Seasons in Paradise. Barbara Cameron
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Lavina so long. She was going to miss Leah’s announcement.
“The store next to mine came up for sale recently, and I’ve decided to buy it and open another shop,” Leah said. Her blue eyes sparkled. “I like to encourage creativity in others, and I want to have local crafters sell their work there. I’ve seen some of the work you ladies have been creating, and I want to offer you the opportunity to sell your work there.”
There was a ripple of excitement in the room. Leah paused and let the women chatter for a few moments before going on. “I thought I’d call it Sewn in Hope, and I’m planning to be open in two months, so there will be plenty of time to sell crafts made for Christmas gift-giving.”
She smiled and stepped aside for Kate.
“I want you to be thinking about what you’d like to make and sell, and we’ll take one or two samples to Leah to approve for sale,” Kate said. “I think this is a wonderful way for you to make some money to save up for when you’re ready to move into your own places. And Pearl has said she’ll see to child care a few hours each day so you can work right here.”
Lavina hurried back into the room and took her seat next to Mary Elizabeth. “What did I miss?” she whispered.
“Wait until you hear what Leah’s planning!” Mary Elizabeth whispered back.
Chapter 4
4
It took a long time for the room to empty.
As the women filed out of the classroom, they chattered excitedly. It did Mary Elizabeth’s heart gut to see them this way. In the months she’d been volunteering here at the shelter with Lavina she’d seen so many of these women come in scared, sometimes bruised and beaten . . . beaten down, in Kate’s words. Often they had only the clothes on their backs. And the kinner . . . if they had kinner, those poor little ones were even more scared.
Gradually they began to feel safe. Protected. Supported. Some of them drifted into the classroom and became interested in the quilting and sewing crafts. Some of them drifted out after they said it really wasn’t for them. The kinner clung to their mudders and looked too old for their years. Velcro kids, Kate called them, desperate to hold onto the only security in this scary world they knew. Gradually, as they saw their mudders relax and felt the love and support here, they smiled and played and went back to being kinner again. Ellie lingered with her mudder and chatted with Leah about how she’d sewed the tiny quilt that covered the doll she carried in her arms and never let go of.
Mary Elizabeth waited with Lavina—actually, Lavina had slipped from the room again in a pretty big hurry—and watched Carrie approach Kate.
“I want to apologize,” she said.
“For?”
“When I came to this class the first day, I said it was a waste of time. Why should we bother with it? No one was going to hire us to sew a quilt. We’re not Amish.”
“Well, you were right,” Kate said, unoffended. “Leah’s not asking anyone to sew a quilt and pretend it’s been done by an Amish woman. But the shop will offer quilts, and there are plenty of things the women here can make to sell there. And they’ll take the same skills everyone’s learned in the class.”
“Well, anyway, I’m sorry for the attitude I showed. You’ve been great to start the class and show up here each week when you could be home putting up your feet.”
Kate laughed and tucked the quilt she’d been working on in her tote bag. “Thanks. I love doing it. And sometimes I put my feet up here and sew.”
She paused and looked up at Carrie. “Actually, what you said stayed in my mind and when I was in Leah’s shop recently we got to talking. A few weeks later she called me and wanted to chat about her idea for the new shop. So you might say what you said to me that day led to this opportunity for the women here at the shelter.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. Wow.” She settled the strap of her purse on her shoulder and picked up her tote bag. “I’m thinking maybe you could help me get everyone organized with what they’re going to do. I figure you were pretty good with people working at the bar like you did.”
“Yeah, I could do that. Yeah.” Carrie grinned.
“See you next week.”
“See you.” Carrie walked over to put her project box on the shelf.
“Sorry things took so long today,” Kate said as she walked downstairs and on out to the car with Mary Elizabeth and Lavina.
“We wouldn’t have missed it for anything,” Lavina said.
“You were out of the room a lot of the time,” Mary Elizabeth reminded her.
“Everything okay?” Kate asked Lavina as she unlocked the trunk of her car and put the tote inside.
Mary Elizabeth saw Lavina blush, but she nodded and got into the back seat.
Kate dropped them at their house, and Lavina hurried ahead of Mary Elizabeth. When she walked inside, Lavina was closing the door of the downstairs bathroom.
Mary Elizabeth walked into the kitchen. Her mudder was slicing a loaf of bread.
“Did you stop for lunch on the way home?” her mudder asked.
“Nee, Kate wanted to talk to us—the class—about something. Mamm, listen, I’m worried about Lavina. I think something’s wrong with her.”
Linda looked up. “What is it?”
“I swear, she’s been running to the bathroom every ten minutes. That’s where she is now.”
“Nee, I’m not.” Mary Elizabeth jumped guiltily and spun around to see Lavina standing in the doorway.
“Are you allrecht, kind?” Linda asked. She hurried to press her lips to Lavina’s forehead to check for fever.
Lavina laughed and hugged her. “Don’t treat me like a boppli, Mamm. I’m just going to have one.”
Linda drew back and stared at her, then she threw her arms around her dochder and hugged her. “Oh, I’m so happy for you!”
Mary Elizabeth hurried to her side and hugged her. Worry turned to joy in a moment.
“What’s going on?” Rose Anna wanted to know as she walked into the room.
“David and I are having a boppli!”
Rose Anna screamed and joined in on the group hug.
Their dat found them like that, bound in a group hug in the middle of the kitchen.
“What is going on?” he asked approaching a bit warily.
Linda pulled away, wiping her eyes on a tissue. “Jacob, we’re going to be grosseldres!”
“Lavina?” he asked, looking at her for confirmation.
“Ya, Daed.”
He held his arms wide and all the Zook women piled into them.
Mary Elizabeth knew she would remember this moment for the rest of her life.
* * *
Her journal slipped out from under her pillow when she climbed into bed.
Mary Elizabeth stared at it for a long moment. She hadn’t written in it for a long time, but something made her tuck it under her pillow every morning anyway.
She pulled the quilt up around her and flipped to the last page she’d written on. The page was blotched and in places the ink had run. No wonder. She’d been crying as she wrote about the visit she’d made to see Sam. All the hurt came back now as she stared at the page. He’d refused to return to their community, said he was sorry that she was upset but he wasn’t returning to the community.
She’d cried that day.