Chapter 19
Monday morning, Joanna stepped to the kitchen window at the honk of a horn. Nick stopped the van and Adam jumped down from the bench seat.
“Mammi!” Joanna called out. “They’re here.”
As Mammi Lu stepped into the room, Joanna asked, “Are you sure you don’t want me to come?”
“Jah. We’ll have Adam to help us at the hospital. You should go to work.”
“All right. I’ll walk you out.” Joanna dried her hands on her apron. “Do you have money for lunch?”
Mammi smiled sweetly. “Jah. I do.”
As they walked down the back steps, Adam started toward them. When he reached Joanna he held out the cell phone. “You should take this. I’ll call from a hospital phone with an update on Dawdi.”
“Denki.” Joanna took it.
“Could you check on the one-story house on Garden Lane sometime today?”
“Why?”
“If they’re not making enough progress,” Adam said, “I’ll need to work with them tomorrow.”
“I can do that. I’ll go in Mammi’s buggy after they’ve had a chance to start.”
“Denki.”
Mammi Lu said to Joanna, “Make sure and remember to eat today.”
“I will.”
“And pray for Ike when you can.”
“Of course,” Joanna answered. “I’ll be praying for all of you.”
“Denki,” Adam said.
Mammi Lu kept walking, so Joanna lowered her voice and asked Adam, “How is your Mammi doing?”
“All right, I think.”
At the van, Joanna said hello to Nick. He gave her a wave through the open driver’s window. She walked around the front to the passenger window. Becky lowered it and reached out her hand. Joanna took it. “I’ll be praying for Ike. For you too.”
“Denki.” Becky’s face was drawn.
Mammi Lu stepped to the side door, but Adam opened it before she could. Joanna felt unsettled about Ike’s heart attack and Becky’s fear. What if something happened to Mammi Lu? What would Joanna do? Adam gave Mammi Lu a hand as she climbed up into the van.
Joanna slipped the cell phone into her apron pocket and walked with Adam to the other side of the van. Before he could open it, she said, “Take good care of them.”
“I will.”
He’d been so attentive to Mammi Lu at dinner the day before, asking her questions about her land that she currently leased out to an Amish farmer.
The property had been in Mammi’s family for over a hundred years—Dawdi Marcus had farmed it until ten years ago.
Joanna hadn’t known until yesterday that Becky and Ike had worked hard and saved every penny they could to be able to buy their acreage from Mammi Lu and Dawdi Marcus a few years after they all married.
Becky and Ike had built the warehouse after their business took off.
After Nick pulled the van around and headed for the highway, Joanna took the back steps two at a time and hurried back into the kitchen.
She glanced at the clock above the door.
6:15. She had time to make the bouquets and place them in the flower shed and do the laundry.
Again, her thoughts fell on Jacob. And this time on Miriam too.
On Saturday as they’d taken the wash off Becky’s line, Mandy had apologized for not telling Joanna that Miriam had moved in with her and Caleb. “It’s temporary,” Mandy had said. “Just until she finds somewhere else.” Miriam and Mandy’s parents had moved to York County a couple of years ago.
Joanna assured Mandy she didn’t need to apologize about anything. That Miriam had dated Jacob before he and Joanna dated didn’t mean Joanna held any ill will toward Miriam. Joanna hoped Mandy understood that. Joanna wished Miriam all the best.
Once she had the horse harnessed and hitched, Joanna sat in the buggy and called the chimney inspector Ike worked with and scheduled an appointment for the Pequea Creek house.
As she turned onto the highway, she planned out the rest of her day.
She’d spend a short time in the office, go to the Garden Lane house, and then clean the apartment.
In just a few minutes she arrived at the warehouse. The coffee maker was the way she’d left it on Saturday. Clean. No surprise that no one on the team had made coffee that morning. It seemed to be exclusively her job. She took the percolator from the burner and moved to the sink.
That’s when she saw the envelope with Joanna written in cursive on the front.
At first she suspected it was a note from Becky, but the handwriting was better than hers, which seemed to grow shakier each year.
Joanna put the kettle on the counter, picked up the envelope, and opened it.
Inside was a piece of lined paper with a short note, including a verse from Isaiah.
Fear not; I will help thee. Even if the handwriting wasn’t Becky’s, she wouldn’t have written it.
She was the one facing her husband’s heart surgery.
She was the one who needed not to be fearful.
Who would have written the note? Her heart skipped a beat. It was signed Someone Who Cares. It wouldn’t be Caleb. For a minute she thought Mandy might have sent the letter with Caleb, but it wasn’t Mandy’s handwriting.
Adam wouldn’t have written it. First of all, his handwriting was nearly impossible to read.
Second of all, he wouldn’t even commit to being her friend.
Why would he write her a note of encouragement?
She reread the letter and wrinkled her nose.
The paper was the generic lined type, and the envelope was business size. Both were common.
Surely Jacob hadn’t written it. That would be creepy. Why would he break up with her and then encourage her?
She slipped the note back into the envelope and shoved it into her apron pocket.
After she started the coffee, she sat at Becky’s desk.
As she tended to her recordkeeping, she glanced at the cell phone.
No call from Adam, but they expected the surgery would take several hours.
When she finished her work, she filled her travel mug and a thermos with coffee and then decided to stop by the bakery.
She’d pick up pastries for Tim, Caleb, and Jacob.
When she arrived at the Garden Lane house twenty minutes later, Caleb was in the driveway using the table saw.
The horse sidestepped, and Joanna pulled around by the shed.
The wagon was parked off to the side, closer to the house.
It was half filled with supplies. She came around to the front of the house carrying the pastries and coffee.
Caleb stopped the saw. “Break time,” she said.
He grinned. “Denki.”
“Where are the other two?”
“Working down the hall.” Caleb took off his goggles. “How is Ike?”
“I haven’t heard anything,” she answered. “I’m thinking no news is good news.”
Caleb agreed.
As Joanna stepped through the front door, she heard voices. “Hallo!” She used as cheery a voice as she could muster.
Tim stepped out of a room down the hall. “Joanna, what are you doing here?” He grinned. Maybe he wrote the note.
She held up the thermos of coffee and the box of pastries. “I brought snacks.”
Tim turned toward the doorway. “Jacob, Joanna brought coffee. That should wake you up.”
She couldn’t hear Jacob’s response but continued to the table. Tim joined her a minute later. She poured him a cup of coffee while he opened the pastry box.
“How’s it going?” She kept her voice low.
“Did Adam send you to check on us?”
She whispered, “Something like that.”
Tim took a bite of a hand pie. “All right. We’re almost done with the bathrooms. Then we’ll focus entirely on the kitchen.”
Tim asked about Ike too, and Joanna gave him the same answer she’d given Caleb. Jacob kept working, but Caleb came inside and joined them. “Show me what you’re doing today so I can tell Adam,” Joanna said to Caleb when they’d finished their snack.
Caleb showed her the first bath. “We just need to install the vanity and sink and hook up the plumbing.” He led the way through the primary bedroom and toward another bathroom. “You can see for yourself what needs to be done.”
Joanna stepped to the doorway. The team had painted the walls and installed the flooring, tub, and toilet. But that wasn’t what Joanna couldn’t help staring at—she couldn’t take her eyes off Jacob sitting on the edge of the tub, his head in his hands.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Jah.” He didn’t raise his head. “I’m fine.”
“Do you want some coffee?”
He shook his head, making his hands go back and forth too.
Joanna sensed she should turn around and leave but instead she took the envelope from her pocket. “Did you write this?”
He raised his head a little. “I don’t know what that is.” He dropped his head back in his hands and muttered, “Tell Adam we’re doing fine. He doesn’t need to worry.”
Although she was puzzled by Jacob’s behavior, Joanna tried to focus on driving the buggy through the tourist traffic on the way back to the warehouse.
He’d been moody at times while they’d been courting but nothing like how he was acting today.
Weird that he’d broken up with her, but he was the one who was acting despondent.
The other thing that seemed strange was that Veronica’s Dat moved her from the Paul Byers’ place to Elaine and Daniel’s house.
Joanna couldn’t help but wonder if it had something to do with Jacob living next door.
Of course, she wouldn’t say anything to anyone.
She wouldn’t even ask Mandy about it. But it seemed odd.
As she neared the warehouse, Joanna feared she’d missed a call from Adam and fumbled the cell phone from her pocket.
No calls. Was that a good sign or a bad sign?
She took care of the horse, made herself a sandwich, took two bites, choked on the third, and went up to the apartment to start cleaning.
When she was halfway through stripping the bed, the cell phone rang.
It was Adam. After they said hello she asked, “How is your Dawdi?”
“He’s in recovery, and Mammi is with him now. The surgeon did a quadruple bypass as expected. Everything went well.”
A wave of relief swept through Joanna as she said, “What good news.”
Adam let out a long sigh and changed the topic. His voice wavered a little as he asked, “How’s work?”
“That was a quick transition.” She continued to strip the bed.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Things seem to be going well. The team is making good progress on the Garden Lane house.” She wouldn’t tell him about Jacob.
“Good to hear. It seems Mammi and Dawdi have finalized everything for the purchase of the Pequea Creek house. Apparently they have a foolproof system when it comes to buying houses.”
Joanna was sure the system was called “cash,” but she wouldn’t say that. She started to gather the dirty towels.
“They want us to get started on the renovations right away. Dawdi approved all of our measurements and plans on Saturday. I’ll submit everything to the draftsman they use tomorrow and apply for permits. Mammi said she’d like us to order what we’ll need by Friday.”
“What we’ll need?” Joanna dropped the towels on top of the sheets and headed into the kitchen. “We’ll need everything. She thinks we can complete a list by then?”
“Apparently.”
“What about the demo work?”
“They’ll pull Tim and Caleb over to help.”
But not Jacob.
Adam said, “We can talk tomorrow.”
“All right.” Joanna gathered up the kitchen towels and dish cloths. “What time do you think you’ll start home?”
“Mammi and Lu both seem tired, and Dawdi will be in the ICU overnight. So soon, once Nick gets here.”
A wave of relief swept over Joanna. The sooner Mammi Lu was home the better she’d feel. “Becky and you should come over for dinner.”
“I have a better idea,” he said. “We have a pot of beef stew in the fridge for tonight.” Joanna knew it was Mammi Rhoda’s stew, one of her best dishes. “You and Lu should come to our house.”
“All right. Do you still have the cornbread Elaine made?”
“Jah,” Adam said. “We haven’t touched it. We should use it tonight.”
“I’ll get your chores done on my way home.” Joanna liked the idea of all of them eating together.
After she said goodbye and ended the call, she gathered up all the linens and headed downstairs to get the load started in the wringer washing machine.
By the time she cleaned the kitchen and bathroom in the apartment, it would be time to put the laundry through the wringer and then hang it on the line.
That would give her time to start a list of what they needed for the Pequea Creek house.
She’d make the beds and hang the towels in the apartment in the morning.
Keeping busy kept her mind off Ike’s health—and Jacob. And to be honest, Adam too.