Chapter 10
— chapter ten
Somehow, after days of working, tending to her house, and trying to forget about Evan Keim, it was time for Leanna to attend her third meeting of the Amish Widows Club.
Now that she knew what to expect, Leanna looked forward to the meeting with a whole lot less trepidation. The only thing that worried her was remembering everybody’s names. She’d be embarrassed if she stumbled when she visited with someone she’d already been introduced to.
It turned out that she had been worried for no reason, though.
When she entered the meeting place, several women smiled and waved her over.
“Come sit with us, Leanna,” a woman named Fern called out.
“We’re trying to help Louise figure out how to stretch her two roasted chickens into a meal for twelve people. ”
Relieved that she didn’t have to walk around to the different tables and ask if she could join, Leanna took the empty chair that Fern gestured to. “You’re making supper for twelve, Louise?” she asked as the other women scooted around the table to give her a little more elbow room.
“I am. I remember that you mentioned you’ve made meals for large groups before. Do you have any advice?”
Warmth filled Leanna as the woman’s words registered.
Sure, all she’d done was share some stories about how she liked to deliver meals to neighbors in need, but she hadn’t expected anyone to think it was noteworthy.
“I’ll be glad to help, if I can,” she said.
“Twelve people can feel like a lot. Is it all your family?”
“Kind of,” Louise said. Looking as if she was feeling very burdened, she frowned. “It’s my son, his family of five, my uncle Abner, and Abner’s four houseguests.”
Leanna mentally started counting plates but was tempted to start using her fingers. “Is your son included in the family of five?”
Fern giggled. “I asked the same thing.” Leaning toward Leanna, she whispered, “And the answer is no.”
“I see.”
“Any ideas, Leanna?” Louise asked. “I’m determined to serve chicken.”
Thinking quickly, she nodded. “Well, hmm . . . how about stuffing? That serves a lot. Plus, if you put sausage and mushrooms in it, then someone might not want as much chicken.”
But instead of looking relieved, Louise only looked more burdened. “Where should I put it?”
“Put what?”
“The stuffing,” Louise said impatiently. “In the birds or in casserole dishes?”
“In casserole pans,” Leanna answered. “Stuffing birds won’t help you much.”
“That’s what I said!” another woman at the eight-person table called out. “Except there’s a problem.”
Fern’s eyes danced as she sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
Feeling a little like the conversation was getting ridiculous, Leanna said, “What’s the problem?”
“Abner doesn’t like stuffing,” Louise said. “And I heard that one of his houseguests can’t eat peanut butter. This meal is a nightmare.”
“See why I called you over?” Fern said with a smile. “Believe it or not, we’ve been discussing this for ten minutes.”
“I’m starting to believe it.” Leanna was tempted to smile back at Fern but didn’t want to make Louise feel bad.
“My idea of buying another chicken was rejected,” Phyllis said.
Eager to be of assistance, Leanna smiled at Louise. “Okay, so no stuffing and no peanut butter.” She wasn’t sure how the lack of peanut butter was going to affect the meal, but she was afraid to ask. “How about potatoes?”
“They’ll do, but I like stuffing better. And I guess we can have green beans but without nuts.” She frowned. “Or do you think I could mix in a couple of pecans and just not tell anyone?”
“Umm . . . I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Leanna said. “Your uncle Abner or your son might not like that. Or someone could be allergic.”
“I was afraid of that too.” Louise sighed. “Maybe I’ll just cancel.”
“Oh, nee. There’s no reason to do that.”
Fern, Phyllis, and two other women started giggling.
Looking around the table, Leanna realized that some other women were smiling too. Suddenly feeling a little hurt, she said, “Have you all been teasing me?”
Fern patted her hand. “Not at all, dear. It’s just . . . well, you are so sweet and forthright, and our Louise here . . .”
“She’s trying to say that I’m not,” Louise blurted. “I have a habit of overthinking things from time to time.”
“Or all the time,” Phyllis teased.
Not looking the slightest bit embarrassed, Louise shrugged. “I should probably let you know that I decided two years ago to stop being agreeable.”
“If that’s the case, then I think you should make what you want, um, as long as it’s peanut- and nut-free.”
“I agree with Leanna,” Phyllis said as she held up a paper. “Here’s your menu, dear. Chicken, stuffing, green beans, rolls, a squash casserole, and pie.”
“That don’t seem like enough.”
Leanna had an answer for that. “Ask your daughter-in-law to make something that her kinner will eat.”
“But still. I bet I’m going to have to make more than one pie, aren’t I?”
“I’ll make you one,” Leanna said.
Louise blinked. “You will?”
“Of course. I like to bake pies.”
“There you go, Louise, dear,” Fern said just as Doreen walked to the front of the room. “If you get nothing else out of tonight’s meeting, at least you’ve gotten a menu and Leanna’s help with dessert.”
“You’re right.” Louise perked up a bit. “Danke, Leanna.”
“You’re very welcome.”
Fern patted Leanna’s hand. “Next time we meet, get ready to hear all about the party . . . in excruciating detail!”
“I’ll look forward to it.” She realized then that she meant that too. She was slowly becoming part of this group. It was becoming woven into her life—and she was becoming stronger for it.
“Welcome to tonight’s meeting,” Doreen called out after all the attendees quieted. “I have something special to talk to everyone about, but first, please go get a slice of pie if you’d like one. Phyllis and Wanda made dessert this evening. Ladies, what kind of pie is it again?”
“Apple and cherry,” Wanda called out from a table on the other side of the room.
“Excellent. Go help yourselves to coffee and dessert. We’ll get started in about twenty minutes.”
Noticing that Phyllis had already stood up and begun carefully slicing the pie, Leanna stood up with the others at her table. While Louise went to get coffee and two of the other women moved to say hello to some friends, she followed Fern toward the line.
“Believe it or not, I think you saved the day,” Fern said as they got to the end of the line. “I’m afraid Louise tends to overthink just about everything. Sometimes it’s endearing. Other times, though? Well, I admit that I find all that worrying to be exhausting.”
“She seems very nice.”
“She can be.” Fern’s eyes twinkled again before reaching for a slice of pie and a plastic fork.
Leanna hadn’t been sure she wanted dessert, but she went ahead and took a piece too. She didn’t want Phyllis to be offended if she didn’t get a plate.
When they returned to their seats with cups of coffee and slices of pie, some of the other women immediately engaged her in conversation.
Though she got along well with everyone at the restaurant, Leanna had never had such a big group of friends, and she’d never felt so included in a group either.
She knew that part of the problem in the past had been Willis.
He hadn’t been well-liked, which meant that most of the other men in their circle had never gone out of their way to spend time with him.
Their wives had followed their husbands’ leads. So while everyone had been cordial to her and sometimes even looked like they wished they could be closer, there had still been a line that nobody seemed to want to cross.
At least as far as true friendship went.
The widows club was so different, though.
Here, all the women were from different walks of life, were different ages, and even had different likes and interests.
However, during each meeting, none of those things seemed to matter.
The only thing that did was that each of them had something in common, and that was that they had no desire to marry again.
“Ladies, please get settled,” Doreen called out again. “Believe me, I understand how nice it is to catch up with good friends, but we do have an agenda to get through.”
“She always says that,” Fern whispered with a laugh.
“She always means it too,” a lady sitting on Leanna’s other side murmured.
Leanna felt like giggling, but she kept her composure and listened intently as Doreen thanked first Phyllis and Wanda for the pie and then two other ladies for setting up this month’s location.
Then she reviewed what they discussed last month and announced who would be in charge at the next meeting in a few weeks.
Doreen clapped her hands. “I think it’s time we planned a trip again.”
Curious, Leanna sat up straighter.
“Since it’s been a while since our group has done this, how about we start with something easy. A trip to Vermilion.”
Leanna had no idea where that was.
As if Doreen read her mind, she said, “For those of you who aren’t familiar with Vermilion, it’s a quaint town not too far from Sandusky, the home of Cedar Point.”
“Isn’t Cedar Point where the roller coasters are?” Leanna asked everyone at her table.
“Ack. Jah,” Louise replied. “But Vermilion doesn’t have any of that.”
As Leanna listened, Doreen passed out a set of brochures.
There was a bit of rustling as the glossy papers were opened and examined.
When Leanna received hers, she couldn’t help but smile.
The front of the brochure showed an idyllic scene.
Sunny blue skies, streets of shops and bakeries, restaurants on the lake, and picturesque harbors filled with private boats and yachts.
She wasn’t sure what to think. It all looked very fancy and very much out of her comfort zone. It looked expensive too. She couldn’t afford anything fancy. Willis hadn’t left her much, and her job was far from high paying.
Curiously, she felt let down. Maybe it was because she’d just joined the club, but she wished the meetings were enough for everyone.
“I’ve taken it upon myself to look into possible locations, and I found several large houses we can rent.” Doreen’s eyes lit up. “And by ‘large,’ I mean that they can sleep up to fourteen people. How fun would that be? We’d be like teenagers again, having a slumber party.”
Several women in the room clapped their hands while a low buzz of excitement filled the space.
“What do you think?” Phyllis asked, her blue eyes bright with excitement. “Would any of you like to go?”
“I’m not sure,” an older woman said. “I’ll need to do some thinking about this.”
“Me too,” said Fern. “But it could be fun.”
Charlotte’s expression, with her perfectly plump cheeks and doe eyes, was hard to resist. Leanna felt a little bad about digging in her heels, but it felt like too much, too soon. Plus, going away to a distant place that she’d never heard about was scary.
When Willis died and she came to realize that she was finally in charge of her own peace, she promised herself to no longer put herself in any situation that was scary.
“Leanna, what do you think?” another woman asked.
She was startled to realize that the whole table was staring at her. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to go away on a trip yet,” she said honestly.
“It’s something new for you, isn’t it?” the woman sitting across from her asked. Her expression was sympathetic.
“Jah. I don’t have to make a decision now, do I?”
Phyllis shook her head. “Of course not, honey. That’s the beauty of our group. We get to be who we are and make our own choices.”
That sounded very reasonable. “This is only my third meeting.”
“You sound so stressed,” Louise said. “Please don’t worry. We’re all friends here. Besides, this trip won’t be until warmer weather.”
“So, I have time to think about it.”
“Of course you do. There’s no reason to get yourself worried or stressed.” Phyllis smiled gently. “Doreen herself would tell you that.”
“Danke.” She relaxed her shoulders, telling herself that she needed to learn to worry less. It was hard to believe she’d gotten herself so worked up about a possible trip that was scheduled to take place several months from now.
In the front of the room, Doreen clapped her hands again. “Ladies, let’s continue on to the next item on our agenda. A spring clothing drive for those less fortunate in our midst.”
As Doreen continued, Leanna listened intently. Now, this was something that she would be happy to get involved with. When Doreen asked for suggestions or questions, she raised her hand.
“Yes, Leanna?”
“I just wondered if it would be permissible for me to sew some items to give away. Is that all right?”
“You sew that well, dear?”
Leanna nodded. “I can make all sorts of items. Not just Amish dresses.”
Doreen’s smile grew. “You know what? I think that’s a wonderful idea. Please stay a little after, and you, me, and Jill can discuss it at greater length.”
Feeling like she’d finally done something right, Leanna nodded. “I’d be happy to do that.”
When Doreen moved on to yet another item on her list, Phyllis smiled at Leanna. “Good job, dear. See, we’re a very supportive bunch. I’m proud of you for jumping right in.”
“I’m just glad that there’s something I can do to help.”
Anne winked at her. “The Amish Widows Club might feel overwhelming, but we’re a harmless bunch.”