg was on the old Conestoga Road, which connected Philadelphia to the West, as far back as the early 1700s.

She thought of her ancestors, who’d come to Pennsylvania around the same time, although they did their best to avoid fighting in any of the wars or getting involved in the politics of the day. Their history was solely about family.

Had Zane given her a thought when he’d taken Adam to the creamery? Had he remembered their time in the cemetery together?

“We won’t have time to get ice cream today,” Lila said to Trudy. She didn’t have the money either, but she didn’t need to say that. After she hitched the horse, she took her sister’s hand and headed toward Thread by Thread, the clever name Mammi had given her shop years ago. “Did you see Zane while he was home?”

Trudy nodded. “Yesterday. Rose took me over. Zane played that trivia game with me and Adam.” She grinned. “But he let me win.”

Everyone in her family had had a chance to spend time with Zane—except for her.

Trudy pulled away from Lila and skipped ahead. As she rounded the corner she saw their grandfather, wearing his heavy coat and black hat. Trudy ran toward him. Dawdi lifted her and carried her into the quilt shop.

Mamm’s parents had left the Amish church back when Lila and Daniel were little. Mammi and Dawdi had become Mennonite, the kind who drove cars and even watched TV. Dat had been upset with them for years for leaving the Amish church, and after Mamm died, there was a short time he didn’t allow any of the Lehman children to see their grandparents. But then, thankfully, Aenti Eve stepped in and took them to
visit anyway. Lila couldn’t imagine her life without Mammi and Dawdi. Dat’s parents had died years ago, and she barely remembered them.

By the time Lila reached the front door, Trudy was already in the shop, wrapped in her grandmother’s arms. As a Mennonite, Mammi still wore a cape dress, although made from printed fabric, not solids, and a rounded Kapp instead of the heart-shaped Amish style. As soon as she looked up, Mammi said, “Lila! It’s so good to see you.” Her eyes were bright and full of love and her smile wide, both as cheery as the shop. The front window let in the natural light, Christmas quilts and bolts of fabric covered the walls, and the scent of cinnamon from the basket of dipped pinecones in the corner filled the space.