A Simple Vow (15 page)

Rosalyn shrugged as she carried their dinner plates to the sink. “Could be a carry-over from when Mamm used to tell him he should charge more for his repair work.”

“
Jah,
she thought he should’ve been asking more for house visits, especially,” Loretta reminded them. “When he works on grandfather clocks, or for folks who can’t bring their clocks in, it takes time away from his shop repairs.”

Leroy let out a funny-sounding squawk and started laughing, which prompted Louisa to make noises of her own. Edith chuckled, scrubbing the dishes quickly so she could play with the babies sooner. “Maybe everybody’s in a better mood today,” she remarked. “When I stood on the bathroom scale and picked up each of the twins, I was pretty sure they’d both gained a pound since they’ve started on the goat milk.”

“Not a bad catching-up for a week and a half,” Rosalyn said. She made a funny face at Leroy to make him laugh again. “We should get a baby scale—”

“Knock, knock! Anybody home?”

A male voice coming through the front screen door made the three sisters look at each other. Edith’s heart began to pound, for it sounded like Asa—but rather than appear too eager, she kept washing the dishes while Loretta went to the door. Only yesterday Asa had stopped with his wagonload of furniture, so she hadn’t figured on seeing him again for a while.

“Look who’s here,” Loretta said with a teasing edge to her voice.

Composing her face, Edith turned her head while she kept swishing dishes. Asa looked so good, it was all she could do to remain at the sink. His hair fell shiny and soft over his forehead and ears as his dark-eyed gaze met hers. “I—it’s so
gut
to see you again!” she blurted. “Let us fix you a plate or—”

“I ate at the Grill N Skillet before my meeting with the Realtor and Luke,” he replied. His grin held secrets as he lifted Louisa from her high chair and rumpled Leroy’s hair.

“So you’re looking at the farm across the road?” Rosalyn inquired. “We’ve seen a few cars going in there this week.”

“Luke and Ira Hooley bought it this morning, for the cropland. They’re selling the acreage with the house and buildings to me—and my brother,” Asa added quickly. “Meanwhile the Brennemans are working up plans for the new shop building we’ll need.”

“
That
all fell together fast,” Loretta blurted.

Edith’s hands went still in the dishwater. She was too giddy to speak.

“So you’re moving to Willow Ridge?” Rosalyn asked as she tidied the kitchen table. “Here—we’ve got some crumb cake left from dinner, Asa. Help yourself!”

Asa’s grin made Edith’s heart turn a cartwheel. He eased into the seat nearest Leroy’s high chair and playfully patted the boy’s hands on the tray. “You kids are looking fat and sassy,” he said in a sing-song. “And we’re making sure you can stay here, too, Will and I.”

“Will Gingerich?” Loretta smoothed her
kapp
nervously. “Last I knew, you two fellows didn’t have much
gut
to say to each other.”

“We’ve made our peace. It’s a long story, but Will’s coming to farm for the Hooleys—before the weekend’s out, most likely,” Asa added. He bussed Louisa’s cheek and gently put her back in her high chair so he could hold Leroy.

“Oh, my,” Edith whispered.

“Oh,
my,
” Rosalyn echoed. “If he’s going to live in that house across the road, Dat’ll have a cow.”

“Nope, the Hooleys are renting him the apartment above the mill.” Asa gazed at Edith over the top of Leroy’s downy head. “I was hoping for some female guidance, far as what might need to be done to that house before we move in. Any way you girls can come and look it over with me?”

Edith’s imagination ran wild. She dared to dream that Asa’s plans for that house included her and the twins, even as she reminded herself that she’d first seen this handsome man only nine days ago. “But—so—well, how does Will fit in, far as the twins are concerned?” she asked. “Surely he doesn’t figure to raise them in that apartment!”

Asa made a silly face at the boy on his lap, laughing along with him. “Will still doesn’t know who fathered these kids—says it must’ve been one of the other Asas he and his wife knew—but that doesn’t matter so much now. He wants to pay their bills and treat them as though they were his. He knows they’ll do better here with you girls caring for them while he works, though.”

“Hmm,” Rosalyn murmured. “Dat might be having twin cows before this is all said and done.”

“Sounds kind of confusing,” Loretta ventured as she dried the plates.

Edith saw nothing confusing about it at all. Asa was making faces and talking to the twins as though he’d been around babies all his life. If he had plans for that house and for her, it seemed only natural that the twins would be there with them. She
so
wanted this dream to come true, but she reminded herself to behave rationally. “I say we look at the house now,” she suggested, “while Dat’s making his house calls.”

“Let’s finish these dishes and get over there,” Rosalyn agreed.

By the time Asa had polished off a wedge of crumb cake, Edith and her sisters were pulling the sink plug and hanging up the dish towels. They quickly put the babies in their baskets and started across the road. Rosalyn and Loretta chatted excitedly about Asa’s plans to move to Willow Ridge, while he dropped back to walk beside Edith. He shifted Leroy’s basket to his other side so he could stroll closer to her.

“Hope I’m not making you nervous,” he murmured as he gazed down at her. “Things have fallen together pretty fast.”

Edith had to pull her gaze away from Asa’s so she could think straight. “What’s your brother saying about this? He’s not even come to see our little town.”

“He’s getting our building ready to sell this weekend. I’ll bring him here soon, though,” Asa replied. “Drew agrees that our business would be a lot more profitable if we lived almost anywhere other than Clifford.”

As Asa put a key into the front door, Edith gazed out over the front lawn, gripping the handle of Louisa’s basket. The English couple who’d lived here had planted several rose bushes around a bird bath in front, and she thought the vine climbing the trellis at the side of the porch was a clematis. A swing was hung from the porch ceiling, out of the weather and covered with a sheet. As her sisters entered the house, commenting about what they saw, Edith hung back a bit to take everything in more slowly.

Had Asa really wanted all of their opinions about what this house needed, or was this his way to bring her here while they could be properly chaperoned? And why would any man ask a woman’s opinions of a place unless he really cared about what
she
wanted?

“What do you think, Edith?” Asa’s voice cut through her thoughts. “I have so much I want to talk to you about, but I’m trying to slow myself down. Ask me questions, or—or say what you really think about the place.”

Edith looked for something to make a rational comment about. “Well, first off, all the electrical outlets will have to disappear,” she remarked.

“I’ll be asking Bishop Tom how he wants me to do that,” Asa said. “Sometimes Amish folks remove all the wiring and the breaker box, and sometimes it’s enough to remove the outlets and switches and cover the openings.”

“Ask him about installing solar panels, too.” She looked inside a couple of the kitchen cabinets and then gauged how a table would fit in the center of the room. “Lots of folks are using solar energy in their shops and for charging their buggy batteries and such.”

“
Jah,
that’s a sign of how progressive Willow Ridge is, compared to a lot of Plain places—another reason I really like this town,” Asa added. As they heard Loretta and Rosalyn walking in the upstairs rooms above them, he came to stand beside Edith. “The main attraction is you, though, Edith. Please tell me to back off if I’m taking this all too fast, all right?”

Edith held her breath, gazing at his handsome face. Now that his bruises had all but disappeared and the wound on his forehead blended in with the creases there, he looked healed. Rested. Comfortable with Will Gingerich—and with her.

Asa raised his eyebrows as though he’d read her thoughts. “We’d best behave ourselves,” he murmured, gesturing toward the ceiling as her sisters’ footsteps made the floor creak.

“You’re right,” Edith said as she moved a couple of steps away from him. “It’s important that we talk about—well, a lot of things.”

Was it too soon to discuss the fact that she couldn’t give him children? They hadn’t even been on a date—

“May I take you for a ride this evening, Edith? Let’s go for an early supper so you can show me around this area before it gets dark.”

“Or we could take our ride first, to be sure you see everyplace you want to,” she suggested. “I’ll ask my sisters to look after the twins.”

“Just this once, I’d like that,” he agreed. He made a point of looking around them then, walking to the doorway of what had probably been a dining room. “If we knocked down this wall, we’d have room for a bigger table, don’t you think? I always thought it was odd for families to have a separate room to eat in when the kitchen is where the food’s prepared.”

Edith’s heart swelled. He was already looking toward the times when their families would join them for meals on Sundays and holidays. “I was just thinking the kitchen would be awfully cramped with a table opened all the way out,” she said. “Seems you’ve already thought of the solution to that.”

When they heard footsteps on the stairway, Asa grinned at her. “Tonight then? Say, four o’clock?”

Edith nodded eagerly. She spent the rest of her time in a euphoric state, aware of looking around in four bedrooms and commenting about the pretty woodwork on the main level and so many built-in shelves in the basement . . . but she barely saw these details for stealing glances at Asa. His smile was so confident, and he was so easy to be with that Edith could easily envision herself spending the rest of her life with such a wonderful man. Even the smiles on her sisters’ faces suggested that they, too, admired Asa for making such important decisions so quickly—and for being able to afford them. When he’d walked them all home, he tipped his hat and said he’d be discussing the new building for Detweiler Furniture Works with the Brennemans this afternoon.

Edith stood on the porch watching him ride Midnight down the gravel road toward the cabinetry shop. “What do you think, Louisa?” she murmured to the baby in the basket she held. “Is Asa too
gut
to be true?”

“Well, if
you
don’t want him, I’d sure keep him company,” Rosalyn remarked as she went inside. “He’s closer to my age anyway—”

“And he seems a lot more outgoing than the other single fellows we’ve met since we moved here,” Loretta chimed in. “You have to admire him for talking things through with Will, concerning the twins. A lot of guys would steer clear of a girl who’s agreed to raise two babies for however long it takes to figure out where they should live.”

Oh, but they should live with me—and Asa,
Edith thought longingly. She looked at her middle sister as they all went in the house. “And how do you feel about Will’s being here? What if he’s coming mostly to be with
you
again, Loretta?”

Loretta sighed. “I’m not sure that arrangement will work out anymore,” she said hesitantly. “After all Will’s been through, he’s not the same man I was once engaged to. And Dat’s already warned us of
his
suspicions concerning Will.”

Edith nodded. At nineteen she felt a lot less experienced than her sisters about dealing with men, because she hadn’t dated much in Roseville. Yet she felt ready for a serious relationship. For a home and a husband.

Chapter Twelve

As Asa pulled up to the Riehls’ house a few moments before four, he was pleased to see Edith waiting for him in the porch swing. She looked fresh and pretty in a dress of deep cinnamon that suited her complexion. Her apron and
kapp
were snowy white, and he was again struck by her simple beauty, a radiance that came from within her.

“Asa! Ready to see all the sights?” she asked as she sprang from the swing.

“I am. But if your
dat
’s home, I’d like to meet him,” he replied as he removed his hat. “I hope to start off on the right foot so he doesn’t think I’m sneaking around or stealing you out from under his nose.”

When her dark eyes widened, Asa saw himself reflected there—and he liked it. If the eyes were the windows to the soul, he longed to consider himself connected to Edith on such a deep level.

“He’s still out on some clock-repair calls,” she replied. “And if he met up with Bishop Tom or Preacher Ben, they’re probably discussing church business. They do that every now and again.”

Asa couldn’t help noticing a sense of mischief and relief on her face. “I suspect your father’s very protective of you three girls—especially now that you’re in a town where he hasn’t known the eligible men for very long,” he commented. “I’ll meet him when we get back. Shall we go?”

Rather than putting down the buggy’s metal step, Asa lifted Edith into the rig before springing up beside her. As he clucked to Midnight, it felt so right to have her sitting to his left, as she would do on all their rides . . . and at their kitchen table after they married.

“What a pretty courting buggy,” she remarked as she turned in the seat to look at it more closely. “I really like this burgundy upholstery. Did your brother do it?”

Asa smiled. “This is Ira Hooley’s rig. I came on horseback to make better time riding up here this morning,” he explained. “When I told him I’d be with you, Ira was pleased to loan it to me. Everyone I’ve met thinks you’re a fine new neighbor, Edith—an asset to the community. Not that I’m surprised by that.”

The flutter of her long lashes against her pink cheeks enchanted him. “The Hooley family deserves credit for being a mainstay of Willow Ridge,” she said. “They’ve provided a lot of jobs and services with their mill, and with the crops and chickens they hire folks to raise—and at the smithy, too. Before Ben arrived and married Miriam—who ran the café before the Witmers took it over—I’m thinking this town was a lot like other Plain settlements.”

“Small and a bit sleepy,” Asa said with a nod. He steered Midnight toward the county blacktop that would take them out of town. “But enough about the Hooleys! I want to hear more about
you,
Edith—about what you like to do when you’re not gardening and making baskets and tending babies.”

Edith turned away as though a bothersome thought was troubling her. When her brow furrowed, Asa sensed something was seriously amiss. “Edith?” he whispered as he reached for her hand. “If I said something that upset you—”

“No, I . . . before this goes any further between us, there’s something you should know, Asa.”

His eyes widened. He squeezed her hand, so small and delicate in his grasp, wondering what could possibly weigh so heavily on her mind.

“Maybe our first date is the wrong time to bring it up,” Edith murmured, “but when I watch the way you play with the twins, I can tell you love babies—and what a
gut
father you’ll be . . . but I can’t give you any children, Asa.”

He stopped breathing. Steering Midnight to the side of the road, Asa searched for words. Anything to bring a smile to Edith’s dear face again. “You’re awfully young to be thinking—I can’t see how you have any way of knowing—”

She faced him again, summoning her courage. “My appendix burst when I was fourteen,” she whispered. “I had no idea why I was feeling so bad. Dat kept saying it was a nasty case of the flu—until I passed out from the pain, and Mamm made him take me to the emergency room. You know how it is with Plain men, not wanting to set foot in a doctor’s office.”

“
Jah,
my
dat
’s the same way,” Asa replied as he took both of her hands. “So what happened?”

Edith shrugged. “I guess I nearly died during the surgery. I don’t recall much from when I was in the hospital,” she replied in a faraway voice. “The surgeon said the infection had gotten so bad inside me that some of my, um, female parts had to come out along with my appendix. He said I’d never have babies—”

When Edith turned again, shuddering with the effort of holding back tears, Asa wrapped his arms around her. “I am so sorry,” he murmured. “That has to be hard for you to accept, seeing’s how
you
love little ones, too.”

“I—I just thought you should know before we committed to anything. I’ll understand if you don’t want to see me anymore.”

Asa felt so bad for Edith that his chest ached as he rocked her in his arms. “All the more reason I want
you
to raise Leroy and Louisa,” he said as he rested his head against hers. “Truth be told, Will and I have made a pact to keep Molly’s family from taking the babies home with them. It’s a bit underhanded, I suppose, but he has the kids’ best interests at heart. Just as I do—and you do.”

Edith ran a finger beneath her eyes and wiped the moisture on her apron. “I’ve always known that Will or Molly’s family might insist on raising them,” she said, sniffling loudly. “But they’re such precious little souls, and they’re doing so well now.”

“I believe—and so does Will—that a younger set of parents should be raising them,” Asa insisted in a whisper. “It was no accident that he brought them to you instead of to his or Molly’s parents. His heart’s in the right place.”

“
Jah,
I’ve always believed that about Will,” Edith admitted. “His family gave him the short end of the stick—and then so did Dat.”

Asa smiled against her
kapp
. Edith was so kind, so willing to think the best of people. “But enough about Gingerich,” he murmured. “I admire you for telling me such a difficult secret, Edith. It’s still you I want to spend my time with—long beyond today, if we can make that work out.”

When she turned in his embrace to smile at him, Asa felt dazzled. Her lashes were still damp with unshed tears, making her brown eyes appear huge and accentuating her innocence. He’d dated a number of girls when he’d been younger, but none of them held a candle to Edith.

Asa slowly lowered his lips to hers, consecrating this moment—the intimate information they’d shared—by sealing it with a kiss.

She closed her eyes and sighed . . . allowed him to move his lips over hers before she responded with a sweetness that seared his soul. Asa suspected no one else had ever kissed her—not that he would ask. What Edith had shared with him seemed even more special now, and he vowed to love and honor her always.

When he clucked to Midnight again, he chuckled. “Guess I didn’t exactly pick a private spot, did I? Anybody could’ve driven by—”

“But they didn’t!” Edith cut in. She was blushing prettily, looking happy again. “If you continue in this direction, we’ll soon pass the new house Rebecca Oliveri lives in, and beyond that is the farmstead the Witmers own.”

Asa nodded, looking down the blacktop as the horse reached road speed. “Rebecca’s the gal who designs Web sites, right? I need to talk to her about setting one up for our furniture repair business.”

“
Jah,
she works fast—and she’s so reasonable, even Dat says she’s worth every penny,” Edith replied. “Never thought I’d see the day when he advertised online. He thinks computers are the root of all evil.”

Asa chuckled. “As with any tool, computers can be used for
gut
or for wicked purposes,” he remarked. “Seems to me the businesses in Willow Ridge are prospering largely because of Rebecca’s expertise—yet another sign of how progressive your town is.”

“Soon to be
your
town,” Edith said happily.

Asa felt immensely pleased at how easily they conversed. Soon they were driving into New Haven, the next sizable town. They enjoyed supper at the pizza place, and, by the time they were leaving, it was all he could do not to ask Edith if she’d marry him. His heart knew no other woman would ever suit him, but he wanted to do this right. Asa wanted Cornelius Riehl to see that he was capable of supporting Edith and their family, and—although it wasn’t traditional to ask for it—he hoped to receive her father’s blessing before he proposed.

They were pulling out of the parking lot when Edith gasped. “Oh! There’s someone behind those evergreens. I hope Dat’s not been following us on the sly.”

Asa turned quickly in the seat, but he saw no sign of anyone. “Do you want me to go back and look?”

She waved him on. “No, no! It might’ve been my imagination,” she admitted sheepishly. “Loretta caught Dat spying on her and Will once, when they were engaged, but I don’t see how Dat could have known where we were headed. You must think I’m pretty silly.”

“I think you’re
pretty,
” Asa countered, hoping to make her feel more at ease. “But I want to assure your father I’ve got the best of intentions, so there’ll be no running from him or hiding. At twenty-seven, I’m not a kid in his
rumspringa
, after all. You deserve a man who honors his promises—and honors you, too.”

Edith sucked in her breath. “Oh, Asa. What a lovely thing to say. Maybe if I quit ducking Dat’s sternness—face him square-on about my feelings for you—he won’t seem so intimidating anymore. You deserve a grown woman who states her convictions and stands by them, no matter who questions our relationship.”

Asa’s heart stilled. The
clip-clop
of Midnight’s hooves punctuated the pause that begged a very important question. “May I court you, Edith?” he whispered.

She tucked her arm under his, leaning into him. “I thought you’d never ask,” she said with a giggle. “I’m so happy I could just pop!”

* * *

When Asa entered the house to speak to her father, Edith remained outside to give them some privacy. As she gazed at the colors of the sunset, she prayed that Dat would listen to Asa . . . would believe that he was a decent, hardworking man who truly loved her.

The sound of the screen door closing made her look up. “How did it go?” she whispered as she joined Asa on the porch. “What did he say?”

Asa’s smile appeared subdued, but he sounded hopeful. “It’ll all work out,” he murmured as he held her gaze.

Edith nodded, sensing she shouldn’t ask him to elaborate. She said good night to Asa on the porch, knowing better than to kiss him. She watched him roll down the road in the buggy, however, briefly reliving the wonderful time she’d had talking and eating pizza . . . and agreeing to court him with the idea that they’d marry.
Soon! Let it be soon,
her thoughts sang.

“We need to talk, Daughter.”

Edith closed the front door against the chill of evening, reminding herself of how she’d decided to face up to Dat rather than cowering beneath his stern gaze. Loretta and Rosalyn, who’d put the babies to bed, sent her sympathetic glances from the couch. Loretta’s toothbrush “needle” moved swiftly in and out of the oval rug she was making, while Rosalyn sat alongside her keeping the long strips of fabric from tangling.

Dat gazed intently at Edith from his recliner. The oil lamp beside him flickered, making his crow’s-feet and facial creases more pronounced. “I’m only going to say this once, Edith,” he stated. “It’s too soon for you to be thinking of marriage to Asa Detweiler. What you perceive as love and devotion are merely the romantic fantasies of a young, inexperienced girl.”

Edith steeled herself against his criticism, knowing she had to tread carefully. “How old were you and Mamm when you courted?” she asked, although her mother had told her that story long ago.

“I was twenty-six and she was—but that was different!” he insisted. “We’d known each other all our lives.”

“Asa’s twenty-seven, and established in a business,” Edith ventured hesitantly. It felt so foreign, standing up to her father. “He’s buying the acreage and house across the road, and he and his brother are building their shop there.”

“But his whole scheme—this do-gooder inclination to raise those twins—is a ticket to disappointment!” Dat declared. “And he’s told me he’s gotten Will Gingerich involved, as well. I predict that someone in Will’s family will come to claim those babies any time now, and you and your sisters will be left heartbroken.”

Edith glanced at her sisters, who appeared very focused on Loretta’s rug. She didn’t expect them to speak up—they’d spent their lives obeying whatever Dat said, after all—but she felt very lonely and vulnerable. If only Mamm were here to buffer her father’s verbal blows . . .

Edith took a deep breath. “Asa came to speak to you because he—he doesn’t want you to think we’re sneaking around, or—”

“Puh! For generations, Amish couples have made their plans first and announced them to their parents later,” Dat interrupted. “Now that I know Detweiler’s intentions, I can disagree with them and thwart him every chance I get. You’re too young to marry him, Edith. End of discussion.”

Resentment swelled within her, a defiance she’d been taught to subdue all her life. Rather than hang her head and slip away in defeat, however, Edith let out the breath she’d been holding. With a last look at Dat’s inscrutable expression, she went resolutely to her room to check on the twins.

Leroy and Louisa slept sweetly in their bassinets. Edith felt such a fierce love for them, such a determination to see them through their trials and tribulations, that she had no inclination to cry over the cross words her father had just flung at her.

And that was a start, wasn’t it? For once she hadn’t cowered before him. She’d spoken her mind, quietly, though she’d gotten no valid answers in return—for her mother had been seven years younger than her father, only nineteen when they’d married. Just as Edith was.