Neighbors Of Lancaster County: Amish Weddings Part 12

Rose frowned. "Of course not." She stood. "We need a little break is all. He was all uptight yesterday. First at the barn raising and then over here."

"He didn't seem uptight."

"He was-believe me." She smiled then, flashing her dimples. "It's no big deal, really. I just think he needs some time to sort things through." Rose started toward the kitchen. Obviously she didn't want to talk about Reuben anymore.

As she reached the doorway she barked, "Knock it off."

Simon growled, in a teasing way, "Get out of here."

Lila could imagine Simon sneaking a kiss in the kitchen.

"When's breakfast?" Rose asked.

"As soon as I make the hotcakes," Simon answered. Lila could also imagine the teasing grin he'd probably just shot Casey.

Rose stepped back into the living room.

"Who's making breakfast for Dat?" Lila asked.

"He already ate," Rose said. "It's almost eight, you lazy girl."

"Where's Trudy?"

"With Dat. He didn't say what they're doing today." Beth and Dat usually visited when it was an off Sunday. Lila couldn't help but wonder if there was any news about Beth's ex-husband. No one had said anything.

"How about if you transfer me to the wheelchair?" Lila didn't particularly like the tilt of the chair, but that way she could be in the kitchen with everyone else. Her pain had started to ease and so had her worries.

Rose made a face but wheeled the chair over. She transferred Lila, tucked a blanket around her, and then pushed her into the kitchen. Simon stood at the stove making hotcakes, while Casey took a bottle of orange juice out of the refrigerator. The back door was open to air out the kitchen, and the room was soon cold. "See," Lila said to Casey. "You don't need to learn a thing about cooking. Simon can do it."

Simon grinned and flipped a hotcake high into the air. It twirled back down, and instead of landing on the griddle-or even on the stove-it hit the floor. Simon laughed as he bent to pick it up.

"Never mind," Lila said. As Rose pushed Lila toward the table, Zane and Trevor came through the front door. Rose left the chair and hurried into the living room. But then Zane appeared at Lila's side and pushed her up to the table.

"I'll need help eating," she said. She couldn't reach her plate with the wheelchair tilted back.

"I know," he answered, grabbing a plate and spearing two hotcakes.

"Just one," she said.

He put one back. Zane had fed her half of the hotcake and a piece of bacon by the time Rose and Trevor sauntered in. Rose's face was flushed and Trevor's eyes bright. Lila tried to catch Zane's gaze and express her concern, but he was distracted by Simon's antics as he flipped another hotcake.

When he finished, Simon said he had an announcement to make. Lila braced herself, expecting it was either about marrying Casey or another deployment. It was the latter.

"I'm going to Iraq," Simon said.

"I thought all of our soldiers had come home from there," Lila said.

"It's not about Iraq," Zane said. "It's about Syria."

Simon nodded. "They need snipers in the area, near the border."

"That sounds horrible." Lila glanced at Casey.

She nodded and said, "Not many are being sent. No one from our unit. But they need Simon."

"For how long?" Lila asked.

"Six months or so," Simon answered. "Maybe longer."

Lila felt as if she couldn't breathe. Not Simon. Not again. Worse than how badly she felt was how excited Simon seemed to be about going. She glanced at Casey again. She seemed subdued but not worried. Lila would never understand the lives of soldiers.

Zane offered her another bite, but she shook her head. She felt too sick at her stomach to eat any more. Maybe it was the pain meds. Or Simon's announcement. But she felt awful. The anxiety was back.

A half hour later, Simon and Casey decided to go into Lancaster to look around, and Trevor said he'd give Rose a ride back to the house. Lila didn't think that was a good idea, but she didn't say anything. After they all left, once Zane had Lila back in her bed, a knock fell on the door.

"Were you expecting anyone?" Zane asked.

Lila shook her head as Zane turned to open the door.

"I'm Deputy Howell," a deep voice said. "Is Lila Lehman here? Her father directed me this way."

"Yes, she's here," Zane answered. "Come on in, Officer." Zane held the door open wider, and the deputy stepped through. He was young, maybe in his mid-twenties. Officers sometimes ate at the Plain Buffet, but Lila didn't recognize him.

Zane introduced Lila and then pulled up a chair for the officer. He took out a little notebook and then said, "I'm sorry about your injuries."

Lila thanked him.

"I was in the neighborhood and had a few extra minutes, but I'm sorry to come by on a Sunday."

"I'm not going anywhere," Lila said, meaning it as a joke, but the officer didn't seem to take it that way.

He sat even straighter. "I stopped by the hospital soon after the accident, but you weren't in any shape to talk with me."

Lila had no memory of him.

"Can you tell me what you remember from the accident?"

Lila explained she was driving the horse and buggy to pick up her little sister, that the dog along the fence line was barking, and she suspected someone was coming up behind her. At that moment, just as she started to look in the mirror, she was rear-ended.

"Tell me about the horse. Any problems with him?"

"Not that day," Lila said.

"She's good with horses," Zane said. "She's been driving buggies since she was a little kid." That might have been a little bit of an exaggeration. But she had been driving since she was twelve.

"Any chance you might not remember exactly what happened?"

Lila wasn't sure how to answer that.

The officer paused and then said, "Tell me about your injuries. You were in pretty bad shape when I saw you before."

She rattled off the crushed pelvis, ruptured spleen, bruised bladder and liver. She didn't mention any of the possible long-term damage.

"How about a concussion?"

"Jah," Lila said. "A slight one." It had been the least of her worries. Sleeping the first four days after the accident had helped it heal, mostly.

"Could that have affected your memory of the accident?"

"Hold on," Zane said. "What are you implying?"

The officer closed his notebook. "She went through a traumatic event and had a brain injury. She wouldn't be the first person not to remember an accident correctly." He stood. "And I took a look at the horse. He seems pretty skittish."

"He was traumatized too," Zane said.

Lila tried to get his attention with her eyes, but he was staring the officer down.

"Look," the deputy said. "I'm just doing my job."

Zane crossed his arms. "Sounds like a he-said-she-said situation."

"Exactly," the deputy said.

"Unless there were other witnesses."

"That doesn't appear to be the case." The man stood. "I got the information I needed. I'll see myself out."

Lila's stomach clenched as he headed toward the front door.

After the door clicked shut, Lila tried to keep her voice calm. "How odd."

"Intimidating is more like it." Zane stared at the door. "We need to find you a lawyer."

At first she thought he was joking. "Zane?"

He turned around, an angry expression on his face.

"We're Amish, remember? We don't 'find a lawyer.' And we certainly don't sue."

Zane's stubborn look, the one that was so familiar from their childhood, settled on his face. "Yeah, but this is about justice. Plus medical bills that could easily top a hundred fifty thousand dollars."

She knew the bills would be expensive, but she wouldn't have guessed that much. That could wipe out the district's mutual aid fund, the collection of money they all contributed to in case of emergencies. "Let's see what happens," she said. "We can get advice from Gideon. Surely he's dealt with this before."

Zane didn't reply-instead he said he was going to finish the sanding in the bathroom.

"Wait," Lila said. "What's going on with Trevor and Rose?"

"Nothing," Zane said. "Rose is courting Reuben."

"She seems awfully taken with Trevor. They took their time coming into the kitchen today."

"Oh," Zane said. "I didn't notice. There's no way Trevor would let anything happen. I'm sure of it, but I'll ask him."

She settled down into the bed. At least Trevor was staying at Eve and Charlie's now-he wouldn't be around as much as he had been.

"Anything else?" Zane asked.

She shook her head. Working on a house project wasn't usually what one did on a Sunday, not even a non-church one, but the toilet was leaking.

When she woke up a couple of hours later, Shani sat beside her reading a book but looked up as soon as Lila stirred. "How are you, sweetie?"

Lila took a moment before she spoke. Shani stood and handed Lila her water bottle. After Lila took a long drink she asked where Zane was.

"Trevor took him into town," Shani said. "He needed a part for the toilet."

"Oh," Lila said, sinking back against the bed. She couldn't expect Zane to be at her side all the time, not when he needed to work, sleep, and get the plumbing working. He frustrated her when he was nearby, but she felt panicked when he was away.

Zane had been right about the little house being the best place for her though. Dat hadn't been over to see her at all-clearly he hadn't wanted her at his house. She felt a stab of homesickness. She was thankful for Shani, she really was, but at the moment she felt a little lost.

10.

That evening, while Rose helped with the milking, Dat asked her what time Reuben was coming by.

"He's not," she answered.

He stood with the feed shovel in midair. "You're not going to the singing?"

"No," she answered. "I left him a message a couple of hours ago. I'm going to stay with Lila tonight." Simon and Casey had headed back to Maryland, where she was stationed, an hour ago. Leave it to Simon not to stay and help with the milking.

Dat gave her a questioning look, but she turned back to the cow. The less she said to Dat, the better. Maybe it would work for her to have a couple of weeks of running around, but that didn't mean she had to tell her Dat what she was doing. A little bit of a break from Reuben would do her good.

She knew he had been judgmental and critical of her family the evening before. True, they weren't a typical Amish family, and she knew their chaos made him uncomfortable. But it was her family, and she loved them all dearly. His criticalness, combined with his high standards for himself, was beginning to rile her. It wasn't that she didn't think they had a future together. She did. But she was a hundred percent sure a break would do her good.

After a supper of navy-bean soup and biscuits, Rose read to Trudy and then started a game of Scrabble with her. As they played, Rose thought of the ride home with Trevor from the little house that morning. He'd stopped the car at the end of the drive, where Dat couldn't see them, and let the engine idle while they talked. He shared more about Afghanistan, about the day that Zane was injured and then later, after Zane had returned to the base, when their vehicle detonated the IED. Improvised explosive device, Trevor had to explain. A bomb. He'd been driving and took, along with their sergeant, the worst of the explosion.

She listened and listened, but finally she said she needed to get going. She didn't want Dat to come down the lane in the buggy and find her with Trevor. But when she reached the house, Dat was napping in his chair. As it turned out, he and Trudy didn't go visiting at all.

Dat simply said he needed a day of rest. Rose had noticed Dat was slowing down some, but he always seemed to perk up when he was around Beth. She was good for Dat-she kept him calm and centered and noticing what was going on around him in a way he'd never been capable of before. It really was a pity they couldn't marry.

"Rose?" Trudy had one hand in the air.