Abby knew this situation was too big for her mother to handle alone. “Can I do anything to—”
“Keep your brother busy at the store. And pray.”
In the silence of her sister’s kitchen, Zanna closed her eyes tightly.
Leave now, before you have to answer to anyone else! There’ll be no end to the questions.
But where could she go? She threw up every little thing she ate—and threw up even when she didn’t eat. There’d be no slipping into her room to pack a duffel… and truth be told, her condition would soon be obvious to everyone who saw her. She’d kept her secret too long. She was so exhausted, feeling so scared and alone that she couldn’t think straight. She felt high and excited one minute and terrified the next.
Zanna sighed, wishing Mamm and Barbara already knew so they could soften Sam before he saw her.
You’re going to catch it for running off, and for the expense of the wedding—and then there’s that forty dollars he’s surely missed from the cash box by now.
And then James will find out. He sounded worried when he was out looking for you, but that’ll change when he hears the truth
.
Too upset to think about it anymore, Zanna shrugged out of Mervin Mast’s grimy coat and the dress she’d worn these past few days. She washed at the bathroom sink. Then she brushed her hair and rewound it into a bun and tucked it under one of Abby’s oldkerchiefs. Her sister’s oldest gray choring dress—the one Abby wore to help with Matt’s sheep or to spend a hot day in the garden—suited her mood perfectly.
The little house was too quiet—and so tidy it looked like nobody lived there. Zanna was too restless to nap. What she
really
wanted was to hear about the wedding! What had happened after her family figured out she’d run off? What had Bishop Gingerich said about her to all their guests? Was James upset and worried? Or did he pitch a fit before he came looking for her?
Zanna turned her thoughts to other wedding details, because thinking about James Graber made her stomach hurt.
Desperate for something to do, she rolled Abby’s wringer washer to the sink and hooked up the hose before starting the diesel motor. The clothes in the donation box smelled musty, and it wasn’t Abby’s way to leave such an untidy pile on her floor. While Zanna worked on the first load, she was more than ever aware of how she hardly knew herself anymore… how isolated she felt now. Ordinarily, she would have chatted happily with Gail, Phoebe, and Ruthie while they washed and hung out the family’s clothes. But her nieces were working at Mother Yutzy’s Oven this morning—and she wasn’t ready to face their horrified expressions when they heard her story.
What about her friends Mary and Martha Coblentz? They’d been at the wedding as her newehockers, so surely they’d want to know she was safely home. And what about the girls in her buddy bunch? They could fill her in on the talk from the wedding, and describe James’s reaction so she could be ready for it. As her friends’ faces flitted through her mind, Zanna blinked back more tears. Nothing would ever be the same with those girls once they found out she was having a baby. But no matter what, she wasn’t marrying James.
Zanna wiped her eyes. Enough of these tears and this emotional roller coaster—she had to talk to somebody. That’s what friends were for…
Chapter 6
A bby’s curtains lay unfinished in her sewing nook all Saturday morning as she helped dozens of locals stock up on baking supplies. A busload of English tourists arrived around eleven thirty and swarmed the aisles. Even after Sam called Lois Yutzy’s bakery for Phoebe and Gail to come run the cash register and sack the purchases, the crush of customers kept them all going at full tilt long past lunchtime. When the tour bus finally pulled onto the road again, Sam smoothed his graying hair with a sigh before replacing his hat. He looked done in.
“How about if the girls and I
“Keep your brother busy at the store. And pray.”
In the silence of her sister’s kitchen, Zanna closed her eyes tightly.
Leave now, before you have to answer to anyone else! There’ll be no end to the questions.
But where could she go? She threw up every little thing she ate—and threw up even when she didn’t eat. There’d be no slipping into her room to pack a duffel… and truth be told, her condition would soon be obvious to everyone who saw her. She’d kept her secret too long. She was so exhausted, feeling so scared and alone that she couldn’t think straight. She felt high and excited one minute and terrified the next.
Zanna sighed, wishing Mamm and Barbara already knew so they could soften Sam before he saw her.
You’re going to catch it for running off, and for the expense of the wedding—and then there’s that forty dollars he’s surely missed from the cash box by now.
And then James will find out. He sounded worried when he was out looking for you, but that’ll change when he hears the truth
.
Too upset to think about it anymore, Zanna shrugged out of Mervin Mast’s grimy coat and the dress she’d worn these past few days. She washed at the bathroom sink. Then she brushed her hair and rewound it into a bun and tucked it under one of Abby’s oldkerchiefs. Her sister’s oldest gray choring dress—the one Abby wore to help with Matt’s sheep or to spend a hot day in the garden—suited her mood perfectly.
The little house was too quiet—and so tidy it looked like nobody lived there. Zanna was too restless to nap. What she
really
wanted was to hear about the wedding! What had happened after her family figured out she’d run off? What had Bishop Gingerich said about her to all their guests? Was James upset and worried? Or did he pitch a fit before he came looking for her?
Zanna turned her thoughts to other wedding details, because thinking about James Graber made her stomach hurt.
Desperate for something to do, she rolled Abby’s wringer washer to the sink and hooked up the hose before starting the diesel motor. The clothes in the donation box smelled musty, and it wasn’t Abby’s way to leave such an untidy pile on her floor. While Zanna worked on the first load, she was more than ever aware of how she hardly knew herself anymore… how isolated she felt now. Ordinarily, she would have chatted happily with Gail, Phoebe, and Ruthie while they washed and hung out the family’s clothes. But her nieces were working at Mother Yutzy’s Oven this morning—and she wasn’t ready to face their horrified expressions when they heard her story.
What about her friends Mary and Martha Coblentz? They’d been at the wedding as her newehockers, so surely they’d want to know she was safely home. And what about the girls in her buddy bunch? They could fill her in on the talk from the wedding, and describe James’s reaction so she could be ready for it. As her friends’ faces flitted through her mind, Zanna blinked back more tears. Nothing would ever be the same with those girls once they found out she was having a baby. But no matter what, she wasn’t marrying James.
Zanna wiped her eyes. Enough of these tears and this emotional roller coaster—she had to talk to somebody. That’s what friends were for…
Chapter 6
A bby’s curtains lay unfinished in her sewing nook all Saturday morning as she helped dozens of locals stock up on baking supplies. A busload of English tourists arrived around eleven thirty and swarmed the aisles. Even after Sam called Lois Yutzy’s bakery for Phoebe and Gail to come run the cash register and sack the purchases, the crush of customers kept them all going at full tilt long past lunchtime. When the tour bus finally pulled onto the road again, Sam smoothed his graying hair with a sigh before replacing his hat. He looked done in.
“How about if the girls and I
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