was leaving that night. She had packed a bag and rushed to find him before it was too late. At the bus station, she had gripped his arm, willing him to see how much she cared.
“I love you, Luke. More than my own life. More than my family. I’ll go anywhere as long as I can be with you. You need me as much as I need you. I know you love me.”
He brushed her hand aside. His face was blank as he stared at the ground. “You don’t get it, Emma. I don’t need you. I don’t want you tagging after me. Stay here. Live a simple life. Be happy with some farmer and have six kids of your own.”
“I don’t want to stay without you. I love you. Please, let me come with you.”
“Why would I? You’ve become a nuisance. I don’t love you, Emma. I never did.” He turned away and started to board the bus as her heart broke into tiny pieces. On the steps, he paused. “Forget about me. Find someone else.”
He took a seat by the window and left her weeping at the bus station. He never looked back. She knew because she had watched until the bus was gone from sight.
She had meant nothing to him, while he had meant everything to her.
But not anymore.
It was a blessing that he had rejected her offer to go out into the world with him. Nineteen, lovestruck and foolishly naive, she hadn’t understood the powerful hold his growing drug use had on him then. She thought her prayers and her love could change him, save him from himself, but she had been wrong. Luke had been caught in a downward spiral that brought shame and heartache to her and to his family. He had disappeared into the city where he went from using drugs to selling them until he was arrested. It had taken time in prison to free him from his addiction.
Emma blew out a deep breath as she watched Luke get out of his buggy. She’d gotten over her feelings for him ages ago. Now, he was simply someone she chose to avoid. In the year and a half that he had been back among the Amish, she’d managed never to be alone with him.
Pushing her painful memories and broken dreams into the deep recesses of her heart, she dumped her coffee down the drain. “Luke Bowman is here.”
“Luke? I wonder what he wants.”
“Are you going to come in with me?” Still seated in Luke’s buggy, young Alvin gazed fearfully at the house.
“Ja, I’ll come in.” Luke knew exactly how the boy felt. He’d been in the same position more than once in his life—having to face the consequence of his foolhardiness. The boy had learned a hard lesson today. Older brothers did not always know best.
Luke stood in the cold air waiting for the boy to get out. His hands still ached, but at least he had the feeling back in them now. His buggy horse whinnied to Zachariah’s horse hitched at the rail in front of the house. The black gelding nickered back. Flecks of foam on the animal proved the horse had covered more than a few miles recently. Why hadn’t he been put away? It was bad for a sweaty horse to be left standing in the cold. Zachariah knew that. Maybe he was leaving again soon.
“She’s gonna be mad.” Alvin scooted a shade closer to the open door but didn’t get out.
Luke knew whom the boy meant. “She’ll be thankful that you’re safe. Trust me.”
“For a little bit. Then she’s gonna be mad. You don’t know what my shveshtah is like when she gets her feathers ruffled.”
“Actually, I do know what your sister is like when she’s angry.”
Luke didn’t bother trying to explain ancient history to the worried boy with him, but he still recalled the tongue lashings Emma had given him when she’d discovered he and Jim were experimenting with drugs. His life would have been a lot better if he’d taken her scolding to heart, but he hadn’t. He’d let the drugs pull him deeper and deeper into trouble until he ended up in prison. Like most fools, he’d had to learn his lesson the hard way. Even now, he worried that he might fall back into his old ways without the threat of prison hanging over his head.
Alvin finally got out of the buggy. Luke followed him up the porch steps. At the door, Alvin drew a deep breath and turned the doorknob. Luke followed him in. Emma and Zachariah were waiting for them in the clean and cheery kitchen. The room had wide-plank pine floors. A blue checkered cloth covered the long table in the center of the room. A star quilt in bright shades of red and white covered a quilting frame in front of the far window. The mouthwatering smell of roasting meat and vegetables came from the oven. A pan of rolls sat rising on the stovetop. Emma had always been a good cook.
Luke took his black hat off. Alvin pulled his off, too, and stood at Luke’s side, staring at the floor. From his own experiences, Luke knew Alvin wouldn’t be able to sink through it and disappear no matter how hard he wished he could. He put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and nodded to Alvin’s family. “Afternoon, Emma, Zachariah.”
“Goot to see you, Luke. What brings you here with my youngest in tow? Has he been up to some mischief?”
“Alvin, where is Roy?” Emma didn’t bother to acknowledge Luke. He was used to it, but it still hurt when she pointedly ignored him.
“There was a sort of accident,” Alvin muttered.
“What kind of accident?” Zachariah rose unsteadily to his feet. Emma stood beside him wide-eyed. She pressed a hand to her chest.
“Roy is okay,” Luke added quickly to reassure them. He pushed Alvin forward. “You had best tell them everything from the beginning.”
Alvin nodded, took a deep breath and looked at his sister. “We took the wood to Jim Morgan’s house like you told us to do, Emma. We unloaded it and stacked it in his shed. When we were done, Jim let us sit on his snowmobile. The red-and-white one that goes so fast. You’ve seen it, haven’t you?”
“And?” Emma prompted, the concern in her eyes giving way to speculation.
“Jim went inside to get our money, and his brother Brian showed Roy how to start the snowmobile. Brian let us take it for a little ride. Just a short one. We were coming right back. It was loads of fun. Then...”
Her eyes narrowed to slits. She propped her hands on her hips. “Then what?”
“Roy drove it out on the river,” Luke continued when it was clear that Alvin was out of courage. “The machine broke through the ice. Alvin was thrown clear, but Roy was dumped in the water. Fortunately, Noah and I saw the whole thing. We fished Roy out and got him back to my folks’ place. Mamm and Rebecca thought it best that he stay in bed for a day or so to make sure he recovers and doesn’t come down with pneumonia.”
Rebecca was married to Luke’s oldest brother. She was Emma’s cousin and had worked as a lay nurse in the community before she married Samuel. Luke knew Emma would trust her judgment over anyone else on the subject of her brother’s health.
Zachariah sat down. “Sounds like my boy took more than a little dunking.”
Luke turned his hat in his hands. “He was in the water for a good bit.”
“He got swept under the ice, but Luke saved him,” Alvin said, looking up with admiration in his eyes.
Uncomfortable with the praise, Luke ruffled the boy’s blond hair. “God helped a little. He kept me from falling through the ice, too.”
“I know how treacherous the river ice is this time of year. You risked your life to save my son. Danki.” Zachariah rose to his feet again and held his hand out.
Luke accepted the man’s thanks and shook his hand. “Anyone would have done the same.”
Emma rubbed a hand across her forehead. “So Roy has ruined a machine that costs hundreds if not thousands of dollars. How are we going to pay for it? Does your brother possess a single grain