Read Online Finding Love at Home (The Beiler Sisters) by Jerry S. Eicher - Free Book Online Page B

almost overnight his mamm had lost so much. Her left hand was immobile, and her speech was slurred. She couldn’t walk without the help of a walker. His daett was by her side now. Edwin was trying to help, but he seemed helpless as he fumbled beside her. Alvin rushed forward to take his mamm ’s hand. “Have you had supper?” he asked. It was a stupid question, he figured, but better than nothing.
    His mamm stared at him for a moment. “Are you visiting?”
    “It’s Alvin!” Daett hollered near her ear. “He stayed home from the hymn singing to pay us a visit.”
    “That’s gut ,” Mamm mumbled. “I’m glad to see him.” A faint smile crossed Mamm ’s face.
    Alvin leaned forward to give her a hug. She didn’t respond other than to look up at him. “I love you, Mamm ,” he said, giving her a peck on the cheek.
    “We should get her something to eat,” Daett said, looking concerned. “There are leftovers in the refrigerator that Mildred left. I’m supposed to heat it in the oven when she gets up.”
    Daett is likely to burn the house down, Alvin thought. Mamm had always tended to the kitchen duties. But perhaps Mildred had drawn hidden talents out of Daett .
    As if he could read his son’s thoughts, Daett said, “I had to make do for a while before Mildred came. I know how to make a fire in the oven.”
    “Come then.” Alvin took Mamm ’s hand and gently pushed the walker toward the kitchen table.
    His daett stopped him. “ Nee , she’ll rest more comfortably in the rocker until I get her food ready.”
    Alvin shrugged. “Okay.” He helped ease Mamm into her rocker. She settled in with a smile on her face. “It’s gut you’re visiting, Alvin.”
    “ Yah, Mamm .” He stroked her arm.
    Daett was at the kitchen doorway. “If you want, there is enough for you to eat from what Mildred has in the refrigerator, Alvin. Unless you’ve had supper.”
    He hadn’t, and he was hungry. Alvin nodded his thanks. He stood and followed his daett into the kitchen. This is strange, he thought. He’d grown up and worked with his daett in the fields but never in the kitchen. This was women’s work—duties men didn’t perform. Yet here they both were and at the same time.
    For the first time in a long time, Alvin’s heart stirred toward his daett . Alvin had always been so sure he was different from his daett , but now he was no longer so certain. And there was still the fact his daett had never done what his youngest son had done. He’d never fled to the Englisha world like a scared rabbit rather than face hisproblems. And his daett had never stayed home from a hymn singing because he’d seen his old girlfriend at a church service.
    As his daett built up the fire in the stove, Alvin got the leftovers from the refrigerator. From what Mildred had left in the refrigerator, the girl knew how to cook. But then he expected that. Mildred had been raised Amish. Did Debbie know how to cook? But of course she did, he told himself at once. He must not question or doubt her.
    “How was the service this morning?” Daett asked as Alvin handed him the food to put in the oven.
    “Okay,” Alvin replied. What would Daett say if Alvin mentioned that an Englisha girl from his past had been in attendance? Alvin shivered. There would likely be words of rebuke spoken like he hadn’t heard since he was a child.
    “I hope Mamm can go again someday.” Daett ’s voice was wistful.
    It probably wouldn’t happen, but Alvin wasn’t about to say so. “Perhaps I can stay with Mamm some Sunday while you go,” he offered.
    Daett seemed grateful. “ Yah , perhaps. I haven’t been wanting to ask such a sacrifice from Mildred. She does enough for us already.”
    He couldn’t stay next Sunday, Alvin thought. That was the day of his next date with Debbie—if she wasn’t upset with him. But why would she be? Debbie had been nothing but reasonable last Sunday. He must pay her a visit some evening this week and, at least, explain