Plain Peace (A Daughters of the Promise Novel) (13 page)

“It’s still very painful, I know.” Marianne’s voice brought Cora back to the present. “I’m sure you miss Leah every second of every day.”

“Ya.”
She sighed. “Leah used to love Sisters’ Day, and it’s hard to think of going without her.” Cora sat taller and raised her chin. “But I will go because my
dochder
would want me to. She’d want me to make new friends here.”

Marianne glanced toward her basement door again, then looked back at Cora, a flush in her cheeks.

“Is everything okay?” Cora finally asked.

Once again she got the sense that Marianne wanted to tell her something but decided against it.

“
Ya, ya
. Everything is fine.” Marianne glanced toward the basement door again, and Cora wasn’t so sure.

Anna had wondered if Cora Hostetler’s visit would sway her grandfather into letting her go out with Jacob. She’d stayed quietly at the top of the stairs and listened to the conversation, disappointed that the subject hadn’t come up. She would have to stick to her original plan and say she was going to Emma’s house. She
didn’t feel good about the lie, but her grandfather had pushed her to this by being so unreasonable.

It was late by the time she crawled under the covers, but she hadn’t dozed off yet when she heard the basement door creak open. She knew
Mammi
went down there a lot, but usually not this late. She wondered if that’s where the missing strawberries were. Maybe
Mammi
was planning something special with the fruit and didn’t want Anna or her grandfather to know.

She tiptoed down the stairs, and once she got to the basement door, she pressed her ear against it and listened. She heard the door to
Mammi’s
broom closet open, then click closed behind her. Other than that, it was so quiet that Anna could hear her grandfather gently snoring in her grandparents’ downstairs bedroom, the light breeze coming through the open windows, the familiar creaking of their old farmhouse. She was just about to ease the door open and find out exactly what her grandmother was doing when she heard a loud sneeze outside. She got to the window in the living room just in time to see a small woman running from the garden.

Glancing back at the basement door, she knew it wasn’t her grandmother, so she bolted out of the house and ran across the yard.

“Hey!” Anna chased after the woman in her bare feet and nightgown but couldn’t catch her before she got lost in the high grass in the adjoining pasture. She stopped, caught her breath, and walked to her garden. In the dim light she walked down each row, then stopped when she got to her tomato plants. She leaned down, examining each one. All the tomatoes were gone, even the green ones.

She stared toward the pasture where the woman had fled.
Who is she? And why is she stealing my vegetables?
Sighing, she felt a tinge of guilt that she’d assumed her grandmother had snatched the strawberries.

What her grandmother did down in the basement was a mystery, but a stranger coming into the garden at night was even more bewildering. Anna scratched her cheek and thought for a moment. When no answer came to mind, she started back toward the house. She was almost to the white picket fence gate that surrounded the garden when she noticed something twinkling on the ground below her. She squatted down, stared at the item, and picked it up.

It was very pretty . . . and her only clue about the produce thief.

J
ACOB PULLED UP TO THE
L
APPS
’
HAUS
AT FOUR O
’
CLOCK
exactly. Anna and Emma were in the garden, so he tethered Bolt and joined them.

“Look at this.” Emma was pointing at something when he walked up. “I’ve been cleaned out of strawberries and tomatoes.” She thrust her hands on her hips and shook her head.

Jacob’s eyes drifted to Anna right away. He’d been looking forward to their date all week, and Anna looked beautiful.

“What’s wrong?” he finally asked, forcing himself to pull his gaze from Anna.

Emma kicked at a tomato plant. “These were full of tomatoes yesterday. They would have been ready for picking soon.”

“Apparently, we have a thief.” Anna grinned as she spoke. “I’ve seen an old woman twice in my garden late at night. The first time she took all my strawberries, and last night she stole my tomatoes and the few strawberries that were left.”

“Goodness.” Emma’s forehead scrunched. “Who would do that?”

Jacob shrugged. “Maybe she’s hungry.”

“That’s what Anna said.” Emma sighed, then looked back and forth between Anna and Jacob. “Oh well. I’ll go tell
Mamm
what’s going on. And you two have a
gut
time.” She giggled before she
turned and walked across the yard to her house, and Jacob smiled when he saw the flush in Anna’s cheeks.

“Ready?”

“Sure.”

Jacob followed Anna to the family buggy and helped her in. He’d be glad when he had a topless spring buggy, more traditional for courting. The newspaper said the evening was going to be clear, no rain, and seventy degrees.
Perfect
.

“I’m glad your grandfather changed his mind about letting you go out with me tonight.” He pulled the reins and eased Bolt backward.

“Uh . . . what?” Anna raised her eyebrows.

“
Mei mamm
said that your grandmother told her that she was working on your grandfather, that he wasn’t going to let you go out with me. I’m glad he changed his mind. I probably should have insisted that I pick you up at your
haus
so I could explain to him that it was my fault we didn’t make it to the singing. I feel bad about that.” He glanced to his right and smiled at her. “Your grandmother obviously swayed him.” He paused. “And I’m glad.”

“Uh,
ya
. She must have.”

“We can do anything you want, but I was wondering if you wanted to go eat first and we can decide over supper.”

Jacob waited for her to answer, but she was biting her lip and seemed lost in thought.

“Anna? You okay?”

“Ya, ya.”
She turned to him and smiled. “I’m fine.”

Jacob nodded, but he wasn’t convinced. She was twirling the string of her prayer covering with one hand and fidgeting with
something in her apron pocket with the other hand. Maybe she hadn’t been looking forward to the date as much as he had.

A few minutes later they were turning onto Lincoln Highway. “What about pizza?” Jacob slowed the buggy, giving her time to answer.

“That sounds
gut
.”

Jacob guided the horse into the parking lot of Paradiso’s Pizzeria. Once he had the horse tied to one of the posts the restaurant kept for Amish patrons, he helped Anna out of the buggy. She was mighty quiet, and Jacob’s stomach churned. Maybe this date wasn’t such a good idea.

Anna knew she was blowing it with Jacob. Her mind was everywhere else but here. Jacob was the first person to ask her out on an official date, and she was having trouble enjoying herself already. She’d never lied to her grandparents, and the deceit was weighing heavily on her mind.

She reached into her pocket and fumbled with the item she’d found in her garden, wondering if she should show it to Jacob. She hadn’t even shown it to Emma earlier. The silver chain was slightly tarnished and the clasp was broken, but the dainty locket with a tiny picture of a baby boy inside had still been on the chain when Anna found it in the garden.

Jacob asked what kind of pizza she liked, and she told him she liked all kinds. It was true. She even liked the little fishy things they sometimes put on pizzas. Taking a deep breath, she knew she needed to focus on her date, especially if she ever wanted Jacob to ask her out again. He ordered a large supreme pizza and two iced teas.

Once the waitress was gone, Anna decided to show him the locket. Maybe that would take her mind off lying to her grandparents. She’d told them she was going to Emma’s, but not that Jacob would be picking her up there and taking her out.

“Look at this.” Anna pulled the locket from her apron pocket and handed it to Jacob across the table. “I think the woman who was in my garden dropped it.” She waited while Jacob studied it, then added, “And for some reason, that
boppli
in the picture looks familiar to me.”

Jacob turned it over and brought it closer to his face. “There’s an inscription on the back.”

Anna sat taller. “Really? I guess I didn’t look that close. Can you read it?”

Jacob squinted and moved the locket back, then closer again. “Barely. But it says . . . uh . . . it says ‘To Grandma.’” He handed it back to her.

“Hmm.” She paused, gazing at the locket and wondering about its owner. “I didn’t get a
gut
look at the woman, but
grandma
is an
Englisch
word.” She shrugged. “I’d like to return it, but . . .” She giggled. “I wonder if she’d return our strawberries in exchange for the locket.”

Jacob chuckled. Anna looked at those kind eyes and dimples and wondered what in the world a man like him was doing out on a date with her. Then she remembered she’d started all this by asking him to the singing. But he’d followed up with this date. She gave her head a quick shake, forcing herself not to overanalyze . . . or to think about her grandparents.

“I, uh . . .” Jacob stopped when the waitress returned with their pizza. After she was gone, he said, “I just wanted to thank you for
letting me talk to you about Leah the last time we were together. No one in
mei haus
mentions her name. It’s almost like she never existed, so it felt
gut
to talk about her.”

“I guess everyone handles grief differently, but I’m glad it made you feel better. I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.” Anna reached for a piece of pizza when Jacob did. Once it was on his plate, they both bowed their heads in silent prayer. Then Jacob waved his hand.

“Let’s don’t talk about that this time. I did most of the talking last time. What do you like to do? Any hobbies?”

Anna sighed. “Will I sound boring if I say no?”

Jacob shook his head as he chewed on his pizza, then said, “
Nee
. Not at all.”

Anna swallowed her bite of pizza, then bit her bottom lip as she avoided his eyes. Then she looked up and said, “There is this one thing . . . something I would like to do.” She shrugged. “I mean, I guess that’s not a hobby, but just something . . .”

Jacob raised one eyebrow, his mouth full of pizza. He hurried to swallow. “What is it?”

Anna cast her eyes down to her plate as she felt her cheeks flushing. “I’d like to open my own bakery someday.” She gazed up at Jacob, who was smiling. “
Daadi
would never allow it. He thinks women should tend to their husbands and homes. But
Mammi
has taught me to bake some of her special recipes. We sell them to all the nearby bakeries. I’d love to have my own place to sell our baked goods.” She dropped her eyes as she shrugged again. “I mean, it’s just a dream. The last thing Lancaster County probably needs is another bakery.”

When she looked back up, Jacob had stopped chewing and
was just staring at her. Her heart started thumping in her chest. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He tipped his head to one side and smiled. “I think it’s a nice dream. And sometimes dreams come true.”

“Not this one, probably.” Anna took another bite of pizza. “But I like to think about it.”

“You never know. When you’re out on your own—you know, married and all—you might be able to have your own bakery. That’s what Leah always wanted.”

Anna swallowed hard, hoping she hadn’t upset Jacob. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Leah was the best cook in our family, even better than
Mamm
. She just had a knack for it. We’d always told her to open a bakery. Our
daed
especially wanted her to.”

“So different from my grandfather.” She shook her head, then took a sip of tea.

“
Ya
, there was a time when
mei daed
was the best father anyone could ever want.” Jacob sighed. “But everything changed after Leah died.”

“I’m sorry.”

Jacob wiped his mouth with his napkin and shook his head. “
Nee
, I’m sorry. I really don’t want every conversation we have turning to Leah.” He sat taller. “So what would you like to do after this? I haven’t been here long enough to have a suggestion.”