Her New Amish Family. Carrie Lighte

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СКАЧАТЬ an Amish father might be, based on her mother’s depiction of Abe, yet there was something about his attitude toward her that gave her pause. She couldn’t discern whether his comments were meant to be comical or condescending. But Martha had been so helpful to Trina’s mother that it would almost be like honoring her mother’s memory to show Timothy and Tanner the same kind of care. And she did need the money...

      “I’m only going to be here for a couple of months,” she warned. As soon as her two months were up and she sold the house, she was moving back to the city.

      Seth replied, “That’s all the time we’ll need your help. After school lets out in late May, we’ll hire one of the graduating meed to help. But right now, no one else is available to watch them.”

      “Okay, it’s a deal,” Trina said, but this time she didn’t hold her hand out to shake on it. She was already catching on to Willow Creek’s Amish traditions.

      * * *

      Martha leaned on Seth’s arm, slowly shambling across the barren ground to their house while the boys galloped ahead. If he didn’t know better, he’d have suspected his grandmother deliberately started the fire to scare him into asking Trina to mind the boys.

      “Why are you moping?” Martha asked him.

      “I’m not moping. I’m thinking.”

      “When you’re thinking with a frown on your face, I call that moping.”

      Seth laughed. “I hope I made the right decision by asking Trina to watch after the buwe.”

      “Pah!” Martha sputtered dismissively. “It’s not as if you’ve asked her to marry you, Seth. If things don’t work out, you can tell her as much. But I think they will. If she’s anything like her lovely mamm was as a maedel, you won’t find a better woman to care for the kinner.”

      Seth bit his tongue so he wouldn’t ask the obvious question: if Trina’s mamm was so lovely, why did she go Englisch? Nor did he say that the best woman to care for the kinner was their mamm.

      Eleanor’s pregnancy had been an easy one, especially considering she was pregnant with twins, so when she’d passed away during childbirth, it had come as a shock to Seth. Eleanor, however, had seemed to have a sense of foreboding about her delivery.

      Once, shortly before the boys were born, she’d whispered to Seth as they cuddled on the sofa, “If anything happens to me, please choose a wife who will take gut care of the bobblin.”

      “If anything happens to you, I’m going to look for a wife who doesn’t burn the meatloaf. Or chide me when I track mud across the kitchen floor. Or say lecherich things,” Seth joked, trying to make light of her sentiment.

      Usually she played along with Seth’s teasing, but this time Eleanor had scolded, “Seth, I’m serious.” She’d rubbed her rotund stomach counterclockwise, repeating, “Marry someone who will take gut care of the kinner.”

      Although Seth knew it was irrational, he often wondered if he had taken Eleanor’s sentiment seriously, could he have alerted the midwife to her concern and somehow prevented her death? He felt guilty for not paying closer attention to what Eleanor had said, especially since she’d ordinarily been such a calm and practical woman.

      In fact, it was her practicality that had made Seth decide to court and marry her. The pair had been friends since they were children and Eleanor was sensible, forthright and humble. While the love they shared was more comfortable than ardent, it had been rich and deep. No, Seth couldn’t claim he and Eleanor had ever “fallen in love,” like Freeman had with Kristine, but look at all the hurt that kind of love had caused his family. Passionate emotional attachment wasn’t important to Seth; compatibility, commitment and common sense were. He and Eleanor had found those qualities in each other and their marriage had been a strong and happy one.

      With Martha caring for the boys after Eleanor’s death, Seth felt little need to remarry at all, which was why he hadn’t courted anyone in the over four years since Timothy and Tanner were born. But now, given his groossmammi’s declining vision, he understood the wisdom in Eleanor’s request. The boys needed someone to care for them. Not just a teenage maedel and certainly not just an Englischer for a few months. They needed a permanent mother figure.

      As Martha tottered along beside him, Seth figured maybe his grandmother was right; now that Trina would be watching the boys he’d have more time to work on finding a wife. Meanwhile, he hoped Trina’s Englisch ways wouldn’t unduly influence his sons. Seth was going to have to keep a close eye on her.

      The prospect should have troubled him more than it did. Maybe he’d let his guard down because Martha had taken an instant liking to Trina, but Seth was oddly amused by the skinny woman with mischievous eyes and a musical voice, and he rather enjoyed trying to get a rise out of her. How much influence could she have on his family in two months anyway?

       Chapter Two

      After Seth and Martha left, Trina washed the cups and began unpacking her suitcase. It didn’t take long. By the time she moved out of her apartment, she’d either sold or given away nearly all of her belongings and she only had a few outfits that were suitable to wear in Amish country. It wouldn’t be appropriate to dress like the Amish, but out of respect for the people she was living among she decided she’d wear dresses or skirts instead of slacks or jeans. Unfortunately, she only owned one dress and three skirts—one of which was now very dirty.

      The only nonclothing items she’d brought were a framed photograph and her cell phone and solar battery charger. The photo was of her and her mother and it had been taken on a beach when they went to Cape Cod for a rare week of vacation the summer before Patience got sick. Trina had other photos saved digitally, but it was this printed one she cherished the most. In it, they were both smiling, healthy and tan, and their cheeks touched as they leaned together in a sideways embrace. One rainy afternoon as Trina and her mother strolled through the art galleries, admiring the paintings and sculptures they couldn’t afford, they’d come across an ornate picture frame. Handmade from small pieces of aqua, green and blue sea glass the artist found on the bayside, the frame reminded Trina of the ocean itself. That Christmas, Trina’s mother presented her with the frame as a gift. Trina never knew how she managed to pay for it or sneak away to buy it, but combined with the photo it held, it was Trina’s one and only prized possession.

      She considered keeping the photo on the dresser in her room, so it could be the first thing she saw when she awoke, but then she decided she wanted to put it in a more visible area, somewhere she could see it all the time and draw strength from the memory. She carried it into the parlor and placed it prominently on the end table next to the sofa.

      Then she considered where to store her cell phone. It wasn’t as if she’d be receiving any calls. Trina had moved to a new suburb shortly before her mother was diagnosed with cancer. She was acquainted with other teachers there but she hadn’t begun to make friends. And the church she attended was so big no one there was likely to notice her absence. Yet, knowing she’d probably need to be in touch with a realtor as well as the estate attorney her grandfather hired, Trina had purchased a solar panel charger to power her phone. She decided to set it up on the windowsill in Abe’s old bedroom, where it would get plenty of sunshine but be out of her way.

      Exhausted from cleaning СКАЧАТЬ