The Mending Read online

  HONEST WORDS

  “It wouldn’t be fair to saddle you with my problems,” she said.

  “What problems do you refer to?”

  “My health problems.”

  “I’m not worried about money. And if you have days you don’t feel well, I’ll help you.”

  “You’d soon get tired of that.”

  “That’s not the way it works, Malinda. If two people take vows, it’s for all time—in sickness and in health.”

  “Vows?” Her voice squeaked. She gave a little cough. “You don’t know how bad it can get.”

  “I know it was bad enough to land you in the hospital. I don’t want you to be sick, Malinda, but your condition doesn’t scare me off. I want to help you, to take care of you.”

  “No man wants to take on extra household duties with his own chores and work. It would definitely be a burden.”

  “Why don’t you let me decide that?”

  Books by Susan Lantz Simpson

  THE PROMISE

  THE MENDING

  Published by Kensington Publishing Corporation

  The MENDING

  Susan Lantz Simpson

  ZEBRA BOOKS

  KENSINGTON PUBLISHING CORP.

  http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

  All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.

  Table of Contents

  HONEST WORDS

  Also by

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Epilogue

  THE RECONCILIATION,

  ZEBRA BOOKS are published by

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  119 West 40th Street

  New York, NY 10018

  Copyright © 2018 by Susan Lantz Simpson

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models, and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.

  If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

  Zebra and the Z logo Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  BOUQUET Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM Off.

  ISBN: 978-1-4201-4662-2

  eISBN-13: 978-1-4201-4663-9

  eISBN-10: 1-4201-4663-7

  In memory of my wonderful mother,

  Ruth Lantz

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thank you to my family and friends for your continuous love and support.

  Thank you to my daughters, Rachel and Holly, for believing in me and dreaming along with me.

  (Rachel, you patiently listened to my ideas and ramblings, and Holly, I couldn’t have done any of the tech work without your skills!)

  Thank you to my mother, who encouraged me from the time I was able to write. I know you are rejoicing in heaven.

  Thank you to my Mennonite friends, Greta Martin and Ida Gehman, for all your information.

  Thank you to my friends at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church for all your support and encouragement. You ladies are awesome!

  Thank you to my wonderful agent, Julie Gwinn, for believing in me from the beginning and for all your tireless work.

  Thank you to John Scognamiglio, editor in chief, and the entire staff at Kensington Publishing for all your efforts in turning my dream into reality.

  Thank you most of all to God, giver of dreams and abilities and bestower of all blessings.

  Prologue

  She sensed someone had entered the room, even though she’d been dozing and hadn’t heard the whoosh of the door opening or the squeak of athletic shoes on the tile floor. Her eyes felt glued shut. Sleep, a precious commodity, had been in short supply for a long, long time. She probably didn’t even need to open her eyes. More than likely the visitor was the nurse, ready to review her discharge instructions with her. With eyes still closed, she freed a hand from under the stiff sheet and thin blanket to poke an errant strand of hair beneath her kapp.

  “You look as lovely as always, Malinda.”

  Her eyes flew open. The deep voice certainly did not belong to the nurse. Quickly she pushed herself to a sitting position and yanked the covers up as high as she could get them. “D-Dr. McWilliams.”

  “Todd. Remember, I’ve told you on many occasions you can call me Todd.”

  Malinda nodded. “Jah, I remember.” It didn’t seem natural or right to call an unfamiliar man—especially an Englisch man, and a doctor, to boot—by his first name. Her mamm would be horrified.

  Todd McWilliams wasn’t a complete stranger. He’d been her doctor ever since she had arrived in Ohio to stay with an aunt back in the spring. She’d seen him every day since she had been admitted to the hospital. He’d always been friendly; maybe a wee bit too friendly. She couldn’t help but feel flattered that this tall, handsome, smart, important doctor seemed to take an interest in an ordinary Plain girl. Perhaps he treated all his patients as if they were the most special people in the world.

  Malinda sucked in a sharp breath at the touch of the young doctor’s hand. Relax. He’s probably checking your pulse, like everyone else who enters the room does—that is, if they aren’t poking or prodding you for some reason. But he didn’t press his fingers to her wrist. That was a gut thing, or he’d feel her wildly galloping heartbeat. Instead, he laced his fingers with hers.

  “You don’t have to leave Ohio, Malinda. You could stay here with your aunt. That way I could still see you.”

  “I have a doctor back home who can monitor me. After all, Dr. Nelson referred me here when Aenti Mary called home after I got sick.”

  “I’m not talking about seeing you strictly as a patient, Malinda. Don’t you feel there’s something more between us than that?”

  “I-I’m Amish. You’re Englisch.” Malinda tried to pull her hand free, but the doctor’s grip, though not painful, was too tight for her to extract her hand from his. The warm, tingly feeling coursing through her veins surprised and frightened her.

  “You could become ‘Englisch.’”

  “Nee.” She wiggled her fingers but still couldn’t free them. “Being Amish is all I know. I’ve never had any desire to be anything else.”

  “It’s always good to learn new things, to broaden your horizons.”

  Malinda shook her head, sendin
g her kapp strings into a little dance.

  “I could become Amish.”

  Malinda burst out laughing at the very thought of this highly educated, technologically dependent man shucking his medical degree, cell phone, and computer. She clapped her free hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “Th-the c-comment you just made,” Malinda gasped, trying to choke back more laughter. She drew in a deep breath. “Do you honestly think you could give up all this?” She waved her hand at her surroundings. “You studied long and hard to become a doctor. Could you throw that away? Could you abandon your life, your car, your phone, and your gadgets?”

  “The Amish need doctors, don’t they?”

  “Of course we need them. We just don’t become them.”

  “Then it seems the best solution is for you to stay here. We have Mennonite churches around. You could join one, and I’ll even join.”

  “Nee. My home is in Maryland. I came here to help my aenti after her surgery but ended up in the hospital after a flare-up of my condition. It’s time to go home.”

  “Please, just think about—”

  A sound at the door distracted the doctor enough that Malinda could slide her hand out of his grip. She adjusted her sheet and blanket and tucked both hands beneath them, out of reach of the doctor.

  “I’m back, Malinda,” the voice singsonged before the person fully entered the room. “Oh, Dr. McWilliams. I didn’t know you were in here.” The nurse skidded to an abrupt stop. Her purple stethoscope swung around her neck. “I’ve got Malinda’s discharge instructions. I can come back later.”

  “That’s okay,” Malinda answered before the doctor could tell Nurse Trudy to come back another time. She surprised herself by speaking up today when she usually was quite docile by nature, especially around authority figures. Todd McWilliams’s conversation disturbed her more than she cared to admit. She needed to call it to a halt immediately. “Thank you, Dr. McWilliams, for everything. I’m feeling ever so much better now.”

  Malinda peeked at Nurse Trudy, who ran the hand not clutching a clipboard through her short, curly, blonde hair. The same hand then tugged down the tight-fitting flowered scrub top. The nurse’s gaze flitted from doctor to patient. Malinda took in the frown puckering Trudy’s forehead and the momentary anger clouding her wide green eyes. As quickly as they had appeared, the frown lines smoothed and the gaze softened. Trudy marched across the room and laid a possessive hand on the doctor’s arm. “We’re sure glad to hear that, aren’t we, Todd, uh, Dr. McWilliams?”

  Todd McWilliams shook his arm free. Malinda noted the brief look of disgust he aimed at the young nurse before he turned a smile on Malinda. “We certainly are.” He patted Malinda’s shoulder. “You take care now. And remember everything I said.” He winked one brown eye, swiped at a lock of sandy hair that had drooped over his forehead, and backed away from the bed. “Do your thing, Nurse Trudy.” He smiled once more at Malinda and then turned to stride from the small, private hospital room. He left the door open behind him.

  “Okay, sweetie, let me go over your instructions with you. Then you can get out of the lovely hospital gown and put on your own clothes. How does that sound?”

  “It sounds great.” Malinda would be ever so glad to take off the less-than-modest blue and white gown she’d been compelled to don. The thing had short sleeves and barely came to her knees. And the back of it tied in only two places, leaving wide gaps of exposed flesh. That was the very reason she wore two of the shapeless gowns, one turned frontward and one turned backward. Putting on her own black stockings and long blue dress would be a blessing for sure.

  Trudy dragged a padded, straight-backed chair closer to the bed and plopped down. “Whew! It’s good to get off my feet for a minute. I don’t know what Dr. McWilliams told you . . .” She paused and raised her thin, overplucked eyebrows as if waiting for some juicy tidbit of gossip. When Malinda merely shrugged, the nurse continued with her discharge spiel. She ran one long index finger down the top sheet of paper attached to the clipboard on her lap. “You are to continue with all your medications . . .”

  Chapter One

  Malinda leaned her head against the cool window of the big white van that was transporting her home. She had hugged Aenti Mary and apologized for getting sick when she’d come to help her aenti—as if she could control when a flare-up of her Crohn’s disease would occur. And this had been a particularly nasty flare-up that had necessitated hospitalization. She still felt tired, weak, and sickly thin, but she was relieved to be out of the hospital and on her way home. She would have to endure Mamm’s clucking over her like a mother hen and pushing all kinds of gooey goodies at her to fatten her up. The very thought of food made Malinda’s stomach turn inside out, but the idea of climbing into her own comfortable, familiar bed soon settled her gut down a bit.

  Malinda closed her eyes to stop the dizziness caused by the trees zooming past the window. Maybe she could sleep the whole nine-hour ride away. She didn’t want to appear rude to the other passengers, who would disembark at various towns along the way, but she wasn’t up to holding lengthy conversations. If she looked half as sick as she felt, they’d probably all steer clear of her anyway. Her head bumped against the window as the van chugged along. Lest a pounding headache ensue, Malinda slid down as much as the seat belt would allow and leaned her head against the back of the high seat. Conversations, some in Pennsylvania Dutch and others in Englisch, swirled around her, but she finally tuned them out. If only she could tune out the voices in her own head.

  Had she given Todd McWilliams any indication she was even remotely interested in him as anything other than her health care provider? Why would he assume she could just up and jump the fence? She’d never had any desire to leave her community. Sure, some aspects of the Englisch life might be appealing, but not so appealing that she’d sacrifice her beliefs, her family, and her freinden for the luxury of turning on an electric light or jumping into a car for a quick ten-minute drive to the grocery store.

  And what was with Nurse Trudy? For a brief moment, the nurse’s eyes had shot daggers at her from across the room before she assumed her professional nurse expression. It seemed almost as if the young nurse, who was probably only a few years older than Malinda, had feared Malinda was stealing her man. She needn’t have worried. Malinda had been a little flattered, but mostly confused and frightened. She was glad Trudy had entered the room when she did to save Malinda from being alone with the doctor any longer. Ach! It was too much to think about now. Ohio would soon be behind her.

  The hum of rubber tires on the pavement and the steady drone of voices lulled Malinda to sleep. She only vaguely noticed any stops the van made until they reached the mountains of western Maryland. Somewhere near Oakland, the van lurched to a stop.

  “Ach! Sorry, dear.” The blonde, fortyish woman who had been sitting beside Malinda with her knitting needles clacking the whole way spoke softly. Her elbow poked Malinda as she gathered up her purse and small knitting bag in preparation to climb from the van. “Oops. Sorry.”

  Malinda turned bleary eyes in the woman’s direction. “That’s okay.” With her throat as dry as dust, Malinda’s voice came out as a croak. She cleared her throat and sat up straighter to look out the window. “Do you live here?”

  “Jah. There are several Amish and Mennonite communities here.” The woman smiled. If she’d told Malinda her name earlier, Malinda couldn’t recall it now.

  “It’s beautiful.” Malinda stared in awe at the surrounding mountains, all green with summer vegetation. She must have dozed through this region on the way out to Ohio. “It must be amazing in the winter, all snow-covered.”

  “Jah. We certainly get our share of snow most winters. It’s gut for business. We get tourists all year round with the ski resorts in winter and the campers and hikers in summer.”

  “It must be very nice here.”

  “Very nice, but it can be very cold in winter
. A little thing like you would surely freeze.”

  “Probably.” Some winters in Southern Maryland were so cold and snowy, Malinda wanted to do nothing more than huddle beside the woodstove with one of Mamm’s thickest quilts wrapped snugly around her.

  Of course, she rarely had that luxury. There were always chores to complete, which Malinda often did with chattering teeth. Being the only girl in a family with five bruders meant plenty of cooking, cleaning, washing, and mending needed to get done. Mamm needed her help. She hoped Mamm hadn’t worked too hard in her absence. They hadn’t planned on her being gone so long.

  “It’s quite lovely here in summer,” the woman continued. “It doesn’t get unbearably hot, and there is usually at least a small mountain breeze to give you a breath of air.”

  “It sounds wunderbaar.”

  “Kumm visit us some time. Just ask for Nora Kinsinger. Most folks around here know me. I have a sewing and stitching store.”

  “I may just do that one day.”

  “You’d be most wilkom. Enjoy the rest of your trip, Malinda.” With that, Nora Kinsinger jumped from the van and followed the driver to the back to retrieve her larger traveling bag.

  Malinda must have told Nora her name when they’d first found themselves strapped in next to each other, but her brain was still too fuzzy to conjure up any memory of that. She didn’t know about enjoying the rest of the trip, though. Her backside already felt numb, and she had several more hours of bouncing along in one of the middle seats of the extended van to endure. She’d be ever so glad to reach St. Mary’s County.

  * * *

  She managed to stay awake as the van twisted and turned on the narrow mountain roads. Malinda found herself whispering prayers on some of the steeper descents. The runaway truck ramps for big rigs that couldn’t slow down gave her some cause for concern. She turned slightly and craned her neck to peek out the back window to assure herself that no eighteen-wheelers were rumbling down the mountain behind the van. Towering peaks kissing the cloudless blue sky and dark and light green patchwork valleys provided breathtaking views, but Malinda still heaved a sigh of relief when the highway leveled off and the mountain roads were behind them.