A Simple Charity by Rosalind Lauer Page B

if it was light as a feather. Zed was a strong man, with nut brown hair and thoughtful eyes. A handsome one. If he had stayed in Halfway during his rumspringa, Fanny had no doubt that he would be long married with a family of his own. He was a bit on the quiet side, like his father, but that never concerned Fanny, who saw peace and grace in the silent moments in life.
    She lifted Tommy into her arms and straightened his little shirt. The baby jutted out his lower lip and stared at Zed curiously.
    “He’s getting big.” Zed offered a finger, and Tommy gripped it and smiled.
    “I see that no one was home to greet you. I thought Emma and the little ones would be here.”
    “I was able to get into the carriage house. There’s some long work ahead, but the building is solid. Good bones. What sort of shop do you want to make it?”
    Fanny stepped down from the buggy as the horse nickered. “That is a very good question. Tom used to talk of a carriage shop, but Caleb doesn’t seem so interested in it anymore.”
    “Either way, the siding and roof need some more work first.”
    “That would be good, for starters.” She shifted Tommy onto her hip. “Would you mind unhitching the horse for me, Zed? And then we could talk inside, with something cool to drink. Not even noon, and the sun is high.”
    He nodded and began tending to the horse as she carried Tommy into the house.
    When Zed came into the kitchen fifteen minutes later, Fanny had put out some fried chicken and potato salad, and she insisted Zed sit and eat. “At least have a glass of lemonade. My hungry brood should be back any minute. Until then, we can enjoy the peace and quiet.”
    He considered for a moment, then hung his hat on the hook and took a seat at the table.
    “I guess you know your mamm has been worried about you,” Fanny said as she opened a jar of pickles. Zed’s mother, Rose, a cousin of Tom’s departed wife, had always been close to Tom’s family. “She said you’re having trouble finding work.”
    “I am. I drove a truck for seven years, but I can’t do that anymore.”
    “You were gone such a long time. Rose feared that you’d been lost to the community.”
    “Lost without a map,” he said. “But I’m back to stay. Only I’m finding it’s not so easy to join the flock. No one wants to hire a man who’s left his community behind.”
    “That’s not right.” A church member would be shunned for leaving, but Zed had not been baptized before he left. “You were never under the bann.”
    “But people can turn a cold shoulder against a man who’s not a member of the church. They think I’m unreliable.”
    She shook her head. “Some folks do have a way of thinking the worst.” Fanny had learned that firsthand, having been widowed twice. She knew certain people thought her sad circumstances were her fault. As if she brought bad luck to men or even worse, as if Gott had punished her by taking her husbands. Such cutting, hurtful thoughts. She wished that people thought about the sharp edges of their words before they let them spill out in gossip. “Have you thought of working for the English? Lunch pail work?” Many Amish men traveled by van to work on job sites or factories owned by Englishers.
    “The bishop thinks I should stay with Plain folk for now. I appreciate your family taking me on for some work.”
    “There’s plenty around here,” Fanny said. “And we’ve saved some money to pay you a modest salary.”
    “I can’t take your money,” he said. “We’re family.”
    Amish extended families could include two hundred people or more. Zed’s mother had been a cousin of Tom’s first wife. That meant Zed was related to Caleb, Elsie, and Emma, but not Fanny. “Family or not, you must be paid for your work. A man must make a living.”
    He held up one hand. “Not this time. You know Bishop Samuel sent me here. He wants me to work in the community as punishment for leaving.”
    “Did you come here to find work,