Chapter 16
Adam sat at his grandmother’s desk the next morning, looking at the schedule.
He needed to call the Realtor to figure out when his grandparents could sign the papers.
And he needed to add up all the employees’ hours for the last two weeks so Mammi could write the checks and have them ready on Monday.
Nick was taking Mammi to the hospital, which meant Jacob, Caleb, and Tim would need to take the wagon to the remodeling job, which was two miles away. Adam doubted Jacob would be happy about that.
Adam reached down and rubbed his ankle, which still ached.
He felt as unqualified to run his grandparents’ business as he had to finish the roof on the farmhouse by himself.
What made it even worse was Joanna would see him fail with the business, far worse than he had on the roof.
Thinking of Joanna, the apartment above the warehouse needed to be cleaned for a four o’clock check-in. Did she know that?
The apartment. He’d lived there with his parents but he didn’t remember those days. The only memory he had of his father was when Dawdi Ike performed CPR on him until Mammi Becky swept Adam out of the barn to the phone shanty and then to the swing set.
“Adam.” Caleb stood in the doorway. “Guder Mariye. How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
“What’s the latest news on Ike?”
“He definitely had a heart attack. They’re running more tests.” Adam gripped the pen in his hand.
Caleb stepped closer. “Did you sleep last night?”
“A little.”
“Adam?” It was Joanna’s voice. She stepped to the doorway, behind Caleb. “Any word about Ike?”
“A nurse left a message. He had a rough night, but she said he’s holding his own. Nick’s taking Mammi back to the hospital now.”
“Should you have gone with her?”
Adam shook his head and held up a piece of paper. “She gave me a list of things to see to.”
A phone began to ring—a cell phone.
Joanna’s face reddened as she pulled Ike’s phone from her pocket. She held it up as she took three steps toward the desk. “I meant to give this to you last night.” She handed the ringing phone to him.
Adam, his heart racing, took it and accepted the call. “Hallo.”
“Adam? Is that you?”
Relief filled him. “Jah, Dawdi. It’s me. How are you?”
“Fine. Do me a favor. Go with the crew on the remodel this morning. Jacob and Caleb haven’t been doing their best work.
” Adam forced himself not to look at Caleb, hoping Dawdi’s voice wasn’t carrying across the room.
“I’ll do that,” Adam replied. “Now, you do me a favor. Don’t think about work, at all.
Put your energy into healing. We need you. ”
Dawdi chuckled. “Everyone’s replaceable.”
Adam felt ill. Jah, when it came to a job, most people were. But when it came to a person, no one was. His father certainly hadn’t been. “Please take care of yourself.” Adam couldn’t control the fear in his voice. “I’ll phone you if I can’t figure something out.”
He ended the call. He wouldn’t contact his Dawdi no matter what.
Caleb slipped away.
Adam asked Joanna, “Could you hear what Dawdi said?”
She shook her head.
“It wasn’t anything, really. He wants me to check on the remodel.”
“Okay.” Joanna stepped into the middle of the office. “I’m going to clean the apartment, and then I’ll take the buggy to the other rental. Guests are checking in there tomorrow.”
“How far is it?”
“A mile. Not far.”
“All right.” Adam stood. “You take the cell phone. I’ll be at the remodel or here. I’ll call you if I have any questions.”
As Joanna took the phone, their hands brushed. Adam felt a jolt of electricity up his arm. He cleared his throat.
Joanna met his eyes. “Jah?”
“Denki for your help yesterday,” he managed to say. “I don’t know what we would have done without you. You called 9-1-1. You knew exactly what to do. You came to the hospital. You were a good friend to us.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Were? Past tense?”
“Are.” He smiled at his mistake. “Definitely present tense.”
She started to say something more but stopped. He’d deserve it if it was about him not committing to being a friend to her—and yet he was thanking her for being a friend to him.
She gave him a little wave and said, “I’m going to get to work.”
After Joanna left, Adam sat at the desk with his head in his hands.
He’d told Joanna he still didn’t believe men and women could be friends.
But that wasn’t true. He hadn’t known what he was talking about when he first told her that, but he’d had plenty of friends who were women in Pinecraft. Women he had no desire to court.
The difference was he still wanted to court Joanna. Their story could be like Dawdi Ike and Mammi Becky’s—love at first sight—if only Joanna had fallen for him like he had for her. Because he’d never changed his mind about her.
But he couldn’t tell her that. She was going through enough without him harassing her. He’d only make her apprehensive about being around him, and he didn’t think he could run the business without her.
After Nick dropped Adam and Mammi off at the house the night before, Mammi sat him down at the table and said if they were going to keep the team working, they needed to sell the farmhouse as soon as possible and then quickly move on the Pequea Creek property.
She said their costs were higher on the farmhouse than expected so their profit would be lower.
“It’s going to be up to you, Adam. We may need you to take over the business sooner than we thought. Now is your chance to shine.”
When they arrived at the Garden Lane property, they unloaded the supplies in the driveway of the one-story house. After they finished, Caleb showed Adam around. The house was built in the 1980s and had an open floor plan. The tour ended in the kitchen, which they would immediately start gutting.
“What’s the deadline to be finished?”
Caleb cracked his knuckles as he said, “Three weeks.”
“When are the kitchen cabinets going to be delivered?”
“They were supposed to arrive yesterday—I thought they’d be in the garage—but they’re not here.”
Adam asked, “Did anyone call to find out why they weren’t?”
“I’m not sure.”
Adam leaned backward a little. “Did anyone tell Dawdi?”
Caleb’s shoulders lifted. “Ask Jacob.”
Jacob and Tim were both in the side yard. Adam stood with his thumbs linked through his suspenders, something he’d seen his grandfather do a thousand times. “What’s the status on the cabinets?”
Jacob shrugged. “You should call and find out.”
“What’s the number?”
“It’s in the file, back at the office.”
Adam let go of the suspenders with a snap. “Why is the file in the office?”
“I thought you’d grab it.” Jacob rubbed the back of his neck. “You can call when you get back to the warehouse.”
Adam said he’d take the wagon back to the warehouse. “I’ll either come get you at quitting time or send Nick.”
As he urged the horse to go faster on the highway, he worried about the cabinets. And his grandfather. And his grandmother. And Joanna. He sat up taller. He needed to take charge of what he could and leave the rest to Gott.
Still, the day progressed with one frustration after another. He stood in the phone shed after making the call, thinking he should have kept Dawdi’s phone. No one answered at the cabinet shop, so he left a message. Now he’d have to come back and check the messages.
As Adam reached the warehouse, Joanna came down the outside staircase with a basket of laundry in her arms.
Adam said, “I guess I should take the phone after all. I don’t think I’ll get any work done without it.”
She balanced the basket on her hip and took it from her apron pocket.
He asked, “Will you be all right at the other property without a phone?”
“I’ll be fine.” She handed it to him and said, “I’ve never worked with the phone before. How are things going at the remodel?”
He explained the cabinets hadn’t arrived.
“I’ll call.” She put her hand out for the phone.
Adam handed it back.
Joanna put the basket down, punched in the password, pushed a few more keys, and put the phone to her ear. A few seconds later she said, “No, it’s Joanna.” She explained Ike was in the hospital. “We’re carrying on without him but need to know why the cabinets weren’t delivered yesterday.”
She nodded her head a couple of times as she listened.
“All right. So we can expect them by this afternoon?”
Another pause.
“What time?”
After another pause, she said, “Thank you for making the delivery a priority.” After another pause, she said, “Ike’s grandson Adam is in charge and will have Ike’s phone. If anything comes up, please call him ASAP.”
After she said thank you again and ended the call, she handed the phone to Adam.
“Impressive.”
She gave him a smile—all sweetness and no sass. “I’m glad to help. Seriously, let me know when problems come up. I’ll probably at least have an idea of what to do.”
“I appreciate that.” He really did.
She continued on to the laundry area in the back corner of the warehouse.
He wished there was a way he could help her without making her think he wanted to court her.
True, he’d court her in a minute if it was what she wanted.
But it wasn’t. His attention wasn’t what she needed now.
If only he hadn’t been so stupid about asking her to court back when she didn’t even know him.
Surely there was something he could do to encourage her now.
The next morning, Dawdi called the cell phone at seven. Adam, who was filling the trough for the steers, accepted the call as he tried to calm his racing heart. He asked, “Is everything okay?”
“Of course,” Dawdi said. “I was just thinking you and Joanna should go back out to the Pequea Creek house today. Measure everything.”
Adam turned off the faucet. “Don’t you already have the measurements?”