The Sisters of Sugarcreek Read online

  She gazed into the darkness beyond the car window, remembering how easy Liz had made her idea sound. . . .

  All they needed to do was stitch a “Simple to Make in a Weekend” quilt for the recently widowed Lydia Gruber. Using material from Henry Gruber’s shirts, which Liz had bid on at the widow’s auction two weeks ago. Then they’d sneak around in the night to anonymously drop off the gift. Just to give the young widow a sprinkle of hope. To let her know someone cared.

  Jessica had readily agreed to the plan. She’d wanted to say yes for so many reasons. Yet nothing about Liz’s plan had been simple for Jessica, especially not where her emotions were concerned.

  With every crooked, knotted, messy stitch, she’d wished she could do anything right and pretty and even with a needle and thread. She wished she’d spent more time learning from her aunt Rose, who had made knitting and quilting her life and her livelihood. Oh, how she missed her aunt, who had loved her unconditionally. Who had raised her like her own daughter.

  Her heart couldn’t stop hurting, couldn’t stop yearning with the greatest wish of all: that there’d never been that day of the fire . . . at their church, of all places. That it hadn’t claimed the life of a man named Henry. And mostly—most selfishly—that the fire hadn’t taken her sweet aunt Rose’s life too.

  Familiar tears of disbelief sprang to Jessica’s eyes. She turned from the window and her thoughts, hoping to control them. Liz’s voice seemed to help.

  “The drive sure didn’t take this long when I drove out for the auction,” Liz shared.

  Jessica cleared her throat and took a moment to process Liz’s words, to focus on the present. “Um, yeah, you said it was just up the road from town.”

  As Liz suddenly jerked the car around another corner, the gift for the Gruber widow went sliding across Jessica’s lap. Grabbing onto it, she nestled it closer. “Uh . . . I think I’m going to text Marisa to let her know we’re running behind.”

  Marisa had always been a great sitter for Cole, but in the past weeks, she’d been even more than that—she’d been a godsend, helping Jessica however she needed her to. Jessica sure didn’t want to abuse the high school senior’s willingness to work.

  She had just tapped in her first words of apology to Marisa when she heard rustling coming from Liz’s side of the car.

  “Oh, my!”

  “Oh, my, what?” Jessica looked up from her phone to see Liz sitting up straight, peering over the steering wheel.

  “Over there.” Liz pointed to movement on the side of the road. “Oh, goodness! It’s a deer!” she exclaimed. “Now, don’t you go jumping out in front of my car, you precious creature. No jumping, okay?”

  Jessica could feel Liz easing her foot off the accelerator—right before she jerked the wheel into the oncoming lane. Causing Jessica’s body to sway right then left as the gift and her phone bounced in her lap.

  “Liz, I hate to tell you—” she grabbed the dash to steady herself—“but that’s not a deer. It’s an Amish man. Riding a bike.”

  “Oh? Well, no worries, then. For sure he’s not going to dart out in front of me.”

  Liz’s shoulders went slack while Jessica’s definitely tightened up around her neck. Yes, she was an animal lover. And yes, she would never in her life want to bring any deer to harm. But the possibility of running over a man—a real live human being—well, it just seemed a tad more serious. At least to her way of thinking.

  She braced herself and held her breath again as Liz slowed the car to a near crawl. It seemed to take Liz forever to skirt around the man on wheels, coming a little too close, in Jessica’s humble—and unuttered—opinion.

  “He should have a taillight on that bike,” Liz commented once she’d passed him safely. And Jessica could let out her breath at last.

  “Uh, he did,” Jessica replied softly.

  “Really? Well, it must’ve been awfully dim. Or small.”

  “I suppose the light could’ve been larger,” Jessica agreed—actually just tried to placate the older woman. “You know . . . I’m happy to drive,” she offered. “It might make more sense. I mean, that way you could look for the street since you’ve been there before.” She worked to hide the nervous timbre in her voice.

  “Oh, no. I’ve got this, honey. Besides, I have a feeling we’re close,” Liz said, her tone reassuring. As always.

  Jessica didn’t know when she’d ever learn that some things—and people—were simply out of her control. She sighed and sat back, attempting to relax. Trying not to think about all that had happened over the past weeks. Trying to focus on the moment and the surprising things Liz had shared about her aunt. Things that shouldn’t have been a surprise to her at all.

  “I can’t believe you and Aunt Rose used to go on nighttime escapades like this. What I really can’t believe is that I never knew about them.”

  “Well, how could you?” Liz smiled into the faint light of the car, the tufts of her trendy spiky hair silhouetted in the dimness.

  Jessica laughed softly. “Yes, that’s right. Those escapades were supposed to be secret, weren’t they?” Although she thought she knew everything about the aunt who had mothered her, obviously that hadn’t been altogether true. “‘The Secret Stitches Society, dedicated to bringing a stitch of hope to others.’ But still, you’d think I would’ve figured out that Aunt Rose was behind all that good in town. Well, and you too, Liz,” she added hastily.

  “Oh, no. It wasn’t so much me.” Liz shook her head. “Like I told you, Rose is the one who started the whole thing. I was just lucky that she invited me along on a few of her jaunts so I could feel a bit like Santa Claus all year round.”

  Soon after her aunt’s funeral, Liz had shared with Jessica how years earlier, Rose had come up to her after a church service one Sunday, out of the blue. Almost as if she knew that Liz needed someone at that moment. Liz’s husband had been gone for three years that very day, and though that was old news to everyone else, Liz was still trying to find more and more ways to fill that void in her life.

  That morning Rose invited Liz to a free knitting class at her shop, and after Liz had gone more than a few times, Rose also let her in on the secrets of the so-called society of which there was only one member at that point—Rose.

  “It sounds like you and Aunt Rose did a lot of good and had some memorable times,” Jessica said, recalling the stories Liz had already shared with her.

  “Definitely. We did a lot of giggling on those nights.” Liz chuckled. “Doing for others felt good. Getting my mind off myself felt even better. She was one special lady, that aunt of yours.” Her voice faded with an undeniable note of sadness.

  Jessica reached out to gently pat Liz’s shoulder just as Liz had done for her so many times over the past weeks. There really were no words. Or if there were, they were lost on her at the moment.

  Losing her aunt and inheriting Rose’s Knit One Quilt Too Cottage at the same time felt all too strange. Too unreal. Like she was living someone else’s life and had no handle on her own.

  “I still can’t believe Aunt Rose left her shop to me.” She didn’t mean to murmur the words out loud.

  “Honey, you were her only family. She loved you and she loved the Cottage,” Liz soothed. “Why wouldn’t she have wanted you to take over the shop?”

  “I know. But . . .” To Jessica’s way of thinking, the situation was logical and unbelievable all at the same time. Her? Owning a knitting and quilting shop? She was so not that person. Not a crafter at all. And it wasn’t like her aunt didn’t know it. Regretfully, growing up, Jessica also hadn’t made it her business to get to know her aunt’s business.

  Yet in her heart of hearts, she knew she wouldn’t have it any other way—and she guessed that’s the way her aunt had felt about the matter too when she’d drawn up her will. Jessica had grown up having the Cottage in her life. Like Rose, it had always been like family to her too. “I just hope I can learn everything and make it work,” she said to Liz, fearful of b
otching it all up.

  “Hey, you didn’t do so badly on our quilt for Lydia Gruber,” Liz said.

  Or rather, blatantly fibbed. Causing Jessica to look over at her and smile. “It’s okay, Liz. You don’t need to lie. I’m well aware of my limitations.” But she’d vowed to try to turn into a crafty person yet.

  “No, really. You said you’d barely ever held a needle in your hand, and I believe you.”

  Jessica laughed at that. While Liz’s face crinkled like a raisin, appearing baffled by her own statement. “Something about that didn’t come out right. What I meant to say was—”

  “Oh!” Jessica cut her off. “There’s Quarterhorse Road.” She pointed at a small sign posted on their left. “That’s what we’re looking for, right?” she asked hopefully.

  “Yes! Finally.” Liz made a sharp left turn. “We’re nearly there. The Gruber place is only a little ways up the street,” she said, quickly turning off the headlights.

  Unable to help herself, Jessica shot a glance at the woman. “Liz, seriously. What are you doing?”

  “It’s okay. This is how it’s done. No lights.” Liz shrugged. “It’s a secret mission, remember? Besides, we’ll be pulling in the driveway in five seconds.”

  “I hope we pull in the driveway and not a ditch!”

  Again Liz reassured her. “Oh, now. Here we go. Five . . . Four . . . Three . . . Twooooo . . .” She drew the word out as long as she could while Jessica held her breath once more. “One!”

  Liz sounded rather victorious as she turned off the main road onto the Gruber lot. Jessica’s torso flung lightly against the seat belt as Liz slammed the car into park at the end of the driveway and cut the engine abruptly.

  Jessica had thought she’d feel a surge of instant relief, just being stationary and safe at last. But as she and Liz both sat, staring at the Gruber house, surges of bewilderment mounted all over again.

  She’d had a theory as a young girl. A theory that only one devastating thing could happen to a person in their lifetime. She’d come up with that theory after the one unthinkable, tragic thing had happened to her: losing both of her parents in a fatal car accident when she was only eight years old.

  With that horrid event, she was sure she’d be exempt from anything else so awful. Yet here she was at twenty-seven, and even though a mother herself, with her aunt’s untimely death, a part of her felt orphaned all over again. Proving her theory all wrong. Proving her theory was just a fantasy.

  Gazing at the windows of the widow’s house, she hated knowing there wasn’t any place safe from things that tore your heart and your world in two. Not for her. Not for the widow she didn’t even know. Not for anybody.

  She hugged the wrapped package to her chest, wishing once again she’d been able to do a better job of sewing and stitching. Wishing the gift wasn’t as flawed as her theory. Liz in her typical positive way had said that the funky stitches on the front side of the quilt and the loopy threads on the back side would go unnoticed, that sentiment would override the mistakes. Jessica had to hope that was true.

  “The auction was here?” she whispered in the hush of the car. “In the yard?”

  “Yes, over there.” Liz nodded beside her.

  How strange that must’ve been for the woman—Lydia Gruber—Jessica thought. Such an ado. The invasion of people. An auctioneer’s yodel. Cars parked in the grass. And now all of that gone. All so hushed and quiet with barely a star in the sky.

  “Did you meet her?” Jessica asked quietly. “The day of the auction?”

  “No,” Liz answered. “But I feel like I know her.”

  Jessica nodded, knowing how Liz had gone through the same situation several years earlier. And of course, Jessica had suffered her own losses too. “I sure hope finding this quilt on her doorstep makes her feel a little better.”

  “That is the hope, as your aunt Rose would always say.” Liz paused before asking, “Are we ready?”

  As Liz started to open her car door, Jessica couldn’t help but reach out and lay a hand on her arm to stop her. She’d hesitated to say anything earlier, but thinking of her theory . . . her son . . . Liz’s grandkids . . . the dark night and even darker country roads . . . made her rethink that decision now.

  “You know, Liz, as we were talking tonight, it made me realize that some people really are better at some things than others.”

  Liz gave her a puzzled look.

  “So how about you take this—” Jessica handed her the gift package—“and I’ll take those.” She pointed to the keys in Liz’s hands, then plucked them away before Liz could react. “For the trip home.”

  “I scared you that much?”

  “Well . . .” Jessica offered up an apologetic smile. “Kind of.”

  For a brief second, Liz looked a bit befuddled. Then, true to form, she bounced back to her bright-as-ever self. “We can’t have that, can we? Not on a special night like tonight.”

  And for just a moment as Liz said that, Jessica did feel something special. A whirl of emotions that brought a sting of tears to her eyes . . . hopefulness, devastation, kindness, empathy, wonder, loss. But through it all, mostly an overwhelming feeling of gratitude—a profound thankfulness—for the gift of the aunt she’d loved so dearly. And who had loved her.

  This one is for you, Aunt Rose!

  She was too overcome to say the words out loud. But she felt them with all her heart as she and Liz got out of the car and quietly headed toward the widow’s house in the still of the night.

  Lydia gasped into the darkness of the bedroom. Her entire body froze beneath the bedcovers, stiff with fear. There it was again. The sounds. The sense that something was near. That she wasn’t alone.

  “Oh, dear Gott.” She winced, wanting to break down and cry. “I need to sleep. To rest. I need to feel safe.”

  Not once in her life could she ever remember being so tired. She’d tried to keep the schedule Henry had set for them—the one he claimed resulted in a healthy, productive life. Off to bed by nine thirty, awake at five thirty. But night after night, it was the same—the unease that kept her awake. Had Henry’s breathing as he lay next to her all those years hidden every sound of the darkness?

  Staring at the ceiling, she waited and listened. Something scraped overhead. Or was the sound coming more from the sitting room? Rigid with fear, she slowly turned her head on the pillow, trying to listen for something more over the heartbeat pounding in her ear. All the while, hoping not to hear a thing. But there it was again. A muffled noise . . . and the sense that something was close. Inside? Or outside? And the feeling that she was not alone.

  Glancing at the lantern on her nightstand, she willed her hand to move from under the covers to turn it on. She couldn’t do this another night. Couldn’t cower like a frightened animal in her own bed.

  Forcing herself to get up, she felt her heart beat wildly in her chest as she wrapped her shawl around her shoulders, grabbed the lantern, and tiptoed into the sitting room. Her eyes drifted around the room, looking for anything out of place. But she couldn’t see a thing. Couldn’t hear a thing. Nothing.

  She stood there in the silence, feeling her body weave, light-headed with exhaustion. Still, she couldn’t return to her bed. Didn’t want to feel the empty space beside her.

  Instead, she turned off the lantern, and as a slender beam of moonlight shone through the window, she settled into Henry’s chair. The armrests felt cold to the touch and the cushion more rigid than she ever imagined it would be. Even so, she could almost sense him there. Could almost imagine his presence, offering her protection. At least for a few nights that’s where she’d stay, she decided. Where she’d try to get her rest.

  DESPITE THE COOLNESS OF the morning air, beads of perspiration formed along the edges of Lydia’s hairline and kapp as she stood staring, bewildered by the collection of leather straps and reins that she’d dragged outside from the barn.

  “If only you could talk, Flora,” she muttered to the skittish horse th
at was dubiously appraising her with large brown eyes. “If only you could remind me how this all works.”

  She felt so overwhelmed. And anxious. So angry at the unfairness of it all.

  Especially on a day like today.

  The morning was crisp and clear, with a slightly cool breeze, and the sky such a bright shade of cornflower blue, a person had to almost close her eyes to look at it. It was the kind of morning she used to savor and offer up audible praises to the heavens for. The kind she’d always found so perfect for hanging Henry’s freshly washed charcoal broadcloth pants and cotton shirts in a row on the clothesline as she squinted into the glorious sun.

  But that wasn’t so any longer. Not any of it. Not since Gott had taken Henry away.

  There were no more peaceful musings . . . no more idle thoughts of what to make her husband for supper that night as his shirts flapped lazily in the breeze. Instead her insides warred constantly. Hating Gott for taking her husband away . . . then begging for His help with all she had to learn and do.

  But He didn’t seem to be much help at the moment.

  It was also clear as the day that Flora wasn’t going to help hitch herself to the buggy either.

  Very much used to Henry’s care and his knowing touch, the creature was noticeably perturbed by Lydia’s sudden attention. Clomping backward. Shifting sideways. Wriggling restlessly from head to tail, as if deciding whether to stay put or to run for the hills.

  Oh, how Lydia wished she could run too. Flora’s nervous behavior made her feel even tenser and more bedraggled than she already had. Not only was she as nervous around the horse as the horse was around her, but she was so stiff and bone-tired from dozing in Henry’s chair all night, she could barely stand up straight.

  “I don’t blame you, Flora. I don’t, girl.” She sighed as she rubbed at her aching lower back. “You’re mighty mistaken if you think I want to be doing any of this. And I sure don’t wanna go to town, either.”