Lilly's Wedding Quilt (13 page)
He stalked out the door with Seth at his heels, and the kitchen was quiet.
Mary Wyse urged her to sit down as she brought strips of linen to clean and bandage her arms.
“
Danki
, Mrs. Wyse. I appreciate your care.”
“Call me
Mamm
, and
nee
, thank
you
.”
She looked up in surprise to meet the woman’s warm smile. “For what?”
“For waking up my son.”
Lilly wrinkled her brow in confusion as a vivid image of her shaking Jacob’s shoulder while he slept crossed her mind. “I … don’t understand.”
“Jacob’s been asleep for years, lulled by a dream. I think that you might be the one to show him that a heart awake to real life might be better than any dream.”
Lilly flushed, and though she couldn’t fully understand all of what Jacob’s
mamm
suggested, she knew it was praise.
“I’ll do anything I can to help him.”
Mary patted her bandaged arm with tenderness. “I know you will, Lilly.”
T
hunder took the miles toward Lockport without even becoming winded, and despite the urgency of his ride, Jacob, too, enjoyed the freedom of the powerful horse moving beneath him. It was only on a horse or around horses that he felt confident and competent. Horses didn’t judge, or question intellectual abilities, or care about appearances. They were creatures of
Derr Herr’s
hands, His craftsmanship and glory. Unbidden, the image of Lilly came to him. And, as he half-closed his eyes against the glare of the sun on the snow, he saw her in a rain of images, slender and poised when a teacher at the head of the class, determined and strong when she was angry, forlorn and broken when she worried for her
mamm
, and standing still in the fold of his arms.
He blinked as he realized his train of thought. He hadn’t been lulled by the image of any girl but Sarah for as long as he could remember. It almost seemed a betrayal somehow to Sarah, to his way of thinking, of existing, over the last months since Sarah’s engagement. But a small glimmer of an idea began to form in his heart, an awakening to the thought that the Lord might be doing something new in his life, in his world. It felt both freeing and scary at the same time.
He broke off his wandering thoughts as he entered Lockport. The small town was just beginning to come to life for a new day of business. He reined Thunder in to a slow walk on the muddy slush of the downtown main street. Several cars and buggies tooled along beside him as he began to scan the area for Mrs. Lapp or Ruler and the buggy. He didn’t have to go far. A police car had parked sideways next to the Lapps’ buggy. The shrill sounds of Miriam Lapp came to him from the sidewalk. He looped Thunder’s reins over a nearby post with a low admonishment to the horse to stand, and he approached the policeman. He almost groaned aloud when he recognized the young officer as the one who’d broken into the quiet of Sarah’s wedding. He hoped the young man would not remember him.
“Good morning, Officer. Is there a problem here?”
The police officer turned, truly young under close inspection, freckle-faced, and clearly frustrated. “Do you know this woman?”
Jacob nodded.
“
Ach
, you hush, Jacob Wyse! I am waiting here until this store opens and that’s it!” Mrs. Lapp announced. She glared at both men with determination.
“I offered to let her get inside the cruiser to warm up, but she wouldn’t.”
“I’m just waiting to shop—that’s all.”
Jacob looked aside. “What has she done exactly?”
“Nothing. I mean, I just need her to move her buggy from the parking space over to the hitching post. The parking meters are for cars only.”
“I’ll move the horse.”
“Great. Thank you.” The police officer turned toward his car, looking relieved, then swung back to Jacob.
“Hey, do I know you?”
“I don’t believe so—I’m Jacob Wyse.” He extended his hand.
The officer slowly returned the handshake. “I guess all you Amish look alike … kind of …”
“That was a rude statement, young man,” Mrs. Lapp said.
The officer flushed. “Yeah, right. Sorry. I don’t want any trouble with you Amish. I’ve got to move along.” He went to his car without looking back and pulled away.
Jacob looked down at Miriam Lapp. “I’ll move Ruler and then wait with you until the store opens.”
“Well I doubt you’ll enjoy that. So don’t trouble yourself.”
“It’s no trouble.”
“
Nee
, probably because Lilly put you up to this. Did she send you after me because she was concerned about my spending?”
Jacob tried to thrust aside the image of Lilly’s shaken face and the fresh blood on her arms. “Lilly worries for you.”
“Lilly worries for herself sometimes too—all this work on the Christmas program; she wants to put up a good image like her father.”
Jacob shook his head, realizing that Mrs. Lapp’s problems ran deeper than what he could understand. Right now he just needed to get her home in one piece and ease Lilly’s mind. He turned and went to move Ruler, speaking to the horse as he maneuvered him around a car and then to the hitching post next to Thunder. He prayed as he walked back to the woman on the sidewalk, wondering how to pass the time with her until the store opened.
Dear Lord, this is Dr. Lapp’s wife, a widow, and my future mother-in- law. You’ve promised to be a husband to the widow and a father to the fatherless. Oh, Lord, help Lilly’s
mamm
; help Lilly. Give me wisdom beyond myself to know what to say and do here and now to get her home safe
. His prayer brought him to a few footsteps from Mrs. Lapp. He decided not to mention Lilly or going back to the farm. He gazed in an absent fashion at the dressing of the store window, not noticing it before. Now his mouth twisted into a wry smile. Of course, Mrs. Lapp would choose “Emily’s Mystery”—the one store in town that boasted women’s undergarments of all kinds.
He looked down at the ground, pretending not to notice. But Mrs. Lapp must have sensed his discomfort and pounced on him like a cat. “So, you’re going to wait with me to shop, are you, Jacob Wyse?”
He lifted his gaze and regarded her with a calmness he didn’t feel. “
Jah
, I am.”
“Outside or in?”
He sighed. “Inside. It’s a bit too cold out here.” And there was no way he was going to let the woman sneak out a back door for further shopping and out of his hands.
“Well, I don’t know what kind of son-in-law it is who’s willing to come shopping at Emily’s. I wonder whether to be pleased or worried.” She narrowed her eyes at him.
A young
Englisch
woman wearing long black boots, a flowing colored skirt, and a short denim jacket walked up to them before he had to reply.
“Excuse me, folks.” Her voice was casual but Jacob noted the appraising look she threw his way and he had a sudden desire to go back and sit with Ruler. The woman jiggled some keys she lifted from a leather purse, then opened the door. “Come on in. I’ll turn on a few lights.”
Mrs. Lapp waited while he caught the door and held it open.
“If the deacons hear of this, you’re sure to get a long talking to,” Miriam warned as she passed under his arm.
“Well, so will you,” he muttered.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
Jacob took a deep breath and plunged into the velvety carpeted store, trying to ignore the strange, exotic smell of the place and the multitude of half-clad mannequins that stared at him with empty eyes. He remembered daring Seth once to take a peek into Emily’s when they’d been boys, and
Daed
had tanned both their hides when they’d been caught. Now he felt like an utter fool but there was no help for it.
While Mrs. Lapp went muttering among waist-high clear bins of colorful scraps of undergarments, the saleswoman approached Jacob and he removed his hat.
“It’s so nice—you bringing your mother here,” she whispered.
“I’m not his mother!” Mrs. Lapp announced.
Jacob gave a pleading glance heavenward as the saleswoman giggled. “So, do you make this a habit, bringing the ladies to Emily’s?”
“
Nee
. Uh, no.” He shifted his long legs.
“So, is there anything that you’re interested in personally? Something for your wife maybe?”
He shook his head and met her gaze. “I’m not married. I mean—I will be, the day after tomorrow.”
“He lost his first love, so he’s settling for a different girl,” Miriam offered.
Jacob cringed and the saleswoman waved off Mrs. Lapp’s words.
“Oh, well, maybe I could show you some of my favorite items—for your lucky bride, of course.” The
Englisch
woman let the suggestion end in a purr and Jacob thought about how much Seth would be enjoying himself right now—at his brother’s expense.
“No, no thank you, ma’am. I’m fine.”
She was about to speak again when a quiet bell announced the arrival of another customer. Mrs. Zook waddled into the store with a comfortable air, and Jacob had to make a conscious effort to keep his mouth closed.
Mrs. Zook looked like she might faint on the spot when she glanced from a mannequin toward him. And, for a brief second, he might have feared for her heart, had he not been so intent on struggling not to laugh. Miriam Lapp noticed her too and called out in a tone that echoed in the intimacy of the shop. “Esther Zook. This is the sales bin. Come back here and ignore Jacob Wyse. He’s lost his mind.”
Jacob gave a sedate nod to the quivering Mrs. Zook. “Ma’am.
Guder mariye
. I hope you’re having a good day.”
“My day has just begun, young man. Does your
mamm
know you’re here?”
“Uh, probably not, but my soon-to-be mother-in-law does.”
Mrs. Lapp gave a surprising laugh.
Mrs. Zook turned with a swirl of her cape and marched past the saleswoman toward the door. “I’ll return late—I mean, good day to you. I clearly am confused this morning and entered the wrong establishment.” She tossed a searing glare in Jacob’s direction, then hurried out the door.
The saleswoman laughed. “She’ll be back; she comes here all the time.”
“All the time,” Jacob repeated in disbelief.
“There’s more to women than you know, Jacob Wyse, much, much more,” Mrs. Lapp snapped.
The saleswoman nodded, and Jacob told himself that he had to agree.
A
fter the class had snacks, Lilly turned the children loose for an early recess at ten thirty. She followed them, wrapping herself against the cold. she’d had to borrow another of Mrs. Wyse’s blouses. The cuffs were again too short, revealing the bandages on her arms, but there was nothing that she could do about it now.
She admonished the students not to get too wet while she anxiously looked up the icy road, praying and hoping that she might hear something of her mother soon. Then, almost like an apparition of her desires, a lone horse and rider came fast and free down the road to the school. Jacob jumped down, asking John Zook to mind the horse, and took Lilly’s arm.
“Can we talk inside?”
“Of course.”
Lilly hurried to keep up with his long strides as they entered the schoolhouse. Jacob pulled out a chair near the woodstove and asked her to sit down. He set a chair up across from hers and absently took one of her bandaged wrists in his hands.
“Is everything all right?” her voice trembled.
“
Jah
, I found your mamm in town. She’s home now. Mrs. Loftus is visiting with her; she said not to worry. She’ll stay the whole afternoon.”
“
Ach
, I’m sorry she has to do that. Maybe I could go home for just an hour or so.”
“Mrs. Loftus wants to do it. You concentrate on the program.” He stared down at her wrists and Lilly asked the question that she dreaded. “What was my
mamm
doing when you found her?”
“She wanted to—shop. I let her go. I tried to reason with her, and she just started getting upset. I thought it better to let her have her head and do what she wanted.”
Lilly nodded, drawing a deep breath. “I’m so sorry that you had to deal with her, Jacob, so embarrassed really. She just seems to want to fill up her life somehow—with things. I don’t expect you to understand.”