The Amish Quiltmaker’s Unattached Neighbor (The Amish Quiltmaker #6)

Chapter 12

A da stepped back, leaned on her hoe, and gazed at her tent. It really was in the way, interrupting her perfect rows of little potato plants that had just peeked their leaves out of the ground. Enos had dug deep trenches around the tent so the irrigation water could go down the rows without flooding her tent. It had been a very nice thing for him to do, especially since her tent was in the way of everything and he told her daily how much he wished she’d pack up and sleep in her own bed at night.

She’d weeded the entire six acres in a week with her hoe, trowel, and durable leather gloves. Next time she would use the plow, but Enos wasn’t there to help her, and they didn’t have an extra horse.

Ada tried her best not to think about the kitchen sink and the toilets and the sticky floors that had been neglected far too long at home. Apparently, Beth didn’t know what a scrub brush was, and washing dishes was completely beyond her ability. The mop sagged dejectedly in the corner, as if it felt sad it hadn’t been used for weeks. Thank Derr Herr, Dat was taking sufficient care of the farm and Beth was at least milking and feeding the goats. But neither Joanna or Mary were feeling well enough to help, so no goat cheese was getting made, the bathrooms were a disaster, and Dat was probably eating cold cereal at every meal.

Ada gritted her teeth. Nothing but her deep concern for Enos kept her sleeping in the tent and ignoring the house. She couldn’t abandon him. Enos needed her, and she was going to stay put for as long as she could be useful to him, even if mold and cobwebs took over Dat and Beth’s living space.

Ada took off her gloves, wiped her brow, and squinted into the west where the sun was just sinking below the mountain peaks. Enos was going to join her for dinner tonight around the campfire, and they were cooking tinfoil dinners and Dutch oven apple cobbler. Ada had invited Tabitha, hoping she wouldn’t want to come, and she’d been pleased when Tabitha had told Enos that she would make her own dinner.

Tabitha’s shouting was getting worse. Every time Enos went into his house, Ada would hear Tabitha yelling and carrying on as if Enos was the devil himself. The more improvements Enos made on the farm, the more upset Tabitha became. Ada had learned to tune Tabitha out. Her scolding was just noise, like the wind trying to topple a solid brick wall. But Ada wasn’t the one who mattered. Did Tabitha’s words pierce Enos to the core, or was he able to shrug them off as Ada was?

Ada certainly hoped so. It was painful to think that Enos carried wounds that would never heal because Tabitha kept opening them.

Enos had been out in the alfalfa field all day, so Ada hadn’t heard any yelling earlier, but the worst of it usually started up at about sunset when Enos went in to make dinner.

Ada dipped her hoe in the bucket of water next to her tent and rinsed off the caked-on dirt. Then she dried the hoe with a cleaning cloth and buffed it down with a steel wool pad. She rubbed a thin coat of oil on the blade to keep it from rusting, then laid it in her tent with her other tools. She shared her sleeping space with a hoe, a shovel, two pair of gloves, three buckets, and a garden trowel.

She quickly built a fire and set two big logs on the kindling. They’d need a lot of coals for the Dutch oven and the tinfoil dinners. Ada ducked into the tent again and retrieved the cooler she’d taken from the house earlier today. It contained all the food supplies she needed to make dinner. Maybe she should have invited Dat and Beth to eat with them this evening. Anything was better than Lucky Charms. Ada felt terribly selfish, but she wanted to have Enos all to herself tonight. She’d invite Dat and Beth tomorrow night for sure and certain.

Ada pulled the ground beef from the cooler and heard hurried footfalls behind her. She turned, and her smile died on her lips when she saw Enos’s face.

“Have you seen my mamm ?”

“Your mamm ? She’s not in the house?”

Enos’s shirt was soaked with sweat and covered in dirt. He’d just come from the fields. He clutched a piece of paper in his fist. “I went inside to shower, and she wasn’t anywhere.” He shoved the paper toward Ada. “She left me this, but I just can’t . . . I just can’t believe it.”

Ada uncrinkled the paper and did her best to read the uneven handwriting. “ Enos, you have disappointed me over and over again, and I can’t wait any longer. I’m going home. Ada’s sister and that Englisch lady have found a way to get me back to Pennsylvania. ” Ada gasped. “ I’m leaving Colorado forever and going to live with Zeb. He will take gute care of me—better care than you have ever taken. ”

Ada pressed her palm to her forehead. “Is this true? Is she really gone?”

“I don’t know.” Enos studied her face. “Do you truly not know anything about this?”

Ada drew back. “Me? Of course not.” Her tongue turned to dust. Beth and Cathy had asked Tabitha some very specific, very pointed questions when they’d last been together. “ Ach , du lieva . That day we were all sitting here after lunch.”

“What about it?”

“Cathy wanted your mamm to promise she would never come back to Colorado.”

Enos’s face blanched. “I don’t understand.”

“They were sniping at each other.”

“Cathy and my mamm ?”

“ Jah . Cathy has no trouble telling anyone exactly how she feels.”

“My mamm has the same problem,” Enos said.

“My schwesteren and Esther and Cathy were all sitting there, and Mary asked Tabitha what would help her feel more at home in Colorado. Tabitha said what she always says, that she wouldn’t be happy until she was back in Pennsylvania. I think Cathy said something like, ‘If you get to Pennsylvania, do you promise never to come back?’ It wonders me if she was planning something even then.”

“Why would Cathy say something like that?”

Ada decided not to mention anything about the Bachelor’s Puzzle quilt blocks or Cathy’s ridiculous notion that Ada was going to be stuck with Tabitha as a mater -in-law. She cleared her throat. “ Ach , vell , your mater hasn’t exactly endeared herself to anyone in Colorado. Cathy feels sorry for you. Maybe she thought she was doing you a favor.”

Enos looked anything but pleased that Cathy was trying to be thoughtful. “We’ve got to talk to Cathy. Or Beth. Was Beth the one Mamm was talking about in her note?”

Ada shoved the ground beef back into the cooler. “ Cum . Let’s go find her.” They marched across the field and into Ada’s yard where the goats were playing while Pepper took a nap. Pepper woke up when Ada opened the back gate, but all Ada had time to do was wave hello and pat Blue on the head. They went up the porch steps, and Ada threw open the back door with such force, it banged against the wall behind it. Beth caught her breath and turned with a jerk. Ada’s heart plummeted to her toes. Beth’s fingers were goopy with white paste. She was making cheese even though Ada had expressly told her not to. Not only that, but the kitchen was even dirtier than it had been this afternoon when Ada had come home to use the bathroom and get a Band-Aid for a blister. Beth wasn’t just making cheese. She was making cheese with raspberry dust, another sin Ada had commanded her not to commit.

“Beth, what are you doing?”

Beth shoved her hands behind her back, trying to hide what Ada had already seen. “I’m sorry, Ada,” she said sheepishly, “but I’m not really sorry. I just couldn’t let all this goat’s milk go to waste.”

“Beth, you never listen. I told you not to make goat cheese unless I can supervise, and what have you been doing all day? The kitchen is a mess. You’re going to make Dat sick in these unsanitary conditions.”

“Beth,” Enos said, his eyes flashing with irritation. “Where is my mamm ?”

His question pulled Ada back to the most important thing. She balled her hand into a fist to keep from reaching out and brushing a smudge of flour from Beth’s cheek. “What do you know about Enos’s mater and Cathy Larsen?”

Beth caught her bottom lip between her teeth and backed into the counter behind her. “I know they don’t like each other.”

Enos took off his hat and strangled the brim with both hands. “Do you know where my mater is? I’m concerned for her safety. She doesn’t know the area very well, and I don’t want her to get hurt.”

Beth frowned as if she thought Enos was being unreasonable. “ Ach , she’s not going to get hurt. Cathy made all the arrangements. She’s perfectly safe.”

Ada hooked her fingers around the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “Beth,” she said, putting a heavy dose of reprimand in her tone. “What have you done?”

Beth seemed almost puzzled by Ada’s reaction. “I don’t know what either of you are so upset about. Tabitha wanted to go back to Pennsylvania, and we all wanted her to go.” Her eyes flashed with a reprimand of her own. “Don’t look at me like that, Ada. We all know you wanted it too. You’re always complaining about how mean Tabitha is to Enos.”

Ada didn’t dare meet Enos’s eye, but she felt him tense beside her . . . ach , vell , he got even more tense than he already was. She should have been a little less free with her opinion about Enos’s mamm . Every bit of gossip hurt Enos.

Beth wiped her hands on a paper towel. “Tabitha said she’d be happier in Pennsylvania, so Cathy and I decided to solve everyone’s problems.”

“Where is she?” Enos was barely holding on to his calm. Ada could hear it in his voice.

Apparently, Beth could too. She picked at her apron. “I don’t know why you’re so mad. You should be thanking us. Ada said you didn’t have time to drive Tabitha back to Pennsylvania. We just made life easier for both of you.” She could see Ada wasn’t convinced. “Do you remember Tyson Carruthers?”

“Ada’s representation?” Enos said, a double dose of irritation in his voice.

Beth grinned and nodded. “That one. He’s moving his schwester to New York City because she’s starting school there. Cathy asked if they could take Tabitha as far as Bird-in-Hand. Tabitha didn’t want to travel alone, and you didn’t have time to go with her. Cathy said it was a win-win, whatever that means. They left this morning, and Tyson is going to drop her off in Pennsylvania on Monday. Cathy is even paying for Tabitha’s hotel rooms along the way.”

“That was nice of her,” Enos said, his voice stiff and resentful.

Beth must not have recognized the anger in his tone. “I guess she has a soft spot for both Tabitha and you.”

“How’s that?”

“She said you’d be happier without Tabitha yelling at you all the time, and she said your mamm would be happier in Bird-In-Hand with all her grandchildren. Cathy just wants everybody to be happy.”

Ada couldn’t believe that for a minute. No doubt Cathy wanted Tabitha gone for several reasons, but one of them had to do with a certain quilt block and how Cathy thought she was protecting Ada from, apparently, a fate worse than death.

Beth lifted her hand and casually slid a half-rolled log of goat cheese farther behind her. “I like that about Cathy. She cares about people, and she’s loyal to her friends. She said we girls have to stick together, even a girl like Tabitha, who doesn’t like anybody, and would never take a favor, even if it had a handle.”

Enos’s anger was like an ice-cold shard of glass. “Since Cathy cares so much about people’s feelings, why didn’t she ask me what I wanted?”

Beth opened and closed her mouth like a fish gasping for air. “I guess she assumed you’d want your mamm to go back to Pennsylvania where she is happier and where she can’t make you miserable.”

“How do you or Cathy know anything about how I feel? Mamm and I were getting along just fine. I’m perfectly happy the way things are.”

Ada didn’t want to believe Enos was a liar, but the truth was so obvious, she almost called him out on it. In addition to alienating all her neighbors, Tabitha was most certainly making Enos completely miserable. Ada saw it every day in the way Enos carried himself after one of his mamm ’s lectures. She saw it in the way he worked his fields, the way he cared for his horse, even the way he looked at Ada across the campfire, as if his burdens were on the verge of crushing him.

Beth acted as if she hadn’t done anything worse than change into a clean pair of stockings. “I’m froh to hear that, but we all know you’ll be much happier when Tabitha is gone, and Tabitha will be much happier too. Cathy says you can thank her as soon as you’re done being mad, but I don’t see how anyone could be mad about what she did.”

“Beth, how could you?” Ada said. “Why don’t you ever stop to think how your choices could hurt someone else?”

Enos’s eyes flashed with pain and worry and a thousand different fears. He was a man of action, but it was obvious he had no idea what to do. “Beth, may I use your cell phone?”

Beth turned a bright shade of pink. Everybody knew she had a cell phone, but she was sort of embarrassed about it, like a teenager who still played with dolls. “I guess. I’ll go get it.”

“Who are you going to call?” Ada asked.

“Tyson Carruthers. Maybe I can talk him into bringing my mater back before they get too far away.”

“Do you know his number?”

The ghost of a smile played at Enos’s lips. “He gave it to me that day he pretended to be your lawyer. I memorized it.”

“You memorized it? Why?”

He shrugged. “I’m gute with numbers. You never know when you’re going to need a random phone number.”

Beth was soon back with her cell phone, which she kept on her bedroom windowsill attached to a solar charger. She handed it to Enos. “Who do you want to call?”

Enos punched some numbers into the phone and put it to his ear. “ Hallo ? Tyson? Yes, this is Enos Hoover. Do you remember me? That’s right, you impersonated a lawyer. You can get in real trouble for that.” Enos paused.

Beth glared at Enos. “He was doing me a favor. Don’t even think about tattling on him.”

Enos gave Beth a pointed look any ill-tempered teacher would have been proud of. “Can you be quiet for more than one minute?”

Beth folded her arms like a petulant child. “I’m just saying.”

“Yes, Tyson. Is my mater with you?” Enos dug his fingers into the back of his neck. “Hold on. I want to put you on speaker.” Enos pushed the button, then peered at Beth. “This was your plan. Can you talk my mater out of it?”

Beth shook her head vigorously. “Cathy planned the whole thing. All I did was ask Tyson to drive Tabitha to Pennsylvania. Tabitha hates me. She thinks I’m a bad cook. She says I’m just a silly girl with no talent and no faith.”

They heard Tyson’s voice loud and clear. “Hey, hello? Are you still there?”

“Um, hi, Tyson. This is Beth,” she stuttered.

“Hey, Beth! We’re making good time. We just passed through Manhattan, Kansas. A third of the way there.”

Enos glanced at Ada. Manhattan was a long way away.

“Is Tabitha Hoover with you?” Beth asked.

There was a pause on the other end, and Tyson whispered, “Yeah. But thank goodness, she’s asleep.” Another long pause. “I don’t want to be rude, but she’s a drag to travel with. We try to listen to music, and she threatens to throw up. Then she complains about everything. I mean, it isn’t the newest car, but we’re doing her a favor, ya know? I mean, she could be little more grateful. Well, not more grateful, because she isn’t grateful at all.”

Enos listened stone-faced, but Ada could guess what he was thinking. “Can I talk to her?”

There was a soft groan. “I hate to disturb her. Can I call you back when she wakes up?”

Enos lifted his chin. “No. I need to talk to her now. Either that or you can turn your car around and bring her back to Byler immediately.”

“Hey, man, we’re nine hours out. We’re not turning around.”

Enos grimaced as if he’d been poked with a pin. “Okay then, I need to talk to her.”

There was a thud and some shuffling, then Tabitha’s voice on the other end. “I’m not talking to him. He has never listened to me, and he won’t listen now. He can beg all he wants, but I’m going to live with Zeb and Lilith and my grandchildren.”

Tyson came on the line again. “Uh, sorry, man. She doesn’t want to talk to you.”

Enos took off his hat and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. “Tyson, put me on speaker so she can hear me. She doesn’t need to say anything, but I need to talk to her.”

“Okay,” Tyson said. “You’re on, and I’ve got you turned up all the way.”

Enos spoke loudly and clearly into the phone. “Mamm, I know you don’t want to hear this, but there’s nothing for you in Pennsylvania. Can you just . . . can you just wait in Kansas City, and I’ll come get you?”

Tabitha must have reconsidered her silence. “You’re jealous of Zeb. That’s why you want to keep me in Colorado where I can’t see my grandchildren or shower my other sons with the love you don’t deserve. I’ve already told you a thousand times that I want to live next to my family.”

That was certainly true. She’d told him at least a thousand times. As far as Ada could see, she spoke of nothing else.

“I’m never coming back, and no amount of talking on your part will convince me. You don’t deserve it, but I hope you’ll have a gute life.” The line went dead.

Enos stared at the screen. “She hung up on me.” He seemed surprised, though Ada was puzzled why he would have expected anything different.

The sense of being lost was written all over his face, as if he was too confused to even put one foot in front of the other. Ada wanted to cry. Beth looked as if she was on the verge of tears as well.

Ada reached out to Enos to . . . she wasn’t sure what. Comfort him? Show him some sympathy? He pulled back to avoid her touch, and he might as well have slapped her hand away. She felt the rejection clear to her heart.

Enos went to the sink, filled a glass with water, and drank the whole thing. Then he bowed his head and fell silent. Was he praying? Had Cathy’s meddling left him paralyzed? Ada and Beth stared at him, both wildly curious what he would do next. He lifted his head, set his empty glass on the counter, and squared his shoulders. When he turned around to face Beth and Ada, he had become a different person, his spine ramrod straight, his head held high, a look of calm resignation on his face. Ada’s blood coursed through her veins. This was the Enos she had grown so attached to, resolute, strong, and single-minded.

He pulled a chair far out from under the cluttered table and sat, motioning to Beth and Ada. “Please, will you sit?” he said, his emotions under complete control.

Ada sat on his left. Beth hesitantly sat on his right. He leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees and gazing at Beth with something akin to kindness on his face. “Beth, you have no idea what you’ve done, but I don’t hold it against you. You’re young, and Jesus said to forgive everyone. What’s done is done, and there’s no going back. Your regret and my anger won’t bring my mamm back.”

Beth didn’t look as if she regretted anything, but Enos could believe what he wanted. “I appreciate that, Enos.” No doubt Beth still thought she’d done the right thing, and she believed Enos would come to believe it too.

“I need to get my mamm home before her whole world falls apart. You and Cathy have put me on the road to financial ruin. I must leave my farm and scrape together bus fare to get to Pennsylvania, and I barely have enough to buy food for me and feed for my horse.”

“ Ach ,” Beth said. “I don’t see why you have to go get her. Why can’t you just stay here and she just stay there? It would be easier for everybody, and you’d save a lot of money.”

Enos sighed, as if giving up trying to make Beth understand. “I apologize. There is no need to burden you with my financial situation. My problems are my problems, not anyone else’s. I would appreciate it if you didn’t interfere in my family’s business ever again.” He stood up. “I’ve got to go.”

He walked to the back door with purposeful steps. “Ada, could you feed and water my horse, Goshen, while I’m gone? I have enough hay for a week. Lord willing I’ll be back before it runs out.”

Ada nodded. “Of course. We’ll buy feed if we need to.” There was still so much to say and no time to say it.

“I can pay you ten dollars a day to look after him. I hope that’s enough.” He walked out the door and closed it behind him.

Ada’s anger erupted like a five-alarm fire. Ten dollars a day!