Chapter 27
On the first day of August, Rhoda stood at the sink in the hot kitchen of her little cottage, missing the farm as she peeled potatoes until the clippity-clop of horse hooves and then the turning of wheels over the gravel driveway caught her attention.
She peered out the window. It was Lu’s horse.
She squinted. Nehemiah drove the buggy, and it appeared he was alone.
She rinsed the potato and dried her hands.
Then she braced herself. As much as she loved her oldest son, she dreaded what he might be stopping by for.
His entire life, he’d had one wild idea after another.
When he was a young adult, she’d been thrilled with his drive and fortitude.
Then, for years, she supported as many of his ideas as she could, but the older she grew the wearier she became.
She finally realized he was reckless—not visionary.
She stepped to the back door and onto the porch that had room for only two chairs. It was so much smaller than their porches—front and back—on the farm.
“Nehemiah,” she called out. “Hallo.”
He raised his head from where he was tying the horse to the hitching post.
“Mamm. How are you?”
“Fine.” She couldn’t help but think he’d stopped by to ask for something. That would be an easy answer on her part. They had nothing more to give.
“Where’s Dat?”
“Running an errand. He’ll be back in a little bit. How about a glass of iced tea?”
He patted the horse. “Denki.”
“Let’s sit on the porch. It’s too hot in the house.”
When Rhoda returned to the porch with the iced tea, Nehemiah was sitting down.
She extended a glass to him.
“How are you liking this place?” he asked.
“Gut. It serves its purpose.” She sat down.
“Feels like home?”
She hesitated. Should she be honest? “I miss the old place.”
“Jah, that was quite the property. I have good memories from there too.”
No doubt he did. Rhoda asked, “Does the place in Maine feel like home?”
“Jah. It absolutely does. When are you and Dat joining us?”
“It’s too cold for your Dat.” She’d already told him that more than once.
Nehemiah chuckled. “He’ll be fine. You’ll need to relocate soon enough, so we can look out for the two of you.”
Rhoda didn’t answer. She no longer had any desire to move to Maine.
“Joanna is going to go back with me.”
Rhoda gripped her glass tighter, and her voice caught in her throat. “What?”
“Jah. I told her since Jacob broke up with her there was no reason for her to stay here.”
“What about Lu?” She put her glass down on the porch floor. “And her job. Joanna loves that job.” And from what Becky said, Joanna was really good at it. Rhoda turned toward Nehemiah. “What about me?” She longed to get to know Joanna better. “Why would you take her away?”
Nehemiah threw back his head and laughed. “You didn’t feel that way when we lived across the road.”
Rhoda’s face grew warm. She picked up the glass and pressed it against her cheek, mortified Nehemiah had noticed her lack of attention toward Joanna. Had everyone? She changed the topic. “Did you consider staying with us on this trip?” She’d been hurt that he hadn’t.
“There’s more room at Lu’s. And Joanna’s there.”
“What did you stop by for?” Rhoda leaned back in her chair.
“We’ve had a couple of financial setbacks. I wondered if you and Dat could loan me some money.”
“Have you asked anyone else for a loan?”
“Jah. Luanna.”
She felt a jolt of embarrassment. Had he been asking Lu for money all along too?
Rhoda took a drink. “What did she say?”
“She can cover part of what we need but not all of it.”
“How do you plan to pay her back?”
“Suz has been selling flowers all summer at the nearby farmers’ market.
We have quite a few tourists traveling through our area now.
Joanna will be a big help with that. We’re going to buy more cattle.
We’ve also planted a pumpkin patch and plan to have a corn maze in October.
There’s not one in our area, and we’re hoping it will be a success. ”
Rhoda finished her iced tea.
“What do you think?” Nehemiah asked. “As far as the money.”
“We don’t have anything to loan you,” Rhoda said. “We need the savings in case we have an emergency.”
“You don’t have to worry about that—like I said, we’ll take care of you.”
Rhoda shook her head. “We’re staying here.”
“That’s Dat’s decision, right? Not yours.”
“He’s made it.” Rhoda paused. “We’re in agreement.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
She stood. “Nee. He’s having some health issues. High blood pressure, that sort of thing. I don’t want you to upset him.” She thought of Marcus dying when he was only sixty-nine, and Ike having a heart attack at sixty-eight. Hiram was older at seventy-four.
Nehemiah had a disappointed expression on his face. “I won’t upset Dat, but he’ll see things my way.”
“He won’t. We’ve given you all we can.” Rhoda stood. She’d been the one who encouraged Hiram to keep supporting Nehemiah, even after her husband was done. “I need to get back to my work.” She took a step toward the door but then turned back to her son. “Let Joanna make her own decision.”
“She’s my responsibility.”
“She’s twenty-two.”
“We need her.”
“Look at her for who she is,” Rhoda said.
“A sensitive, creative, hardworking young woman. She has an important role in this community.” Why hadn’t she seen those same qualities in Joanna when she was a child?
Instead she’d seen her as someone to tend to the chickens, hang the laundry, cook for everyone, and watch the little ones.
Rhoda winced. No doubt Nehemiah had gotten his way of thinking about people from her.
Lu was a source of money. Joanna was a source of labor.
She and Hiram should move to Maine because it would benefit Nehemiah.
“Mamm.” Nehemiah was on his feet. “Don’t be like this.”
“Like what?”
“Harsh.”
“I’m not being harsh. I’m being realistic. We don’t have the money. We already sold most of the farm for you. What we made off the remainder, we need to save.” She exhaled slowly. “Joanna would be miserable in Maine.”
He muttered, “And you wonder why I didn’t stay here.”
Rhoda bit her tongue for a moment and then said, “Have a good trip home. Tell Suzanna hello.”
“What am I supposed to do?”
“It sounds as if you’re taking the right steps. You need more income—you have a plan.” As she stepped back into her kitchen, she felt a wave of grief. She didn’t want to have conflict with Nehemiah, but she had no more to give.
But what hurt her the most was to think of him taking Joanna with him.