Shelter from the Storm Read online

  * * *

  Jesse and Dale delivered both sheds as promised, but the second customer wasn’t ready for them, despite having chosen the date and time for them to arrive. The two men spent an extra three hours helping the owner clear the area where he wanted it. They even leveled out a gravel pad for him before setting the building in place.

  Jesse joined Dale in the cab of his ancient but prized pickup when they were done. Dale’s expression showed his annoyance. “I can’t believe we did all that work for him and then he claimed it was included in the price of the shed instead of paying us. What a rip-off. There are always a few dishonest folks who think they can stick it to the Amish and get away with it, because the Amish won’t come after them for the money.”

  Jesse understood Dale’s frustration, but his faith required him to forgive those who would do him ill. “Give thanks that you are not like him. It is better to be a poor man than a dishonest one.”

  “It’s a good thing I’m not Amish. I’m gonna get my money and I’ll get yours too. I have a brother-in-law who works for an attorney. I’m not afraid to go after someone who cheats me.” Dale turned the truck key but nothing happened. He tried again with the same result. He glanced sheepishly at Jesse. “Don’t worry, I’ve got this.”

  He hopped out of the cab and reached behind his seat to pull out a large toolbox. “This old heap has taught me to never go anywhere without my tools.”

  He raised the hood and propped it open, disappearing from Jesse’s view. A few seconds later, he looked around at Jesse. “Loose battery cable. Try it now.”

  Jesse scooted across the bench seat until he was behind the wheel. He turned the key and the truck roared to life. Dale dropped the hood, pushed his toolbox behind the seat again and got in as Jesse moved back to his side of the seat. “Are we heading back, or do you want to get a motel room tonight and start fresh in the morning?”

  A glance at Dale’s face told Jesse his coworker was worn-out. “We’ll get a room.”

  As eager as Jesse was to get back, making the long drive this late wasn’t practical. Tomorrow afternoon would be soon enough to have the bank issue him a cashier’s check as earnest money for the auction the following day. He needed the land to expand his farm. It could be years before another piece of farm ground so close to his own came up for sale.

  Dale grinned. “Good. Let’s get something to eat too.”

  “Sure.” Jesse was getting hungry. The sandwich he’d packed for his lunch was long gone.

  “I know this great little burger place just off the highway downtown. Our crew used to eat there every chance we got.”

  “Crew?” As soon as he asked the question, Jesse knew it was a mistake.

  “I worked two summers for a logging company up the way. Didn’t I ever tell you that? The pay was good, but the hours were long and the work was dangerous. The first week I was on the job, a tree fell within inches of my head. Inches. That was just the start of it.”

  Jesse was sure he was about to hear everything that had happened to Dale during those two years. He settled himself in resignation. Hopefully dinner would put a halt to Dale’s storytelling.

  As they drove back into town, Jesse searched for the Amish woman, hoping to see her face and prove it wasn’t Gemma. The streets and sidewalks were almost empty. He didn’t spy anyone in Amish clothing. Dale pulled the pickup and empty trailer into a parking lot off the main street. When he opened the door, Jesse got a whiff of mouthwatering fried onions and burgers. If the fare was anything like the aroma, they were in for some good food. His stomach growled in anticipation.

  He followed Dale inside the small diner, ducking slightly to keep from knocking his black hat off against the doorjamb. Several people were seated at tables and at a counter. They all turned to look. He should have been used to the stares, but he never got over the feeling that he was an oddity. An Amish giant. At six foot four, he towered over Dale, who was five foot eight at the most. Jesse’s hat added another two inches to his height, and his bulky black coat made him look even bigger.

  He happily took a seat in a booth where his size was less noticeable. His friend Michael Shetler once told him he needed to hang out with bigger friends. Good advice, but the problem was there wasn’t anyone his size in their Amish community.

  A waitress came over and pulled a pencil from her dark curly hair. “What can I get you?”

  “Two of your lumberjack burgers, two orders of fries and I’ll have a soda. What do you want to drink, Jesse?”

  “Water.”

  Dale winked at the waitress and grinned. “The Amish like to keep things simple.”

  She ignored Dale and focused on Jesse. “Are you with the Amish lady waiting at the bus station? Oscar, the bus station attendant came over a little while ago and bought a burger for her. He said she had missed her bus and didn’t have enough money for a motel. She was hoping to find another Amish family in the area. He asked me if I knew any and I don’t.”

  “We aren’t from around here,” Dale said.

  Jesse hesitated a few seconds, then stood up. “Which way is the bus depot?”

  She pointed her pencil up the street. “It’s not really a depot. The bus line just has a desk in the hardware store.”

  He touched his hat. “Thank you. Go ahead and eat, Dale.” He couldn’t leave without offering aid to another member of his faith. He would pay for her motel room and make sure she had money to use for food if she needed help.

  He walked out the door and up the sidewalk to the hardware store. A bell tingled as he walked in. A quick glance around showed him a woman in Amish clothing sitting on a bench near the other end of the store. She sat huddled in her seat with her head down and her hands gripping her handbag as if someone might tear it from her grasp.

  He stopped a few feet away, searching for something to say, to ask if she was okay, if he could help and he finally settled for a simple “good evening” in the native language of the Amish, Pennsylvania Deitsh. “Guder nacth, frau.”

  The woman looked up. He stared at her familiar face in astonishment. “Gemma?”

  Her eyes widened. “Jesse?”

  The color left her cheeks. She pressed a hand to her lips and burst into tears, leaving him with no idea what to do.

  Chapter Two

  What was Jesse doing here?

  Gemma struggled to control her sobs. He couldn’t have looked more stunned if he tried. His expression would have been comical if she could have found anything funny in her humiliating situation. How much worse could this day get?

  The bus agent hurried over. He knelt beside her and offered her a box of tissues while glaring at Jesse. “What did you say to her?”

  Jesse’s face became expressionless. “I said good-evening.”

  The agent’s scowl deepened. “That’s not enough to make a woman cry.”

  “I reckon it is when I say it.”

  “It’s—it’s okay,” Gemma managed to reassure the helpful man between hiccuping sobs.

  She reined in her distress and raised her chin to meet Jesse’s gaze. The surprise of seeing him had caught her off guard. His size, as he towered over her, made her feel small and insignificant. Like always. “Hello, Jesse. What—what are you doing here?”

  “Delivering sheds. And you?”

  She looked away. “Going home. I missed my bus.”

  He shoved his hands into the pockets of his coat. “Dale Kaufman and I are returning to New Covenant in the morning. You are welcome to ride along with us. I’ll get you a room for tonight. Dale’s truck is down in front of the café. If you would rather not ride with...us, I’ll pay for your room as long as you need one.”

  He turned and left the building without waiting for her answer. She drew a deep breath and blew it out in a huff. She wanted to get home, but she didn’t want to spend hours sitting next to Jesse. Nor did she want
to be beholden to him. He had only offered to pay for her room because they were both Amish. He hadn’t done it because he cared about her.

  Once she had imagined herself in love with Jesse. Was it only a year ago? It seemed like a lifetime had passed. She’d done everything within her power to make him notice her. What he had seen was a pesky child not a woman. Her declaration of love and marriage proposal didn’t win her the kiss she’d been hoping for. Jesse had laughed at her and called her a spoiled baby. She’d been humiliated, brokenhearted and furious. She had said some cruel things she didn’t mean. As it turned out he’d been right.

  She picked up her sandwich bag and lifted the handle of her suitcase. She tried to hand the box of tissues back to the agent.

  Her kind protector shook his head. “Keep it. You might need it. You don’t have to go with that fellow if you’re afraid of him.”

  That made her smile. “Jesse Crumb might break a foolish young girl’s heart, but he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

  Pulling her suitcase behind her, she left the building and walked toward the café. The autumn wind was cold where it struck her face. It carried the promise of snow. Why people had chosen to settle this land was beyond her. The Florida coast was so much nicer.

  Dale Kaufman came out of the building as she approached the vehicle. Jesse was nowhere in sight. Dale grinned. “I sure am surprised to see you, Miss Lapp, and in Cleary of all places. How did you end up here?”

  “Cleary is the northern end of the major bus line. I was supposed to take a local bus up to Caribou, but they only run every other day in the winter. One more thing about this state that makes life difficult.” She pulled her cloak tightly around her shoulders, making sure to keep the material gathered loosely in front so her pregnancy didn’t show.

  “So why come back?” Jesse asked as he walked up behind her.

  “That’s none of your business.” She made her tone as sharp as possible. The last thing she wanted him to think was that she still had a crush on him. She’d gotten over him a long time ago. Well before she met her baby’s father, she had realized her infatuation with Jesse had been more about being the last single woman in her group of friends than finding her soul mate. There had been only two single Amish fellows in their community back then. In her opinion, Jesse had been the better choice.

  He arched one eyebrow but didn’t say anything. That was Jesse’s biggest problem. He never had much to say. Especially to her. How could she ever have considered him attractive? Sure, he was tall with broad shoulders, curly black hair and the most beautiful sky blue eyes fringed with thick dark lashes, but looks weren’t everything. An attractive man needed an attractive personality. Jesse had the personality of a fence post.

  No, she was being childish again. Just because he hadn’t been blinded by her charms last year was no reason for unkind thoughts about him. Jesse was a quiet man and there wasn’t anything wrong with that. He was about the only man she knew who didn’t have a hidden motive.

  Robert Fisher, her former boyfriend had been a handsome smooth-talking flirt. She had been a naive, easy target for him. His attentions soothed her wounded pride and made her feel beautiful and loved. Except it was all a lie. He seduced her and left town the day after she told him she was pregnant. Like a fool, she had waited for him to return. It took months for her to accept that he wasn’t coming back. It was a lesson she took to heart. He was the last man she would trust unconditionally.

  Returning home was hard. She had already been baptized into the Amish faith. She would be shunned when the bishop learned of her condition, but that wasn’t as frightening as having a baby alone. She wouldn’t be able to eat at the same table as her parents and they wouldn’t be able to accept anything from her hand. She wouldn’t be included in church activities for as long as her shunning went on. She was prepared for that. She fully intended to confess and ask forgiveness and pray the bishop chose a short period of shunning for her to endure.

  Jesse held out a motel key. “I got you a room. Number eight. I’ll take your suitcase.” One arched eyebrow dared her to reject his offer.

  “Danki,” she murmured.

  Dale glanced between the two of them. “Have you eaten, miss?”

  She raised the white paper bag. “I have my supper.”

  “Goot.” Jesse walked toward the motel, carrying her suitcase as easily as if it were empty instead of packed full of all she owned.

  She nodded to Dale. “I’m grateful for the lift home.”

  “My pleasure. It’s a long trip, and I sure will enjoy having someone to talk to for a change. Jesse don’t say much.”

  “I know.” She followed Jesse to the room at the very end of a motel that had seen better days. The Gray Goose Inn’s paint was peeling in multiple spots and the windows were dingy. The sidewalk along the front was cracked and lifted while the neon light on the sign out front flickered dimly.

  He held open the door and set her suitcase inside. “We’ll leave at six.”

  “I’ll be ready.” She swallowed her false pride and stared at her fingers clenched around her purse handle. “Danki, Jesse. This is generous of you. I will repay you, I promise.”

  “It’s nothing. Why come back? Your daed says you like it in Florida.”

  Had Jesse asked about her? She found that hard to believe. “I do, but I got homesick.”

  As soon as she said the words, she realized they were true. She missed her parents and her friends, even if they didn’t miss her.

  Bethany, Gemma’s closest friend, had married last winter and all she talked about was how happy she and Michael were and how blessed she was to have found the man God had intended to be her husband. Gemma’s first cousin Anna Miller was the same way. She and her new husband, Tobias, had arrived in New Covenant a few weeks after Bethany’s wedding. The two women had nothing on their minds except setting up house and starting a family. Two more young married couples moved to New Covenant at the same time. The women all enjoyed one another’s company and often visited between houses. Gemma was the only single woman among them.

  Gemma had been happy for her friends, but it hadn’t taken long to realize she’d become a third wheel. The sad odd person out with no one of her own. Without the prospect of marriage and the memory of making a fool of herself over Jesse popping up each time she saw him, Gemma decided to escape to the Amish settlement in sunny Pinecrest, Florida, to find her own soul mate. What a mistake that had turned out to be. A shudder coursed through her at the memory of her betrayal by the man she had met down there who claimed to love her.

  “Are you back for good?” Jesse asked. Was there a hopeful note in his voice? She glanced at his face. His grim expression said she must have been mistaken.

  She looked down and shrugged. “I haven’t decided.”

  Her lower lip quivered. The council of her mother was what she wanted and needed, even as she dreaded revealing her condition. She had no idea what she was going to do about the baby.

  Jesse stood as if waiting for something else. She glanced at his face again and caught a look of tenderness before it disappeared. His usual blank expression took its place. Underneath his brawny build and his reclusive nature, Jesse had a soft heart. While he avoided the company of most people, he was known for taking in wounded creatures and strays. Was that how he saw her now? If so, he was more astute than she gave him credit for. She glanced down to make sure her full cloak hid her figure. “Thank you again for your kindness.”

  “The bishop would expect it of me. Gemma, is something wrong?”

  She couldn’t look at him. “I’m tired, that’s all.”

  “Then I’ll say good-night.”

  Unable to reply, she went inside, dropped her cold supper in the trash and closed the door, shutting out his overwhelming presence and her irrational desire to bury her face against his chest and give in to her tears.

  * * *
r />   It was still dark when Gemma left the motel room a few minutes before six o’clock the next morning, pulling her suitcase behind her. She could see her breath in the chilly air. Snowflakes drifted gently down from the overcast sky. Winter was tightening its grip on the countryside. The contrast between the sandy beach and ocean waves where she had been three days ago caused her to shiver. Had she been foolish to come back? Maybe.

  She had her emotions well under control for the moment. A good night’s sleep had erased the ravages of the tears she’d cried into her pillow after Jesse left her. Washing her face with cold water had removed the last bit of puffiness from around her eyes. She was ready to face a few hours in Jesse’s company.

  He was standing beside Dale’s battered yellow pickup waiting for her. Without a word, he took her bag and stowed it in the bed of the truck and held the door open for her. She got in. He climbed in after her, taking up more than his share of the bench seat. She scooted farther away.

  Dale got in and handed her two white paper bags identical to the one the bus agent had given her. “I got some breakfast burritos for us to eat on the road.” The aroma of toasted tortillas, sausage, grilled peppers and onions filled the air in the small cab, making her stomach rumble ominously. Her morning sickness was more like any-time-of-the-day sickness. It struck without warning. She handed one of the bags to Jesse and swallowed hard, hoping she wouldn’t get sick.

  Dale kept up a steady line of chatter as he drove northward on the highway. Jesse ate his meal in silence. He took a swig from a bottle of water, recapped it and put it back in the bag. “Aren’t you going to eat yours?” Jesse nodded toward the paper sack on her lap.

  “I’m not hungry. You are welcome to it.”

  “Danki.” He took the offered bag and finished off her burrito.

  Dale chuckled. “He’s a big man with a big appetite. It must cost a fortune to keep him fed. No wonder he hasn’t found a wife. The poor woman would never get out of the kitchen.”