Neighbors Of Lancaster County: Amish Weddings Part 30

"Use mine," Eve said. "Now, if you want to."

"Really?" Lila struggled to her feet but before she could make her way around the coffee table, Rose cleared her throat.

"We need to get going. Remember? Dat asked us to pick up Beth and Trudy."

"Oh, that's right," Lila said, disappointed. "But we still have some time. Could you just give me a few minutes?" It would be a while until she'd have much time over at Shani's.

Rose nodded, but she didn't look happy.

"Sit back down," Eve said. "I'll bring you my laptop."

It didn't take long, with Eve's help, and there were only eight Butch Wilsons listed in all of Virginia.

"How will you call the numbers?" Eve asked. "You probably don't want them leaving messages on your Dat's machine."

Probably not. She'd need to ask Shani. "Do you have a piece of paper and pen? I'll write down the numbers and call later."

Eve produced both. As Lila recorded the numbers, Eve told Rose she should move in and start her caretaking at the beginning of the new year, once Beth had quit her teaching job.

Lila felt a pang of loss. Rose would soon be gone. Life was constantly changing.

Lila sat in the buggy, a wool blanket wrapped around her legs, and stared out the window as Rose drove toward the school. A ribbon of fog hung low across the field. They pa.s.sed two boys wearing black coats and straw hats racing their scooters along the narrow shoulder. Then a farmer dragging his field. Vapor curled up from the noses of his workhorses. As they neared the site of the accident, Lila began to tense. She hadn't been back since that fateful day.

"Is that Reuben's wagon?" Rose asked.

Lila shifted her eyes from the side window to the windshield. Someone had stopped in the road. Most likely Reuben.

"What in the world is he doing?" Rose slowed the wagon. "Would it be rude not to stop and say h.e.l.lo?"

"No, I think it would be fine to keep going." Lila craned her neck. It was definitely Reuben's wagon-and he was standing on the right-hand side. After last night, he probably wouldn't want to see them anyway.

He started to wave and then motioned for them to stop. Rose groaned and slowed the buggy. Reuben wore his work coat and leather gloves.

"Hey!" he called out. Maybe he had an axle break or something.

"You'd better stop," Lila said.

Rose pulled the buggy behind the wagon.

"No," Lila said, glancing over her shoulder and making sure there wasn't anyone behind them. "Pull over farther."

Reuben came around to Lila's door and opened it once the buggy stopped. "Zane and I were talking about your accident a while back-about the driver claiming Billie veered off into the road. I mentioned his concerns to the sheriff, but I've been thinking about it more."

Lila wrinkled her nose.

"Billie wasn't hit, right, by the SUV?"

"No," Lila said. "The impact pushed him into the ditch, on top of me, but the SUV didn't hit him."

"Can you come look at what I've re-created?"

Lila glanced at Rose. She wasn't sure if she had the energy.

"I'll help you get down." Rose set the brake and then hurried around the buggy.

Reuben nodded to Rose, and he didn't seem upset. It was as if the night before hadn't happened.

Once Lila was safely on the ground, her crutches in place, she asked Reuben, "Where are you delivering the lumber?"

"Just past the school," he said, pointing.

Reuben grasped a tape measure in his hands as he asked Lila, "Where did you and Billie end up?"

"In the creek," she said. "I lost consciousness, but I remember coming to. I could see the maple there-some of the leaves were still green but some were turning red. It was really beautiful." Now the branches were completely bare.

"You went over the top of Billie, right?"

"Jah," Lila said. "The impact launched me off the bench and through the windshield, on to Billie. By the time we reached the ditch, I must have gone over the top of him and then he landed on me."

"But he wasn't hit?"

Lila shook her head. "No. Just the back of the buggy was." She leaned against the crutch. "What are you thinking?"

"That if Billie had veered out in front of the SUV, you would have ended up in the middle of the road, not the creek."

"But wouldn't the police have figured that out?"

Reuben shrugged. "I think once the driver said that the horse had stepped in front of him, that's what the police officer had in mind and that's what got written down in the report."

"Oh." It was kind of Reuben to research the accident on her behalf, but she doubted the police would believe him. As they walked back toward the buggy, she fell behind Rose. Reuben stayed at Lila's side. He seemed so calm. Perhaps he hadn't cared as much for Rose as she thought he had.

"You seem to be doing all right," she said quietly.

He nodded but when she glanced toward him his eyes were watery. Perhaps it was the cold air. Or the wind.

Rose helped her back up into the buggy, and they both told Reuben good-bye. Then he shut the door firmly, pressing his hand against it as he did.

Lila waved, a lump forming in her throat.

"That was awkward," Rose said.

Lila swallowed, not sure what to say. Finally she said, "He's a good man."

Rose's voice wavered as she said, "I know."

Lila turned her attention toward her sister. Rose swiped a tear away. Surprised, Lila placed her hand on her sister's arm. "What are you feeling?"

"Regret. Shame. Disappointment in myself for what I've done. For hurting Reuben. For changing the entire course of my life."

It wasn't like Rose to feel shame. Lila inhaled and kept holding on to Rose. "Do you love him?"

Rose pressed her lips together. Finally she turned toward Lila. "I thought I did-but obviously I didn't or I wouldn't have treated him the way I did. In the midst of our time in the barn, I told myself I loved Trevor, until . . . Then it was so clear that I didn't, and that he didn't love me either."

Reuben's wagon began to roll forward.

Rose watched it go but didn't release the brake. "I guess I'm not sure what love is at this point. I respect Reuben. And I admire him even more for how he's dealing with this."

Lila continued to hold on to her sister's arm until a vehicle pa.s.sing them on the left startled her. It was a black SUV. It pa.s.sed Reuben's wagon too and then turned right. "Would you follow it?" Lila asked, wondering if the man who hit her lived close by. Was he preparing to turn when he plowed into the back of her buggy?

Rose complied, but by the time they turned, the vehicle was out of sight. Perhaps it had turned into the driveway of one of the three houses along the lane.

"Denki," Lila said. "There's no reason to keep going."

"I'll just go as far as the last house. Perhaps we'll see the SUV in one of the driveways."

"Chances are it's not the same SUV that hit me."

"It could be though," Rose said. "It's worth investigating."

The vehicle was parked in the driveway of the second house. No one was in sight, but there was a pink bike propped up against the garage and a green turtle sandbox with a missing eye in the yard.

"Want me to go knock on the door and ask?"

"No." But Lila appreciated Rose's courage. She'd talk to Zane about it. "Let's go get Beth and Trudy. They probably wonder what's taking us so long." They'd have to light the lantern when they got to the school. Dusk was already falling and the caution sign on the back of the buggy wouldn't be enough. Lila shivered, anxious to get home.

When they reached the school, Beth and Trudy stood on the porch waiting for them, holding hands. Jah, everything was changing. Trudy wouldn't need Lila the way she had all these years. It was a blessing, but it didn't feel that way to Lila. She wasn't sure what her role in her family was anymore. She had little to offer right now. To her family and to Zane.

20.

Zane stood against the half wall of concrete blocks on the construction site, waiting for Mom to pick him up. Hopefully they'd get to the lawyer's office before it closed. His boss waved as he headed to his truck. "Need a ride?"

Zane shook his head. "Thanks anyway." He kicked against the blocks to knock the snow and mud from his boots, b.u.t.toned his coat, and clapped his gloved hands together. Dusk fell early now that winter had arrived.

Mom's van came around the corner. He could have called someone else for a ride-like most Amish, he had several drivers he could rely on-but it was easier to ask Mom. As she pulled up beside him, Adam climbed into the back seat, and Zane hopped into the front. He couldn't help but feel like a kid again. Sometimes those years of driving seemed like a dream.

He had to admit his pickup was what he missed the most, more than a phone, more than the Internet, more than continuing his education. And it wasn't just the act of driving. It was not being dependent on someone else.

"What time is your appointment?" Mom asked.

"I told him I couldn't get there until five fifteen or so."

"How long will it take?"

"Probably not long. Maybe a half hour. I'll get a ride home with Dad." He knew his joining the Amish hadn't been easy on his parents. He'd expected his father, especially, to give him grief about his decision. But he hadn't. Zane's situation was definitely an easier transition than that of others who'd joined the Amish-and he only knew of a few-but still it was a big change.

Traffic slowed as they reached Lancaster, but then Mom turned onto a side street and zigzagged her way through town, probably a route she took when she was running late to the hospital. She stopped across the street from the center.

"Thanks," Zane said, jumping down. He couldn't imagine how he would have survived the last two months without his parents. He stopped on the top step of the old brick building and checked his boots for mud again. They weren't bad. He pushed open the heavy wooden door, let it swing shut behind him, and hurried up the narrow staircase. It turned out Brad was still with another client. Zane sat down and waited, thumbing through a news magazine as he did. He read through the current events-more fighting in the Middle East, both in Iraq and Syria. He said a prayer for Simon. Thankfully Casey was back in Texas.

Then he flipped to the back of the magazine to the movie reviews. He hadn't heard of any of them. He tuned out when the Englisch guys at work talked about what they'd seen over the weekend. It didn't interest Zane anymore. He flipped back to the book reviews-he hadn't heard of any of them either. He hadn't been to the library since Lila's accident, and probably wouldn't be any time soon. He doubted he'd get back to volunteering at the fire station for a while either. He knew Charlie understood.

The truth was, everything had changed because of Lila's accident. He wondered if the man who hit her had any idea what the consequences had been.

A few minutes later, a middle-aged woman with red eyes came through the waiting room and went out the door. Zane didn't want to speculate what her worries might be. Everyone had a sad story. Usually more than one. He knew that.

Zane still hadn't said anything to Tim-or Gideon-about talking with the lawyer. He figured they both had plenty to deal with right now. He'd broach the subject soon though.

A few minutes later Brad appeared. "Come on back," he said.

Zane followed him and sat down. The shades over the windows were up, showing the dark sky behind them. Zane took off his gloves and wiggled out of his coat.

Brad smiled. "I still can't get used to you dressed that way."

Zane nodded. "It's a little hard for me at times too." He hoped his voice sounded light and jokey, but he doubted it.

"How is Lila?" Brad asked.

"Good. She's getting around on crutches. Doing therapy. She's moving along."

"Anything new from the doctor?"

Zane shook his head.

Brad opened a file and put on his reading gla.s.ses. "The sheriff reopened the case. The new investigation shows that it's unlikely, based on where the buggy ended up, that the horse veered to the left."

"Great." Reuben had told Zane at church on Sunday that he'd done some measurements, ran some numbers, and then talked with the sheriff again. "Lila found out something that might help too." He told Brad about the SUV that appeared to be the same type that hit Lila being down the next road, to the right, from the accident. "Perhaps the driver was getting ready to turn right and then got distracted."

"Or maybe he was on a call. Or texting." Brad sighed. "I'll ask for his phone records."

"Good idea," Zane said. "Can you get his address? Just in case it's the same SUV?"

Brad flipped a few pages back in the file. "What road did you say it was?"

"Derry Road."

Brad looked up. "Bingo." He twirled his pen around his finger.

"Maybe he'd just moved there, from Ephrata." That was the address listed before.

"Probably," Brad said. "This is coming together. If the driver hadn't told 9-1-1 and others at the accident scene that the horse had pulled in front of him, none of this would have happened. He'd told enough people that they were repeating it by the time the police arrived."