Return to Paradise. Barbara Cameron

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СКАЧАТЬ she and Lavina walked around the room offering help when it was requested.

      Lavina paused beside the woman Kate had called Carrie. She was the one who’d been a little sarcastic about how she thought every Amish woman quilted. Carrie was struggling to thread the sewing machine. Looking disgusted, she slumped in her chair.

      “Would you like some help?”

      “You know how to thread an electric sewing machine? I thought you people didn’t use electricity.”

      “We don’t. But it looks like it threads in much the same way as my treadle machine at home.”

      “Whatever you say.”

      Lavina didn’t take offense at the way she talked. Carrie seemed . . . unhappy to her. Sometimes unhappy people were unfriendly.

      On the ride here today Kate had warned Lavina that the women at the shelter had been through rough times. They’d been forced to leave their homes because of violence—sometimes in the middle of the night with only the clothes on their back. Some of them had children, and all of them hid here at the shelter where their husbands and boyfriends couldn’t find them. None of them had much money, and even worse, they had no self-esteem after months and even years of abusive behavior from those men.

      Although Carrie looked about her age, she acted older, harder. She wore jeans that were worn and tight and a faded t-shirt. There was a colorful bruise under one eye.

      Carrie stood and gestured at the chair she’d been sitting in. “Be my guest.”

      Lavina sat, studied the machine for a moment and then she guided the thread through the loops on the top and side of the machine and finally the needle. “There. See if it works now.” She stood so Carrie could resume her seat.

      Unsure whether she should stay and offer help or move on, Lavina studied the quilt block. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t mind working on something someone’s ordered. But it’s nice to work on one I want when I can.”

      She met Carrie’s gaze. “Have you thought about what kind of quilt you’d like to make for yourself yet?”

      Carrie jerked her shoulder. “Not really. I’m more concerned with what I’m going to wear for a job interview when I get one. When I went back with Kate to get my clothes my boyfriend had torn up my clothes, the bas—” she stopped. “The jerk,” she corrected with a sidelong glance at Lavina.

      “I wonder—” Lavina paused and bit her lip. She had to ask Kate if she could offer to help her sew something to wear to an interview.

      “What?”

      “Maybe Kate knows where you can get something—”

      “I’m tired of taking charity.” Her lips pressed together, Carrie bent over the quilt block.

      Lavina stared at her stiff posture, unsure what to do. She looked around and saw Kate on the other side of the room, bent over talking to a woman sewing on a machine. “Let me know if you want help on the block.”

      She moved on and found another woman her mother’s age who glanced up and smiled at her. “Don’t pay Carrie no mind. She’s only been here two weeks. It’s hard making the split, no matter how bad your man treated you, coming here with nothing and starting over.” She held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Edna.”

      Lavina shook her hand. “Hi, Edna.”

      “Don’t suppose you have this kind of problem in your community.”

      “I’m sorry to say we do.”

      “Really?”

      “People are people no matter where they live or what religion they practice, don’t you think?”

      She thought of David’s mudder. She hoped that all Amos did these days was yell . . . not that yelling wasn’t bad enough.

      “Women turn to the bishop for help in my community. He talks to the husband and tries to work things out.”

      “I kept trying to hold on,” Edna said, pulling some straight pins from a pincushion shaped like a plump tomato. “Some people think holdin’ on is a sign of strength, but there comes a point to where it takes more strength to just let go!”

      She pinned a block and then started sewing it up. “My man wouldn’t talk to our minister and said counseling was for dummies. It was bad enough that he hit me, but when he hit my little boy I knew we had to leave.” She glanced around the room. “We came here.”

      She finished sewing a seam, lifted the foot on the sewing machine, and pulled out the quilt block. After she clipped the thread she held the block up and examined it critically. “What do you think?” She handed it to Lavina.

      “Good job,” she said. “Nice straight seams.”

      Edna took it back and pinned another piece. “This is fun. How long you been quilting?”

      “My mother gave me a piece of fabric and a needle and thread when I was five,” Lavina remembered. “I’ve been sewing ever since.”

      Lavina moved on when Edna went back to work. When she saw that Kate sat at a table doing some handwork on a quilt, she approached her and quietly told her about Carrie’s dilemma.

      “Pearl can help her with that,” Kate said cheerfully. “She’s started a clothes closet for the women for job interviews and such things. She put out a call to her female friends and there are some nice suits and dresses. I’ll tell Carrie before we leave today.”

      The time flew by. It felt like they’d only been there a half hour, but before she knew it Kate began putting supplies back on the shelves. The women tucked their work in project boxes and stored them on shelves, saying goodbye as they left the room. Lavina checked the clock on the wall and saw that two hours had passed.

      “I don’t need you to fix my life!” she heard Carrie shout.

      Lavina spun around and saw Kate frowning as Carrie stomped out of the room.

      Kate sighed. “That went well.” She carried the box of quilt blocks to the shelves and stored it, then turned to Lavina. “Ready to go?”

      They walked outside and got into Kate’s car. Lavina waited until they were out onto the road headed home.

      “I’m sorry Carrie yelled at you,” she said. “Should I have not told you what she said?”

      Kate glanced at her briefly then focused on the road. “I get yelled at all the time. I’m a cop, remember? We’re not real popular.” She made a turn. “Don’t worry about it. It’s a difficult time for Carrie and the other women.”

      They chatted about the class and soon Kate pulled into the drive of Lavina’s house.

      “So,” she said, turning and meeting Lavina’s gaze. “Are you going to join us again next week?”

      “I don’t know how much help I was.”

      “You helped a lot. Don’t let Carrie scare you off. We never know how much we СКАЧАТЬ