The Path to Piney Meadows Page 8

  On the other hand, with Ted and Miranda coming, everyone’s attention would be on them, especially since their engagement. She worried that with all the excitement, Chad might get lost in the crowd when instead he needed to make a good first impression on so many people.

  It also meant that in the evening, when all activities were done, Miranda would go back to Lois and Leonard’s home for the night and leave Ted and Chad together at Ted’s house without distraction or interruption, allowing them time to talk.

  Now that she’d thought about it, this was exactly what Chad needed to fit into their community.

  This worked well both ways—Chad was helping her gain some skills for moving to the cities, and Ted would help Chad with his move to Piney Meadows.

  Anna smiled. Everything was falling into place.

  Chad shook hands with Ted. “Congratulations. I must say this was a surprise.”

  Not that Ted and Miranda being there at 5:30 a.m. surprised him. The only flight they could get left Seattle late in the evening. Adding the late hour to the flight time, then the time change between Washington and Minnesota, plus the drive from the airport to Piney Meadows, they’d made good time.

  The surprise was the matching wedding bands on their fingers. He hadn’t heard they’d already had their wedding. Anna hadn’t known, either. No one did. In fact, when he’d talked to Ted less than twenty-four hours ago, Ted had told him they hadn’t set a date yet, and Miranda wanted to have a spring wedding. It was a long way from spring.

  “I didn’t know, uh . . . Mennonites eloped.” It wasn’t as if they’d run away from disapproving parents. They were both adults, and they’d been living in the home of Miranda’s father, who was the pastor of a large and established church.

  If it wasn’t Chad’s imagination, Ted blushed. “Miranda’s father had made a joke about this trip being like a honeymoon, except we were not yet married. We already had our marriage license, then Miranda made a joke about running away to get married, and our trip here could be our honeymoon. We all got carried away, because before we thought about it very much, we went to the church and were married by Miranda’s father. Let me say that it is very easy to get married on short notice when your future father-in-law is a pastor.”

  Chad grinned. “I guess it was a small wedding.”

  Ted grinned back, and this time, Miranda broke out into a blush.

  “Not as small as anyone would think,” Ted said. “Word spreads just as fast in Miranda’s church as it does here. Many people were at the church before we were.”

  Beside Ted, Miranda sighed. They dropped each other’s hands, Miranda leaned into Ted’s chest, and Ted wrapped one arm around Miranda’s shoulders. “It was soooooo romantic,” Miranda murmured, then pressed herself more firmly against her new husband. “One of the ladies who rushed to the church brought her wedding veil from when she was married forty years ago. Another lady works at a florist. She brought some flowers for a bouquet. Everyone was taking pictures. My best friend was there, crying her eyes out, and someone even took pictures of us with my cell phone. We showed everyone on the plane.”

  Ted grinned. “Nein. You are the one who showed everyone on the plane.”

  Chad stared at the barely married couple. On the outside he grinned, but on the inside his heart sank.

  He’d planned to stay at Ted’s house while Ted and Miranda were in town, but he wasn’t going to sleep in the same house as a newlywed couple. Even though it would be daylight in a few hours, it was still technically their wedding night.

  They looked happy but had circles under their eyes. “You both look exhausted. I guess you didn’t sleep on the plane.”

  They turned their heads and grinned at each other like . . . a couple of newlyweds.

  “Nein,” Ted said, still smiling, his eyes not leaving Miranda’s. “We did not.”

  “Then you haven’t slept all night, have you?”

  Both shook their heads, without commenting.

  Chad forced himself to smile. “How about if I quickly change the sheets and you two have a nap?” He would find something to do outside the house for a few hours, despite the fact that it wasn’t dawn yet. At this time of year, the sun wouldn’t rise until a little before 8:00 a.m. Piney Meadows didn’t have a twenty-four-hour convenience store, but he could go to the office, get some work done, make himself a pot of coffee, and then drink the whole thing himself. His only other choices were to drive around the town until he ran out of gas or walk around until he froze to death.

  Compared to that, work wasn’t so bad.

  “If you’re hungry, there’s lots of food in the fridge. Anna’s mother invited me over for supper yesterday, and she gave me some great leftovers to take home. There’s plenty, help yourselves. While you grab a snack, I’ll go change the bed.”

  It didn’t take long, and Chad was out of the house and scraping the car windows before Ted and Miranda were out of the kitchen.

  He had a lot to think about, mainly where he could stay for the weekend in a town that had no hotel or motel. He wouldn’t intrude on a couple of newlyweds, especially since this was going to be a very short honeymoon, with both of them having to go back to their jobs Monday morning.

  As he drove toward the factory, Chad’s heart quickened.

  Inside the building, a light shone. They never left the lights on at night. William counted every penny of the money spent on electricity.

  Someone had broken in.

  His jaw tightened, and he clenched his teeth. Anna had laughed at him for locking his car, saying there was no crime here. Their people were not like that, and people did not steal from others here.

  However, someone would apparently steal from the biggest business in town.

  He slowed the car, trying to think of what to do. This town was too small to have a 9-1-1 service, and he didn’t have the number for the police station on his cell phone. Even if he did, there wouldn’t be anyone there at this hour.

  Besides, even if there might be a police officer on duty, he couldn’t go back to the house to look up the number. He refused to take the risk of walking in on Ted and Miranda’s honeymoon, because he doubted they were sleeping.

  Chad wasn’t a fighter, but if he found some kind of weapon, he could at least scare off a midnight bandit. Although really, there wasn’t anything worth stealing inside a business that made furniture. There was no money, only raw materials inside. No one was going to just walk off with a heavy wooden dresser, which was the bulk of the product line.

  However, they did have three computers. They weren’t new or high quality, but they were computers, and they had no security cables like many offices back in the city used.

  Monday morning, he was going to change that.

  Chad pulled his car into the single parking spot beside the building, which was a mystery, because as far as he knew, no one ever brought a car to use the space.

  The only thing in his car the least bit intimidating as a weapon was the metal bar from the jack in the trunk, but it was better than his bare hands.

  He closed the trunk as quietly as he could and ran to the door.

  It opened without a key.

  His teeth clenched. The crime rate in Piney Meadows was obviously low and the riffraff inexperienced if a thief would leave the door unlocked while he ransacked the place.

  Closing the door with the softest click, he shuffled through the lobby, his heart pounding, and tiptoed toward the office.

  He heard a noise.

  The boot-up tones of the operating system.

  As he suspected, the thief was after the computers. A foolish thief who took the time to make sure they worked before he ran off with them. If he was checking to see if they used a current Windows operating system, he was going to be seriously disappointed.

  Chad sucked in a deep breath and stiffened, gathering his strength and courage. He mentally counted to three and jumped into the open doorway. Holding the metal bar at his side, ready to strike, he deep
ened his voice to sound as intimidating as possible. “Freeze!” he yelled.

  9

  A scream split the air.

  A female scream.

  It came from behind the monitor at Anna’s desk . . .

  Where, on the floor beside Anna’s desk, sat Anna’s purse.

  “Anna?” He lowered the metal bar and then whipped it behind his back.

  In slow motion, Anna, her face as white as the sheets on Ted’s bed, rose from behind the computer monitor. “Ch . . . Chad? Wh . . . what are you doing here?”

  “Me?” He checked his watch, even though he knew very well what time it was. It was 5:38 a.m., when the rest of the town, except for Ted and Miranda and himself, and apparently Anna, were fast asleep in bed. “Never mind me. What are you doing here? Do you know what time it is? How did you get here?”

  Some of the color slowly flowed back to her face, and she blinked. “I got here the same as I do every day. I walked. How did you get here?”

  He could only stare at her. Except for one day that he’d slept in, the two of them had walked to work together, so he knew what that walk entailed. Being pitch black outside at this early hour this time of year and wading through snow that was thigh deep where it had drifted, he’d felt it somewhat of an adventure. But that was when the two of them were together. Today she’d made the trip alone. Not only was it midnight black, the temperatures, which were normally coldest just before dawn, had taken a seasonal dip. Even with his new Piney Meadows-style clothing, he still felt chilled to the bone to walk that distance. “I drove this time. What are you doing here at this hour?”

  Her cheeks darkened slightly, but her face was still pale. “I came to use the computer, to practice typing.”

  “But it’s twelve below zero.” With the wind chill, it would be even colder. Not that it was much warmer at dawn, but it felt colder in the dark. “I gave you my laptop to use at home. Where it’s warm.”

  She paused, as if she was trying to think of what to say. “It is better for me to practice typing here, where I am alone.”

  Now, as his heart stopped pounding and he was starting to feel normal, he began to relax. “I can’t see how typing on a laptop would be disturbing to anyone, even before dark.”

  She lowered her head, staring at her keyboard as she spoke. “I do not have a desk, I must practice my typing in the kitchen. My papa gets up early, and it is difficult to practice with him watching and listening. Then on the weekend, during the daytime my mama is in the kitchen. She needs the table for cooking. Also, my papa would prefer me to help mama prepare meals, not to sit and type on the computer.”

  Unfortunately, having been to her home a number of times, he understood what she meant on both counts. The first thing he’d learned about Anna’s father was he hated computers. He’d also learned her mother’s kitchen was her castle, and a computer was out of place there, too. Not to mention that being in a room with flour floating in the air wasn’t the best place for a laptop. “I can see your point.”

  Anna pushed her keyboard away from the edge of the desk and folded her hands on the desktop. “What are you doing here? Is there something important that we should be doing? You did not call me.”

  He pulled William’s chair out from the empty desk, wheeled it toward Anna, and sank down so he could talk to her at eye level. “Nothing important on a business level, but the reason I’m here is that Ted and Miranda just arrived.”

  She looked up at the clock on the wall. “Now? I thought they had made a plan to stay in a hotel at the airport tonight. I do not understand why they would drive so far on the dark highway.”

  He didn’t know Ted well, but he did know that by reputation Ted was very careful with money. “I have a feeling when Ted saw the price of parking his car for two weeks at the airport, he didn’t want to pay for another day or for a hotel bill. Mostly, though, I think he just wanted to bring Miranda home. They got married last night.”

  Anna’s eyes widened. “Married? But Miranda had sent me an e-mail yesterday to say they were planning to pick a holiday weekend for their wedding, to give those who could go to Seattle an extra day. What has changed their minds?”

  Chad shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea. But from what they said, I think it was an impulse and they went with it. So now they’re at Ted’s house, and I’m here to give them some privacy.”

  She looked at him, directly eye to eye. “That was nice of you.”

  He felt his cheeks heat up, and he knew he was blushing. “Not so much nice as self-preservation. This is technically their wedding night.”

  Anna blushed as well. “You will need someplace else to stay while they are here. We had planned for Miranda to stay at Leonard and Lois Toews’ home. She stayed with them for the year she lived in Piney Meadows. Since they are prepared for a guest, they will probably ask for you to stay with them.”

  Chad sagged. “That’s kind of awkward. I’ve never met them. How could I stay at their house?” Although, he really didn’t have any other options. Besides, he hadn’t known Ted. He still didn’t really know Ted. Yet, he’d been living in Ted’s house for nearly three weeks, and now he had taken over Ted’s job, with Ted’s blessing.

  These people were like no one he’d ever met before in his life.

  Anna smiled. “Lois is a wonderful hostess. She had not met Miranda before Miranda stayed in their home, yet they became close. I will call Lois and tell her what has happened.” Anna raised one hand to her mouth and began to giggle. “And once I tell Lois that Ted and Miranda are now married, it will not take long, and everyone will know.” Her smile dropped, and she lowered her hand. “Since they are married, we must have a wedding celebration, but this does not leave us much time. We must have the dinner tonight, because they will be leaving for Seattle on Sunday.”

  This time, Anna looked up at the clock. “I must call Lois now. She will be angry with me if I do not. Tonight, we will have a celebration.”

  Before Chad could remind her that it wasn’t yet six in the morning on a Saturday, Anna had already started dialing.

  He could tell the woman she’d called was at first confused by the early morning call but recovered quickly as Anna told her what had happened.

  Anna reached for her coat the second she hung up from a very short conversation. “We must go. You have brought your car, so it will not take long to get there. Lois was very excited. It is an honor for her to organize this wedding celebration. By the time we arrive at Lois and Leonard’s home, they will be ready for us. Lois and I will spread the word, and everyone will bring something.”

  Chad started to open his mouth to ask why they would cook. On short notice, they could just call a caterer so that everyone could simply be a guest. Then he thought of what he’d learned of this community so far. Very few women had outside jobs, and for those who did, it seemed almost every one of them except Anna worked for their family’s business. For the most part, a woman’s place was to be a housewife; this was a community of Mrs. Cleavers. Only Mrs. Cleaver didn’t cook like these Mennonite women. He’d never experienced such great food in his life. From what he’d heard, all the Mennonite women cooked like this, so even though he’d never heard of having a potluck for a wedding, this would be better than any catered wedding he’d ever been to.

  Anna went through the sequence to shut down the computer, pressed the button to turn off the monitor, then turned to him. “This is also very good, because it will give you a chance to talk to Lois, but also at the same time, unfortunate because she will be so busy she will not have time to get to know you better with a wedding dinner to organize. Let us go. We all have much to do. I am sure you will be staying at Lois and Leonard’s home tonight.”

  Chad found it interesting that all the talk had been about Lois and nothing about her husband. Somehow, it made him wonder who really ruled the roost.

  There was only one way to find out, and he didn’t have any choice.

  He stood. “Okay, let’s go.”


  Anna sank into the seat of Chad’s car, let her head fall back against the headrest, and closed her eyes, hoping she didn’t fall asleep while Chad scraped the windows.

  It was done. Her people had put together a grand celebration for Ted and Miranda’s marriage in only a few hours. Everything had fallen into place as if it were God’s plan and timing all along.

  But just to make sure the happy couple didn’t ruin their surprise, while Ted and Miranda were sleeping, not long after sunrise Chad had gone back to Ted’s house and very quietly sneaked into the basement and shut off the electricity to the bedroom so Ted’s alarm clock would not wake them, and then he unplugged the phone. She didn’t how Chad had come up with such a good idea, but everyone in the town thought he was quite ingenious. After their long day, long flight, and long drive, Ted and Miranda had slept the whole day away. Chad had left a note on top of Ted’s hat to meet him at the church when they woke up. All the church had prayed for good timing as they worked to put all the pieces together for the celebration. When everything was ready, and Chad was starting to call Miranda’s cell phone, the two newlyweds arrived at the church door. Then the celebration began.

  It had been grand, and they had been surprised. Miranda cried when she saw what everyone had done, but everyone knew they were tears of joy. Everyone except Ted, but he did come to understand after Chad took him aside to talk to him.

  Now, it was over. Anna and Chad were returning to Lois’s house to clean up the kitchen, while Lois stayed at the church with the rest of the ladies to clean up there.

  Anna hoped she would be up to the task. She’d never been so tired in her life.

  In all her days, she’d never fallen asleep in church, but she feared she would tomorrow. In fact, she feared she would fall asleep before they arrived at Lois’s house. She felt herself starting to doze but couldn’t do anything about it.

  When the car door opened, a blast of frigid air jolted her awake, at least until Chad closed his door again.

  Now sitting behind the steering wheel, Chad turned to her as he fastened his seatbelt. “The car’s warm enough to go. Are you sleeping?”