A Time to Heal(41)

Then she frowned.

"What?"

"No, it's too ridiculous to think—"

"What?" Exasperated, Hannah stood with her hands on her hips, wanting to shake her sister-in-law.

"You don't suppose Josiah—"

"Josiah what?"

"I know he wasn't happy when I first moved back. He went to the bishop and the elders of the church, saying he was afraid of my influence on the community."

"But he got over it."

"Well, maybe. Maybe not. You said he looked really unhappy that Chris came rushing at him, thinking he was forcing you into his buggy. And you told me the bishop came the other day and said Josiah talked to him about Chris and how he had that flashback."

"Then wouldn't he be mad at Chris, not at you and Matthew?"

Jenny picked up a clothespin that had fallen in the grass."I don't know. I'm probably just being paranoid thinking such a thing."

Realizing that her hands were suddenly clammy, Hannah rubbed them up and down her apron. "But you know how to figure out things like this—from your TV reporter days— when you lived in the Englisch world."

"I wasn't an investigative reporter, Hannah. I was a feature reporter, covering stories about how children were being affected by war."

"No, you know how people think—people who do bad things."

Jenny blinked. "Are you saying I have some insight into the criminal mind?"

"A lot more than me. Bad things don't happen here. Oh, Isaiah Lapp got a ticket for driving his courting buggy recklessly last month and Abe Miller had to apologize for trying to climb into Fannie Mae Yoder's window as a joke. But we hardly ever have any crime here.

"Barns have burned here in the community before. There could have been a spark that started it. Maybe one of the men was smoking a pipe out there and didn't want to admit it because Matthew would have a fit."

"But we heard an explosion."

"Could have been chemicals stored in the barn or gas for the engine—" she stopped when Jenny just gave her a disbelieving stare.

"Denial's not a river in Egypt," Jenny said.

"What?"

"Never mind. It's just a silly Englisch expression."

"Just when I think you've completely adapted to being Plain, you say something that makes you sound Englisch."

"Well, I guess it's because so far, I've spent more time being Englisch than Plain. Forget I said anything about Josiah. He's just an old man set in his ways, afraid that outsiders will ruin the community. I'm sure he's harmless."

She put her arm around Hannah's waist and they started toward the house. "Let's go inside and have some tea and talk about your job."

"It's just twenty hours a week. Not a real job. At least it doesn't feel like a job. It's fun teaching other women how to quilt."

"And admit it, you've been curious about the Englisch for a long time. Teaching them how to quilt should give you a chance to know more of them."

Hannah laughed. "Ya."

They entered the kitchen, and Jenny filled the tea kettle and set it on the stove while Hannah dug some cookies out of the cookie jar and placed them on a plate. When the tea was ready, they sat down at the table to rest a few minutes.

"We sew a lot of quilts here for function, you know, because we need them to cover our beds so we can stay warm," Hannah told Jenny. "And it's a pleasure to make them because we love the person who will be warmed by something we made with our hands."

She stirred her tea and took a sip. "It's fun, too, to make something creative, using patterns and material pieces and colors. Some of the Englisch women come to learn how to quilt because they want to do the same thing, to make a quilt for a loved one. It's not a necessity for them like it is here. They can buy blankets. However, I like watching them get the same joy from experimenting with quilt making that we do."

"Because we're more alike than we're different, don't you think?"

"Ya, I suppose so. Except—"

"Except . . ." Jenny found her looking toward the kitchen window.

Her eyes followed Hannah's. "I guess I don't need to look out the window to see who you're talking about, do I?"

"He's different from the men I know."

"I remember that first night he came here you said he was attractive and I teased you," Jenny mused.

Hannah blushed. "You're not starting on that again, are you?"

"No, I just wonder if you're interested in him because he's someone different. Maybe you should visit another Plain community—" She stopped when Hannah held up her hand.

"I wish it were that easy." She sighed. "Phoebe and I have talked about it."