Seasons of Tomorrow (15 page)

A few moments later Leah heard the sound of a door opening upstairs. Then Iva leaned over the rail of the catwalk. “Right here.”

Leah didn’t blame Iva for hiding in her bedroom, hoping to avoid the meeting. She wasn’t a part of the fray, and she didn’t want to be.

“Would you stay with the children while the rest of us talk?”

“Ya, sure.”

A nervous prickle ran through Leah. Was her Daed going to issue his ultimatum with witnesses who would support him?

“Hey.” Samuel motioned to Leah. “Kumm.” He started walking toward the kitchen, seemingly uncomfortable, as if he’d rather not stop long enough to look her in the eye. Leah waited for everyone to go ahead of her, including Phoebe, and each one took a seat at the kitchen table. Landon’s weak smile made nausea roll through her.

Her Daed patted the table beside him, and she sat.

He clenched his hand around the mug. “I’ve shared my concerns since arriving three days ago, and I think I’ve discovered a reasonable solution.”

Rhoda stared at the table, and Leah looked at each person, but no one’s expression reflected peace, as if Daed’s assurance of a
reasonable solution
didn’t ring true to them.

Leah’s heart pounded in her ears. “I’m listening.”

He stared into his cup. “Eli needs more help than I can give. The dairy side of the farm is full-time work, and as the orchard is reestablished after the tornado, he needs good, skilled workers. Leah, I was wrong not to realize
what an asset a daughter could be. Samuel saw it before moving to this settlement, and now I do too.”

She wasn’t fooled. His tone and manner were in sharp contrast to the silent treatment he’d given her yesterday and the fits he’d thrown Friday and Saturday, but all this encouraging chatter wasn’t love. It was diplomacy, just a matter of Daed trying to keep peace while he got his way.

“Leah,”—Daed turned his mug around several times—“I know you like it here, but it’s time you come home to live with Mamm and me, at least for a while.”

“No. I won’t go.” Where was everyone’s determination? Did that exist only when fighting to make this farm a success?

Daed cleared his throat. “You will, and we leave at two this afternoon.”

“Today?” This couldn’t be happening!

Rhoda shook her head. “Whatever else is agreed upon, that’s too soon, Benjamin.”

Daed looked at Samuel, eyebrows raised.

Samuel nodded. “It’s too soon. You can stay another night and let Leah say proper good-byes.”

“Wait.” Leah splayed her fingers. “I’ve agreed to nothing. How long do I have to stay in Pennsylvania?”

Samuel reached across the table and clutched her hand. “There’s good news. If you’ll follow all Daed’s saying, when you return, you’ll do so with his blessing.”

Was it possible her Daed would do that? “When can I return?”

No one answered, but the look in Landon’s eyes indicated that he knew.

“Daed, answer me!” Her scream pierced the somber tone of the meeting.

He pursed his lips. “A year.”

“A year!” Leah jumped up, knocking over her chair. “No. Absolutely not!”

Anger etched her Daed’s face, but he closed his eyes. “Do not tell me no again, Leah.” He drew a deep breath and opened his eyes. “Samuel’s right.
I don’t like it, but I’ve agreed you can return after that. In order for me to allow that, though, you and Landon must give your word that there will be no contact between you two during that time.”

“I won’t agree to it!”

Resolve filled her Daed’s face. “Trust me, I don’t think a year is nearly enough. I wanted at least two years, preferably five.”

Rhoda flicked her pinkie nail against her thumbnail in quick succession. “Landon helped your Daed understand that if he asked … demanded too much, your Daed could end up walking away with nothing, so he has agreed to a year.”

“But”—Daed pushed his index finger against the table—“once we leave here, there can be no contact between you and Landon.”

“That’s absurd! I won’t agree to it!” She looked at each person, and not one of them was taking up for her. “Landon, why would you think that’s reasonable?”

Landon’s face was taut as he fidgeted with his fingers. “Leah.”

She heard it in his voice. He’d caved, just like everyone else. She swallowed hard. “This farm and canning business need me too!” She slammed the chair into an upright position.

“It does.” Steven rubbed his forehead. “And we’re plenty upset that the situation has come to this, but we can’t lose another man from this venture, especially not one who knows every side to the business, like Landon does. Right now, I can’t see how Orchard Bend Farms can thrive without his involvement.”

So because she didn’t rank high enough, everyone in this room was willing to cut her loose? “This is just wrong, and every one of you knows it!”

Steven pinched the bridge of his nose. “There is more going on than meets the eye, Leah. A bishop is moving here from Pennsylvania. He and his family arrive next week. He’s been told about you and Landon, and if we don’t separate you two,
we
, every church member under this roof, will be held accountable.”

“I’m in my rumschpringe!”

Her Daed crossed his arms. “It’s clear you’re not using it to find a suitable
Amish mate. That is its intended purpose. The church leaders draw a line for anyone caught misusing the rumschpringe. And you’ve been caught.”

“That’s not true!” she hissed. “Unless someone is breaking the law or stumbling home drunk, the ministers leave those in their rumschpringe alone.”

“You can believe what you will, Leah. You seem to be good at that. But the last time we had communion at home, Arlan’s parents weren’t allowed to participate because he and his friends were playing musical instruments in their home.”

She didn’t know that. She hadn’t seen Arlan since he’d visited here more than a year ago. How long had it been since she’d even talked to him—three or four months?

She looked at Samuel. Arlan used to be her closest friend, and his sister, Catherine, used to be Samuel’s girlfriend. Catherine and Leah never got along, but Leah wouldn’t wish the embarrassment of what was equal to a public flogging on anyone. She should contact Arlan and see how he and Catherine were faring, but now wasn’t the time to think about that.

Leah buried her forehead in the palm of her hand. “Why am I being targeted like this?”

“You need to ask?” Confusion flickered across her Daed’s face. “Fine, I’ll tell you. It’s because word got out that you’re seeing Landon—an outsider whose employment should’ve been terminated
before
you grew to care for him. The fact that your brother and even the preacher you live with have not put a stop to it has angered a lot of people.” Daed pushed back from the table. “Do you want Steven, Samuel, and Rhoda punished in worse ways than being excluded from a communion? If you do, keep being stubborn, and the new bishop will take matters into his hands when he arrives.”

“What I want is to be left alone!” Despite having been raised Amish, she still didn’t understand how the Amish did everything. “So because the man is a bishop elsewhere, he gets to step into this district as the bishop here?”

Steven nodded. “Since we don’t have one, and he has a good reputation
where he is, the answer is ya. Every preacher, deacon, and bishop in Pennsylvania who knows him supports him. That means he not only enters as the bishop, but he also comes wielding the power and support of numerous Amish churches.”

Leah had known that untangling from the Amish would be difficult, especially as the daughter of a King and the granddaughter of Apple Sam King. Her grandfather’s name had a power and influence that he’d passed on to his sons, including her Daed. “He’s moving here to help Daed get his way!”

“No.” Samuel reached for her hand, but she pulled away from him. “At least I don’t think that’s it. Who uproots from one state to move to another in order to fill a church role that receives no pay?”

“Someone who owes Daed or the Kings a huge favor!”

“I’ve spoken to him,” Steven said. “And I truly believe it’s just a set of coincidences that are working against us. He’s spent years looking for a suitable place to purchase a lot of affordable farming land for future generations of his family. He’s been interested in moving here since we arrived, but too many Amish settlements that are in a new region of the country fail, so he was waiting. He feels this one is sustainable as long as all the members strive to keep the Old Ways, and he intends to make sure we’re doing that.”

Her Daed clutched his suspenders. “This farm needs Landon, so it would be best if you come home with me.”

Her father’s even tone angered her. He was banking that either Landon or she would find someone else while they were separated. They wouldn’t, but it’d be a year of torment.

“Samuel.” Leah turned to her brother, hoping against hope he’d tell her what she longed to hear. “This compromise is asking too much, and you have nothing to say about it?”

“Don’t look at the time apart. Look at all he’s offering you. After the year he won’t say or do anything else to keep you two apart.”

“A year in exile! Will none of you tell him no?”

The room was deathly silent. She bolted, heading for her bedroom.

“Leah,”—Landon hurried after her—“I’ll wait for you. I promise.”

“What is
wrong
with you? Why are you negotiating with Daed when you should be standing up to him?”

“Because we can’t win this argument. Were you able to hear anything that was said?”

She moved closer. “If we ran off together right now while Daed is here and while Samuel, Rhoda, and Steven are trying to get me to return with him, it’d protect them from being responsible for my actions.”

“If you leave the Amish like this and I help you, we’ll both lose our jobs. Rhoda and Samuel won’t have a choice about letting us go, or they’ll be shunned. Can you imagine the scandal it would cause Steven as a preacher?”

“But I know the Amish, and the outrage of us running off will blow over in a year. They’ll see that we love each other and attend church together. They won’t welcome what we’ve done, but their hearts will soften, and Samuel can hire us again.”

“We can survive a year apart, Leah. Besides, hurting your family and our not having jobs is no way to start a marriage. You haven’t even met my parents, but we might need their support. Come on. Our families deserve better.
We
deserve better.”

Their lives and jobs were intertwined with those who were dead set against them marrying. Would Landon ever be willing to do what it’d take to marry her? The answer that welled within her gut made her sick. She was such a fool for sweet talkers. “You don’t want to marry me, not really.”

“Of course I do, when the time’s right.”

“You mean
if
the time is ever right?”

“Until your Daed showed up to take you home, you weren’t one hundred percent positive you wanted to leave the Amish.”

“Yes, I was! I just didn’t know how I would do it! Or how long it would take to untangle from the Amish.”

He stared at her. This revelation should be joyous news, but he simply nodded. “Okay.” He drew a heavy breath. “Here’s the good news. Now we know the answers to those questions. Your Daed has asked for a year.”

“You actually think that in a year Daed will suddenly set me free? He’s stalling for time! And the bishop who’s moving here will have a year to make plans and rally others to help him stand in our way!”

Why didn’t Landon just say what he really meant? His first loyalty was in the same place it had been when they’d met: with Rhoda. He’d been her assistant and friend far longer than he’d known Leah. The second item on his list of loyalties was this orchard. He wanted to be a partner, and he wasn’t giving that up to marry Leah.

Warm tears slid down her cheeks, and she headed for the stairs.

Landon moved ahead of her and turned to face her. “Leah, your Daed will stick to his word, and we’ll get through this. He’s agreed to let you return in a year. Just a year. We can do this. Okay?”

More tears threatened. “Could you do me a favor?”

“Sure.” He took her hand into his. “Anything.”

“No more lies between us.” She pulled away from him, determined to speak as calmly as he was. “Daed’s not going to let me return, but it doesn’t really matter, because you’re never going to be ready to do what it will take for me to sever ties with Rhoda. And you don’t intend to jeopardize your chance of becoming a partner.” She stared at him through watery eyes. “I refuse to be the one to get in your way, so I’ll go back to Pennsylvania.” She sidestepped him and ran up the stairs.

“Leah, please. It’s not like that. You know—”

She slammed the door to her bedroom and locked it. Her heart throbbed beyond any hurt she’d ever known before. All of them were against her and Landon, even Landon!

She threw herself onto the bed, buried her head between two pillows, and sobbed.

Landon stared at the closed door. He wanted to climb the stairs and pound on it, demanding she apologize. How could she believe he was trying to guard his position on this farm?

She knew it’d be tough to get free of her family. They’d discussed it. A lot. But she turned on him the first time her Daed put pressure on them?