[Kentucky Brothers 01] - The Journey (35 page)

“What do you mean she doesn’t worry herself about anything? Everyone worries about something, Abraham.”

“That may be so, but from what I can tell, she worries less than most, and she doesn’t let things affect her the way you’ve done lately.” He glanced at the battery-operated clock on the wall across the room. “I’d better get out to the fields, or Timothy will wonder what’s happened to me.”

“Okay. Don’t work too hard, and have a good day.”

Soon after Abraham left, Abby stopped by. “You look so tired, Mom,” she said. “Haven’t you been sleeping well?”

Fannie shook her head. “I’ve been worried about Titus, and it’s hard for me to relax. Every time I close my eyes, I see him lying in that hospital bed with a bandage on his head.”

Abby poured herself some coffee and took a seat in the chair beside Fannie. “Can I give you some advice that someone gave me once when I was worrying about things?”

“Sure.”

“When going to bed at night you should empty the pockets of your mind, because if you go to sleep with worries, it’ll drain your energy through the night.”

“How am I supposed to empty the pockets of worry from my mind?” Fannie questioned.

“Simply say to yourself, ‘I’m putting these worries into God’s hands,’ and then close your eyes and go to sleep.”

“I wish it were that simple.” Fannie took a sip of coffee.

“It can be simple if you remember what God says about worry.” Abby smiled. “In Matthew 6:34 it says: ‘Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.’ And Psalm 55:22 says, ‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee.’ “ She touched Fannie’s arm and gave it a tender squeeze. “You need to do that, Mom. Hide God’s Word in your heart and dwell on it until you fall asleep at night.”

The tension Fannie had felt earlier began to disappear. “I know you’re right, and I appreciate those reminders from God’s Word. I do need to remember that our Father’s in control, and that He’s watching over Titus, as well as the rest of our family.”

“Did you enjoy your time in Kentucky with Titus?” Abby asked.

“I certainly did. Just wish we could’ve stayed longer. I still miss him, you know.”

“I’m sure he misses you, too, but it’s good that he’s making a life of his own and is enjoying his job there, don’t you think?”

“Jah. It seems like Titus is becoming more responsible, too—more like Timothy in that regard.”

“I just can’t get over how much those two still look alike,” Abby said, taking their conversation in a different direction. “Why, I’ll never forget the time when the twins were bopplin and I got them mixed up while I was giving them a bath. I ended up bathing the same boppli twice.”

“Their personalities are different, though, and that makes it easy for most people to tell them apart.”

“I remember once when we got the brilliant idea to tie a ribbon around Titus’s ankle so we’d know it was him. That worked fine until I forgot to remove the ribbon when I bathed him. Of course it got soggy and fell off.” Abby snickered. “Then there was the time that Leona, being just a young girl herself, came over to see the twins and suggested we put a blotch of green paint on Titus’s toe. That worked fine for a while, until the paint wore off.”

Fannie laughed so hard that tears rolled down her cheeks. It felt good to find a little humor in something. She’d been much too serious lately. “It’s a good thing only one of our twins has moved to Kentucky, because I doubt that anyone there would be able to tell them apart.”

Pembroke, Kentucky

Suzanne’s mother had gone to an all-day quilting bee, so it was Suzanne’s job to make lunch for the men today. Along with the sandwiches and hard-boiled eggs she planned to take out to them, she thought it would be nice to make some butterscotch pudding for their dessert. She’d use a box of the instant kind, figuring it wouldn’t be too hard to make.

Following the directions on the box, she took out a metal bowl, the eggbeater, and some milk. Carefully, she measured the milk into the bowl and added the package of pudding.

Her nose twitched. “Yum. This sure smells good. I love the aroma of butterscotch.”

When Suzanne placed the beater inside and started turning the handle, the bowl slid across the counter, and some of the pudding splashed out.

“This isn’t working out so well,” she mumbled, blotting the counter with some paper towels. She’d seen Mom use the eggbeater before, and the bowl had never slid around for her like that.

Suzanne pushed the bowl against her waist and started beating again.
Whoosh!
—the bowl slipped off the counter and fell on the floor, spilling pudding on her dress, down the cabinet, and onto the floor, where it seeped under the cabinet.

“That’s just great,” she fumed. Not only was the pudding ruined, but she’d have to clean the floor and would need to change her dress.

Suzanne wet the mop under the faucet and started with the floor. When that chore was done, she went up to her room to change.

Several minutes later, she returned to the kitchen, put the sandwiches in a plastic container, took the eggs she’d boiled earlier from the refrigerator, and grabbed a handful of cookies Mom had made yesterday. Then she placed everything in the lunch basket, picked up a jug of iced tea, and headed out the door.

When Suzanne entered the woodshop, Grandpa tipped his head and stared at her strangely. “Weren’t you wearing a green dress earlier?”

“You’re right. I was.”

“Mind if I ask why you’re wearing a blue dress now?”

“I had a little accident in the kitchen.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Nelson said, rolling his eyes.

“Here’s your lunch!” Suzanne placed the basket and jug of iced tea on the workbench with a huff.

“What’d you bring us?” Titus asked.

“Ham and cheese sandwiches, hard-boiled eggs, and chocolate chip cookies.”

He grinned. “Sounds good.”

Suzanne waited until the men had said their silent prayer. She was about to leave, when Titus picked up an egg and cracked it on his forehead.
Whoosh!
—runny egg spilled out of the shell, ran down his face, and dripped onto his shirt.

“Oh no!” Suzanne grabbed the roll of paper towels near the sink and handed it to Titus. “I’m so sorry.”

Nelson slapped his leg and chuckled. “I’ve heard that raw eggs are supposed to be good for a person’s hair, so maybe that runny egg will grow the missing hair back on your head,” he said to Titus.

Titus mumbled something under his breath as he wiped the egg off his face; then he turned to Suzanne and said, “Did you give us raw eggs on purpose?”

“No, of course not. I really thought they were hard-boiled. I must have grabbed raw eggs by mistake, thinking they were the ones I’d boiled earlier.”

“What made you crack that egg on your forehead?” Nelson asked. “Were you just
abweise?”

“I was not showing off. I’ve always cracked eggs that way.” Titus looked at Suzanne. “At least the ones I don’t think are raw.”

Suzanne was so embarrassed, she just wanted to hide.
I’ll never get Titus’s attention in a positive way if I keep messing up and making myself look bad in his eyes
.

Without waiting for the men to finish their lunch, she turned and rushed out the door.

P
hoebe frowned as she stared at her meager breakfast—an overripe banana and a glass of water. It had been four weeks since Darlene had gone home, and Phoebe had been forced to take a second job during the evening at a convenience store in order to pay the rent on the apartment she’d shared with Darlene. The cost of living was much higher in California than it had been back home, and Phoebe’s money was so tight that she’d had to cut back on everything and barely had enough to eat. Another frustration was that she didn’t have any free time to do fun things such as going to the beach, shopping, or out to lunch. The few friends she’d made while living here all had steady boyfriends, so they couldn’t be bothered with her anymore.

It was probably for the best. With two part-time jobs, she barely had enough time to sleep, let alone socialize or do anything fun.

Phoebe stared at the calendar on the kitchen wall and grimaced. It was hard to believe, but she’d been away from home over four months already. When she’d first come to California, she’d expected her life to be easy and carefree, but things were getting more difficult every day.

She pushed away from the table and grunted as she tossed the banana peel at the garbage can and missed. “I don’t care how bad it gets,” she muttered. “I’m not about to admit defeat and go home!”

Paradise, Pennsylvania

Fannie had just taken some throw rugs outside to hang on the line, when she spotted Arie Stoltzfus’s horse and buggy coming up the lane. Except for the Sundays when they went to church, Fannie hadn’t seen much of Arie lately. She wondered if Arie had been busy or was just keeping to herself.

“Wie geht’s?” Fannie asked when Arie joined her under the clothesline.

“I’ve been better.” From the slump of Arie’s shoulders and her furrowed brows, Fannie knew Arie must be upset about something.

“What’s wrong?” Fannie asked, feeling concern for her friend.

“I’m worried about Phoebe.”

Fannie finished draping the rugs over the line and motioned to the house. “Let’s go inside where it’s cooler and you can tell me about it. The humidity today is so bad it hurts.”

Once inside, they took seats at the kitchen table, and Fannie poured glasses of iced tea. “Are you still upset because Phoebe moved to California?” she asked.

Arie nodded slowly. “But I’m even more upset now because Phoebe’s friend Darlene has come home—without Phoebe.”

“Oh, I didn’t realize that.”

Arie took a sip of iced tea and blotted her lips on a napkin. “This is so refreshing. Danki.”

“You’re welcome.”

Arie sighed as she set the glass on the table. “Not only did my daughter choose to stay in California, but now she’s living alone. To make matters worse, she won’t answer any of my phone calls, and I can hardly sleep because I’m so worried about her.” The dark circles beneath her eyes confirmed that she hadn’t been sleeping well. “Short of a miracle, I don’t think Phoebe will ever return to Pennsylvania and the Plain life.”

“I know it’s hard to have her living in another state,” Fannie said. “It’s been hard for me to accept Titus moving to Kentucky.”

“It’s different for you,” Arie said. “Your son’s joined the church and has settled down. My daughter’s still going through her running-around years and may never return home and join the church.”

Fannie placed her hand over Arie’s. “You need to keep the faith and pray that God will touch Phoebe’s heart and she’ll decide to come home.” Fannie couldn’t believe she was saying such a thing. The truth was, she’d been glad when Phoebe left—at least until Titus had decided to leave, too. If Phoebe had stayed in Pennsylvania and joined the church, Titus would never have left home.