A Simple Vow (2 page)

Chapter Two

Nora Hooley couldn’t stop smiling as her friends and family members filed out of the house after the wedding. It had given her special joy to see the home she and Luke shared filled with guests—some of whom had come all the way from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to celebrate the wedding of her daughter Millie to Luke’s younger brother Ira. On this sunny April day with the dogwood and redbud trees in full bloom and cheerful red and yellow tulips brightening the yards in Willow Ridge, her heart swelled with love and fulfillment. God had blessed her beyond her wildest dreams when He’d guided her to this little town and her new life with Luke.

“Pinch me, Mamma! This day’s surely a dream,” Millie exclaimed as she grabbed Nora in a hug. “I’m so happy, I might just pop!”

Nora chuckled as she wiped away tears of joy. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be on your wedding day, sweetie—”

“And it’s Ira’s job to keep that smile on your face for years to come,” Luke chimed in as he came to stand beside Nora. He clapped his younger brother on the back. “It’s a tall order, but I think you’re finally man enough to carry through with it. We wish you both all the best.”

With a happy sigh, Nora gazed at her seventeen-year-old daughter. The teal fabric she’d chosen for her wedding dress complemented her ginger hair and sweet, freckled face, and her apron and
kapp
were a pristine white. As Ira stood beside her in his black trousers and vest with a new white shirt, which Millie had made for him, he was the picture of earnest Amish masculinity. Nora had once doubted Ira’s intentions—he’d been nearly twenty-nine before he’d joined the Old Order church—but now she believed he was the perfect mate for her Millie. As his wedding gift, Ira had built a new home on the land behind the Hooley brothers’ mill. The entire Hooley family had chipped in, so the house was already paid for, but Ira had covered more than half of its expense himself—an investment a younger, less established man couldn’t have afforded.

“You’d best head to the Grill N Skillet so you can greet your guests,” Nora suggested. “After a long morning of church and your ceremony, everyone’s ready to devour the food Josiah and Savilla have cooked up.”

“
Denki
for providing our wedding meal—and for your idea to have it in the café,” Ira said. “I got so hungry from the aroma of grilled meats coming through the windows, I
almost
couldn’t stay through the entire wedding!”

Nora chuckled. “You’d probably have had hot dogs and peanut-butter sandwiches for your meal if
I
had done the cooking,” she teased.

Luke laughed and slung his arm around her shoulders. “Everyone knows your talents lie outside the kitchen, Nora-girl—and nobody cares,” he insisted as he gazed into her eyes. “We’re happy to let Josiah and his sister do the cooking today, and glad the new café’s big enough to seat so many people. We’ll see you two in a bit.”

“Don’t go gobblin’ down all that roasted pig before I have a chance at some of it,” Bishop Tom Hostetler teased as the newlyweds stepped outside. “I
almost
cut the sermon short when the breeze smelled like it came straight from Josiah’s smokers.”

Nora laughed with him and all the other folks who’d gathered around. “I heard a few stomachs rumbling during the service,” she remarked. “Fill your plate as many times as you want and enjoy the rest of our big day, Tom. I—I can’t thank you enough for the way you’ve guided Millie and Ira and the rest of our family.”

“Not to mention how you spearheaded the rebuilding of the restaurant and quilt shop,” Luke joined in. “Thanks to you, Willow Ridge is moving forward and growing with more young families and flourishing businesses.”

The bishop waved them off with a modest smile. “We all pulled together—and you Hooleys are the backbone of our new prosperity here,” he insisted. “Can’t help but feelin’ a fresh sense of hope and happiness. We’ve got a lot to be thankful for.”

“
Jah
, we do, Bishop,” Nora murmured as the people around her nodded in agreement.

“Is it true, what we’ve heard?” a young woman in the crowd piped up. “Dat’s cousin Reuben said the other restaurant exploded on Christmas Eve—and that the fire was set on purpose.”

When Nora glanced around to see who’d asked that question, she spotted Loretta and Rosalyn Riehl standing beside their
dat
, peering at her from behind a cluster of other folks. The Riehls had moved into Reuben’s house just last month, so they were the newest residents of Willow Ridge. “That’s the way it happened—”

“And it’s a long story, best told when folks aren’t waitin’ to partake of Ira and Millie’s wedding feast,” Bishop Tom interrupted with a purposeful smile. “We’re glad you Riehls are here to celebrate with us as we focus on our future—and pleased that you, Cornelius, have taken your cousin’s place as our district’s deacon, too.”

Cornelius, a barrel-chested man who stood head and shoulders above the crowd, pressed his lips together in a tight smile. “You folks have made us feel very welcome,” he murmured. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m heading home to look into my youngest daughter’s latest predicament.”

Nora’s eyes widened as Cornelius slipped between the other folks and out the door, seemingly set on some grim mission. “May we bring you over a plate?” she called after him.

As the middle-aged deacon put on his hat and strode toward the county highway, his two daughters shook their heads. “Dat doesn’t spend much time at weddings since our
mamm
passed on,” Rosalyn explained. “And Edith did get herself into quite a pickle this morning.”

“
Jah,
we were ready to walk over here for church,” Loretta continued, “when we found her with a baby in each arm, telling us a mighty peculiar story about how their
dat
had dropped them off because their
mamm
had died—”

“And meanwhile he was accusing another fellow of being the babies’ father,” Rosalyn added in an embarrassed whisper. “So it seems we’re to look after these two helpless wee ones until their
dat
returns.”

“
If
he does—whichever man it is,” Loretta added with an exasperated shrug. “It’s another one of those long stories best left for another time.”

“Oh, my,” Nora murmured as the folks around her began to whisper among themselves. “I was wondering why I didn’t see Edith sitting with you. She was so excited about helping at the wedding dinner.”

“The little twins’ dinner—and dirty diapers—were a more immediate concern,” Loretta replied wryly. “We can’t fault Edith for her soft heart, but we’re wondering if she’s gotten herself into the middle of a messy situation. I’m sure Dat’s going to ask her some hard questions, and maybe insist that she return the babies to Will—the fellow who brought them here.”

“It doesn’t help that Will was once engaged to Loretta, or that Dat made them break it off,” Rosalyn explained, smiling ruefully at her sister.

“Sounds like a matter we need to hold up in prayer, for all of you Riehls and those babies, too,” Bishop Tom remarked. “The ladies here in town will help with clothes and supplies, so don’t hesitate to let us know what ya need.”

Tom and the Riehl sisters made their way outside. The other guests, eager to get to the Grill N Skillet, congratulated Nora and Luke in a steady stream that soon cleared the house. As her husband closed the door and clasped her hand, leading her to the café, Nora chuckled. “Seems there’s more to our new neighbors than meets the eye,” she said. “The Riehl sisters are such nice girls—and they’ve mentioned that they make several different craft items, which I’d like to sell in my store. Apparently that Will fellow trusts them to look after his little twins.”

“He’s probably so overwhelmed by the prospect of caring for them that he doesn’t know what else to do,” Luke replied. “If you had twins and then passed on, I’d be—well, I’m not sure I’d survive, Nora. You’re
everything
to me.”

“Oh, Luke.” Nora stopped in the middle of the road to caress the brown beard he’d been growing since they’d married five months ago. The hitch in his voice had tugged hard at her heartstrings. “I’m healthy as a horse, and I plan to be pestering you for a long, long time. All right?”

“I sure hope so.” A grin lit up his handsome face, and he kissed her quickly. “Although I’m enjoying this extended visit with our family, I’m looking forward to when the relatives head back to Pennsylvania so we have the house to ourselves again. Hear what I’m saying?”

Nora felt heat prickle her cheeks as she smiled up at him. “Loud and clear, Mr. Hooley.”

* * *

From her upstairs bedroom, Edith heard the front door close, followed by her father’s footsteps crossing the hardwood floor and then ascending the stairs. She quickly dropped the two dirty diapers into an old enamelware pot and put the lid on it, knowing Dat would object to the smell . . . just as the babies’ fussing would bother him—now, and when he went to bed in the room adjacent to hers. She’d figured Dat would return early from the wedding. He’d had all morning to plan his sermon while Bishop Tom and Preacher Ben Hooley had been delivering theirs during the church service.

“Shhh,” Edith whispered. She lifted little Louisa to soothe her, swaying from side to side. “Let’s be very quiet, very calm. We’ll pray for Dat’s patience and compassion and—”

“Edith.”

Despite the tightening in her stomach, Edith turned toward the doorway and put on a bright smile. “How was the wedding, Dat? Were there lots of folks from—”

“Tell me again how you came to be responsible for these two babies,” he said sternly. “And then tell me how you intend to resolve this
situation
you’ve gotten us into.”

Sighing nervously, Edith sat down on her bed so she could quiet Leroy, who was lying on a towel. Dat hadn’t raised his voice, but he habitually spoke in a tone that conveyed his authority—a tone that had always made her squirm, as the startled twins were doing.

“I—I heard a baby crying when I was waiting for you and Loretta and Rosalyn to come downstairs,” Edith began. “When I spotted two fellows having an argument behind the rig the ruckus was coming from, I just had to go and see—”

“And why was their conversation your concern, Daughter?” Dat asked. “Curiosity killed the cat.”

“
Jah
, and—like you’ve told me a dozen times—I used up my nine lives ages ago,” Edith replied, hoping to soften her father with humor. “But it was the wee one’s welfare I was concerned about, rather than the men’s talk. I wondered if the mother was too ill to comfort the crying child—and when I looked into the buggy, I saw
two
babies. They were upset by the men’s argumentative talk, no doubt,” she added, hoping he would catch the hint.

Her father crossed his arms, filling the doorway with his broad-shouldered form as his disapproval sucked the air from the room. With his thick graying hair and beard, he reminded Edith of an Old Testament prophet about to foretell her doom. He scowled as Leroy began to cry, which inspired Louisa to join in.

“How are we to get any sleep? Or concentrate on our work?” Dat asked above their rising wails. “Edith, you are to return these babies to their mother at once!”

“But I tried to tell you—their
mamm
is dead!” Edith blurted. “Will brought the twins here until he could get through her funeral and—”

“This is Will Gingerich we’re talking about, correct?”

“
Jah
, and he’d accused the other fellow of—”

“We
cannot
have Will coming around here on the pretense of seeing his children,” Dat stated. “If he’s got no wife to raise them now, he’ll try to entice Loretta into marriage again. And that matter shall remain a closed book.”

Edith scooped Leroy into her arms and stood up so she could rock both crying babies. She was feeling as upset as they were, sensing that no matter what answers she gave her father, they would fall short. “No,” she said in a lowered voice. “Will knew it would be better not to see Loretta—”

“He could never carry on an ordinary conversation with me,” Dat said, exhaling his disgust. “Tucked his tail between his legs like a whipped dog—and if his wife bore another fellow’s kids, then Will obviously wasn’t man enough to control her. Maybe not man enough in the marriage bed, either—”

“
Dat
, really!” Edith gasped as her face went hot with embarrassment.

“—so no matter how you look at it, Gingerich has nothing to offer any of you girls,” her father continued in a rising voice. “I hope you don’t believe that other fellow’s promise that he’ll get to the bottom of this, any more than you believe that Will figures to claim these babies. It’s our Christian duty to return these children to their family. They’re not your responsibility, Edith.”

Turning quickly to hide her tears, Edith swayed faster as she clasped the twins to her shoulders. Dat made a valid point, but his harshness made her heart shrivel in sympathy for the twins. Her head was starting to pound with their strident cries. She could barely think, much less refute her father’s claims.

“I know how you always side with the underdog— how your heart opens wide any time you’re around little children,” Dat murmured as he approached her. “But I’m watching out for your best interests, Daughter. You entered into this agreement without considering the long-term consequences. What man will marry you if you’re saddled with twins who aren’t even yours? You’ll be stuck at home forever, doomed to be a
maidel
—and a single mother—while all your friends find happy lives with suitable husbands.”

Who would marry me anyway?
Edith thought sorrowfully.
I’d be a liar if I didn’t tell a potential husband that I’m unable to bear his children . . . because Dat didn’t take me to the doctor soon enough. If only my appendix hadn’t burst. If only the infection hadn’t attacked my female organs...