Free Abram's Daughters 04 The Prodigal by Unknown Page A

time."
    "Please, no. . . . Let's just keep that between us... and my family. No need to tell the bishop." She felt so strongly about this, tears sprang up.
    "Ach, Sadie, I'm ever so sorry I said a word." Miriam leaned forward. "I'm just awful glad you're back with us, and I'm sure your father feels the same."
    All Sadie could do was nod, her heart heavy under a weight of her own making. ,
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    1 here was a special quietude at the midafternoon hour Lorniine Schwartz had always taken pleasure in, especially in summertime when the heat of the day required a catnap or, at least, a rest from the fierce sun. This Friday, though, was not to be compared in the slightest with the dog days of late July or August. The old year was dying fast, and she had drawn rhe curtains and curled up by the roaring fire Henry had kindly built for her in the handsome tiled fireplace not too many feet from her easy chair. With a cup of chamomile tea in hand, she had been reading the Scriptures until the telephone's ringing prompted her to rise and pick up the black receiver.
    "Schwartz residence. Lorraine speaking."
    "Hello, Lorraine. It's Dottie Nolt."
    "Oh, how are you today?"
    "We're just fine, thanks. How was your Christmas?"
    "Quiet. . . but very nice. You?"
    Dottie shared how she and Dan had enjoyed watching Carl unwrap his presents and that their son had been especially
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    pleased at receiving a new sled. "But the reason I'm calling is to invite you and Henry for supper on New Year's Eve."
    "Well, how thoughtful of you." Lorraine knew they had no plans whatsoever. "I'll check with my husband, but I think it's safe to say we'll accept. Thank you, Dottie. What can I bring?"
    "Just yourselves. This is Dan's and my treat. We're inviting several neighbors, and Mary Ruth will be here, as well, so please extend the invitation to your son Robert."
    "I will indeed."
    "We also plan to invite Mary Ruth's family."
    "That'll be nice to get better acquainted," said Lorraine.
    Minutes later, when Henry came in from the clinic, she shared with him Dottie's kind invitation.
    He stiffened visibly. "You didn't accept, did you?"
    "Well, yes, I did." She was puzzled by his response.
    Henry shook his head. "Call back and decline . . . say we have other plans."
    "But we don't, dear. We would simply be alone on New Year's Eve, unless, of course, Robert should decide to stay home and not spend the evening with Mary Ruth. But I hardly think he'll want to do that."
    Again Henry shook his head, frowning deeply. "Please call Dottie back, Lorraine."
    His words reached her ears, but it was her memory that served her best. Henry was resistant, most likely, because the Nolts were mainly responsible for her renewed interest in church.
    It was Robert's arrival at the front door that brought the conversation to a quick end, for which Lorraine was grateful. And when the first thing out of his mouth was "Dottie Nolt's
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    \nii' ;i New Year's Eve dinner party, and we're all invited,"
    - w;i:, M-t-rctly relieved.
    I li;ii said, Henry dropped his opposition.
    (ii mi/, she thought, no need for me to embarrass myself with, n'turu j'hone call to Dottle. Robert obviously had more influi mi e over Henry than she ever would.
    < iid paced the floor in the front room of the log house,
    < 'I'pinj; now and then to keep Ida Mae and Katie Ann occu-
    i" (I witli their toys. He was nearly tempted to stand with his
    ii in I be door of the birthing room, where he felt sure Han-
    ii ill was in the final throes of labor. Against his mother's
    i .lies, lie had summoned one of the men hex doctors, who
    'i nui hut a few yards from him on a rocking chair, watching
    llic ijirls play. Hannah had been disappointed to discover that
    i Hil I ;uly Henner, the most powerful Amish doctor in the
    Mien, no longer made house visits, so they'd had to settle for
    T11in solemn-looking man.
    .Af (Past he's someone to talk to, he thought,