CHAPTER ONE
Salina Stoltzfus sat across the table and tried to pretend that her mother’s newest victim didn’t tug at her heartstrings.
Poor Jacob Beiler.
He and Salina had been friends since childhood, and now here he sat at her family table, looking more uneasy than he had when Teacher Eula had him read out loud in front of the class.
Mamm was determined.
At eighteen, Salina hadn’t been interested in courting. She focused more on friendships that didn’t include one of her teasing cousins. Mamm showed concern yet said little to the fact that Salina was happier chatting with one of her rabbits than one of the single young men of Havenlee.
Then at twenty, Salina was bitten by the love bug. At least that’s what Suzanne Zook had called it when a girl went weak-kneed. Her cousin Tobias had teased her relentlessly through their childhoods, but when he began calling her names, Salina felt smaller than ever. That is, until Mica Graber defended her.
Didn’t every woman dream of a dashing hero with broad shoulders, fine looks, and eyes the color of a winter sky?
So it was with dedicated determination that Salina sought to win over the local greenhouse owner. Sure, he was over a foot taller with arms fitting of a blacksmith, but Mica was a man worthy of her heart.
It all would come out right, Salina had told herself each time she tried turning Mica’s head, but he never warmed up to her. He certainly didn’t
Mindy Steele
care that she’d spent weeks knuckle-deep in dirt to repot poinsettias for his family’s greenhouses. Because if he did, he never would have given his heart to another and broken hers.
Salina refused to look at a poinsettia ever again after that. It was to be expected. There was always someone prettier, smarter, or taller, making Salina harder to notice among the single maedels. Salina’s short stature was just one mark against her. Another was her tendency to chatter.
Salina felt she was certainly capable of securing her own husband. Mamm clearly didn’t think so because she had gone and invited another available man to their supper table.
Jacob accepted a yeast roll before Salina took one for herself. It was her plain looks and lack of long, batting eyelashes, she supposed as she stabbed her fork into a piece of fried pork. Things like work ethic, kindness, and honesty meant nothing. It all came down to appearances. At least that was how it seemed from her perspective.
Jacob shot her a weary grin. He was perfectly aware of Mamm’s wish to marry her off before Salina became an old spinster. So why had he accepted the dinner invitation? Jacob had eyes for Margaret Fisher. Because he is your dearest friend, and if he hadn’t, who knows who Mamm might have asked to supper next?
Salina gave Jacob an appreciative look. He had talked her out of dyeing her hair with Kool-Aid like Mary Zimmerman had before her baptism. Salina had only hoped to stand out.
Be seen.
It was as clear as the Englisch church bells on Sunday that she wasn’t anyone’s first choice when it came to courting.
Taking a slow breath, Salina chewed the overcooked pork and smiled. Smiles had a way of lifting a person’s mood. Salina was embarrassed, as well as weary from helping the Zooks prepare for the upcoming church service all day. She’d not remind her mother that she and Jacob were just freinden. Her chattiness, his quietness, and the fact that neither of them could turn heads their way made them different.
Poor Jacob.
A Heart on Consignment
Salina shoveled a bite of mashed potatoes into her mouth next. Had she told Jacob about Daed ’s tendencies during these suppers? If only she could warn Jacob how Daed would soon be asking the pertinent questions: How will you support a family? When do you hope to take a fraa? Where do you plan on building a haus?
Jacob was the fourth young man to sit in that seat since Christmas. Even now, as a March wind howled bitterly outside, Salina pitied her dear friend, who spoke so lowly that the crickets barely heard him.
Keeping silent, despite her talkative nature that she rarely harnessed, Salina continued to eat faster than usual. Some of her behaviors, which Mamm called unladylike, were possibly the reason for Mica’s rejection. She had certainly shared a few meals at the Graber home.
Had that been it?
Her fast steps were another habit Mamm insisted she remedy, but in Salina’s defense, when you were not even five feet tall, you did have to move at racehorse pace to keep up with others. Her friend Rachel could take one step to Salina’s three!
Pondering the changes she needed to implement in her own life, Salina missed Jacob’s reply about how many acres he hoped to acquire. She couldn’t alter her looks, unfortunately, not with stringy brown hair and dull blue eyes. There was also the matter that her small ears had giant lobes, looking oddly different. And Cousin Miriam had more than once pointed out Salina’s small teeth.
Salina had certainly drawn the short straw. At least she wasn’t terrible in the kitchen. But her sewing needed work. Quilting was more a chore than a joy. How did women sit for hours doing just one thing? Wasn’t it enough that her community demanded one to sit at a gathering or Sunday church until their legs grew itchy to run?
“Salina, did you not hear me?”
Salina jerked her attention forward.
“Jacob was speaking of the time you rode Cinnamon all the way to the midwife’s for Annabelle Bontrager.” Mamm turned back to Jacob, the smile returning to her face. “Salina’s heart is one for helping. I remember the time the two of you rescued that lot of kittens.” Mamm gave a whimsical laugh.
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Jacob chuckled at the memory. Salina had been certain the kittens’ mother wasn’t feeding them enough. Taking milk from Hazel to see them fatten was being responsible. Salina tilted her head toward her mother. She was certainly talking Salina up this evening.
“Another fine meal, Fraa.” Daed pushed his plate aside. He never left out thankfulness for a full meal. His dark hair had gone thinner as his waistline expanded under Mamm’s fine cooking. Salina’s father was not a man of many words, but living in a house with two women who knew so many, he probably hoped his example would be more closely followed.
Gabe Stoltzfus spent his days working construction with men half his age. Higher-paying jobs were being sought out farther and farther from home. Many evenings his snach was kept warm in the baker’s oven for his return. What hay and corn they grew, Salina helped with since she was his only child. She also tended to the livestock and mowing.
“More pie?” Mamm darted Jacob a friendly smile.
Was Mamm worried that more hands were needed as Daed grew older? Could that be her biggest concern in seeing Salina wed?
“Nee. If I eat any more, I might need two horses to get me back home.” Jacob pushed his plate forward. Without his hat, he looked to be years past a good trimming.
Despite her parents’ insistence on keep him contentedly talking, Jacob had done his duty in helping out a friend and was raring to go. Jacob always grew restless when he was ready to move on.
“I have an early start and want to thank you for such a good meal.”
Disappointment drew over the lines of Mamm’s face. “Are you sure?”
“Jah,” Jacob responded. “It’s always nice to visit.”
Daed continued his second slice of pie without a care. Perhaps he too was growing weary of so many guests at the table midweek.
“I’ll see you out.” Salina quickly stood and helped Jacob make his escape before Mamm thought to use ice cream to tempt him like when they were kinder.
Only children were rare within Amish families, and more often than not, Mamm resorted to compliments and sugar for Salina to have someone to play with. Jacob, living so near at hand, earned himself an unrelated
A Heart on Consignment
schwester and more sweets than most.
Poor Mamm.
If only she knew Salina wasn’t unhappy. That seeing others find joy gave her joy as well. Of course, there were times when Salina ached for the same things her friends had. Many were already married with children or waiting to share announcements of their upcoming weddings.
“I hope she didn’t think I was making excuses,” Jacob said, reaching for his coat and hat. “I really do have an early morning.” Jacob’s family owned one of the largest farms in the area, growing soybeans and hay and raising beef cattle.
“She will think what she thinks. You know my mamm. I was surprised you came. I didn’t know she had asked.” Salina dropped her arms heavily to her sides, slapping her thighs in frustration. It was embarrassing to have your mother meddle in your nonexistent love life.
“Regina has been eager to marry you off,” Jacob teased, giving her kapp string a flick. “I just came for the free meal and to support a freind. You helped my folks out that whole week I was visiting my cousins.”
“You didn’t have to pay me back by making her think you had an interest!” Salina blew out a frustrated breath. Of course Jacob was a fine man. His long legs and wide hands made him capable of doing any job well. His joking side was the right measure of not too much and not too little. He was a fine catch. . .for Margaret.
“Our folks want the best for us. Even if it doesn’t work out that way.” He shrugged.
“Funny. How is making them think you have an interest in me, and not Margaret, helping?”
“Well.” Jacob slipped into his coat and opened the front door. A fast gust of cold wind blew in and forced immediate goose bumps on Salina’s arms.
“If not me, your mamm might have invited Noah Christner over. There’s barely a single fella left after me, and I figure if she thinks I’m interested, she’ll not invite him.”
What a good friend. Salina warmed with fresh appreciation. It was true. Havenlee, Indiana, wasn’t exactly springing up future husbands.
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Mollie Bender claimed it was on account that for three whole years the women of Havenlee had taken to a vinegar drink, being encouraged by the local dok, and for four long years barely a son was born to a single house.
Mollie Bender was also of the habit of speaking to God out loud. Salina suspected she had taken up drinking a bit more vinegar than most, as forward-speaking as she was.
“So you did it out of pity?”
“We’ve been freinden a long time. It’s what freinden do.”
“Danke then.” Salina nodded. “And for answering all of Daed’s questions.”
“You and I have to stick together. Might as well enjoy a few suppers. I know we ain’t no match.”
“Jah, and I find you a fine sort. If only we hadn’t been so close sprouting up and. . .” Salina beamed up at him. “And that I didn’t talk so much.” Salina rolled her eyes playfully. Jacob was so much like a bruder. Her mother wouldn’t be fooled for long.
“And if only I could talk enough to keep a rock listening,” Jacob added.
“We cannot pretend though. It would be lying.” Salina wasn’t one to tell lies.
“That’s true.” He chuckled. “You can tell her you’re not interested, or I’m not. Vas-ever, but can we at least pretend until after next week? As soon as folks know I’ve komm for supper.” He looked down on her with a sly grin. “Margaret is bound to be jealous, and she might make eyes at me.”
“And how would anyone find out? It isn’t like I live right on the road.” The long driveway leading to Salina’s home allowed for plenty of privacy.
“I may have told Tobias of it.” Jacob kicked at the porch step.
“Why, you!” Salina slapped his arm playfully as Jacob laughed and hurried down the sidewalk before she shut the door.
Salina couldn’t help but smile at his foolish antics. If only Margaret knew what a fine man Jacob Beiler was. How he had come to her aid in a moment of desperation against her mother’s meddling. Salina made a mental note to add Jacob to her prayers tonight. God surely would open Margaret’s eyes. One of them deserved happiness.
In the kitchen, Salina went to help tidy up. Mamm had gone through
A Heart on Consignment
a lot of trouble for supper this evening. It was the least Salina could do to see it back in order again.
“I’ll see to tidying up.”
Regina Stoltzfus leaned against the sink, saddened as she glanced at her daughter. She was at least three inches taller than Salina, with dark black hair and spring water–blue eyes. The tiny scar on the side of her nose from a bout with shingles two years ago was barely noticeable now. She also had the ability to say a thousand things in one look.
“I thought he would make a fine match considering you’ve known each other since. . .” Regina turned toward the sink, her shoulders shrinking as she leaned into it with both hands.
“Jacob is a fine sort, for sure.” Salina lifted the empty plates from the table and went to her mother’s side. “How could you have known he has eyes for another?” She bumped her mother’s shoulder. “He thinks you make the best peach pie in all of Indiana.”
“I don’t understand.” Mamm scrubbed the first plate with an extra ounce of vigor. “You have plenty to offer.” She pointed a soapy finger Salina’s way. “If you hadn’t spent so much time hoping to sway Mica Graber, then maybe you would have noticed he was not the only man in Havenlee worth giving a look at. In fact, if you hadn’t gotten stars in your eyes for him and ignored my warnings, you could be married by now.”
Salina quietly listened as she scraped leftovers into a bucket. Pork Chop and Patti would be happy for them. Not so happy to learn that all the leftovers meant they were just getting closer to becoming pork chops and sausage patties.
“I told you he was of no mind to court you. Mollie Bender said it more than a handful of times, how contrary he is.”
“Mamm.” Mollie Bender fussed over all her grosskinner. If anyone was more set on marrying off her family than Salina’s mamm currently was, it was Mollie.
“We’ll just have to seek further, that’s all. I will write to my schwester in Marysville.”
“Mamm.” The last thing Salina wanted was for Mamm to widen the girth of her search!
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“Lydianne surely knows of someone. She did mention a couple unwed men already when I told her of your troubles.”
“You told her?” Of all the stuff.
“There’s also a newcomer.” Mamm quirked an eyebrow. “Jah, he’s staying with Martha and Mose. A nephew as I hear tell it. He’s from Kentucky, which is mighty far, but men have been known to move. Mollie says. . .” Mamm shot her a hopeful look. “He’s come in search of a wife.”
Salina opened her mouth to speak but closed it again. She knew better than to speak up against her mother, and what kind of man traveled that far for a wife?
“I don’t like the thought of you ever leaving Havenlee, but Gott knows what is best,” Mamm pressed.
If God knew what was best, then why was Mamm taking charge of Salina’s life?
“I shall call Martha first thing in the morning, and then I will write Lydianne just in case. That’s what’s to be done,” Mamm declared with a sharp nod of her head.
“Mamm.” Salina put her hands on her hips. “I don’t like knowing you spoke to Lydianne about me. It’s no one’s business, and it isn’t like everyone doesn’t already know I’m single with no plans to marry yet. You talk it up plenty with your freinden. You invite menner over for supper. I’m a grown woman now, and I think I have a say in my own future.”
Mamm looked at her sternly. It was a conversation they’d had a hundred times over, and Salina was weary of it.
“Well, you passed up Chris Schaffer, Kyle Yutzy, Simon Kurtz, Abner Lapp, and now Jacob!”
Mamm counted on her fingers, but to be fair, Abner Lapp was nearly thirty and had refused to come for supper. Salina wasn’t for marrying someone much older than her anyhow. A marriage required two people getting to know each other in the most loving of ways and learning how to navigate a family together. Kyle Yutzy didn’t navigate at all. He relied on everyone else to decide. And Chris and Simon were already courting.
Mamm clicked her tongue. “You didn’t even talk to Jacob. You did the same with Simon. He tried speaking with us about his work and family,
A
Heart on Consignment
and you all but ignored him. How can anyone know you have an interest if you suddenly grow silent?”
“Simon and Chris are courting. I’m not interested in either of them. I’ve tried telling you that. Jacob is like a brother to me. Did you not hear what I said about him having eyes for another?”
“You’re picky. That’s what you are, Salina. Got your head stuck on a man not available and picky with men that are. It’s sinful, Salina.” Mamm waved a finger and clicked her tongue again in reprimand. “That’s what it is. Your head is in the clouds, and your feet are chasing after it.”
Mamm placed a hand on Salina’s shoulder. “It’s best you be sensible. You ain’t getting any younger. You deserve a life with love in it too. Those fanciful thoughts of marriage are best to be put up. Not all marriages start with wooing but with love grown strong over time. You have to give it a chance or you’ll never know the joys of it at all.”
Later, Salina lay in her bed while the wind wailed outside. At twentytwo she had plenty of time yet to consider a husband. Didn’t she?
Mamm wanted grosskinder, and it was true, more hands would make light work on the farm. Was she being selfish to wait for the right man to come along? Did she dare even try if one did?
It was all so confusing.
“Lord, do You have a plan for me? It would be helpful if You made it clearer, because I’m not so sure.”
CHAPTER TWO
Threats of more rain had turned the air chilly. Yet Seth Weaver could feel the sweat on his forehead as he tapped the small wooden caps into each screw hole, careful not to leave any marks on the new wooden chest his onkel would display in the furniture shop. Learning how to build furniture was the last thing Seth thought to be trying when he came here.
Seth appreciated Aenti Martha and Onkel Mose for giving him a room and work that should occupy his thoughts. His room was as comfy as the one he had back home in Locust Creek, Kentucky. No one could feather a nest like Aenti Martha, but his mind needed more challenging work if he was going to put the last few weeks behind him.
Perhaps coming here was another mistake. Seth was becoming skilled at those. Onkel Mose didn’t seem happy having him here. The daunting task of learning a new trade was not as easy for Seth as it had been for his cousin Leonard, who’d learned from the cradle.
Onkel Mose was in his late fifties with more gray hair in his unruly beard than on his balding head. As his dark, judgmental gaze lingered Seth’s way from behind the special-ordered desk, he looked more like the deacon tasked with seeing over others than any of Seth’s other onkels.
In fact, Onkel Mose was Seth’s last choice on the onkel tree, but he was a fine furniture maker. That, and he had married Aenti Martha, whom Seth adored as much as his own mother.
That’s why Seth had come to Indiana. If a man was going to run from all the embarrassment, where better to go than to Aenti Martha, who
A Heart on Consignment
always had a warm plate awaiting him and a loving smile? Unlike Seth’s own mamm, she didn’t ask him how he was every hour either. No, Aenti Martha simply gave Seth his space.
In the two weeks Seth had made the little upper bedroom his own, his stomach hadn’t felt a moment of emptiness. His hands, on the other hand, felt strangely conflicted.
He wanted to be tinkering on some small engine or welding together a broken plow rather than building furniture as Onkel Mose insisted he should. He could try harder despite having no interest in creating things. The way Seth saw it, the world had plenty of things in it already.
Fixing what was already there. . . Now that was purpose. A calling.
Tinkering, Daed called it, taking things apart and putting them back together. Not a normal trade, most thought, but Seth loved tinkering and found it an interesting challenge to see the guts and works of things.
Had he not taken a cheap meat grinder bought at auction, welded it on a tire rim, and added a gas motor and an eyebolt system to allow the motor to slide back and forth? He had spot-welded the clamps in place, welded a channel on the side of a pipe, installed a pulley, aligned it with the bottom sprocket, and run a slackened roller chain between them. Daed was speechless and impressed, even before Seth added wheels for the heavy contraption that made processing two whole hogs over winter take less than half the time it normally took.
When word traveled that an Amish machine shop was opening in the neighboring community, he didn’t hesitate to seek out Lester Milford in hopes of apprenticing under him. Lester had years of knowledge from working out west, and Seth craved that knowledge.
Hopefully the job Lester offered him would be waiting for him when he returned home.
Whenever that is.
Pushing his narrow-framed glasses up higher on his nose, Seth knew he had no one to blame but himself. Perhaps he should have stayed and faced his community instead of running away. His life a month ago had looked promising. He’d gotten the job, spotted a little piece of land he could build a future on, and had the girl.
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Had the girl.
The latter reminder still stung his chest. He set the hammer down a little harder than he needed, scattering the rounded-topped wood plugs over the floor.
Mose’s frown pronounced itself as he witnessed the foolish mishap. Seth quickly gathered up the pieces and reached for more wood glue. The last thing he needed was another lecture about lollygagging.
But Seth had had the girl—his mind ran back to his previous thoughts. Until three days before they were to wed. That’s when life crashed with a heart-stopping bang. Seth still couldn’t wrap his head around it.
Kaynosha didn’t even give him enough respect to face him herself. Seth learned of her change of heart and unwillingness to marry him through her parents.
He clenched his teeth at the memory.
How do hearts change?
If only he knew, he wouldn’t be gluing wooden hole plugs in Indiana while his onkel directed displeasure his way.
The news had hit Seth hard. He’d been mortified. So much work had been done for his special day. Families had traveled the length of six states to be there. Heartbreak quickly turned to embarrassment, and embarrassment soon turned to anger.
Seth wasn’t prone to anger and didn’t even like it when others revealed a livid side to themselves. He didn’t even know himself, the man he thought he was, ready to be a husband, compared to the man others saw when all his plans disappeared in one day.
That’s why he packed his clothes in a bag as soon as he apologized to his family and to all the women who had been baking and tirelessly preparing for his wedding day. He couldn’t stay there, attend the gatherings, and pretend that nothing happened. That his whole future hadn’t been ripped from him.
No man wanted public rejection or to be looked at pitifully by all his friends. Aenti Martha’s much-sought-after lemon pie had nothing to do with his choice at all.
Maintaining a safe distance, three hundred twenty-six miles, from
A Heart on Consignment
the worst day of his life was his best protection.
But what went wrong?
The question was constantly drawn forth, and yet it was still unanswered. They had been happy, or so Seth thought. A fine match, her own folks said.
Kaynosha was the prettiest girl in all of Locust Creek. Although their community was smaller than Havenlee, even his closest friends had hoped to court her as soon as she became of age. It was to Seth’s surprise that she accepted that first buggy ride home with him when she turned eighteen.
Seth remembered the hoots and hollers the day they walked out together publicly. He felt nine feet tall climbing into the buggy after the youth singeon, their friends teasing them and singing childish kissing songs as they pulled out of the Wickeys’ farm. He, Seth Weaver, all lanky with glasses and a passion for repairing broken things, got the girl.
Kaynosha blushed at all of the attention, and she had been pleased when they talked of marriage, as if she’d been waiting two whole years for him to ask.
Love did funny things to people. Like make them blind and stupid. Kaynosha wasn’t without flaws. He had a few of his own that needed tending, but her penchant to dream about new places or complain where Seth felt a complaint unnecessary was easily overlooked when he was lovesick.
What else had he overlooked?
He hadn’t known she carried doubts. Perhaps he should have listened more to his gut when she talked about someone moving out of the district and how much she wished they would too. She disliked living so close to the river that tended to flood its banks a couple times each year. But they had agreed to stay on with her parents until they could build on the farm.
Seth hadn’t ignored everything though. Like the time she told him how Daniel Jay bought a clock for Edna Rose. He knew he needed to get one. That was eight hundred bucks he’d never get back collecting dust in his room.
Better collecting dust than being gifted to someone who wasted three years of my life.
Jah, the wound was still fresh. The bruises still tender.
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The sound of a buggy pulling up to the furniture shop drew both Seth’s and Mose’s attention. Somewhere in the back of the long room scattered with stacks of newly sawed lumber, old barnwood, and machinery, Leonard lifted his head. He was the youngest of nine children and hoped to one day take over for his father.
Seth’s onkel owned a scant six acres, just enough pasture to keep their three horses and seasonal beef grazing, and a garden big enough to feed their large lot. It was a wonder they still kept such work when all Seth’s cousins were married with families of their own.
Aside from a two-story brick home with newer black shutters and an older hand-pumped cistern for water, the land had three large metal buildings and one old barn that was worn and weathered and in much need of repair.
Seth had already gotten familiar with the barn, happily seeing over his onkel’s livestock as he did back home on his own family farm. As eldest, Seth had that duty, along with his younger bruder Sam. Growing up with four younger siblings, Seth was grateful that his fourteen-year-old brother could see to the chore in his absence.
Outside, Onkel Mose introduced Seth to a rough-looking older gentleman who apparently had recently come out of the fields from plowing despite the sky still looking threatening. Under his hat, salt-and-pepper hair pointed in every direction. The lack of proper hooks and eyes had left a long V in his shirt, revealing dark hair covering his chest.
“Mose, I reckon I have a proposition for you.” The older man eyed the sky before settling his gaze on Mose.
“Is that so, Henry?” Mose smirked before turning to Seth. “This here is Henry Schmidt, our minister.”
Seth had yet to see his onkel attempt to smile, but currently a grin asserted itself, revealing a close friendship between the two men.
“Still got that empty building?”
“For now. Was hoping this new hand would help put a dent in all our orders so we could fill it up.” Mose pointed a thumb toward Seth, but his expression was doubtful.
“Nice to meet ya,” the minister said, giving Seth a full inspection from
A Heart on Consignment
his size-ten-and-a-half shoes to his straw hat and tinted lenses. “I’m sure your family is glad you’re visiting, and I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.” Henry’s gaze went back to Mose. “I reckon you’ve heard about the storm that rolled through last night?”
“I doubt he heard anything, snoring like he does,” Leonard said, joining them. He had Martha’s light hair but was struggling to grow a beard now that he was married.
“It was a good storm, for sure. Took a couple sheets of metal off the barn.”
“Jah, but it was dying out by the time it reached us.” Henry shook his head. “The worst of it hit just north of Marysville. One of the drivers said they’re calling it a category 4.”
The minister was referring to a tornado, and Seth’s breath caught. It was one thing to challenge a river, protecting homes and farms too close to its banks, but swirling winds were unpredictable in where they popped up and what they took away.
“I’ve heard nothing of it until now,” Mose responded.
“The local gas station is gone, and those mobile homes lined up nearby tipped right over. Or got ripped apart. A few of our own have suffered too.” The minister lowered his gaze and stared at the reins in his hands. “Barns blown over and walls ripped from houses.”
“I’ll see we do our part, if that’s what you’re asking.” As deacon, Mose handled all the finances for his community for such needs.
The minister shook his head but refused to lift his eyes from the reins he was fingering. “They lost a whole family. A young mudder and her kinder, an older woman who got trapped in her bathroom and had a heart attack before they got to her. The Millers lost two kinder. They were in a buggy trying to get home from school when it came through. They just found them this morning.”
Seth glanced at his cousin. They were close in age and both raised to know death came to everyone, despite knowing death was to be accepted, when young life was taken it was hard to swallow.
“Gott sie mit jem,” Mose said accordingly.
God be with them indeed, but it was those left behind Seth would
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pray for now. Last night’s rain had gotten heavy and the winds strong, but inside the brick home, Seth never suspected such a storm had gone over.
“I met with two fellas this morning. Merv Yoder and Matt Peachy. They’re part of the Mennonite Disaster Relief and hoping to start calling up volunteers to help clear away the debris and help folks out.” The minister glanced at Seth and Leonard before turning his eyes back on Mose.
“I’m heading over to Benjamin’s now and thought to take you with me.”
“The bishop?” Mose lifted two brows.
“If he agrees to it, we might need your building.”
By Saturday morning, Seth had never met so many new faces as vans, trucks, and buggies continued to arrive, leaving donated items to help with the recent tornado that had decimated the small town forty miles away.
“Whatcha going to do with all of it?” Seth asked, setting down a box filled with diapers someone had donated. How kind of folks to consider all needs beyond food, water, and shelter. Every charitable gift held love in it, even jars and jars of tomato jam that one lady insisted folks would have need of. Seth wasn’t sure what tomato jam was, but in less than twenty-four hours, the accumulation of items for those who had suffered the worst of the storm was nothing short of impressive. Being from such a small community that continued to dwindle down, folks back in Locust Creek were pretty much on their own if disaster hit.
A special fund had been set up at the local bank, where folks could donate financially, and the MDR already had trucks en route to help the local authorities and utility workers clear roads.
Beside him, Leonard set down another box, this one filled with towels. Folks needed towels. There were at least thirty cases of water along the far wall. Someone had even thought to bring baby formula, the powdery stuff in round cans.
“Jah. How are folks going to get all this stuff? Clark County is nearly forty miles from here,” Leonard added.
Mose removed his hat and rubbed his balding head in contemplation. “I reckon we open the doors and let folks help themselves. Not up to me. I just offered up the building to store it all in.”
Seth took in the size of the building. The high ceilings allowed for
A Heart on Consignment
the possibility of a second floor. Even with all the donations, more than half of the space remained empty. The painted markings on the concrete revealed that many basketball games had been played under its roof. The sudden chance for Seth to escape the furniture shop hit him.
“Something on your mind?”
Seth turned to his uncle. “I could see over it. See what drivers in the area are willing to volunteer to haul down there.”
“You intend on staying that long?” His question ignited Seth’s hope of finding a better distraction than one that involved breathing sawdust and fumes all day. Seth didn’t know how to answer. He didn’t have to, because his onkel walked away, ending any further talk.
