Chapter 26
Adam slowed his pace and dropped back as Joanna increased hers. She was fast. And strong. He’d been in awe of her swinging the sledgehammer. No doubt there was more behind her energy than just wanting to get the job done.
He’d been mucking out the stalls in the stable and overheard her conversation with Jacob. If Jacob had known Adam was listening he wouldn’t have responded that way. She had a right to know what had happened.
He’d intended to be the first person to the warehouse that morning, because he’d changed his mind about leaving another letter that he’d only need to apologize for.
He needed to stop lying to her. He’d wanted to grab the letter he left Sunday before Joanna saw it—but she beat him to it. And tossed it in the garbage.
Over their lunch break he’d planned to confess he’d written the letters, but then she ran to meet the driver of the dumpster delivery truck before he had a chance. Well, before he’d worked up the courage to speak up. He’d missed his chance. Adam felt ill over misleading her.
After supper, he washed the dishes and then said he was going on a walk.
Dawdi Ike gave him a nod as Mammi Becky gave him what looked like a knowing smile.
He wasn’t sure what she knew—although he guessed she assumed he was going over to Lu’s.
And she was right. But not for the reason his grandmother hoped for, he was sure.
When he arrived, he found Nehemiah sitting on the porch with his feet on the railing. He boomed, “Adam!” as he stood. For a moment Adam thought Nehemiah was happy to see him, but then he asked sardonically, “Did you come to tell me goodbye?”
Adam reached the bottom steps. “Are you leaving?”
Nehemiah laughed. “Soon. Jo will go with me.” Adam had never heard anyone call Joanna Jo before.
The screen door opened and Joanna said, “Nee, I’m not going with you, Dat. I told you that.”
Nehemiah winked at Adam. “She’ll change her mind.”
Adam said, “Hallo, Joanna.”
“Hallo.” She stepped onto the porch, wiping her hands on her apron. She’d changed out of her blue work dress and into a rose-colored one. “Why are you here?”
“To ask you to go on a walk.”
She frowned.
So did her father, but then he said, “I’ll be fine.”
Joanna shook her head a little at her Dat. “I’m not worried about you.”
Adam gave her a gentle smile. He wouldn’t beg, but he really did hope to speak with her.
“All right,” she said. “Give me just a minute.”
Adam sat in the second rocking chair trying to think of a safe topic to discuss with Nehemiah, but there was no need.
“You should come visit Maine sometime. My boys remember you.”
“Oh.” He had vague memories of a couple of Joanna’s brothers from when he was very young.
“Once you see Maine, you won’t want to live anywhere else.”
Adam, feeling awkward, tried to smile. He had no intention of moving to Maine.
“Lu will have to move up soon enough. Maybe we could get Ike and Becky to move too.”
Adam couldn’t stay silent when it came to his grandparents. No doubt Nehemiah was just talking, but he assumed too much. “Why would they move? They love it here. And all of their friends are here.”
“But who will take care of them?”
Adam sat up straight and squared his shoulders. “I will.”
“You will? I heard you plan to go back to Florida.”
“Who told you that?”
Nehemiah rubbed his forehead. “Let me see.” He paused. “Maybe Daniel.”
Adam had only mentioned the idea to Caleb. Had he said something? If Nehemiah had heard that, had someone told Joanna he wanted to go back to Pinecraft too?
Joanna stepped out onto the porch again, wearing a clean apron.
Adam stood and gestured for her to lead the way.
Nehemiah called out, too loudly for how close they were, “Don’t be late!”
Joanna raised her hand in response. Adam turned, met Nehemiah’s laughing eyes, and said, “We won’t.” Clearly Nehemiah didn’t consider Adam a likely suitor for Joanna. Probably because she didn’t consider him one—and never had.
As they passed the garden, Joanna pinched a sprig of lavender that had grown through the fence and twirled it between her thumb and forefinger as they walked. “What do you want to talk about?”
Of course she knew that was why he’d come over—to talk. “I need to tell you something I’m not proud of.” He glanced at her.
“Oh?” She spun the lavender at her side.
“You know those letters you received at work?”
She nodded. “Jah.”
“I wrote them.”
She stopped walking and turned toward him. “What?” Her eyes filled with confusion.
“I wanted to encourage you.”
“But you told me you didn’t write them.”
He nodded. “And I’m not proud of that. I’m truly sorry.”
Her eyes sparked. “You lied to me.” She spun the lavender faster.
“I hope you can forgive me.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Why did you send them anonymously?”
“I didn’t think you’d want letters from me. I figured you’d think they were from someone in the district and leave it at that.” If only he could be more eloquent in explaining himself.
She crushed the sprig of lavender between her fingers and then began spinning it again. “But why did you lie? And then why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“I was embarrassed,” Adam said. “It all felt a little weird.”
The lavender spun out of her fingers and fell to the ground. “I don’t think the letters were weird, but I think you being secretive is. Why would you let me go on trying to figure out who they were from—even wondering if they were from Jacob? That was creepy.”
“I never thought you would think they were from Jacob.” When she didn’t respond, he added, “I wanted to be a good friend to you without—” Without what? Without letting her know how much he cared for her?
She made a gulping sound, spun around, and marched back to Lu’s.
Adam called out, “Joanna!”
She said something, but he couldn’t make out what it was. She began to run.
He called out her name again.
This time what she said was clear. “Leave me alone!”
The next day at work, Joanna spoke to Adam only when necessary. On Wednesday, Tim and Caleb worked at the Pequea Creek house and Adam helped finish up the kitchen at the Garden Lane house, working with Jacob. The two spoke only when needed.
That evening Mammi Becky sent Adam to Lu’s with a letter. “I thought you saw her every day.”
“Not today.”
“Are you seeing her tomorrow?”
Mammi Becky rolled her eyes. “Just take the letter. Please.”
He guessed she was trying to force him to see Joanna, which Adam dreaded.
When he arrived at the house, Joanna wasn’t in the garden and no one was on the porch either. The screen door was closed, but the back door was open. “Lu,” he called out. “I have a letter from Mammi Becky for you.”
He squinted through the screen. Joanna turned from a sink full of dirty dishes. She swiped the back of her hand across her forehead.
“It’s me, Adam.”
“Jah,” she said, “I figured. And you have a letter for Mammi Lu?”
Adam raised the envelope. “Would you give it to her?”
Joanna’s voice softened a little. “Come on in. She’s in the living room.”
Adam opened the screen door and stepped into the hot kitchen. A strand of hair had fallen from Joanna’s bun and trailed along her cheek as she walked under the drying herbs and lavender hanging from the ceiling. She turned her attention back to the dishes.
When he stepped into the living room, Lu didn’t hear him. She stared out the window, toward the woods.
“Lu,” he said.
She slowly turned toward him. “Adam?” She stood. “How are you?”
“Gut.” He extended the letter. “Mammi sent me over with this.”
She took it. “Can you stay for a glass of lemonade? We can all sit out on the porch.”
He was tempted to accept her invitation, but then Joanna would be forced to spend time with him. He couldn’t feel good about that.
“Denki,” he said, “but I have chores to do back home. I’ll stay another time.”
Lu nodded and held the envelope behind her back. “Did Joanna see the letter?”
“Jah.” He gave her a questioning look.
“That’s all right,” Lu said. “I suppose it doesn’t matter.”
It was odd it might matter. It was also odd Mammi Becky would send Lu a letter when they lived so close, but Mammi Becky did a lot of odd things.
On Thursday when Caleb and Adam stopped for a water break at the Pequea Creek house, Caleb told Joanna he’d heard she was going to Maine. “My Dat wants me to,” she answered.
“So you’re going?”
Adam listened closely for her answer, but she only shrugged. Perhaps she would have told Caleb her plans if Adam hadn’t been within hearing distance.
They’d finished gutting the kitchen and pantry. They had also gutted all three-and-a-half bathrooms in the house, and all the debris had been hauled outside and loaded into the dumpster.
After their water break, Caleb and Adam headed outside to take down the shutters on the south side of the house. All the shutters needed to be repaired, painted, and rehung. Adam hesitated to ask Caleb about Miriam and Jacob, but finally he did. “How long have Miriam and Jacob been courting?”
They each carried a ladder and a drill toward the side yard. “I don’t know. Daniel and Elaine haven’t talked about it.”
“Has Mandy talked to Joanna lately?”
“No. She’s been busy with other things.”
“Like what?”
“Dealing with Miriam.” Caleb’s face reddened. “Plus we’re seeing a doctor who’s doing some testing.”
Adam gave him a questioning look. Caleb’s voice dropped in volume. “We’ve been hoping for a baby since we got married.”
Adam felt for his friend. “I’m sorry. That must be difficult.”
“Jah, it is.” Caleb stepped onto the bottom rung. “Change of topic. How are things going with Joanna?”
Adam sighed. “Is it that obvious?”
Caleb chuckled. “It’s always been obvious. On your part. Not hers.”
“Jah, that’s my problem.”
As Adam set up his ladder, he could see Joanna through the window. She was taking down the wallpaper in the dining room below the window.
He glanced upward. A branch from the maple tree brushed up against a shutter. That needed to come down. He pointed it out.
“Do we have a handsaw?” Caleb asked.
“Nee, we didn’t bring one,” Adam replied. “I’ll go look in the barn and see if one was left behind.”
As he searched, he hoped nothing would fall on him from the decaying roof. Finally, he found a few tools on a bench in what used to be a tack room. It took a minute for Adam’s eyes to adjust to the dim light, but he finally found a saw. He grabbed it and hurried out of the barn.
Caleb held Adam’s ladder while he climbed it and while he began sawing through the branch that was about six inches in diameter. After a few minutes, Adam climbed up another few rungs on the ladder and continued sawing. And sawing.
“Want me to take a turn?” Caleb called out.
“Nee.” Adam was out of breath. He slowed a little, wanting to drop the branch straight down, but just before he completed the cut, the saw slipped.
In trying to reposition it, he put more pressure on the branch.
There was a snap and the branch bucked and spun, knocking Adam off the ladder.
As he fell, the branch crashed through the glass.
Adam managed to toss the saw away from the house and away from Caleb as he fell, so his concern was entirely for Joanna.
Was she on the other side of the window?
He landed on his shoulder and rolled to his feet.
The branch had missed the small panes and broken through the larger window.
He tore around the side of the house, across the veranda, up the steps, and through the back door.
He slid on the drop cloth at the entryway to the dining room. Joanna stood before him, glass sprinkled on her shoulders, holding the branch.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “Did it hit you?”
“Nee,” she answered. “I started working away from the window when I saw you on the ladder with the saw.”
She glanced at the shattered window, which was most likely as old as the house. “We’d better clean this up,” Joanna said. “And tell your grandparents what happened. In the meantime, you and Caleb need to cover the window.” Adam’s heart raced, but Joanna seemed to be calm. At least on the outside.
Joanna always had a contingency plan. She was composed in an emergency. She always kept a first aid kit and a fire extinguisher at the worksites, and in the midst of an emergency, she was the one in control because she was the one who was prepared.
Impressed, he took the branch from her. “I’m really glad you’re all right.”
Her eyes glimmered a little. She put out her hand. “If you give me the cell phone, I’ll leave a message for your grandparents. We’ll need to match the vintage glass if possible—the sooner we have the replacement, the better.”