A Simple Vow (23 page)

Asa’s heart lurched. He looked at Tom, hoping for his testimony to Edith’s mothering skills. “Bishop, you surely know how the babies have grown since they’ve been here—partly because of your wife’s goat milk,” he added. “Edith’s devoted herself to their care, and—”

Bishop Tom raised his hand for silence as he joined their uncomfortable little circle. His sigh sounded apologetic yet resolute. “It’s always been my belief that kids should be raised by their own kin, if possible,” he said. “I’m not denyin’ Edith’s love or motherin’ skills, understand. But because of the circumstances—because you and your family have a lot to work out amongst yourselves, Asa—I think it’s best if these grandparents take the babies home.”

When Edith’s mouth fell open, a sad gasp escaped her. She looked away, appearing torn between arguing with the bishop and running off to cry.

“
Denki,
Bishop,” Ruth said triumphantly. “It’s a relief to know there’s one responsible, trustworthy man here in Willow Ridge.” She looked at Edith then, her sharp features softening slightly. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to be present when we take the babies. If you’ll just show us which house—”

“Come with me,” Cornelius put in. “If the bishop says you’re to have the twins, then that’s the way it’ll be.”

Asa detected a note of reluctance in the deacon’s tone, and he couldn’t miss the way Cornelius avoided looking at Edith as he escorted the Ropps toward the door. Had the deacon come to love Louisa and Leroy? Or did he think the twins would be better off with his daughter than with the surly, middle-aged Ropps? Bishop Tom gripped Edith’s hand, and Vernon patted her shoulder, and then the two church leaders followed the others through the front room.

“I can’t believe that just happened,” Will said with a sorrowful shake of his head. “That’s not what I intended, Edith. I’m really sorry. I—I don’t even know why they came to the wedding, or how they’d have known about it.”

Edith squeezed her eyes shut against her pain. “Could be they got wind of it after Dat called Reuben to tell him about the wedding—and about us having babies in the house,” she murmured in a quivering voice. “Dat’s
mamm
was a Ropp, so some of his cousins could’ve mentioned it, too.” Her head dropped forward, and she began to cry.

Will sighed. “Let’s get you a bite to eat, Mamm,” he murmured. “Asa, Edith . . . I owe you both more favors than I can count. I’ll do what I can.”

Asa nodded, but he didn’t feel encouraged by Will’s support. As he wrapped his arms around Edith, sorrow welled up inside him until he couldn’t see straight. Unshed tears made his throat ache as the sound of Edith’s sobs tore at him.

After a few minutes, she eased out of his embrace. “I’ve got to go over there,” she said as she mopped her face with her sleeve. “The twins will be confused by—and I can’t let those wee ones go without saying
gut
-bye.”

As Edith hurried out of the kitchen, Asa knew he’d never find a more loving, steadfast, devoted woman . . . but did she still want him? Did she feel wary about her future as his wife because Drew would live above the shop and work with him every day?

He started for the door, but then turned toward his twin. “See what a mess you’ve made?” he said bitterly. “You’re my brother, and I’m supposed to forgive you, but you’ve made that very, very difficult, Drew. Stay out of my sight for a while. Got it?”

His brother’s indigo eyes held pain and yearning and regret, but Asa walked away. He had his own pain to deal with.

Chapter Nineteen

Edith entered the house, bracing herself . . . preparing herself to say good-bye to the two babies she’d come to love so completely. As she’d anticipated, Loretta and Rosalyn were each holding a twin, appearing confused and overwhelmed as they listened to Dat. When Louisa and Leroy spotted Edith, they laughed and held out their little arms to her, ignoring the other folks in the room.

“I know you weren’t expecting this,” Dat was saying to her sisters, “but the Ropps are the twins’ grandparents. They’ve asked to take the babies home, and Bishop Tom has agreed that it’s best if they do.”

When her sisters stared at Edith, hoping for an explanation—or a correction—she had to swallow a lump in her throat before she could speak. “It’s like he says,” she murmured. “You won’t believe what happened over at the house—”

“I’m so glad the children weren’t there,” Ruth cut in. She was trying to coax Leroy from Rosalyn’s arms, but he was turning away from her. “Drew Detweiler is exactly the sort of man we should protect these innocents from. Come to Mammi now,” she murmured in a lower voice.

Leroy swiveled his head to avoid looking at Ruth. Louisa sucked on her fingers, gazing doubtfully at Orva before burying her face against Loretta’s neck.

“This, um, might take some doing,” Rosalyn murmured. She focused on Ruth as she swayed from side to side to keep Leroy from fussing. “Do you have clothes and bottles and—”

“No, but if you’ll pack us a duffel, we’ll be fine,” Ruth replied crisply. “They’ll get used to us in time.”

“They take goat milk in their bottles,” Loretta insisted. “If you don’t have goats nearby, maybe you’d better leave them with us, at—at least until they’re on solid foods.”

“That must be why they’re bigger than I remember. A lot more energetic,” Orva remarked. He seemed hesitant to touch Louisa for fear she’d start crying. “You can’t miss the way they look just like their father, though.”

It was easy to see that the Ropps weren’t comfortable with the twins. Had they not spent time with Leroy and Louisa after they were born? Had they been so caught up in caring for their dying daughter that they’d had no energy left for the babies?

Unable to bear another moment of this distressing scene, Edith strode toward the stairway. “I’ll pack them a bag,” she said, forcing her voice to remain strong.

As soon as she reached her room, however, Edith sobbed. How was she supposed to part with Louisa and Leroy? Blindly grabbing a duffel from the top shelf of her closet, Edith tried to gather her thoughts. She feared that if she didn’t pack necessities like diapers, onesies, and shampoo—and bottles—it might be a while before the Ropps could acquire some of those items. She hesitated to send the toys and clothing local ladies had loaned her, because those items should be returned to their owners . . . shouldn’t they?

My friends here will understand,
Edith consoled herself as she stacked little shirts and dresses in the duffel.
Better to send along what they need and replace the outfits and toys we borrowed, rather than wonder if Leroy and Louisa have what they’re familiar with . . . what makes them happy. And that will take more than a duffel.

As she descended the stairs with the bag, the twins’ frightened crying tore at her heart. Edith passed quickly through the front room, dropping the duffel near the door. She focused on her packing so she wouldn’t splinter into a million pieces. She found a box and filled it with bottles, bibs, and little dishes, and then stuffed cloth toys around the glassware so it wouldn’t break in transit. Half a pail of goat milk sat in the mudroom refrigerator. Edith quickly poured it into bottles, packed them in a cooler, and placed ice cubes around them. She prayed the Ropps wouldn’t put the twins on formula because it was more convenient.

With a heavy sigh, she carried the cooler and the box to the door. Dat was sitting on the edge of the rocking chair, ready for the Ropps to leave. Orva and Ruth each held a crying grandchild, frustrated because they couldn’t seem to quiet them.

“Bring the buggy, Orva,” Ruth ordered tersely. “Let’s go.”

Orva, relieved to have an assignment, thrust Louisa at Edith and headed out the door.

“Ma-ma-ma!” the little girl exclaimed tearfully as she embraced Edith’s neck. From a few feet away, Leroy was stretching his arms toward Edith, trying to escape his grandmother.

Why don’t you just rip out my heart and take it with you?
Edith thought as she fought another round of tears. She stepped outside and sat down on the porch swing, savoring these last few moments in one of the twins’ favorite places. Ruth came out, too, and deposited Leroy in her lap. As Mrs. Ropp toted the duffel down the porch steps, followed by Dat carrying the box of bottles, Loretta and Rosalyn came out with the twins’ baskets.

“This is so hard,” Loretta lamented.

“It’s just plain wrong,” Rosalyn murmured, blinking rapidly. “The Ropps may be the kids’ grandparents, but it’s easy to see—what brought this on, Edith?”

Edith sighed, cradling the twins’ sweet bodies against hers. “Long story. We’ll save it for later when we can’t sleep,” she whispered as Ruth came back to the house.

Too soon Orva drove the buggy up the lane. With all the love she could muster, Edith hugged and kissed the twins and quickly tucked them into their baskets. “God go with you, wee ones,” she murmured hoarsely. “I’ll always love you.”

The babies began to fuss as soon as Ruth grabbed the handles of their baskets. Edith went into the house, thinking to make it easier for the Ropps to tuck the twins into the buggy. When Loretta and Rosalyn joined her, the three of them huddled close, holding each other in the kitchen as they cried.

“Only a month they were here, and yet they were such a part of our lives,” Loretta said between sobs.

“I can’t believe they’ll be better off with the Ropps,” Rosalyn blurted. “What was Bishop Tom thinking? What if they don’t have any goats nearby?”

Edith shook her head mournfully. “It’s mostly because of the way Drew lied to us and pretended to be Asa—”

“No! Who would pull such a stunt?” Rosalyn demanded.

“What do you mean?” Loretta asked with a frown. “Why would that matter to Mrs. Ropp?”

Edith sighed. She didn’t have the energy to recount the entire story, but her sisters might as well know the punch line. “Drew is the twins’ father. He, um, was dating Molly Ropp before she broke up with him and married Will—”

“And Will had no idea she was pregnant?” Loretta asked.

“That’s just wrong!” Rosalyn declared.

Edith nodded, wishing she could rewrite this entire story. “Drew claims he didn’t know about the babies, either, until the day he followed Asa here to find out if the Molly in Will’s phone message was the young woman he’d dated. It’s a twisted tale, and I don’t want to get into the rest of it right now.”

The bang of the screen door made them stand tall and wipe their eyes. Edith heard Dat pause in the doorway, but he didn’t speak for a moment. “Drew told a story so outrageous I don’t think he could be making it up,” he said tersely. “How about if I fetch us some go-boxes of the meal they’re serving at the café? While I’m there I’ll ask Josiah about how to handle the leftovers we don’t have room for in our deep freeze.”

“It would save us from cooking,” Rosalyn murmured.

“Maybe later I’ll feel like eating something,” Loretta said glumly. “What a shame we’re not at the party.”

Jah
, today’s all about shame,
Edith thought as their father left.
Shame on Drew for the lies he’s told. Shame on Asa for not insisting that Drew come to Willow Ridge sooner. Shame on me for being blinded by my love . . . and for needing those babies so much . . .

* * *

Around one o’clock, Asa ambled across the road toward the Riehl place because he was too wound up to stay in his big house alone, and he didn’t want to be in the shop building where Drew was. Wedding guests were still at the Grill N Skillet, but the café was the last place he wanted to go because people would ask questions—or they’d look at him with pity in their eyes because his wedding had gone awry and they were eating the food intended for the celebration. He supposed he should offer to pay for the wedding feast Cornelius had provided them, but he wasn’t sure he was in a civil enough mood to discuss that topic yet.

Asa lowered himself onto the Riehls’ porch swing. Through the screen door he heard voices drifting from the kitchen. Aromas of grilled meat, hot bread, and other delectable food tantalized him, but he listened for a bit . . . distinguished the voices of Loretta and Rosalyn, but heard no sign that Cornelius sat at the table with them. He was glad Edith’s father wasn’t belaboring all the things that had gone wrong this morning with Drew, because that sort of talk would only make Edith feel worse than she already did.

His stomach rumbled painfully. He’d had nothing to eat since the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches Drew had made the night before, so he decided to see if the Riehl girls would allow him to share their meal. Asa stood up and went to the door.

“Knock, knock,” he called into the house.

After a moment, Loretta peered out from the kitchen. “Asa? Is that you?”

“Jah,”
he replied, sad because she was asking which brother he was. “Not to worry—Drew’s in his apartment.”

“Come in! Dat brought us some of the wedding dinner, and—” Loretta glanced over her shoulder. “Well, Edith could use some company. She took it hard when the babies left.”

Asa stepped inside. He paused in the kitchen doorway to survey the carry-out boxes of food that cluttered the center of the table, but when Edith met his gaze, her pink-rimmed eyes and desolate expression cut a big hole in his heart. “I—I’m so sorry,” he murmured as he approached her chair. “I had no idea any of this stuff about Drew was going on before today.”

“I know.” Her tremulous sigh filled the quiet kitchen as she rose to get him a plate. “Sit down, Asa. Have some dinner.”

“
Denki
. I’m really hungry.” Asa took the seat beside Edith’s, but sensed she wasn’t in the mood to chat. “Wow. Looks like the Witmers outdid themselves. Grilled chicken, Savilla’s mac and cheese, pulled pork, potato salad—”

“It’s all fabulous, too,” Rosalyn remarked as she chose a chicken thigh from the carton. “Dat brought this for us and went back to talk to Josiah about freezing the leftovers. I think he’s too agitated to eat.”

“I can understand why. My brother took us all for quite a ride this morning,” Asa said quietly. “It’s going to take me a while to forgive all the lies he’s told—and to believe anything he says going forward. That’s a sad state of affairs, when you consider that Drew and I have always done everything together.”

Loretta nodded. “I—I’ve never heard of anyone’s wedding getting interrupted the way yours did. But thank God Will sensed things weren’t quite right, or we’d have had an even bigger mess to sort through when we discovered Edith had married Drew.”

“I can’t understand why he thought he wouldn’t get caught,” Rosalyn murmured. “The moment you showed up, everyone would’ve known he’d . . . betrayed you. Sorry to say it that way.”

“It is what it is. And while I’m not sure I believe all the answers he gave while we were quizzing him,” Asa said as he began to fill his plate, “I was stunned by his talk of always wanting to be me because everyone—especially our parents—supposedly loved me best.”

“Oh, my.” Rosalyn pressed her lips into a line as she considered this. “There’s no future in his thinking that way. He’ll always be Drew, and you’ll always be you, Asa.”

Loretta buttered a slice of bread. “Almost makes you wonder if his feelings led him to do other things over the years, out of envy,” she murmured. “I mean, if he tried to marry Edith, and he told Molly he was you . . . who’s to know?”

“I’ve thought of that,
jah,
” Asa said. “Right now I’m still too flummoxed to explore that possibility.”

They ate in silence for a while. Asa suspected the girls were all grieving the absence of Leroy and Louisa. The two wooden high chairs in the far corner of the kitchen taunted him. Nothing he could say would compensate for the emptiness Edith was feeling. She looked so sad, so fragile that she might shatter if he wrapped his arm around her or talked about the twins.

Asa polished off a second plateful of the wonderful food and pushed back from the table. “I really appreciate your sharing your dinner with me. It’ll hold me for the rest of the day.” He glanced at Edith, who’d been moving her food around on her plate rather than eating it. “Whenever you want to talk, or—well, I’ll be glad to see you,” he murmured. “Take your time. You’ve had a tough day.”

Her brown eyes appeared so lusterless, Asa would’ve moved heaven and earth to make her smile. “One of these days I’ll have to move on,” she murmured. “I know where to find you.”

He excused himself, bidding the Riehl sisters good-bye. Asa stepped out onto the porch, and as he glanced down the road, he recalled the heated conversation he’d had with Will Gingerich last month—when, unbeknownst to them, Drew had been hiding behind the windbreak of spruce trees. Even if it wasn’t the most productive use of his time, Asa knew he’d be running the events of the past five weeks through his mind again and again, rethinking them in light of the way his twin had been eavesdropping. . . sneaking around.

Asa scowled as his gaze followed the gravel road until it disappeared around the curve. One mystery remained unsolved, and he figured he might as well ask Drew about it rather than pick at the mental scab for days on end. He crossed the street, waving at a couple of buggies that had pulled out of the café’s parking lot—hurrying along rather than talking to the drivers. He entered the new metal shop building and took the stairs up to the apartment.