Chapter 14 #3
He rolled his eyes and put his hands in his lap. They were covered with fingerless gloves.
They reached the bottom of the front porch steps. “Hmm. I didn’t think about this,” Leanna said. When Adam started to slide out of the chair, she said, “You’re not crawling up the steps.”
He made a long-suffering face, but didn’t look insulted. “I do it all the time.”
“You’re not doing it here.” She took the handles of Adam’s wheelchair and pulled him back from the steps.
“Leanna ...”
But she didn’t listen to him. Phoebe watched as she took him toward the back entrance of the house, which had one shallow step. She followed in time to see Leanna tilt Adam’s chair and push him onto the porch. “Can you open the door, please?” she asked Phoebe, as if they’d already been introduced.
Phoebe complied, and Leanna pushed Adam into the mudroom. Then she let go of his chair. “The kitchen is through there,” Leanna said to Adam, pointing to an interior door.
“I remember,” he said. His grayish-blue eyes were now somber instead of annoyed.
“I’ll geh back and get the suitcases,” Leanna said as she sailed out the door.
Phoebe stood there for a moment, confused as she looked at Adam. He gave her a wry grin and glanced at the kitchen door. “Oh,” she said, realizing she needed to open it for him. She did, and he rolled his wheels forward, disappearing inside the house.
He wheeled around in the kitchen and faced her, still smiling, and held out his hand. “I’m Adam, Leanna and Jalon’s cousin.”
She took his hand, feeling the worn, cracked leather of his fingerless gloves. “ Mei name’s Phoebe. I’m Jalon’s ... friend.”
“Nice to meet you.”
“I have to check on mei sohn ,” she said.
“Don’t let me keep you. I know mei way around here.”
Nodding, Phoebe left and went out the front door. She found Malachi in the front yard with Leanna and Blue.
“Blue is yer cat?” Malachi said as Leanna cuddled the big feline.
“ Ya. ” She squatted down and put Blue back on the ground. “I’ve had him since he was a kitten.”
“Oh.” Malachi looked forlornly at Blue, who was rubbing his face against the skirt of Leanna’s plum-colored dress. Then the cat went back to Malachi, who brightened immediately.
Leanna laughed. “You must be feeding him.”
“I do.” He looked up at Leanna as she stood. “I also play with him, and comb his hair, and he sleeps with me. He leaves when Mamm comes in the room, though.”
“Sounds like Blue.” Leanna caught Phoebe looking at them. She crouched down again. “Would you mind taking care of him for a little while longer? I’m pretty busy right now. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do from being gone for so long.”
Malachi grinned. “ Ya! ” He sat down on the grass and hugged Blue to him.
Leanna went to Phoebe. “You’re Phoebe, right?”
“ Ya. ”
“I’m Leanna, Jalon’s sister, and by the look on yer face when I got here, I’m guessing mei brother didn’t tell anyone I was coming home today. Probably because he knows I sometimes change mei plans on the spur of the moment. But I wanted to meet you.”
She glanced at Malachi. “He looks just like you,” she said. Phoebe steeled herself for further questions, but all Leanna said was, “Blue doesn’t usually like strangers. Or people in general.”
Phoebe breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t prepared to explain her past to Leanna. “That’s what Jalon said.”
“So yer sohn —his name is Malachi, ya ?”
Phoebe nodded.
“He must be pretty special.”
Her tension lifting a little, Phoebe said, “He is.”
Leanna started to move away. “I better check on Adam and make sure he isn’t doing backflips in the living room.
” Phoebe couldn’t hide her surprise at Leanna’s tasteless joke.
Leanna chuckled. “Believe me, nee one has a better sense of humor about his situation than Adam. He wouldn’t mind me poking a little fun. ”
They went inside, Leanna carrying both suitcases, and found Adam in the living room. He’d picked up one of the cooking magazines in the wooden magazine rack next to the couch. “Surely this isn’t yers .” He held it up and waved it at Leanna.
“Of course not. Mamm left her magazines here, probably hoping I’d glance at them every once in a while and learn how to cook something.” She set down the suitcases and plopped onto the couch, her long legs stretching out before her. “Where’s Jalon?”
“Uh, working.” She wasn’t sure if Jalon had told anyone else he’d lost his job, but she didn’t think he had since Karen hadn’t said anything. She wasn’t going to tell his secret.
“Of course he is.” She sighed. “He’s always working. He doesn’t take time to relax, at least not lately.” A frown tugged at her lips before she sprang up from the couch. She was like a thin, energetic reed that couldn’t keep still. “Is Jalon staying in Mamm and Daed ’s old room?” she asked Phoebe.
“ Nee. He’s in the dawdi haus .”
“ Gut .” She turned to her cousin. “Adam, you’ll take mei parents’ room.”
He shook his head. “I’ll be fine on the couch.”
She put her hands on her hips. “No, you’ll be in a bed, in Mamm and Daed ’s room since it’s on the first level.”
She picked up one of the suitcases and went down the hallway Phoebe had barely thought about except to clean. “She’s impossible to reason with,” Adam said, shrugging.
“I can see that.”
Adam angled his chair toward her. “So you’re a friend of Jalon’s. Do you live in Birch Creek?”
She shook her head. No reason to be coy about the situation, and it was clear Leanna hadn’t said anything to him. “Something happened to mei living arrangements. Jalon was kind enough to let me and mei sohn stay here for a while.”
He clasped his fingers together and rested them against his abdomen. “Where are you from?” She told him and he said, “You were living near me, then. I’m from Mesopotamia. Small world.”
Right now it felt too small. She had that feeling of discomfort again, of feeling as though she and Malachi didn’t belong here.
“You’re on yer own putting yer stuff away.” Leanna appeared in the living room again.
“Leanna,” Adam said, “I told you I’d sleep on the couch.”
“Too late, yer suitcase is in the bedroom.”
He wheeled around and faced her. “I’ll bring it out here, then.”
“And I’ll just put it back in.”
Adam looked at Phoebe. “Told you she was stubborn.”
“I should probably start some preparations for supper,” Phoebe said, amused by the exchange but not wanting to get involved.
“Do you need some help?” Leanna asked, looking like entering the kitchen was the last thing she wanted to do. “Please say you don’t need any help.”
“Yes, please tell her that.” Adam chuckled. “Otherwise we might risk food poisoning.”
“I should dump you out of yer wheelchair for that.”
“For telling the truth? Nah, that wouldn’t be fair.”
“I don’t need any help.” Phoebe smiled, steering the conversation back on track. These two were so entertaining. “I’m used to cooking for a crowd.” Besides, Karen would be back soon.
As she walked toward the kitchen, the bickering continued. Phoebe smiled. Now it really felt like she was home.